In a show of solidarity with Our Boy Choi, I ate some delicious eel sushi at lunch today. Hopefully this can be the start of another hot streak for the Eel-Loving One.

A little off topic, but it ties in Stanford baseball, but Ron Cey's son (Dan Cey) was a middle infielder for the Cal Bears in the mid 90s and one day I was watching a game between Cal and Stanford down on the Farm at Sunken Diamond (which has to be one of the nicest college baseball stadiums today) and between innings I looked over to my side and I realized that I was standing next to Ron Cey. I swear even if you didn't know that Dan Cey was Ron's son, you could tell by his running which was just like his dad.

On another note, when I was at a Cal game this year I noticed that they had these huge banners beyond the outfield wall celebrating some of their notable alums like Xavier Nade and Lance Blankenship (ok notable relative to Cal baseball), but there was no banner for Jeff Kent. It was odd.

You usually saw Ron at Dan's El Camino Real High games, too.

"Xavier Nady"

Kaz Ishii struck out the side in the first inning against the angels and has 5 K in two innings so far.

5 - Well it is time for one of his good starts. These are his last seven starts It's eerie how it's always one bad start and then one great start. It's also maddening as all Dodger fans can attest to.

Date Opponent Score Dec IP H R ER HR BB K W L SV IP ERA
Jun 5 SFO L 3-6 L 6.1 10 6 5 1 2 1 1 4 0 42.0 5.14
May 28 @ FLA W 6-1 W 6.2 5 1 1 0 3 3 1 3 0 35.2 4.79
May 23 @ ATL L 6-8 L 4.0 7 7 7 1 3 0 0 3 0 29.0 5.59
May 17 CIN W 2-1 - 6.1 3 1 1 0 2 2 0 2 0 25.0 3.96
Apr 18 @ PHI L 4-5 L 5.0 6 5 5 1 6 2 0 2 0 18.2 4.82
Apr 13 HOU W 1-0 - 7.0 2 0 0 0 3 5 0 1 0 13.2 3.29
Apr 7 @ CIN L 1-6 L 6.2 2 6 5 1 4 7 0 1 0 6.2 6.75

Perhaps easier to read -

Date IP H R ER
Jun 5 6.1 10 6 5
May 28 6.2 5 1 1
May 23 4.0 7 7 7
May 17 6.1 3 1 1
Apr 18 5.0 6 5 5
Apr 13 7.0 2 0 0
Apr 7 6.2 2 6 5

Joe Mays 3.59 era
Carlos Silva 3.04 era

Impressive indeed. But these two opposing starters hold a sinister secret. Mays and Silva rank 106th and 108th respectively in K/9 out of 110 qualifiers. Only one man can save us from these Cloaked Hurlers. It's DIPS Man!

Joe Mays 5.11 DIPS
Carlos Silva 4.19 DIPS

Bwahahahaha!

LOL, Big.

#2 - We took some students on a Cal tour last week and I noticed the same thing about the lack of a Jeff Kent banner. How could they leave out the greatest MLB player to come through their school? He even had success for a local club (SF).

I saw that Matt Luke has a banner, though.

You see Jon we need a colorful character like DIPS Man to ease the stat into the vernacular. Now can we arrange to have Scooter cover DIPS on the Fox Game of the Week tomorrow?

I have high hopes that the Dodgers can pick up at least one game against the Padres this weekend. We have our two best pitchers going today and tomorrow and the Padres are facing Garland, Buehrle, and Garcia, who coincidentally all have a better ERA than our best pitcher.

10 - Maybe Kent stiffed them on an alum donation.

Maybe they feel he disgraced the university with the motorcycle incident.

Kent has donated a lot of money to Women's Athletics at Cal. Maybe his picture is over on the softball field, instead.

Kent has done fundraising for Cal. From the Cal Bears website, dated April 1999:

Women Driven is a program created by Kent and his wife, Dana, in 1998 to provide full scholarships to women athletes at Cal.

The program raised over $100,000 last year from contributions by Kent and corporate sponsors...

"Dana and I have always believed that it is incumbent on us to give back to the community in which we live and in which I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to earn a living playing baseball," said Kent. "I wouldn't be where I am today without my experiences going to Cal and this is a way of repaying the school. I want my young daughter Lauren and other girls growing up to have more opportunities to play sports, because it is such a positive experience."

[Also see http://www.womendriven.com/, but the website hasn't been updated since 2001.]

#15 - Looking on the Cal website, I noticed that Kent has developed a scholarship fund for walk-on women athletes at Cal.

#16 - You beat me to it. :-)

And the great performance from Ishii continues. Two hits, no runs, and 8 Ks thru 5 innings.

Yeah, but Ken beat us both.

I haven't been to a college baseball stadium on the Mainland, unless you count Arizona's awful field in the Sixties, but U of Hawai'i has a really nice one these days:

http://tinyurl.com/bp7j6

I've been to 15-20 games out there; its only drawback is bleepin' Astroturf.

I can't remember when I've had to wait this long for a Random Dodger Game Callback. I'm sure it's been at least a dozen years since the last time Bob was so tardy.

#21 - The stadium look really nice. Now Evans Diamond at Cal on the other hand.....I've seen little league diamonds nicer than Cal's baseball stadium.

22- Bob did say he was either going to take a nap or go buy a new couch. Most likely he combined the two.

Ok, but you're not going to like it....

Random Dodger game callback

June 10, 1951

Over 21,000 people came to Ebbets Field to take in a Sunday doubleheader between the first place Dodgers and the last place Pittsburgh Pirates. The Dodgers won the opener, 2-1, but dropped the nightcap in 11 innings, 5-4, after a Ralph Kiner home run off of Carl Erskine.

In the opener, Ralph Branca won his fifth game of the year, surrendering only a first inning run and giving up just six hits in going the distance. Three players who would go on to win a total of five World Series as managers played in the opener, Danny Murtaugh of Pittsburgh and Dick Williams and Gil Hodges for Brooklyn. They also appeared in the second game.

In the nightcap, Pittsburgh jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Dodgers starter Bud Podbielan, but the Dodgers rallied to tie the game with two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth.

In the 11th, Erskine, pitching his fourth inning in relief, walked former Dodger Pete Reiser with one out. Kiner followed with his second home run of the game and 15th of the season to give the Pirates a 5-3. The Dodgers scored once in the 11th, but Pirate reliever Bill Werle held on for the win.

The Dodgers looked to be in pretty good shape on June 10. They were 31-18 and 5 ½ games ahead of second place teams St. Louis and Cincinnati. The defending champion Phillies were stuck in seventh place and the hated cross-town rival Giants were in fourth.

Few teams have their losses remembered better than the 1951 Dodgers. While the Giants would win in the famous playoff, there is often a perception that the Dodgers choked. But that wasn't necessarily the case. On August 11, the Dodgers led the Giants by 13 games with a 70-36 record. The Giants were 59-51.

When the regular season ended, the teams were 96-58. This mean that the Dodgers went 26-22 in their last 48 games, while the Giants went 37-7 in 44 games over the same stretch. The Dodgers did go 1-6 in regular season games against the Giants before the playoff.

The 1951 Dodgers were a very good team, especially at the plate. They pounded out 184 home runs, including 40 by Hodges. Roy Campanella had 33 and Duke Snider had 29. Seven Dodgers had double-digit home run totals. Left fielder Andy Pafko, a midseason acquisition from Chicago, had 18 homers in just 84 games with Brooklyn. Ultimately, it would be Pafko standing forlornly at the leftfield wall of the Polo Grounds as Game 157 of the season ended. (OK, it was really game 158 as the Dodgers played a tie earlier in the year, but it was Game 157 for the Giants.)

Don Newcombe and Preacher Roe headed up the pitching staff. Newcombe went 20-9 with a 3.28 ERA and a NL-leading 164 Ks while Roe went 22-3 with a 3.04 ERA. The star-crossed Branca went 13-12 and Erskine went 16-12 as both men bounced between the rotation and the bullpen. Down the stretch, manager Charlie Dressen used his three best starters (Newcombe, Roe and Branca) often and likely wore them out. And it was Dressen who opted to bring in Branca, who had started two days earlier against the Giants and lost in the first playoff game and had a history of giving up home runs to Bobby Thomson, to relieve in the 9th inning of the final playoff game.

Dressen would have the best record of any fulltime manager of the Dodgers in the 20th century. In his three seasons, the Dodgers played .642 ball. But his ego would get the better of him.

Branca would pitch in just 16 games in 1952 for Brooklyn and 7 in 1953, before moving on to Detroit. He would return to pitch one game for the Dodgers in 1956 and he was through as a major leaguer at the age of 30.

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

In New York Ishii has reverted to form and is in a bit of a tight spot. He's already allowed two runs and after a Bengie Molina sacrifice has runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.

...and then came Finley. 3 run bomb.

I think once that Colon got an RBI single off DeJean, tens of thousands of Mets fans threw their remotes at the TV.

Damn, Bob...37-7. Talk about turning it on. Makes the SHATW that much more of a crusher.

I wonder if Russ Hodges has "The Giants win the pennant" on his tombstone?

Tomorrow will be happier. But everyone except Eric Enders will likely say, "I didn't know that."

I looked at an old Cal baseball media guide. One reason Jeff Kent is honored all over the place is that he was just an above average player at Cal, but nothing special. He was never all All-America or All-Pac-10.

And in his last year at Cal (1989), he broke his wrist and missed most of the season. He was a 21st round draft pick.

Of course, UCLA named its baseball field after a guy who was terrible in that sport when he was there, but I think there were extenuating circumstances and I wouldn't change the name.

Russ Hodges probably "The Giants win the pennant!" inscribed four times on his tombstone.

That was his initial yell.

Hmm. He died in 1971, but neither FindAGrave nor the baseball HOF graves site can tell me where he's buried.

1 - I also had sushi for lunch. Although, I think we could have showed a little more solidarity had we had kimchi, rather than sushi.

Does anyone know (or can easily find out) the Dodger all-time record on June 10? Today is my younger daughter's birthday, and she is the only one of the four of us with a birthday during baseball season. Thanks in advance.

This is (only) a little off-topic, so I'm working on the "easier to get forgiveness than permission" theory; if it's too far off-topic, would someone be so kind as to direct me to a baseball site where I should ask this?

Would it be possible for someone out there who has access to a sabermetric encyclopedia and/or knows someone at SABR please find out for me, using the 2004 NL for a statistical base, (1) what percentage of the time, when a sac bunt would reasonably be in order (that is, runners on first, second, both, or first and third, with less than two outs), was it actually attempted? (2) What percentage of sac bunt attempts succeeded (that is, an out was recorded, and one or more runners moved up a base), and (3) how many times a hitter came up with less than two outs and a runner on third (that is, a potential sac fly situation). Thanks in advance!

OK, I've now already used up my quota for posts today!

Mark,
The Retrosheet site is down temporarily so it would be a little harder. You could do it from BBREF.org, but that would take more clicking.

Russ Hodges died in Mill Valley, California so he is likely buried in a cemetery near there. Stories about his funeral said that he settled there when the Giants moved west. He had retired from broadcasting the year before.

He was just 60 when he passed away.

Hodges was so excited in 1951 that he forgot his trademark home run call, "Bye, Bye, Baby"

34 - You could have, but you'd have been waved off by everbody you tried to talk to the rest of the day.

Mark,
Just guessing here
1) That question is subjective. Some people would say that sacrifices are never in order. I suppose you could dig up Buster Olney's Productive Out records from last year.
2) I don't know if attempted sacrifices are tabulated, i.e., a guy failing to get down a bunt and doing something or bunting into a force play/pop out.
3) I don't know last year's stats, but I've seen older stats that show that there isn't a lot of "sacrifice" in the sacrifice fly. I.e., batters don't hit deep flies with runners on third than any other time.

Lineups:
Land of 10,000 Lakers:
Stewart
Rodriguez (2B)
Mauer
Hunter
Jones
Morneau
Cuddyer (3B)
"Old Friend" Castro (SS)
Mays (not Willie)

Land of fewer Lakers:
Izturis
Choi
Drew
Kent
Werth
Perez
Grabowski!
Phillips
Penny

Pale Hose up on the Friars 2-0 after 1 1/2

In what must have been over a year and a half ago, ESPN Classic was showing the 1988 World Series Game 1. I managed to hit record on my TiVo right before the bottom of the ninth came up. I immediately hit "Save Until I Delete" for the 20 min segment, and it has remained on my TiVo ever since. Whenever I'm feeling either down or in the mood to get fired up, I'll watch Gibby's home run again. I was only 11 at the time, but I still recall running around my aunt's house out of control for what must have been over an hour out of sheer ectasy. My dad was at the game (I forget why I wasn't taken with... oh well) and still talks about the crowd cheering non-stop for over 45 minutes after the game ended. Anyways, I was watching it again tonight, and that one little segment is really a showcase of how unmatchable Vin Scully is behind the mic. No blatant homerism, a real respect for the opposing pitcher, the dominant Eckersley, the sad state of Gibson as he limped to the plate. And of course, his magical call... "High fly ball into right field, she is... gone! [5 minute interlude as the Dodger players swarm Gibson] In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened."

Just thought I'd relive one of my favorite all time Dodger moments, with my favorite Dodger broadcaster...

Arizona is clobbering KC 5-1 in the third. "Old friend" Shawn Green has a double and homer.

The Evil One will likely get a win.

This is what I looked like the last time the Dodgers and Twins played:

http://tinyurl.com/dpkgq

I've gotten bigger.

36 - If you are trying to maximize your runs for the inning, you should never sacrifice. Your expected runs goes down in every situation.

If you are playing for one run, if you sacrifice when a runner is one second with no outs, your odds of scoring one run increase if you are successful 91.5% of the time. If you flub one out of ten bunts, it's not worth it.

All of this assumes that the average hitter is at the plate, whose OPS is .700.

I don't have any digitized pictures of my 15-year-old self, Bob, or I'd try to one-up you. ;)

I'd been transplanted to DC by then. Washington's papers were schizophrenic; the Twins, after all, had been the Senators until four years earlier.

Real happy that didn't work out to a bear rug shot, Bob.

CHOI!

Meat tonight!

Say Hey! Hee Soep!!!

how can you not love that guy? What a 1st baseman combination we have with him and Saenz. I wonder how much Saenz is worth to other teams.

There were people who had ultrasound photos of fetuses that were 7-months along, but they all looked the same to me.

When the Dodgers won the World Series in 1981, I thought, "This is the second one in my lifetime."

Then I remembered I was born in December of 1965. Took me nearly 15 years to put that all together.

If we trade Saenz, we'll start seeing Repko at first base.

49 - Au contraire; rather sushi for lunch again tomorrow!

If we trade Saenz, we'll start seeing Repko at first base.

Funny, but in reality we'd probably start seeing Mike Edwards.

Through four innings at the BOB, Shawn Green has a double and two homers and 4 RBIs.

So far KC starter Zack Greinke has given up 11 hits. 7 have been for extra bases.

Can't take advantage of a break without giving up a stupid out.

Wonder how much of that was Hoffamn's fault?

Brutal. Jacque Jones has lost the ball in the lights (or worse, like that) about 10 times this year.

thank you, DIPS man.

it's contagious.

The play at third caught the director unawares, so we will have to wait.

We have an esteemed member of the Twins fans in our midst. Welcome, Aaron.

Russ Ortiz meet Jeff Weaver. Ortiz gave up a homer to Zack Greinke, but he's still ahead 7-2.

Greg Maddux homered today off of John Halama.

"We have an esteemed member of the Twins fans in our midst. Welcome, Aaron."

Let's not get carried away, here! But thanks. I've been lurking in the comments here for a while now, so I figured now was the time to finally register.

I'm sad that I can't listen to Vin do the game, I would love to hear him talk about the Twins.

Saw Steve Sax get an ITPHR against Barry Bonds once. I was gleeful.

Hate to say it, but I can't help but think that if Saenz were traded, Tracy would find a way to give Grabowski several starts at 1B, despite the fact that he bats from the same side of the plate as Hee Seop.

Castro=Grabowski Principle

I'm stuck with Bert Blyleven and Dick Bremer doing the game on TV, but at least they have Mudcat Grant in the booth with them.

...on a similiar play, I meant to add.

Juan Castro, do not incur my wrath.

Our pitchers can hit!

http://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20050603145306545

This does not bode well...

And the double GP for Penny. He's looking like a guy who just signed a big extension.

So can our leftfielders, thankfully.

Aw crap. Anyone think Milton might've gotten to the two balls Drew has lunged at so far tonight?

just like I said a few nights ago, Choi is back...

our fair Choi has triumphantly returned

Hey, I talked to Mudcat when he was in our pen as a kid. Real nice man.

This is starting to look like a night of 'When Good Pitchers Go Bad'.

It's not looking like either starter will last very long. How's the Twin's pen?

Who gets the game's first strikeout among these strikeout-light pitchers? Whoever it is is gonna need it.

Welcome, Aaron.

What is the general consensus about Bradley's D vs. Drew's D? I watch the Dodgers quite a bit and think Drew has looked pretty good out there, but I'd be curious what you guys think.

Aaron,
I must say. It's an honor to be commenting on the same website as you.

Pretty brutal.

They have Nathan, Romero, Rincon, plus some other guys.

Or that works too.

I think Bradley is slightly better (according to stats some have said). I don't get to watch that many games (living in the middle of giant country right now), so I can't comment from personal experience.

"Our pitchers can hit!"

There may be a small issue with baserunning, however.

I personally like Bradley in center, but that's anecdotal.

Penny is really sucking.

I'm in love with Joe Mauer.

79-Drew takes a better route to the ball but Milton seems more athletic and can adjust on the fly.

I love it when Vin says, "Bradley's on his horse."

Drew seems to get better jumps on the ball, but what do I know?

I second the Mauer man-love. But, what's the deal with Penny. His low strike out totals worry me. Is he not throwing hard enough, or is he predictable? What's the deal?

the twins are my third favorite team. i still hope they get swept by the dodgers though.

also, i like bradley in center a little better too. drew's solid but bradley has more flashes of brilliance. bradley's the better athlete.

According to Baseball Prospectus, Bradley and Drew's fielding runs over average are about equivelant.

Not very encouraging. Penny is being distracted by an extension.

No Vinny. No Santana is good.

Aaron, You echoed some concern about how Mauer's knee would hold up in the long run when he was injurid earlier in the year. How's it doing now?

Penny's precipitous K/9 decline is extremely worrisome. I keep waiting for s sudden increase, the same way I keep waiting for Gagne's velocity to jump back up to the mid-to-high-90s...a fruitless quest?

I'm not, like, a hard-core conspiracy theory nutjob, but is it possible that Scott Erickson killed Brad Penny, skinned him, and is wearing his carcas like a wetsuit?

Penny's low K rate is very interesting, because he throws damn hard. I haven't seen him enough over the last year or so, but I'm guessing his breaking stuff must not be producing enough Ks? I was surprised by his contract extension.

penny's consistently 93-96 with his fastball. it's not a velocity issue.

also, i'll third the mauer love. morneau, hunter, and santana too. i haven't seen much of crain and bartlett yet but they intrigue me as well.

Vin is disappointed that we won't see Santana, but I've made my peace with it.

I saw enough of Santana against the Padres. Works for me.

"Aaron, You echoed some concern about how Mauer's knee would hold up in the long run when he was injurid earlier in the year. How's it doing now?"

The Knee hasn't been an issue all season, amazingly. Unfortunately, he's had groin problems.

Icaros,
Must be a win-win then.

I love when Cesar has at-bats like that.

This would be a good spot for Izzy to not try to steal.

HEE SOP CHOI!!!

HEE SOP CHOI!!!

Is it just me, or has the strike zone been all over the place tonight?

Slightly off topic...for those who have watched Thompson pitch (i live on the East Coast), impressions? Is he a legit full-time starter this year and next?

Now watch Tracy call the two-out hit-and-run.

looks like Choi shortened his swing a bit and is staying inside on the ball

This at bat aside, I'm cautiously optomistic that Choi, if he keeps going the other way with his Herculean strength, can develop into a Thome-esque 1B.

Anything good that Choi does must be solely credited to Tim Wallach.

It's in his contract.

It's not just you, Aaron.

Wow. Methinks it might be time to turn off the TV and find something less aggravating to do on this fine Friday evening.

Can someone watching the game see what's wrong with this guy?

Who is coming in for Penny? Houlton?

Blah blah Penny.

Mudcat: "I remember having a game like Penny is having. The pitching coach came out and asked Earl Battey what sort of stuff I had. Earl said, 'I don't know, I haven't caught anything yet.'"

Don't worry, folks. Erickson is warming up.

Scott Erickson's warming up! We're saved!!!

oh no, vinny! erickson warming up is NOT a nice touch. :/

Grabowski is a nightmare in the field...

What a nice touch this is??? Vinny, sentimentality is fine and all...but there's a limit.

Morneau now leads the Twins in triples.

Stupidity abounds: Grabs dives for ball causing a double to turn into a triple and Erickson warming up.

I agree with Vinnie. Grabowski had no reason to dive for that, unless his name was Andruw.

And to think, I almost traded for Penny in my Diamond-Mind keeper league last night.

Erickson?

Nooooo!!!!!!!Please JT, dont bring in the one who wears Dave Roberts pants.

Please not Erickson. Please not Erickson.

Penny, please stop throwing the hanging curve over the plate.

Another highly questionable strike call.

129-lol. Erickson's pants are severely short. they look like dungarees.

I'm pretty sure the "Scott Erickson" in the bullpen is just a hologram. The real Erickson has been on the mound.

What a slugfest, I smell double digits for both clubs.

wow, even mays almost hit it out.

Seeing Scott Erickson pitch will make my mom happy, at least.

Seeing Scott Erickson pitch will make all Twins fans happy.

should make you happy too, aaron. it'd seal the twins victory.

what a waste of an offensive outpour.

Quick, somebody lock the bullpen doors so Scottie doesn't come in, I'll take my chances on Penny staying in.

I have no proof of this whatsoever, but the Twins seem to struggle against the first pitcher out of the bullpen when they knock a starter out early. Which is both a good and bad thing, I guess.

I actually met Scott Erickson at a bar in Los Gatos, CA, in 1997. Needless to say, he was very arrogant and the perma-scowl never left his face the entire night; even when surrounded by Northen Cali's finest.

There is an imfamous story here locally about Erickson and a local news reporter (who I think now does the "California Sports Report"?) doing interesting things together in a bathroom stall.

JT, you see there's the frying pan and then there's the fire. The frying pan is bad but the fire is worse.

At the time, I really didn't know who he was but I remember thinking his was a total a.h.

144-Mark Gubicza?

I've heard other first-hand anecdotes about Erickson's arrogance in public. Must be what his brilliant wife found endearing.

Werth is so due for hr.

Somebody, anybody in the left field pavilion, jump out of the stands and tackle Scottie if he try to come in.

or a double play

147-No, but close.

http://www.amiannoying.com/(ei4o1nez5gz4ok45wt3xbby3)/view.aspx?ID=6374

Why is Scottie still on the team. It's baffling to me. I know he's probably gone when Dessens gets here, but I think we have a better club if we only carry 24.

Charlie Osteen

On a side note, the official scoring of the Marlins-Rangers game tonight provides yet more evidence of how ridiculous the "hold" statistic is. Our friend Guillermo Mota came into the game, faced two batters, allowed two hits and two earned runs and left without recording an out. For that fine effort, he was awarded a hold.

Hopefully, Penny has settled in.

Fellow Kennedy High alum Jon Garland still has the Pale Hose ahead of the Friars 3-1 after 7. Bruce Bochy got tossed in the 7th.

The DBacks are crushing the Royals 11-3.

And Cleveland leads San Francisco 5-2. It was 3-2 until CC Sabathia doubled in a pair.

Zack Greinke
4 1/3 ip
15 H
11 R
11 ER
5 2B
1 3B
4 HR
2 BB
2 SO

Stewart down for the count

If the game goes one extra inning, and Penny finishes with 10 IP and 5 ER, does he get a quality start?

158 - That's gonna hurt the ol' fantasy team.

Anyone know why he was allowed to allow 11 runs?

The Royals relievers are all worse than Greinke.

The pitcher with the most Ks among NL relievers in pitching now for San Diego.

Yep, it's Rudy Seanez.

i like that andy sisco kid a lot over in KC. he strikes out a ton of people.

ps. what a catch by stewart. wow.

Oh, I fully realize that Greinke is by far the best pitcher on that team, but leaving anyone in for 11 runs, no matter what, is just insanity.

Mays has thrown more pitches than Penny: 69-65. What's the over / under for Penny?

Well, Greinke's ERA is now over 6.00

Yesterday the ERAs of the four pitchers, the Royals used were 8.16, 8.59, 5.06 and 5.89

Is Penny trying to hit people or is he wild or crossing up Phillips?

Pitching inside has now officially been outlawed.

I like it when a Dodger pitcher throws inside...ala Drysdale

The over was 7 IP, Midwest.

I took the under in spirit. A big contract demands at least 12 crappy post-contract starts to convince everyone how dumb it is to give injured pitchers big contract extensions.

"hee-seop-choi-UH!" was just about the funniest thing i've ever heard vinny say.

"Truck monkey"=worst
commercial

I still don't know the fascination with Hee Seop Choi. He swings one-handed for the most part severely limiting his power, he looks overmatched in many of his at bats, and he inside-outs the pitch 3/4 of the time. And when he makes good contact everyone thinks he hit the ball hard. I have never seen him hit the ball that hard at all.

Penny is dealing now

Thanks, JH.

I thought that a big contract extension would make a pitcher so giddy he would go out and thrown a fantastic game. Silly me.

175-Well if he keeps hitting home runs while "not hitting the ball that hard at all", that's fine by me.

But really, I think the only "fascination" is because he's a lightning rod for debates about DePo and debates about Tracy.

Penny looks much better now (eeriely reminiscent of the Weaver game where he gave up the granny in the first and settled down). Now if we could only find a way to get two runs.

175 - "I have never seen him hit the ball that hard at all."

I know not to take you literally, but I see Choi hit the ball hard all the time. I would say he hit two or three very hard balls just Wednesday alone. And you say this on a night he hit a home run.

Inside-outs the pitch 3/4 of the time? I'm not trying to be rude, at all, really, I swear - I just don't know where you're getting this.

144 - There's a local story of some renown about Scott Erickson doing that to Dodger fans every time he takes the mound.

Re Penny: That was Cuddyer, Castro and Mays. He's not Weaver. He ought to look better against those three.

180- I agree, given the opportunity, I think Choi will produce for this team. As long as JT plays him.

Jeffery!!!!!!!!!!

I thought Mauer was a good throwing catcher!

The stolen base attempt succeeds in spite of JT

All the time Steve and I are telling you guys how important aggressive baserunning is.

Now I really love Mauer

Other teams like to give us runs.

The Royals have loaded the bases in the 8th and are down 11-5 with Herges into relieve.

Sweet! Although what exactly happened? Gameday is messing up...was ball four a wild pitch?

I really don't understand the contempt some people have for Choi. To say he doesn't hit the ball hard is ridiculous.

I have seen him tatoo several balls this year. Granted, his one-handed swings aren't pretty but I don't know if they necessarily rob him of that much extra power. The guy is 6'5", 240

Yes 191

If Penny's spot comes up this inning, does Tracy let him hit?

KC mounting a comeback 11-8. Welcome to AZ Mr. Herges.

Pinch hitter Emil Brown knocked in a run with a force out and then David DeJesus tripled to make it 11-8.

And that ended Mr. Herges' night.

Per Vin, Duaner Gaschanchez is warming up

Matt Herges is not going to solve the D-Backs bullpen problems. If they like washed up relievers, maybe...

Sorry, Herges is still in the game.

Now Herges is out after walking Matt Stairs.

So there's that from Mr. Big. Don't get in a hurry or anything.

sigh...Grabowski swings at the first pitch and flys out.

Mikey(a la Dave Hansen) Edwards, our secret weapon.

I don't think Frank Thomas's one-handed swing ever cost him much power.

And it's more of a one-handed follow-through. When contact is made, both hands are on the bat. By releasing the top hand in the follow-through, the batter is supposed to get maximum arm extension upon contact.

It's from the Charlie Lau school of hitting, later espoused by guys like Walt Hriniak.

Makes me pine for Repko and his bunting

Edwards (so far) has been more akin to Manny Mota.

even if we score here, I say Penny's gotta stay in the game the way he's chucking it now

Tony Graffanino walks to load the bases against Javy Lopez (the other one). Two outs and Mark Teahen batting in Arizona.

MIKEY!!!!!!!!!time to get it done, baby.

Let's go Edwards.

Naw. Gotta go for the lead.

"citizen crain"

Good call there. Penny made almost 90 pitches, but he was still suspect. Gotta go for runs when the bases are loaded.

At least JT didn't send Robles up there.

Teahen draws a walk to make it 11-9 Arizona.

Fourth DBack reliever of the inning coming in: Lance Cormier.

I suspect 207 was assuming Penny wouldn't bat this inning.

"If one looks up courage in the Oxford English Dictionary, one might very well come upon a photo of these two gladiators. They approach the final hole in the shadow of the Great Emancipator, deadlocked at eight strokes on the happy side of par. Soon, one man will emerge triumphant; he will drink naught but champagne, while his opponent tastes bitter defeat in this oft cruel game."

Let's hope Duaner has something tonight.

#213: Pinch hitting for Penny was definitely the right call. I'm glad we didn't see Robles either. But, if Tracy is not going to play the matchup game, why Edwards instead of Saenz? Maybe because we only needed a single?

Six walks allowed by Arizona in the inning.

Hard to believe AZ was leading 11-3, its now 11-9 and KC has bases loaded. Bullpen imploding.

The first four pitchers for Arizona tonight have ERAs of
5.45
108
6.15
9.77

Too bad we didn't have Grabowski available to pinch hit for Penny.

uhhhh...you left a decimal point out of one of those, Bob! :)

#221: Haha.. thought you had forgotten a decimal point on the second ERA. Nope.

216- Which team is Todd Flanders?

222 -- or Odalis Perez.

The fifth pitcher for Arizona has an ERA of 1.67 however.

Holy Grabowski!!!

#218 - Tracy is saving Saenz to pinch-hit for Choi later.

Wow.. Grabowski could draw comparisons to Manny Ramirez out there in LF.

230-lol. grabowski's nickname should be the butcher

What was even more puzzling in the top of the 8th in Arizona is that Bob Melvin put in Scott Hairston to give Luis Gonzalez a rest. But he put Hairston in center and moved Jose Cruz to left. Then in the middle of the inning, he switched them.

Oh man. What did he do now?

does everyone recall when Grabs dropped/lost his mitt over the fence on a homer earlier this season and then waited patiently for someone to throw it back over?

My only fear is that Tracy will be so moved by Sanchez's impressive inning that he'll send him out for another one.

"Bob Melvin put in Scott Hairston to give Luis Gonzalez a rest. But he put Hairston in center and moved Jose Cruz to left. Then in the middle of the inning, he switched them."

Hairston had been getting time in CF at AAA, so I'm guessing Melvin figured he could let him play a little out there in a blowout. And then when it wasn't a blowout, he changed his mind.

Or was the game still a blowout when he re-switched em?

hahah yeah, that was in arizona

Duaner restores my faith. Now we have to suffer through Carrara and Wunsch in the eighth.

Wunchtime is funtime!

Worst throw of Castro's career?

It was 11-8 when Melvin switched Cruz and Hairston.

The Twins really want us to win tonight.

Not if we get a lead, Steve. Then Ghame is allowed to pitch.

repeat thricely

hee seop choi
hee seop choi
hee seop choi

Braztime is wintime!

Boy, this is really the kind of game I was seeing in person.

Jon, great quote. Describes the situation perfectly.

a bunt? wtf? fjt!!! fjt!!!

Gotta love that bunt by HSC.

I have to say, Castro's arm is pretty weak and he seems to make a lot of lazy throws. It doesn't keep him from being a very good shortstop, of course, but still.

Lets go J.D., time to earn your paycheck.

Bad Idea Jeans calls for the sac.

I will now jab my eyes out of my head with spoons.

that was so out of nowhere, it's funny. Was he really told to sac? that's what it says on gamecast.

Too bad we only have one out left now.

I'm almost postive that Choi was given a bunt sign.

What a moron. What a complete buffoon.

That sac bunt is looky bloody brilliant right about now.

how quickly it was proven the wrong move.

Choi looked dismayed by the bunt call. izzy was already in scoring position! tracy could ruin another scoring opp.

Wouldn't want Choi to hit 2 in a game, wouldya Tracy?

Steve, please don't. Substitute eyes of newt. Even if their hard to come by in Utah.

Forks will work better, Steve, but I thought you got rid of those eyes weeks ago.

a double head scratcher. When did Werth become Shawn Green?

man, tracy's got to go

Well, at least he bunted at a time when it would increase our odds of scoring one run. Not that I support that sort of thing.

253 - It gives you the signson Gamecast???

small strike zone

is werth the second coming of Billy Ashley?

come on JT, let our big Korean Thumper take a swing. Your killing us JT.

Melvin let Lance Cormier bat with 2 outs and 2 on, so it's his job to be the closer now in Arizona.

Steiner drives me crazy with his bogus flyout calls.

We didn't score that inning because we failed to execute on fundamentals.

That big inning going down the drain was so JT's fault.

How about that, it didn't work. Do you think he gets a Christmas Bonus from DePodesta based on the number of stupid bunts that waste baserunners at the end of the year?

Tracy's likely explanation for Choi's bunt: Werth hit the ball hard, but Jones made a great play.

Werth did hit it pretty hard and pretty far and Jones had to make a nice play to catch it.

Most frustrating is that, as Jon feared, Tracy is not adjusting or changing philosphies as the season goes along and as sabermetrics show the statistical truth of old school moves.

and that, class, is why you don't give up outs, especially when it's only the 7th.

271- I know what you mean, but that wasn't one of them. That looked like a sure double; Jones caught it on a dead run. Werth got robbed.

jon, please rename this blog Fire Jim Tracy Now! gawd almighty it's enough to make me cough up my wine....maybe we should start a letter writing campaign or something.

what happened to the t-shirts?

rgds
will

I can take the bunt. I can't take that $11 million infield sac. Disgusting.

JT manages like a man afraid for his job. Well, at least he's right in that.

The Royals have gotten their first two guys on in the 9th.

Now it's time for Joe McEwing! The Royals announcers are excited over this.

it is hard to ignore tracy's incompetence with him handicapping them at least once a game

Super Joe bunted into a force out.

I'd rather give three guys the chance to get a base hit, especially when it's 2-3-4 coming up.

275 -- wouldn't make any difference to the bunt, since he would have scored from second anyway. But for Tracy, any retarded excuse will do.

KC playing for the tie with their strong bullpen.

Okay, I'll give Charlie a reprieve. I really like him otherwise.

Well I wouldn't have given the bunt sign either but hey, look who Tracy brought out in the 8th even though we didn't have the lead.

Bases loaded for the Royals with one out and David DeJesus at the plate.

Super Joe is still playing? I'd thought he'd move on to stunt doubling for Kurt Russell.

290 -- he did that because he thought he was going to have the lead

if the Dodgers lose, maybe that bunt will be Tracy's waterloo...

even for the casual observer, that move made zero sense.

Glaus saves the game taking away a hit and getting a force play. 11-10 Arizona with 1st and 3rd and 2 outs for KC.

Where is Mike Sweeney, by the way? Matt Stairs bats third?

Sweeney is hurt.

I figured Drew would squeeze.

The test for JT now is who pitches the ninth. I'm not watching, but Gagne's gotta be warming up.

scoring fielder's choice in AZ. 11-10, first and third, stairs batting.

#287: Indeed, but I must admit I'm getting tired of bashing Tracy for each poor decision. It's feeling more and more like attacking Robles for not being a very good hitter every time he grounds out. They are what they are.

I smell steroids.

Stairs singles to tie it at 11.

Sweeney is hurt.

Of course, silly me.

YAY! Arizona sucks! It's official!

JT, please pinch hit for Grabowski. We'd like to win this game.
vr, Xei

Hooray, Bob! Satan loses his win!

298. Gane is up in the pen. Only one throwing.
vr, Xei

Tony Graffanino with the chance to be the hero now for KC.

#294: I agree it was the wrong decision, but it wasn't that bad. Ignoring the possibility of a double-play, you're trading the chances of 1 single in 3 ABs for either a single / flyout in the first AB or a single in the second AB. The first probability is higher, but it gets a lot closer once you include the chance of a DP and the chance of Izturis being thrown out at home.

Oh crap, Grabowski hitting for himself. I smell an 0 for 4.
vr, Xei

Lets go, GRABBOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Time for Steve to be conflicted.

298 - not a test. Tracy always puts Gagne in in that situation. No save opp left.

Sorry Jason.
vr, Xei

Ultimately Russ Ortiz was undone by his own Grabowski Principle. He gave up a homer to Zack Greinke way back in the 5th.

It was a harbinger.

atleast they took him out for a runner. :)
vr, Xei

Every base hit means another month of agonizingly bad .160 hitting.

315. Russ Ortiz is a very good hitter. Saw him homer at Dodger stadium 2 years ago.
vr, Xei

#313: As Jon said, this is a pretty common usage scenario. Over 1/4 of Gagne's innings last year came 9th inning or later with the game tied.

313- Jon, if we score here, wouldn't Eric get a save opp?

No double play Phillips, Old Maid Signs is on deck.
vr, Xei

320. Yep, unless we score more than 3 runs.
vr, Xei

Apparently Greinke wanted to make sure he was responsible for as much scoring as possible...with a HR for his team and 11 ER for AZ

Why isn't Phillips bunting?

Setting JP up for the breaking stuff away.
vr, Xei

Mauer having a rough night!!!!!!I love it!!!!

324. He must've missed the signal. :)
vr, Xei

ASU just lost to Fullerton when the umpire called a balk on an intentional walk w/a runner on third -- saying the pitcher didn't come to a complete stop. Ludicrous.

How about giving up 11 runs and getting a no-decision? Very Weaver-like.

#326: You know what else you love?????? Punctuation!!!!!!

Is this the banned substance guy now pitching for Minnesota? (Sorry, joining late)

Makes up for all the times he's allowed three hits and got the loss.

I just watched my brother's alma mater, Cal State Fullerton, win their game on the most bizarre balk call ever, on ball 4 of an intentional walk that would have juiced the bases for the next batter.

When I turned off ESPN the announcers were still trying to figure out what the hell even prompted the balk - their final theory was that it was because the pitcher seemed to have rubbed his mouth (only they think he was really just rubbing his nose) after the ball 4 had been called, while still on the mound.

Baseball!

Vinny is the tenth blogger.

320 - Yes, but that's obviously not a test of Tracy's strategy either.

Productive out by Phillips. :)
vr, Xei

BA/OB%/SLG/Salary

Piazza
254/320/422/$16 million

Phillips
273/322/418/$339,000

326-You Know it baby!!!!!!!

Two consecutive game threads where somebody picks on SSSJ's enthusiastic punctuating.

This ump has had no inside corner, all game.

Extra frames in Arizona as Ambiorix Burgos shots down the DBacks 1-2-3.

Mr Single is up with a chance to put us ahead. Please punch one to left Cesar.
vr, Xei

Bring in Mulholland!

Nathan should really be in the ball game right now.
vr, Xei

I can buy lots of !!!!!
And also lots of ??????
And I'm a big fan of the ellipsis ...

But the ,,,,,,,, makes no sense to me.

#180- Sorry for such a late response Jon.

OK, on Wednesday he took some decent swings but he did not tattoo the ball in my estimation. Again, it's purely subjective.

He inside outs the ball a lot on 2 strike counts and inside pitches where is where he gets pitched a lot with 2 strikes. I don't know how you are missing this and seeing the same at-bats I do? I don't know if Wallach taught him to inside out the ball so he makes more frequent contact because of his long stride but he does do it often. And considering he works the counts often enough I would say 3/4 of the time is a good guess.

Yes, he hit a HR tonight and by no means am I saying Choi isn't a good player, I am saying he could be better. I think his HR's rather than just clearing the walls could be hit in the pavilion seats.

I just don't see how people think Choi could be an a great player at this point. He needs a lot more improvement before I would even consider batting him against LH pitching yet many of you want him to play more often. Anyway, that was my whole point on the subject.

I don't think I've ever seen an inning end on a 1 unassisted at home in my life.

Stupid baserunning #17, Grabowski would've stayed at 3rd.
vr, Xei

Stupid baserunning #17, Grabowski would've stayed at 3rd.
vr, Xei

Wow.

345-Don't worry about it

Repko is stupid.

345-Don't worry about it

Terry Mulholland would make a good advertisement for antioxidants.

Anyone care to explain for those of us on Gamecast?

Do they still flash GAME OVER on the LF scoreboard...or did they stop after the streak ended?

347. Jon, there's alot of things that I've never seen happen before happen in a Dodger game this year.
vr, Xei

I just have great respect for the comma.

#347: Yeah. That was a little too much scrappiness by Repko. He should have stayed at 3B.

What happened? Don't tell me. Repko is now going to make me pine for Grabowski.

Q. Have we had a walk off HR this year? Don't recall any.

I think with 2 outs Repko was going to break on anything on the ground.

Check swing, swinging bunt perfectly placed down the third base line, runner hesitated coming home, pitcher got the ball and just barely tagged the runner out coming home. Hesitation killed him. Prolly should've stayed at 3rd.
vr, Xei

If Repko woulda broke sooner, he would have made it.

Who says Choi is a great player? No one says this. This is what is so crazy - how if you're supportive of Choi, people start to think you're blind to his faults.

We, like you, think he is a good player who could be better. Even his supporters think he should improve. We just think he can improve. And if it weren't for the surprise of Saenz, he would have earned the right to play against all pitching to do so.

I still think your 3/4 estimation is off. But in any event, with two strikes, many good hitters shorten up and just try to put the ball in play. It's a good thing.

I already called Repko as my nemesis weeks ago. Back off.

1-2-3. w/o Grabowski in the game I don't see how we can win.
vr, Xei

Troy Glaus is leading off against Mike MacDougal.

I sense this game ending soon.

gagne hit 94 on what looked like... a 2-seamer? that's a good sign, yes?

The Dodgers will not be safe as long as the Plaschkers and the Repkowski monsters roam the Earth.

#362: That's what I was thinking too, but he hesitated and only then decided to go. If he didn't hesitate, he likely would have made it. Once he hesitated, it was pretty clear he was going to run himself into the play.

Gagne only used 10 pitches in the ninth. He's good for another after the day off.

mulholland in the game! maybe THIS one will end soon :)

Just finished reading the rundown of tonight's game to date - I see Sanchez had a good outing. Doubtless because I was watching the Cal State Fullerton game instead following this one, thereby not jinxing him...

I think I'm going to throw up.

The last but one pitch hit 94. Is that the first time he's done 94, this year? Still a couple more MPH to go, but maybe he's getting back up to speed.

Y'all probably missed it so I'll ask again...

Do they still flash GAME OVER on the LF scoreboard...or did they stop after the streak ended?

#368: Yeah, the Royals got as many innings as they could from the guy whose name I'd have to look up to spell correctly.

I am quite prescient. Glaus homered to win the game 12-11.

Well done, going to Mullholland instead of Nathan.

Memo to Hee Seop Choi:

Dude, you must make them pay for doing anything as stupid as bringing Terry Mulholland into the game.

Sincerely,

Steve

Called it, Bob.

For some reason Mulholland is in. Game Over!?
vr, Xei

Evening folks. If Mulholland gets the side out, I'll kill my TV.

358-Fair enough Bob, I respect that.

over!!!!!!!!!!

Fire Ron Gardenhire!

Game over Choi wins it off the foul ball pole, Mulholland in???
vr, Xei

too bad choi doesn't hit the ball very hard

My TV thanks Choi!

When will Hee Seop start hitting the ball hard?

#377: I'm pretty sure they do, but only in save situations.

WOW! OFF THE FOUL POLE, was it?

OK, take back everything I ever said about Choi, I'm an idiot!!! DODGERS WIN!!!

THANK YOU!

HEE

SEOP

CHOI!

WE'RE EATING MEAT TONIGHT! GAME OVER!

That's a dramatic walkoff home run off the foul pole!
That's a dramatic walkoff home run off the foul pole!
That's a dramatic walkoff home run off the foul pole!

Yeah
My Big Big Korean Stud! Yes

what a funny funny game. the irony. good call hitchcock. I bet you Choi was fuming.

Hee Seop earns another start!

No, you should have bunted Hee-Seop!

Choi got beat up pretty bad at home plate. Hope he's ok. :)
vr, Xei

SWEET REDEMPTION!!!

Oh, do you beleive that! That's what I'm talking about!

Good God that was dumb.

Everybody has their Erickson.

WHO CAN'T HIT LEFT-HANDED PITCHING?!?!??!

It's party time, BABY. SOJU shots all night fellas.

Off a (should-be-retired) lefty!

Bob - nice but sad call by you re: Arizona.

The ball actually hit the screen on the pole, not the pole itself. So it was fair by about 2-3 feet instead of 2-3 inches.

Happy happy Choi Choi!

Twins manager gives game to Dodgers.
Battery low. Good night.
vr, Xei

It's cool, Brian. I think you made HSC's ears burn, inspiring him to victory.

Thanks Brian. Choi can hit it.

such delicious irony! my favorite dodger by far....
rgds, will

#381: I'm sure Choi is grateful for your memo.

#393: Off the wing of the foul pole about 25 feet up from the wall.

Jumping off my couch and convulsively gyrating woke and scared my wife who thought I was having some sort of medical trauma.

343. Steve
Bring in Mulholland!

I was kidding, Gardenhire! You moron!

It's Kimchi and Soju for us all baby, lets party. Yeah Hee Seop, your my HERO!!!!!!

How poetic!! And after Vin said all those nice things about Mulholland and his AARP card. Nice retirement present I think.

tsk, tsk. KC shoulda brought in sisco in AZ.

Mulholland is one of the few players I feel BAD for when I watch him. He should retire, but then again, which of us would if someone in MLB was willing to still give us a chance. He's like the opposite of the old hollywood hero story.

Honestly, what was Gardenhire thinking? Why do you go to your mop-up man with the game on the line? I was thinking Mulholland would have been the only lefty left, but, Romero is still in the pen.

Why are things like this so difficuly for managers to understand.

Choi had all the RBIs for the Dodgers tonight. 2 runs scored on errors and 1 on a wild pitch.

And nice job by the pen tonight...

Too bad Suffering Bruin can't be here to celebrate with us.

Meanwhile, UCLA rep hits a walk-off homer for Arizona.

#411: If Tracy hadn't already burned Edwards, Repko, and Saenz, I'm pretty certain he pinch hits for Choi against old-man Mulholland. The stars have certainly aligned.

Bob, despite that JT will sit him tomorrow.

FB, he still had Robles.

I'm furiously trying to put my eyes back in my head. Let Twins fans cover for their idiot manager for a night.

Man. That was fun*.

429 -- That's funny, because knowing that, Gardenhire probably wouldn't have been baited into bringing in Mulholland knowing that Saenz was going to be in the game.

I'm happy, especially because of how we won. But, if we would have lost, I would have been very sad. The Twins deserved an L with the way they played. Three errors, three wild pitches, 9 hits allowed, 5 walks, and a HBP. They're going to have to play a lot better to catch the Small Sox.

The most dramatic win of the year! Better start looking over your shoulder San Diego, this is our turning point of the season, now we are going to click on all cylinders.Go Dodgers!!!!!!

Steve - in answer to your question from 14 hours ago, Houlton is starting Sunday, and Thompson is gonna be the long man/second lefty. Supposedly, Dessens is close to returning next week.

Hopefully Tracy learned something from his success tonight: in a tie ballgame, use your best relievers. Thankfully, Gardenhire still needs to learn this also.

#429: Agreed. Tracy doesn't let Choi hit there if he has another right-handed bat to go to. Lucky us.

I would be pretty surprised if Choi didn't start tomorrow. I think Saenz would be pretty surprised if he was in the starting lineup after Choi's performance tonight.

#431: The book says that lefties can't hit lefties unless they are Stars (e.g. Drew), so in that instance Robles is no better than Choi. Rose was also available as a switch-hitter, but Tracy doesn't hate Choi that much.

Mike MacDougal and Terry Mulholland both lost tonight on game-ending home runs on the only pitch they threw.

"Fire Gardenhire" makes for a really good chant.

Still, Drew and Kent follow, so it still does not justify bringing in Mulholland.

438 - Tracy has never had much of a problem using his best guys in a tie game. It's in a losing game, however close, that he seems so resistant.

...just as it should be, Bob.

And of course, Tracy doesn't do the smokejumping thing, protecting a tough lead in the sixth or seventh with Brazoban or Gagne. (Not that i'm trying to start that debate again tonight - just enjoying the win.)

437 -- yeah, and we all know what that means.

But Erickson...was...warming...up...tonight. That makes me angry.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright.
Nancy Bea is playing somewhere and somewhere hearts are light.
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout.
but there is no joy in Twinsville--might Choi has hit it out.

Anybody have updates when MB will be back?

On Fox, they said that Bradley won't even pick up a bat for another week.

vinny said dodgers have exact same record this year as they did last year. 32-28. it's been a trying 32-28 this year.

Sportscenter just showed the Choi walkoff homer. Awww to the big homeplate celebration!

Can't wait for MB to get back.

441 -- of course, the Royals probably ran out of pitchers, where the Twins had four more before they should have gotten to the 16th Inning Guy.

Hey, the Dodogers won dramatically five minutes ago...good thing the SCSR is right on the case with an intensive wrap-up of today's Phil Jackson Prima Donna News Watch.

Choi's batting lines by lineup position:

#2: 93 AB; .323/.388/.581 (.969)
#3: 07 AB; .000/.000/.000 (.000)
#5: 03 AB; .333/.500/.333 (.833)
#7: 22 AB; .136/.231/.136 (.337)
#8: 08 AB; .125/.300/.125 (.425)
#9: 11 AB; .000/.154/.000 (.154)

He's been a monster so far batting second.

Only 2.5 games back of the Padres for the division and 1 game back of the Phillies for the wild card. Goodnight all.

Hee Seop was on KFWB's post game show, interviewed by A. Martinez. In response to a question about what he thought of the fans chanting his name, Hee said, "I hit two homeruns [unintelligible] so I'm happy."

My problem with Tracy's bullpen managment tonight is that if it had gone into extra innings we would have been in trouble. With Duaner looking strong I would have let him go an extra inning. That gives you extra room with Yhency and Gagne. Luckily, Choi ended it. But it still bothers me that Tracy doesn't seem to look ahead.

The Phillies are in the wild card spot?

As for the Royals tonight, they used seven pitchers, but one guy left after he got injured warming up. I think the Royals would have been left using starters if the game had gone much further.

I'm still wondering how bad the Yankees must be playing to have been swept by that bunch.

I'm looking forward to Saturday's game and I can hear Icaros complain about Jim Tracy in person.

458 - Tracy's usual problem is that he looks too far ahead, and worries too much about conserving relievers.

458. Feels wierd saying this, but JT did a nice job with the bullpen tonight. No complaints, but everything he did was a no brainer.
vr, Xei

Jon:
This was from a few days ago, but "Let's not and say we did," is that from Weird Science? Or maybe The Manhattan Project.

It's driving me crazy, that's for sure.

458 - sometimes when you're looking ahead, you trip over the step in front of you.

I've been convinced by the posters here that Sanchez is a decent pitcher whose decent outings I just always happen to miss. But one thing that everyone does seem in agreement on is that when he implodes, he implodes quickly (see his last performance). And as Jon pointed out a couple of Dodger Thoughts ago, Sanchez has had a lot of work. Finally, if he'd pitched that second inning, that means I would've logged onto Sportscenter while he was pitching and inadvertently jinxed him. ;-)

I'm comfortable with Tracy going for the win in 9 innings rather than playing for extra innings, since he knew the heart of the order would be coming up. Why risk falling behind and causing our hitters to press?

I'm looking forward to Saturday's game and I can hear Icaros complain about Jim Tracy in person

I'm going to pretend to be the guy who has never seen baseball before, so everyone around us can listen to Bob explain every facet of the game the entire night.

"So, you mean, the lineup doesn't have to go first base bats first, second base bats second, third bats third, and so on?"