May 25, 1936

About 2,000 people filed into Braves Field in Boston on a Monday afternoon to watch the Bees rookie right-hander, Johnny Lanning, toss an 8-0 shutout against one of the less renowned Brooklyn Dodger squads. Lanning helped his own cause with a solo home run in the seventh off of Dodger starter Fred Frankhouse. It would be Lanning's only big league home run.

The loss kept the Dodgers firmly in seventh place at 14-22, 9 ½ games behind first place St. Louis. The Dodgers finished the season in seventh also, 67-87, 25 games behind the pennant-winning Giants.

The 1936 Dodgers featured two Hall of Famers, but one wasn't playing. It was manager Casey Stengel, who was in the last of his three rather dismal years leading the Dodgers. The Dodgers suffered through a 4-21 record in June of 1936. Another future Hall of Famer, Fred Lindstrom, played in 26 games for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers of 1936 had some good names. Van Lingle Mungo was the team's best pitcher, going 18-19 with a 3.35 ERA. He led the NL in strikeouts with 238. He also led in walks with 118. The 1936 Dodgers also had players named Ox Eckhardt, Max Butcher, and Joe Stripp.

The team had little power, hitting only 33 home runs, worst in the National League. Mel Ott of the Giants led the National League with 33 home runs of his own. Lou Gehrig led the AL with 49!

If better years were on their way for the Dodgers, it was hard to see. Only backup catcher Babe Phelps would ever play for a pennant winner in Brooklyn.

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

I still find it weird that the two best teams in the NL in OPS play in pitchers parks: Dodgers (770) and Marlins (768)

Tampa Bay has put up a 10-spot in the first against Oakland.

#2 - Yikes. The '36 Dodgers hit 33 home runs but allowed 84.

#3 - Yikes.

The 1937 Dodgers hit 37 homers and the 1989 Dodgers hit 89 homers.

Who wants to predict the year of the next Dodger team to fall short in this fashion?

12-0 Tampa Bay over Oakland in the 3rd.

Victor Zambrano just makes me laugh.

(Eric's was clever - mine is not.)

The Santa Monica Dodgers will be forced to relocate to Genentech Park (sponsored by Toyota), which has 450-foot fences that are 50 feet high. Dodgers color man Jason Grabowski will take up the practice of running out onto the field with a beachball every time someone actually manages to clear the fences, and the Dodgers will finish the season with a dismal 33HR.

It's been done. First Dodgers game I ever saw was at the Coliseum. I don't think Wally Moon hit a "Moonshot," though.

I just read that Werth is in the starting lineup, Choi is hitting 2nd, Milton 3rd, and Drew 5th.

Izturis
Choi
Bradley
Kent
Drew
Werth
Phillips
Perez
Alvarez

Ellison
Vizquel
Cruz
Alou
Alfonzo
Feliz
Niekro
Matheny
Tomko

I looked like a genius two weeks into the season. Thankfully, he's on my bench, and soon to be jettisoned to the minors.

Starting pitchers recently picked up by other teams in my league include Glendon Rusch, Aaron Harang, Daniel Cabrera, Tanyan Sturtze, and Jamie Moyer.

I think that he ought to be able to out-hit Phillips, and fo shizzle out-hit (present day) Drew.

Time to release him. But the dregs awaiting me in the free agent pool are little better.

I'll take the over tonight. Alvarez pitches into the sixth.

Who takes the baton now?

Izzy
Perez
Bradley
Kent
Drew/Choi
Werth
Choi/Drew
Phillips

Lefty-righty all the way down, while the line up is extended without clumping your weaker hitters together.

Yesterday, the Orioles activated Sammy Sosa from the DL and DFA'd Sal Fasano.

Today, Javy Lopez went on the DL with a broken hand. And to fill his place, the Orioles signed Sal Fasano to a one-year contract.

I see your point, but I think speed, without considering the other variables, works equally well anywhere in the line up. YOu could say that Perez is better at 2 spot because he'll hit into fewer double plays than Choi (presumably) and will give the mashers more chances to drive in runs.

Smokin' Joe Blanton: further proof you can't be a good pitcher without striking anybody out.

Every rule has exceptions. Quite a few soft tossing lefties have had exceptional career's. (Moyer, Glavine)
It is the soft tossing right handed pitchers who seem to have a tougher time of it.

First, I assumed that Lopez had a lingering injury, which he didn't. He got hurt yesterday.

Second, Fasano had to decline an outright assignment to the minors, then clear waivers, and then he resigned as a free agent.

I believe Carlyle took the demotion willingly so it was a little different.

Blanton's K/9 this year is .68.

I calculate about 2.65 for Blanton's K/9. Not good at all, but 4 times what you give him credit for.

But, damn...it's great to have Werth back.

In other news, it appears that I don't get the ESPN2 feed after all. Giants it is.

I thought this season was two weeks from being written off -- but it turns out it's about seven innings from being written off.

I agree that they should just give Jackson a chance. He seems to pitch better when the pressure's on, I don't know how much AAA is helping him right now. Plus, he'd be under the tutelage of Colborn.

Never again. I've learned my lesson.

Welcome back, JD. Too little, too late.

I try to avoid bandwagon bashing of the various columnists and announcers at large these days, but very annoying broadcaster thing just as I turned on. After the sac fly, Morgan says something pretty close to "A lot of folks'll get upset there, that he didn't get a base hit and gave up an out, but in this situation what you really need to make sure you get the ball in the air and get the run." So, who are those "lot of folks." I seriously doubt that anyone would argue that Vizquel didn't get the job done in that spot. A hard hit ball in the air is good there, obviously, under any grand theory of baseball. For some reason, that straw man business really bugs me.

Being down 6-1 to the Giants bugs me as well.

What do you mean, "small n"?

Weaver:
0-0 (3)
0-1 (2)
0-2 (2)
1-0 (1)
2-2 (2)

Perez:
1-0 (1)
1-1 (1)
2-0 (1)
2-1 (1)
3-2 (2)

I hope for a relatively quick game so I don't have to stay up too late watching "Lost" on the DV-R.

Right now, I'd prefer to have Jack Bauer from "24" on the Dodgers. We need some Giants to have the crap beaten out of them. Or he can run in and say, "You all need to leave or millions of people will die!"

OPS of batters against with
count 2-2
Perez .333
Weaver .923

count 3-2
Perez 1.438
Weaver .441

It makes me giddy thinking of having guys like Billingsley, Tiffany, Broxton, Miller (hopefully) filling out the rotation. If Billingsley breaks out of his current funk, you think there's any chance he gets fast-tracked?

For what its worth, I take a daily rash of slurs and insults because of "OUR" team.

I can't believe Buddy Carlyle is back here. We are embarrassing.

Darn it.

vr

Xei

The Pads and Snakes are tied at 8-8 in the 7th.

vr

Xei

No big contracts or desperation trades or Rickey Hendersons. We'll take our medicine and move on to '06.

Sincerely,

Steve

Only Philly, Cinci, and Colorado have given up more runs in the NL.

Watching Choi this year, not only does he look awful on inside pitches, but he seems to have a big uppercut along the lines of Adam Kennedy. Anybody have Choi's groundball to flyball ratio?

vr

Xei

Speaking of trading Gagne, when do you think the catcalls for DePodesta will start up again?

vr

Xei

Thanks. How does that compare to other Dodgers and the league average?

vr

Xei

Another oddity is that Nakamura has more BBs (7) than Ks (5).

Detroit (Bonderman and Inge)
Reds (Harang and Freel)
Cleveland (Sabathia, Alex Cora, and Jose Hernandez)
Minnesota (Lohse and Cuddyer)

Just to throw some names out...

vr

Xei

vr

Xei

Ledee - 0.61
Saenz - 0.64
Kent - 0.65
Reko - 0.81
Choi - 0.85
Drew - 1.24
Phillips - 1.27
Bradley - 1.33
Izturis - 1.68

The only conclusion I can draw is that if you're last name is longer than 5 letters, you're much more likely to hit ground balls.

vr

Xei

This is just a horrible Dodger slump, a run of bad luck, and a defensive (psychologically) mindset that has all our hitters and pitchers trying to avoid looking bad.

They'll break out of it, but I think I might have to close my eyes and ears and throw out the sports section every morning til they do. I don't take these things well.

Thanks again! Surprised that Bradley hits so many GBs given his power. Looks like Ledee might be the one with the big uppercut, gonna have to watch his swing a little closer.

Padres falling apart in the bottom of the 8th.

vr

Xei

At risk of simply choosing a poison, yes, take Lima over Perez and Weaver. At least there'd be some energy on the staff instead of dreaming about the next toke and blaming the manager for bad pitching. Does anyone really want to give the ball to Weaver or Perez in a playoff game?

My name's Xeifrank and I'm a Dodgers fan!

It's the first step in the healing process.

vr

Xei

vr

Xei

Better luck tomorrow.

Atleast the Galaxy didn't lose.

vr

Xei

Lowe - 3.37 ERA (7 ER in 18.2 IP, 3.02 season ERA)
Perez - 5.90 ERA (12 ER in 18.1 IP, 4.50 season ERA)
Weaver - 7.80 ERA (15 ER in 17.1 IP, 5.97 season ERA)
Lima - 9.47 ERA (14 ER in 13.1 IP, 7.36 season ERA)

Weaver may be bad, but he's not Lima bad.

Lima, Weaver, Perez. Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe.

Weaver might not be Lima bad but he's Hella bad.

Thanks, xei. I know I haven't hit bottom yet though; I haven't proposed trading Gagne or getting Lima.

But my 30+ years as a Dodger fan have caused me to do many things for which I must begin to make amends.

First, to my three wives...

Second, to all my employers, especially the ones dumb enough to let me have a TV, a radio or a computer connected to the internet in my office...

Third, to all the friends and family members with whom I could have had intimate and meaningful conversations, but talked Dodgers incessantly instead...

I am truly sorry.

Lowe - 3.51 DIPS
Perez - 4.02 DIPS
Weaver - 4.80 DIPS
Lima - 6.53 DIPS

"DODGERS BAD!" "WEAVER BAD!" "PITCHING BAD!"

Carrara - 4.91 ERA / 2.12 DIPS (232%)
Houlton - 7.88 ERA / 4.21 DIPS (187%)
Carlyle - 8.36 ERA / 5.67 DIPS (147%)
Weaver - 5.97 ERA / 4.80 DIPS (124%)

The four Dodgers pitchers who are having the most success in spite of DIPS are:

Sanchez - 2.28 ERA / 4.12 DIPS (181%)
Dessens - 4.00 ERA / 6.31 DIPS (158%)
Lowe - 3.02 ERA / 3.51 DIPS (127%)
Alvarez - 4.61 ERA / 5.33 DIPS (116%)

Overall, the Dodgers ERA is 4.71 and DIPS is 4.43.

Unfortunately, Scott Erickson is no Jose Lima.

FWIW, Bob Melvin sits Shawn Green against lefties now - he came on as a pinch hitter once the Padres' DARRELL MAY left the game. So, Hee Seop shouldn't feel too bad.

The terrible pitching has distracted us from the fact that Jeff Kent is 0-for-the-last-5-games, covering 21 or 22 ABs.

As far as trades go for Gagne, I doubt they could get that much. What I want to know is at what point if the 4th and 5th starters are as bad as they seem to be right now are they replaced. How much worse can Jackson be, is it worth it to try Duanner. Erickson should be released as soon as possible. It is time for DePo to make a move.

Been to three games there. Seems like a lot of wine and cheese types attending now, wondering why their 49ers were playing without their helmets on.

199's observation underscores the point that DePo might be more interested in the draft than the way the current team is playing. He probably closes his eyes during cruddy games and imagines everyone out there replaced by cheaper and-or better within the next two seasons. He will probably put the brakes on rushing prospects onto the Dodgers this year, because he sees this season as one of transition, perhaps not glory yet.

ALthough Dotel is currently out with a little elbow tenderness, I wonder if Beane would consider letting him go for Duaner, saving himself about $3M in the process. Beane has all but handed over the closer's job to Huston Street, and Dotel admits he's gone after this year anyway.

Just thinking that a bully of Gagne, Yhency, Dotel, and Wunsch would make for a heck of way to close out a game.

Now about getting a lead going into the 6th, well...

"Okay guys... lets see if you can make it through 4 or 5..."

That's still asking too much lately

Mahomes had a good outing: 7IP, 5H, 1ER (a HR), 4 BBs, 7 SOs. He is now 4-1. I get the feeling he may get a shot soon.

I will be attending my first ever 51's game tonight as I start my weekender in the City of Sin. Anyone have any tips?

The Angels have a surplus of starters, and Washburn is in his walk year. If Santana looks real, they would move Washburn for some offense--Saenz or maybe Werth would have to be part of it.

But if we do anything, I bet it'll be for Zito. I'm sure Barry and DePo IM each other every night.

#208 - I don't think Zito would be worth it, especially if Beane wanted a package of prospects similar to what he got for Hudson and Mulder.

Doesn't seem like there is a savior SP out there. I'd like to give Houlton a shot, failing that, I guess Mahomes deserves a crack at the 5 slot. Edwin Jackson has to be considered before the AllStar break though.