Scrubs got benched? I'm officially in a state of depression.

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

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

Very last anecdote from mystery source. Promise...

According to my mystery source, Choi has never been involved in a "real" fistfight. Not in elementary school, not in high school. He just doesn't do it. In a brawl, Choi is the one breaking it up. And few are inclined to take him on (source's quote).

Over/Under on Brad Penny's innings pitched has been set at 6 1/3.

Place your bets.

vr

Xeifrank

Over, dammit.

Over.

Well, the way Jim Carey, I mean Jim Tracy manages Penny might go 11 innings. :)

vr

Xeifrank

... when, with the bases juiced, he will be pinch-hit for Jason Grabowski.

Uh, "by" Jason Grabowski. Or is it Grabowski will pinch-hit for him? For Penny, I mean?

Never mind...

Does anyone think that Tracy's decision to leave Choi in against the lefty yesterday is the beginning of a trend? Hee certainly did not look overmatched yesterday. It seems like the Marlins starter today would be an ideal lefty for Choi to face (not overpowering).

8.

I looked up Moehler and Yahoo says he throws right handed. Choi should be starting.

vr

Xeifrank

I must not watch enough Fox. I thought Arrested Development was a rap group from the early '90s.

My bad. I am really looking forward to seeing Choi take some cuts against a lefty, but that probably will not happen when Dontrelle pitches.

Random Dodger game callback

May 16, 1979

The Dodgers sent prodigal starter Andy Messersmith to the mound at Fulton-County Stadium riding an 8-game winning streak that had lifted the two-time defending NL champs back over the .500 mark at 19-18. But Messersmith, who was nearing the end of the line on his career, and reliever Bob Welch, couldn't contain Dale Murphy, who drove in all three runs to lead Atlanta to a 3-2 win.

Messersmith, who changed the baseball world forever by winning free agency and the elimination of the Reserve Clause at the end of the 1975 season was plagued by injuries in stops in Atlanta and New York. The Dodgers signed him as a free agent before the start of the 1979 season in an attempt to bolster a rotation hurt by the loss of Tommy John. But Messersmith was able to make it to the hill only 11 times before playing his last game on June 1.

The Dodgers patchwork lineup this day, which featured Gary Thomasson in center field (in place of Rick Monday), Joe Ferguson in right field (in place of Reggie Smith) and Derrel Thomas at third (in place of Ron Cey) was able to take a 2-1 lead into the 8th on the strength of a 2-run home run by Thomasson off of Eddie Solomon in the third.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Braves loaded the bases on a pinch-hit single by Mike Lum and walks to Gary Matthews and Jeff Burroughs by Messersmith. With two outs and Murphy due up, manager Tommy Lasorda brought in Welch who gave up a 2-run single and the Braves led 3-2.

The Dodgers tried to rally in the ninth off of reliever Adrian Devine. Steve Garvey singled to lead off the inning and Dusty Baker followed with a double to right, but Glenn Hubbard took the relay from Matthews and gunned out Garvey at the plate, who succeeded only in knocking Braves catcher Bruce Benedict out of the game. Gene Garber came in to get the last two outs and save the win for Solomon.

Only 6,277 showed up in Atlanta to watch the Dodgers fall 3 games behind division leader Cincinnati. The Dodgers finished in third place 11 ½ games behind Cincinnati. A 7-20 record in June sealed the Dodgers fate.

The Dodgers did pick up another Rookie of the Year award in 1979. Rick Sutcliffe went 17-10 with a 3.46 ERA. Injuries to the rotaion sent reliever Charlie Hough into the starting rotation. The Dodgers also acquired Jerry Ruess from Pittsburgh in April and he turned into an unexpected strength in the rotation. Relievers Lerrin LaGrow, Dave Patterson, and Ken Brett "anchored" the bullpen. Another prodigal Dodger who returned that year was outfield Von Joshua who was acquired from the Mexican League in the offseason.
Thanks to the Washington Post, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

FJT's two favoritest sitcoms:

1) Arrested Development
2) Scrubs

To paraphrase Gregg Easterbrook, this is the kind of hidden information necessary to understand the Dodger blogosphere, but unfortunately, I have no idea what it means.

Be thankful we don't have Sciosa managing, or we might end up with this lineup
SS- Cesar Izturis
LF- Jason Grabowski
1B- Olmedo Saenz
CF- Derek Lowe
C- Jason Phillips
RF- Paul Bako
3B- Ricky Ledee
2B- Jeff Kent

Anyong,

Steve, I am in total agreement with your favoritest sitcoms. Jon Weisman's news has given purpose to my life for the offseason months. AD rules.

jon, you are most assuredly not an idiot.

If you were the size of an average Korean would you want to take on Hee Seop Choi in a fight?
If you are the size of an average NFL offensive lineman, you might not want to take on Hee Seop Choi in a fight.

He's a big guy.

Jon, Grabs hitting .333 with runners in scoring position? That must be a typo. How can that possibly be true.

BTW, I am over Tracy leaving pitchers in too long. I don't care if he let's Penny pitch tonight, tomorrow and the next day, but if he let's Grabs go near the batters box I am going to puke.

#18 - Grabowski is 2 for 6 with two walks with RISP. In all other situations, he is 2 for 25 with three walks.

#12 - Bob,

I wanted to say thanks for your the Dodger Game Callback pieces. Some of us don't have the time to go to Retrosheet and recall some fond memories. But they are welcome nonetheless.

Unfortunately, the Hardball Times #s Jon posted don't reveal numbers of Plate Appearances with RISP. I just checked on MLB.com. Grabs is 2 for 6 with RISP, plus one BB. He has only 6 ABs with RISP! So most of his futility has been in non-RBI situations. 31 ABs overall. 18 with bases empty (2 for 18). 0 for 5 with a runner on 1st. Wait. That only adds to 29 ABs (18 empty, 6 RISP, 5 runner on 1st - what other categories are there? IN any case, it means that the .333 is a mirage.

Uh, oh. Thanks Jon. I was slow.

Glad to see our catchers making the most of it, especially with runners in scoring position. Catching was supposed to be a "black hole" for us in 2005...

I doubt they can keep it up for the entire season, but it does allow Dioner Navarro to get more experience in the minors. I give DePo a lot of credit for acquiring Phillips and Navarro.

This is the 121st season of Dodgers baseball. I'll be going as far back as 1884. Taking into account two vacations I'll be taking and maybe a couple of others days off, I should be finishing up close to the end of the regular season.

Not that I had counted out the days until today.

I know we've already talked the topic of Scott Erickson to death today, but I was just adding up some interesting numbers.

In innings 1-4 this season, Erickson has an ERA of 4.18. Beyond the 4th inning, he has an ERA of 14.00.

Tracy has said he doesn't want to start Alvarez because he doesn't want to have him throw 75-80 pitches. Why not start Erickson, pitch him 4 innings and then put in Alvarez for 3? Those numbers also make me think Erickson would be at least okay as a long reliever/mop-up guy (even if we all agree he's a bad human being).

(even if we all agree he's a bad human being)

Hey, I think we just resent him for that People Magazine ranking as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" or whatever it was, not to mention for his having married out of his class (but hey, who among the married DTers wouldn't admit to that?). Admit it - we love that he sucks. Cosmic justice and all that.

I'm sure Jeff Kent is enjoying the "cosmic justice."

Well, Kent will just punch him out in the dugout some day, so no worries there.

And then, according to Suffering Bruin's factoid, Choi would break them up.

Right, and with luck (say us misanthropes), Erickson will separate his shoulder bumping into Choi, and need career-ending surgery (career beacuse he's old and lousy).

And Erickson would blame Choi for the whole thing, because it's always the defense's fault.

Anybody listen to music while "viewing" the game on the computer? I am currently listening to John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" while checking out gamecast and monitoring the DT chatboard.

It's not as good as watching the game on television or seeing it live... but it's close!

Why is this a "long-awaited" look at Lo Duca and Encarnacion when the Marlins played the Dodgers last year in L.A. AFTER the trade?

Oh, and the Choi batting seventh experiment has apparently reached an end.

Tonight's the night...tonight's the ni-i-i-ight...

You don't suppose Pierre might be going anytime soon?

That was soon.

SB, I'm listening to Beck's newest. Guero. I really like it, but I like anything he does.

I prefer Jeff Beck, but that's just because I have culture :)

I'll take the under. Way under. In fact, basically pencil me in for the under every game for the rest of the season.

Gamecast shows that it was a very good pitch to hit.

#40 - I'm right there with you.

Is anyone else having a problem with Gameday? I can get it to load, but it won't re-load automoatically like it used to. I have to keep manually re-loading it to get it to update.

Thanks.

43 - I am not having that problem but perhaps I'm lucky.

Or unlucky.

By the end of the year, Choi might be the most valuable part of the infamous trade.

Is it too late to take the under on Penny?

What do you mean by the end of the year?

I'm guessing they'll make that Ledee's fault. After all, you would never have expected him to drive that 72 mph breaking ball at the letters.

Penny doing his best Scott Erickson impression.

This is depressing. Too late to change to the under?

Anyone else wonder if Penny is completely healthy? I'm probably just paranoid.

In the Braves-Padres game, Furcal has gone 0 for 2 and seen a total of 2 pitches. This despite the Padres starting Rookie Tim Stauffer, who hasn't exactly been spot-on, walking 2 batter in the first inning.

Pierre just broke double figures in walks.

Maybe we should just switch the bullpen to starters and starters to long relievers?

Baseball Prospectus has our odds of making the playoffs at 40.23 percent, and the Padres at 45.58 percent.

Anyone have a stat on how many SB's Phillips has allowed? I'm a fan of the trade, but I'm wondering if any other catchers have allowed more. This could be a major liability if Phillips can't do well enough to at least keep runners honest.

re: music, i'm listening to engine down and watching gamecast disgustedly.

BobT,
I'm rather upset the Dodgers don't have a game Thursday. That's my birthday, and there may not be a RDGC!

Hey, TV watchers...

Did a guy wearing a blue and white wig catch a foul ball? Because my mom is sitting right in front of him. And save those witty one-liners...

#56 i think a lot of that comes from our pitchers not holding runners on

This could be a major liability if Phillips can't do well enough to at least keep runners honest.
I'm guessing the high SB numbers are due to the pitchers' inability to hold runners.

re: #56

i haven't looked at rankings, but since i like the A's i've read that kendall has allowed 34 successful steals out of 39 attempts this year. most of it is supposed to be the pitcher, but it's still not a pretty statistic.

56 -- I don't believe in stolen bases, so I don't think it makes a difference if we give them up -- they've run all over the place the first two innings and it hasn't made any difference to the numbers of runs they scored. It just makes arbitration hearings harder.

57 -- It's worse on TV.

I've got Duke Ellington's "Far East Suite" playing. Terrific stuff.

56 -

He hasn't thrown anyone out largely because Weaver, Lowe, and Perez have terrible moves to first base. Or they just don't ever look the runners back.

The 2000 version of Pudge Rodriguez might have got a couple more guys, but those steals are on the pitchers. Think Hideo Nomo times 3.

Mike Edwards is the ultimate replacement-level player.

But I agree that what blame there is rests on the pitching staff, as do all of our non-Jim Tracy related problems.

Well, at least we know we can hit this guy.

What do we have here?

So does that double play Phillips hit into count as a productive out, or not?

Well, at least Penny can hit tonight!

70 - Twice as nice! Two productive outs on one play! Sincerely, Buster Olney.

Of course Izturis pops up a 3-1 pitch at his eyes with 2 on and 2 out.

One run on five hits. This is becoming a recurring theme.

nothing. we have nothing.

I'm trying hard with Izturis, but the fact that he is Plaschke's favorite is damning, indeed.

Power hits would be help. And they would be refereshing to see.

Can't that inning be classified under something like the Law of Diminishing Returns?

Gamecast: "Delgado singles on a groundball to Jeff Kent."

????

I like Brad Penny because he is shaped like a square.

SB, the ball was hit deep in the hole. Kent was
just able to deflect the ball.

Is it Futility Infielder who calls runs scored on GIDP RBIs of Shame?

81 - thx

Braves lead the Pads 2-1 in the third. The rest of the NL West is off. The Giants will be playing in Colorado and the DBacks will be playing in Houston.

Jeff Kent is due to go yard.

Over/Under on how many more outs Jeff Kent will make before getting another hit?

I will never do that again.

I guess this puts our complaints about those "productive" DPs in perspective.

Kent is 0 for his last 10, hitting .229 in May.

There's your slump.

If he hit Scott Erickson, he would be batting 1.000

I am starting to wonder if Robles and Nakamura bought REALLY good Drew and Kent masks and have successfully fooled JT into playing them in the 3-4 spots.

Right now JD owes us a refund (and Kent's getting there).

And get a standing ovation on a daily basis.

Encarnacion homers off of Penny, proving ONCE AND FOR ALL that the trade is a bust and DePodesta is in over his computer-geek glasses. No further debate is needed.

Read all about it in tomorrow's Times.

I'm sorry... did Juan Encarnacion just go yard?

The kid wants me to build his 600 piece Lego set. I'm going to go do that for awhile...

smoke and mirrors, indeed.

encarnacion homering at DS is salt in the wounds.

kent has hit into three double plays this week.

Thinking on building a cave, are you, SB?

The fact that the pundits were wrong, that we can hit but we can't pitch, is somehow of very little comfort right now.

Giving up a homerun to Encarnacion is pitiful.

We could have saved $10 million sending this guy to Arizona. That's of very little comfort right now too.

Our chances of winning tomorrow our microscopic, considering Willis is on the hill for FLA. Tonight isn't looking good. Kent and Drew better wake up, otherwise we're going to be in the rearview mirror pretty soon.

If we had sent Penny to Arizona would we have gotten Vazquez?

I lost track there in the offseason.

You can't blame Penny too much here. He is pitching against his old team and they know all his stuff.

Now our so-called "offense" -- that's another story.

In an incredibly useless sample size, Willis has a 15.43 ERA in 7 IP over 2 games against the Dodgers.

The Dodgers have batted .438 against him.

Not that any of the players that have batted against Willis are still on the team I believe with the exception of Izturis.

#100: Yeah, but we would have also gotten Koplove and lost Brazoban. Even after tonight's performance, I'm happy we didn't make that trade.

The offense is fine. Penny giving up 450 foot bombs -- well, DIPS can't save him now.

Can't use Brazoban if you don't get leads. We're in bizarro 2003. Instead of losing a lot of 2-1 games, we're going to lose a lot of 6-5 games.

The current Dodgers who have batted against Dontrelle Willis are:
Bradley (1 for 3 with 1 HR, 2 K)
Drew (2 for 7 with 2 K, 3 BB)
Erickson (0 for 2, 2 K)
Izturis (2 for 4)
Kent (2 for 7, 1 BB)
O Perez (1 BB)
Phillips (3 for 11, 1 HR, 1 BB)

So I guess we'll see Odalis pinch hitting in the eighth tomorrow. He has a career OBP of 1.000 against Dontrelle.

yeah, but was dontrelle pitching as well as he is now? the d-train seems to have gathered a full head of steam, as it were.

Sweet.. Houlton is warming up, so it looks like we're giving this one away.

Great. Houlton is getting loose.

Tracy's just looking for an excuse to let the game get out of hand so he can safely get Graboswki some innings at first base.

Wave the white flags, Houlton warming up. Tracy decides a three-run leadis insurmountable.

That makes me sad. Vin just informed us that Miguel Cabrera was offered more money by the Dodgers than the Marlins. But, Cabrera decided to go with the Marlins because of his friendship with Alex Gonzalez.

I'll be the first to say it: Grabowski pinch hits for Penny in the bottom of thisinning.

If the Dodgers were an NBC show, they'd be Joey. If the pitchers were their own show, they would be Fear Factor.

LoDuca showed a lot of heart throughout that rundown. Almost enough soul to avoid getting tagged out, too.

Oh well. Inning over.

6 1/3 IP Over/Under for Brad Penny is looking pretty good about now.

vr

Xei

I was wrong...a temporary reprieve.

Grabs would have hit that one out of the infield.

OZ, LoDuca's heart and soul is well over the replacement value level.

:)

vr

Xei

man, two lineouts. is choi hitting it hard, right at people?

If the Drew and Kent were a show they could be LOST

Choi = Everybody Loves Hee Seop

Choi has been hitting the ball hard each time. He is about the only guy in the lineup doing so tonight.

wow! Game Almost Over on that long flyout to Ledee by JC.

vr

Xei

Just got home. How can we have five position players with avg. above .300 and score one run. We must lead the leauge in lowest ratio between men on base and runs scored.

Jon, as for #18, I was only kidding about it being a typo. It is just so hard to beleive. But your and Bears' explination makes sense. Thanks

wow 2 throws to first in a row

When weighting the modern Heart/Soul-over-replacement metric, how much weight is each component given? Is it 3*Heart + 2*Soul? I think that heart must be the more valuable of the two, since it comes first ("Heart and Soul", not the other way around).

I ran a multiple-regression analysis of heart and soul and OPS to wins (because wins are all that matters, especially for pitchers). I ran it throught the Pythagorean theorem and got the following formula, after adjusting for heart-and-soul park and league factors:

AEqPyHPS (Adjusted Equivalent Pythagorean Heart plus Soul) = (AEqHeart^2 + AEqSoul^1.8)^2

NL AVG AEqPyHPS = 1.2557
AL AVG AEqPyHPS = 1.1154

The lower number in the AL is a result of DHs not having nearly as much heart, because they don't want to play defense.

As you can see, this game doesn't particularly interest me anymore. I think I'm getting sports-fan burnout.

Great use of the IBB by Jim Tracy.

vr

Xei

Tracy finally figures out that an open base can be an advantage.

Moehler is one of the worst-hitting pitchers ever.

OZ, if Plashke or Simers ever hear about that formula, they're gonna have to come up with a new gig. Perhaps 'savy and spirit"?

vr

Xei

Note: Please forgive any typos or grammar mistakes tonight as I am on a heavy dose of anti-biotics. My heart and soul are ailing.

Robles..er, Drew grounds out again.

let's see if Kent can find a way to hit into another double play.

vr

Xei

Should've worn the 'Team Grabowski' t-shirts to the game tonight.

vr

Xei

Kent runs the futility streak to 11 PAs.

...and Nakamura / Kent K's. Now if we were only paying that kind of money to them, we'ld have an extra $17 mil to pay some real hitters.

Penny gonna pitch the 7th? I am watching with the volume way down tonight. Shhhh, baby is sleeping.

vr

Xei

wake that baby up x, maybe he/she is good luck

Unless Moehler somehow has learned to go 9, we will get to bat against the Marlins bullpen and the likes of Matt Perisho and Todd Jones.

I think Jim Mecir is probably unavailable after McKeon left him in forever yesterday against San Diego.

Hey, I try to be optimistic.

She's got a good arm for an 11 month old. Has command of two pitches, she throws a nasty spitter and a pooper.

vr

Xei

The under wins!

Wunsch time. Does he get a whole inning?

Penny goes 6 IP. Missed the over/under by 1/3 of an inning. Not bad. Computer generated over/under program has a decent track record so far.

vr

Xei

LoDuca gets to face our LOOGY. Let's see some heart and soul on this at bat.

vr

Xei

Once again, work late, check the score, Bleh.

I can't remember seeing a player go from that hot to this cold. Anyway to know if Kent has previously been so grossly streaky?

Nakamura would have had that hit by LoDuca, unless of course if Erickson was pitching.

vr

Xei

Midwest -

Kent is ice cold, but despite a cold May is 13th in the NL in total bases, is 3rd in the NL in runs scored, sports a .933 OPS and leads all NL 2B in VORP.

SO yeah, it's safe to say he's a real hitter, and certianly worth the $8M or whatever he's being paid. As opposed to Beltre or Green, neither of whom is cracking .250 in batting average and OPS under .700, both making more money than Kent this season.

Who at ESPN is in charge of updating GameCast player photos? I'm staring at Wunsch in White Sox gear and Lo Duca in Dodger blue. Mucho disorienting.

LOOGY did his job. Too bad LoDuca isn't a lefty.

vr

Xei

And yet they manage a photo of Delgado in a Marlins cap.

I see FSN has poker on again. I hope this is just a fad. I'd be just as excited if they televised a game of hearts, jacks or minor league womens rugby.

vr

Xei

Perez is missing his next start and Erickson will take it, says Dodgers.com

nice pitch Duaner

"... Take me out to the ballgame".

vr

Xei

Baseball is a strange game. The Yankees have won 8 straight game and go to Seattle to face Aaron Sele whom they normally batter.

And they scored 1 run against him in 6 innings.

And Scott Erickson had more strikeouts than Randy Johnson yesterday.

150 - Being a Dodger fan is a curse.

oh dear, who's gonna pinch hit this inning? JG?

vr

Xei

Bob, did you hear Vin talk about the pronounciation of "McKeon"? Did you know that?

Is it progress that Tracy sends out Robles instead of Grabowski?

Oscar on deck. I guess JT figures he's due. At least its not Grabs

joe-you beat me to it

Now that's bad luck.

oh man another, LDRAF. Line drive right at fielder.

sucks!

vr

Xei

oooh yea Robles at the plate, I mean Kent, wait I mean Robles.

You would think that a 74-year old man who had been in baseball for so long would have told people how to pronounce his name.

Robles hitting for the pitcher?? Not so sure it should be the other way around!

vr

Xei

did somebody post that the dodgers had a chance to get Cabrera? I guess they were happy with O Robles

What to hit into that error, Oscar, woo hoo!

Bob-Two things I tell my wife about baseball:

1. Baseball is a funny game:;
2. Baseball is a game of streaks and slumps.

Funny how Moehler is silencing our bats, and Jeff is hitting (slumping) more like Clark Kent.

Thank you Easley. Oscar will send you a gift.

charity hit for robles

E-4. Erickson must be pissed.

vr

Xei

they gave him a hit

Erickson's not starting -- I would be surprised if he was even there

Leave him in, Jack!

we cashed in a break!!!!

Good! Let's single em to death. LOOGY time?

vr

Xei

You know that was kent wearing the Robles mask now...

Moehler will tell the press that Easley should have made the play.

Whew, now we get the Marlins pen!

What are the odds tracy bats for Choi?

Erickson gets flashbacks whenever he sees a ball that should've been fielded. Afterall a play here and a play there and Erickson would be leading the league. Not sure what in.

vr

Xei

Choi or Saenz? The suspense is killing me.

Saenz

It's Olmedo time!

I think you can make an argument for Saenz here, if the lefty is coming in. (Ducks, covers, hides under desk)

This is a HUGE test for Tracy... Saenz better get on base.

vr

Xei

When your former mananger changes pitchers when you come to the plate and you are on the cover of the sports page on the same day, you have officially arrived.

Enjoy it Hee Sop.

Someone should ask Tracy if Choi will EVER get to hit lefties.

On # 146

OZ,

I'm frustrated like everybody else. I probably wouldn't be so if two out of our three big hitters were hitting consistently at a time. But unfortunately it's one at a time and I think for the cash we're paying them they should be untracked by now. We're a fifth of the way through the season, fo God's sakes.

I go with Choi here. You just try to keep the inning going, and Choi can do that.

Tracy's an idiot. Disregard my last post.

O Fortuna on the sound system, not sure if that's a harbinger of anything.

Choi would have hit it to the 76 station.

Tracy loses. Oh well. Now he can concentrate on managing our bullpen.

vr

Xei

boooooooo.

I have nothing against Saenz. But Choi has been our best hitter recently, and he can't ever prove his worth against lefties if Tracy never gives him the chance.

LET CHOI HIT! LET CHOI HIT!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Saenz...just...missed...it. Choi might have done better, but he might not have.

Again, my argument here is not really anti-Choi. It's just that Saenz has a track record here, he's swinging the bat well -- Tracy does plenty of stupid matchup nonsense, but I just don't think this would be one of his worst moves. It's certainly not why we lose this game -- we can hang that on another pathetic pitching performance.

Tied for MLB lead in relief wins?? That's a real meaningful stat... thanks!

vr

Xei

I've created a monster!

Two innings to score two runs, assuming Carrara holds that tiger, with the heart of our order coming up, yet it seems so out of reach.

Dodger win expectancy with 1 out down by 2 in the 8th inning is now 12.6%. About one out of eight.

vr

Xei

Ugh, homer and triple from Encarnacion.

Bleah!

oops, make that 8.6% now.

vr

Xei

Drew is starting to annoy me greatly. He's going to get himself on the list before very long.

Using Saenz is defensible, sure. Saenz is hitting lefties very well. Better than Choi? We don't know for sure because Choi has been used so little against them, but you can make the case.

But the funny thing is that Tracy seems to hold his best pinch-hitters in reserve, except when it comes to Choi. Choi, right now, is the Dodgers' best hitter, other than perhaps Bradley. Yet out he goes. Meanwhile, in the ninth inning, the options are Repko, Bako, Grabowski and Weaver. I'd rather have Saenz hit then.

It's just so odd. I'm all for using your best pinch-hitters as soon as the opportunity presents itself. I just don't like using them to replace good hitters.

Padres tie the Braves.

Vin just said the Marlins were last in the league in extra base hits before they came to town....dodger pitching, it will cure what's ailing you.

Vin's stats:

Florida comes into the game last in extra base hits and last in home runs. But tonight,

2 Home Runs
4 Doubles
1 Triple

Yeah, all our offense's fault.

We spin our wheels and spin our wheels to score just one run and then the other team makes it look so easy....frustrating indeed.

the heart of the order being current flyswatters drew and kent, it seems a little out of reach, yes.

wait a minute, Lenny Harris is still playing?

If Lenny Harris gets a hit here, I'm going to go channel my hostility into watching "24".

Time go watch Kiefer Sutherland torture someone.

.CLICK.

TV/OFF button.

vr

Xei

previously on 24

Bye, Bob.

Make that 5 doubles.

Okay, then. Goodnight Jon-boy.

24 sounds good, I think I'll join Bob, not in person of course. Thank God for TIVO.

You guys are going to miss the 4 possibly 6 run comeback.

I just got here. Don't leave.

Okay, Houlton pitching. Make that an 8 run comeback.

With Bob gone I'll break the bad news: SD 4 Atl 3

houlton comes in, and the white flag goes up.

DJ Jazzy Houlton induces the double play

Yay! Hanging breaking ball! It had been almost a whole two innings since I'd seen one of those.

Jon, you're right. I think I am self-correcting on Choi to resist the same kind of political fervor which marks so much writing and thinking about the Dodgers overall. But if you have a right-handed hitter who hits left-handers, there's at least an argument to put him in the game. But the bigger question is: What should we do? Fire Jim Tracy? :)

Well, since we're over talking about the game has anyone read the new Baseball America? I wait until it arrives in print and it came today. I know some of you get it online.

Anyways the cover has the D-Train on it and inside is an excerpt from the book about his agent, Matt Sosnick, "License to Deal: A Season on the Run." There seems to be a considerable buzz about its release.

My school has a Sport Management minor and we have a professor with a considerable amount of connections in baseball. He was able to get Sosnick to come down and talk to us/be interviewed tomorrow. Should be interesting. The professor got an early copy of the book to read beforehand and said Sosnick just destroys some people in it, and is just brutally honest about people in baseball. I'm fairly excited, it should be interesting. I wish I was able to read the book first, however.

Drew is doing a Shawn Green impersonation that is both terrifying and sad.

Dave Roberts singles to drive in another. Seems as though ex-dodgers everywhere are all conspiring tonight.

In other news, I went 3-4 with four RBI in my coed softball game tonight.

I can play a little third, too. Someone call DePo.

How long will it take for Tracy to fix his lineup?

Izturis
Drew
Choi
Bradley
Kent

Oooh softball talk. I also went 3-4 today but in a men's league. We won 25-6. I wish I could give some of the runs to the Blue Crew.

Taking the conspiracy theory one step further. It was Frank Brooks who gave up the hit to Roberts.

Lo Duca would have caught that wild pitch

Yep, looks like Kiefer's gonna be doing some more torturing tonight.

the pundits have to be loving this.

Steve #229:
How long did it take him to bat Beltre in cleanup last year? It will probably take him twice as long as that did. At this rate the blue will be 7 to 10 out by then.

Dodger pitching -- the Kiefer Sutherland of the National League.

Are you trying to demean my coed accomplishments, JSN?

235 -- the Great Shawn Green Debacle. I lost half my hair over a three-week period.

Grabowski is the likely choice to bat third in the bottom of the ninth.

Grabowski is the likely choice to bat third in the bottom of the ninth.

See Jon, no problem then. Batting for Choi was clearly the correct move.

Steve will surely agree. He loves Grabby.

I declare DIPS officially dead. May it RIP.

I'm amazed you have any left.

So, who's going for the Marlins tomorrow?

Think maybe some black cats would bring some of that Friday 13th magic back?

239 and 240 -- But by then it will 9-2 anyway.

Oh good. And Encarnacion to run up his stats against Dennis Houlton, leading to more of Harold Reynolds rantings. What a fantastic night this has been.

237 - Nah just clarifying. I play Coed on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Hmm... Marlins announcers are so bored their talking about the Union Oil station in the parking lot. Hacks.

i want to stop watching....but I can't.

Wow, we aren't just losing games, folks, but we are losing games by huge margins. There's the 9-3 category, and then there's the somewhat closer 6-2 type loss. You can't say it's bad luck, or a hit here or there would make a difference. It's a combined collapse in hitting, pitching, and defense. I know we're playing good teams, but that's the point -- we're clearly not in the same class.

When the Dodgers started the season 12-2, the Depot haters had to eat some crow and admit the team was not as ruined as they thought. Now that we're spiraling toward .500 and deeper into 3rd place, is it time for Depot supporters to admit he hasn't improved this team?

By now it's a little late, but why would Tracy take out Duaner after only 1/3 of an inning? Is he trying to reduce his workload so he will be able to start? Is anyone really able to figure out why Tracy does anything?

Joe, I know what you mean, its like a bad car wreck

I think this D.J. Houlton guy will be a great Independent League pitcher one day.

252:
Anywhere but here, eh?

Ninth inning comeback anyone? Anyone???

JSN: I was kidding, of course. I've decided that I will only play coed from now on, after Jon's heartwarming anniversary story a few weeks back.

Yesterday: 9 hits, 2 runs
Today: 10 hits, 2 runs

Where is the Tootsie Pop Owl? How many hits does it take to score three runs?

He's definitely improved the team - one problem is that the team he assembled isn't on the field.

Valentin? Out.
Gagne? Had been out, creating a cascade effect that affected the whole pitching staff.
Werth? Out.
Dessens? Out.
Penny? Just getting back up to speed.

Considering how BAD this team COULD have been: - Lima, Weaver, Dessens, Erickson, Penny is a nightmare rotation.
- Green, Beltre, and Cora infield would have been a disaster.

I'll be patient. The Padres are solid, but they've been really luckly lately too and we're going through the toughest part of our schedule.

Now they're kissing on "24". That's just not right.

254- I'm in. Edwards, Grabowski, and Izturis walk. Then Choi hits a. . .oh, yeah. I forgot. Nevermind.

Icaros - I of course knew you were joking but this Dodger game sapped any strength or will I might have had to jab back. Ho-hum.

Hold on, guys. Steve's watching his favorite player bat.

Bob, I'm tivoed, no spoilers please!

Wait a minute Bob. Are you watching '24', watching the game, and posting to DT? I find your multitasking commendable.

Another quality at bat!!!

grabbo should have done the a-rod chop on that grounder to first

Gabrowski should have pulled an A-rod there.

There should always be energy to jab.

I'm a man of many tasks.

"24" requires no thought.

Was that a replay.

249 -- the offense is trending down, but it's almost certain that over the course of the season we will find the offense vastly improved. Choi/Saenz is an improvement over Green, Phillips/Bako is obviously a huge improvement over Ross, Kent is a huge improvement over Cora. There is a gaping maw of a hole at third, but the way Beltre is hitting, if we had resigned him, it appears we would have been complaining about the big $65 million dollar hole at third. As it is, we can complain about the big $55 million dollar hole at right -- though it appears to at least equal, if not be superior to, the little $14 million hole the Angels have in center field right now. We have ten hits tonight, and lost at least three more line drives (two by Choi, one by Edwards). The offense, in other words, I think is trending upwards.

But he didn't improve the starting pitching. Somehow, we got in a position where we couldn't improve on Hideo Nomo last year. Weaver and Perez are significantly worse than last year -- particularly Weaver. Penny has now looked abysmal since locking up the Reds. And Derek Lowe is in fact, disappointingly enough, Derek Lowe.

And the defense is irrelevant. Our embarrassingly miserable pitching staff would have made the 85 Cards look bad.

It doesn't help that DePo isn't the one having Odalis Perez bat with the bases loaded, or leaving in Weaver to die.

But yes, the fact that Grabowski remains on the roster is DePo's fault, and he best get to calling up Aybar to settle the situation at third so he can turn to the complete overhaul of our starting rotation.

Icaros, I think Steve is doing his Howard Beale impersonation. I'm about to join him.

Time for a closed door meeting. They can play a Tommy Lasorda video.

I was a mite late with post 271...

on a brighter note, the scsr is covering the lingere bowl

Pardon my Grabowski, but who is Howard Beale?

269:
Yep. Jim Tracy is so desperate to get Grabs ABs that he slapped an Izturis mask on him real quick when he got back to the dugout.

So the fish have some slouch pitching tomorrow, I hear?

I commend comment 257 to you as well.

I responded to alnyden's #249 with a new post.

276 -- so do we.

Ah, those that are young...

Howard Beale was a character played by the late Peter Finch in the movie "Network". A terrific film. Here's more...

http://tinyurl.com/29p34

I believe what SB wants me to say is...

I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

270:
Hasn't Depo said in interviews that the price of middle-to-back of the rotation pitching over the last offseason surprised him? Maybe we shouldn't be too surprised that our starting pitching is somewhat suspect. Perhaps this is one of those rebuild while in contention years.

How long is Jim Tracy's contract?

Tracy's contract was for two years.

Well, if it makes you feel better, I've heard of Network. Hasn't Quentin Tarantino cited it as his all-time favorite?

The 70s are my favorite decade of American film, so I'll have to see it.

Unless I meet Steve in person someday, I'm going to be forced to picture him as the guy in that clip.

Steve = much younger, much angrier at Scott Erickson

Steve, Icaros, SB you guys crack me up. I am sitting here reading your stuff and LOL. Wife doesn't get it. Thinks I'm out of my mind sitting here watching the game and blogging. What does she know? Thanks for a laugh on a crappy night for Blue.

Okay, I'll go back to picturing you as Carla Tortelli.

BTW, Icaros, you were born to work for Southwest.

We'd be nothing without you, LAT.

288: Thanks. They have my application on file, but have yet to call or e-mail.

I guess two degrees in English aren't worth what they used to be (heavy sarcasm intended).

Look more like Norm. But yeah.

Norm and Carla actually have similar hair.