The day Calvin Smith broke the 100 record, Evelyn Ashford broke the women's record a few minutes before.

Random Dodger game callback

June 15, 1924

Behind a strong pitching performance from Dutch Ruether, the Brooklyn Robins edged the St. Louis Cardinals at Ebbets Field, 4-3. The win improved the Dodgers to 27-22 in third place 3 ½ games behind the first place Giants.

Ruether, who was the ace of the 1919 World Series champion Reds, gave up just four hits, but five Brooklyn errors kept St. Louis in the game. Brooklyn stranded 13 runners on base and had five runners thrown at out home during the game.

The Dodgers scored first in the fourth after Mike Griffith sacrifice fly scored Milt Stock. An error by Rogers Hornsby in the fifth led to Brooklyn loading the bases and Cardinal starter Eddie Dyer walked Eddie Brown to force in Andy High.

In the sixth, the Cardinals, hitless at the time, got two runners on thanks to a walk and an error by High. The Cardinals then strung together RBI singles by Taylor Douthit, Hornsby, and Max Flack to take a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, Brooklyn got its lead off man when Griffith reached on an error. Taylor singled Griffith to second. Then with one out, High hit a grounder to third which Cardinal third baseman Jimmy Cooney knocked down. Griffith tried to score on the play, but was thrown out at the plate. But Taylor was able to make it to third and High to second. Both men scored on a double by Jimmy Johnston. Ruether was able to make the 4-3 lead hold up.

Brooklyn had several good pitchers in 1924, but Ruether wasn't among them. He went 8-13 with a 3.91 ERA. Hall of Famers Burleigh Grimes and Dazzy Vance were spectacular. Vance went 28-7 with a 2.16 ERA and led the NL with 262 Ks. Grimes was 22-13 with a 3.82 ERA. Bill Doak, acquired from St. Louis on June 13, went 11-5 with a 3.07 ERA.

On offense, Zack Wheat and Jack Fournier were the stars. Wheat batted .375, which was the second best behind only Hornsby's otherworldly .424. He had arguably his best season in the majors at age 36. Fournier led the NL in home runs with 27 and drove in 116 with a .334 average. Fournier was second in the NL in RBI to New York's George Kelly who had 136. The Dodgers batted .287 as a team.

After three mediocre season after winning the pennant in 1920, Brooklyn made a run at the pennant in 1924, going 92-62 and missing out on the pennant by just 1 ½ games and stayed in the race until the next to last day of the season. The Dodgers were eliminated when Doak lost to the last place Braves, 3-2, on September 27. Oddly enough, manager Wilbert Robinson didn't use Grimes (who hadn't pitched in two days) to relieve Doak in the game, but did use him as a pinch hitter.

The Giants ended up winning their fourth consecutive NL pennant, the first team to do so in National League history. (The Yankees have two had stretches of five consecutive pennants.) While some may have thought that the balance of power in the NL may have shifted to Brooklyn, that would not be the case.

Thanks to the NY Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

2105... that would place you in what.. your 130s?

optimistic, indeed.

i peg my own life expectancy at a modest 110 or so. 2091, here i come! it'd be neat to see 2100 though.

Today's Lineup:

1. Perez - SS
2. Werth
3. Drew
4. Kent
5. Saenz - DH
6. Choi
7. Phillips
8. Grabowski
9. Edwards - 3B

a little shakeup due to Izturis resting again, hopefully Choi will have people to drive in at the 6 spot.

Why not Grabowski second, Werth sixth, and Choi eighth?

And for the Royals:
Berroa
DeJesus
Sweeney
Stairs
Brown
Teahen
Graffanino
Costa
Buck

Can anyone check the timing of the commencement of the Dodgers' fevered All-Star campaign for Izturis and the commencement of his slump?

See, the Royals bat their best hitter 8th, too.

Since being endorsed by Bill Plaschke -- 2 for 28 with two walks. For the month -- 4 for 41 with three walks.

And one very, very stupid bunt.

Bob -

Wouldn't that be the Random Robins game callback? Robins Thoughts?

As time is going on, I'm just dumping the idea of using whatever the "nickname du jour" was and trying to use Dodgers. Sometimes, I'll just say Brooklyn.

I've come across Atlantics, Grays, Grooms, Bridgegrooms, Superbas, Robins, and Trolley Dodgers.

I will eschew the use of Bums.

Along the lines of the SI jinx, do we now have the Kiss of Plaschke?

I ask this with full knowledge that Adrian Beltre is a victim of the Kiss of Weisman.

I always liked "Superbas." Imagine if the team still used that. Superba Stadium. Superba Dog. If you think about it, Dodgers is no less ridiculous, we're just used to hearing it.

Speaking of things historical, are they really going to tear down Yankee Stadium? Is that possible?

As soon as Plaschke jumped on the bandwagon, we started playing like crap.

I've said it before. Bill Plaschke is a better counter-indicator than the price of gold.

I don't believe in the Kiss of (Insert Name Here). I do believe in the Curse of Jason Ellison. I believe the Dodgers will never win a game when I go to see them play again.

I gave away my tickets for June 29.

The NY Times says that Ashford and Smith set their records 15 minutes apart.

Interesting discussion on one of my fantasy baseball message boards today...

Marlins ahead 15-0 after six innings, McKeon lets Burnett hit in the top of the 7th so he obviously has him pitch in the bottom of the inning. He had already thrown 84 pitches coming in.

Inning goes:
double
rbi single
fly out
single
rbi single
fly out
3-run homer
single

and only then was Burnett finally pulled, with his final pitch count at 105 pitches.

So at what point would all of you have pulled him? I say after the 6th, no reason letting an injury-prone guy pitch more innings than necessary.

Even I couldn't break Bob's C of E.

Had a good time, though.

O.K., if those of you still interested in the Great Bunting Debate are following Det-SD, have at it.

But they scored anyway! It worked! Smallball for everyone!

Ummm, I'm looking at the play-by-play and not seeing any bunts, who did it and when did it happen?

The drawings for the new Yankee Stadium looks like they are going to make the stadium smaller and get rid of some of those seats that are really, really, really far from home.

But they will redo the frieze. It's supposed to be copper. I wonder how long copper lasts outdoors before it gets all gross like the current frieze is.

The banjo hitter who homered off of Duaner popped out on a bunt with first and second and nobody out.

Shelton bunted the leadoff man over and reached on bad throw by Nevin.
Then Giarratano popped up a bunt.

Re 16, you can't question Jack McKeon. That's the rules. Anyway, if Burnett gets hurt, that's Mota's fault.

Pudge should have bunted.

Shelton bunted? The guy's apparently such a bad fielder that Dmitri Young has to play 1st instead of him and he's bunting? And with two strikes? That is not a time when I would be attempting a bunt.

Plus, obviously bunting is only reliant on how good your batter is at bunting. My belief is anyone that can't hit 20+ homers should be required to know how to bunt effectively.

You make a point, Overkill. Dmitri Young is a bad fielder.

I don't understand why the rules would force Jack McKeon to leave AJ Burnett in the game...which was supremely dumb by the way.

I was referring to Rule 26(b)-

Jack McKeon will not be questioned. Or else.

O.K. Shelton is up again with no outs and a guy on second. Bunting?

Man, Shelton looks like the guy from "Powder" in his GameCenter photo.

Obviously I only care about the Burnett thing because he's on my fantasy team, but for once I think the intentions of the fantasy owner should have been the same as the manager.

To add to the debate, here is the all-important bullpen usage the previous 3 days:
Tuesday - T. Smith (1 IP, 29 pitches), de Los Santos (2/3, 11), Bentz (1/3, 18), Riedling (2/3, 5)
Monday - T. Smith (1, 8), Mota (1, 24)
Sunday - de Los Santos (1 1/3, 24), Mota (1, 18), Riedling (1, 7)

Glad he didn't bunt.

O.K. Giarratano up again with no outs and a guy on second. Bunting?

Re: 30

In my "book" he would not be bunting

a) because he should never bunt in the first place
b) they have an early, fairly substantial lead

normally I would have Giarratano bunt, but again the lead differential negates it.

Correction: Chris Shelton didn't bunt

Giarattano made a productive out.

Re: 37

That makes a lot more sense, I wouldn't think he'd be bunting with two strikes, let alone at all.

Bochy has gone to the bullpen in the third inning when is starter clearly didn't have it. We know what Tracy would have done. Discuss.

40 - Bunted?

I'm watching on MLBEI tonight, so I have to watch the Royals feed. The Royals advertisement I just saw was a pitching montage of Jeremy Affeldt, Mike MacDougal, and Brian Anderson. If I was a Royals fan, that would make me sad.

The difference between Darrell May and Scott Erickson is not great.

I like Perez leading off, but Werth #2? AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH Tracy is so f'ing frustrating. Drew is a natural #2 with all the walks he draws. Werth is a #7.

The Royals announcer should be Denny Matthews and Paul Splitorff. They really aren't that bad considering they have to cover the Royals day in and day out.

Drew is a natural #2 with all the walks he draws. Werth is a #7.

Sounds like an episode of "The Prisoner"

Yeah, I've never understood putting an inferior hitter ahead of a better hitter. It's like saying, "I'd rather have Werth than Drew batting with the game on the line."

Re - 44

This is classic Tracy. Put the guy who's struggling in the 2 spot so he can see some pitches to hit. If you ask me, I'd say Choi's been doing o.k.

Werth down on strikes... on an awful pitch... big surprise.

Like "The Prisoner" it seems that every week there is a new #2.

#45: Yeah, it's gotta be a tough job. They try to be really positive about the Royals, but sometimes the stretching gets a little silly.

Nice swing Werth. Thanks for playing.

We just struck out twice in the first inning against Lima...I think I'm gonna be sick.

Werth should have bunt Perez over to scoring position. :)

I would worry more if you have to listen to Ken Harrelson and Darrin Jackson over the weekend. Absolute worst announcing team in the majors.

Lima ER last 8 starts:
5,5,5,7,2,8,5,3

And of course the 2 is STL.

These Common Taters suck. I want my Vin.

Lima's average Ks per start: 2.46.
K/9: 4.5.

I love how Lyons is bagging on Berroa's OBP when his career mark was .301

Royals announcer: "Hee Seop Choi is one of the hottest bats in all of baseball right now".

Could you please tell Tracy? He has him batting 6th.

Choi bats second in the second inning instead of second in the first inning...

Those of us in L.A. would want our Vin too, but he's back at home. Vin doesn't do Kansas City.

Brad,
Alyssa Milano has told me that she only likes guys who throw strikes.

So is it a rule that we always have to give up a run in the 1st inning?

Just a thought. SD is on their way to losing their Peavy/Eaton starts vs. Detroit. Tonight was already a must-win with Penny v. Lima. A loss would now reach brick-through-the-TV, 1 week boycott proportions no?

Lima's ERA is no longer in KC.

It is now in South Carolina

I'd rather have seen a ball way outside than that nice low one Brad tossed over the center of the plate. Fantastic.

And if Tracy had batted Choi at 2nd, the score might be 2-1 right now rather than 0-1.

Choi doesn't hit homeruns with runners on base.

Brad Penny's ERA is Pittsburgh.

68 - he hit a 2-run shot on, I believe, Friday.

I hope this doesn't happen, but I fear we may see Lima time at its best tonight.

70 - That's ancient history...he has hit 6 homeruns since then!

Lima Time.

Well, at least Lima didn't strike anybody out in the 2nd. That would have been embarrassing!

The game is only an inning and a half old and I'm already frustrated beyond belief....I might not make it through the whole game.

#75- I was frustrated the moment I saw the line-up.

In Ex-Dodger Pitcher News, Kevin Brown gets knocked out in the 5th and the Yankees are trailing the Bucs 3-1. Do you think that the Yankees really will not make the playoffs?

Penny needs to trust his curveball more with 2 strikes, he just keeps letting people foul off his fastball.

Wow it's weird hearing them talk about Costa and his dad. What they don't mention is how his grandpa got busted for giving out steroids to the people who were his personal trainer clients.

Plus, it's Visalia, not Vizalia.

If you're really bothered that Jayson Werth is batting second, you probably need to take a deep breath and step back. It really doesn't matter that much.

OK, Bob -- where in the world is Penny's ERA?

I tend to get bothered by really irrational things when it comes to the Dodgers. Like why they can't go 162-0.

Monday and Downing are making me suicidal. All the way home, I think they called maybe 50% of the pitches. The others got in the way of their inane conversation. Downing at one point said "when a team starts hitting, their confidence goes up. All they need then is good pitching and good defense"

Going all the way back to 29 -- You are exactly right. Again, I'm in a supremely bad mood. And now Werth is hitting second and Choi is hitting sixth.

What are the most consecutive innings Lima has gone this year without giving up a run, it can't be more than three.

Well, he held Tampa Bay scoreless for 3 innings. They scored 4 in the 4th.

Colassal error in judgement from Gagne. He felt pain in his elbow and he kept warming up?

I appreciate his additude, saying that he just wanted to stay positive and not give in to the pain. But a positive additude can't stop the ligaments from tearing (or whatever the problem is)

80 -- why not just pull names out of a hat then?

I hope the gun is accurate. It had Penny at 97

I remember playing Strat-o-matic baseball as a teen and we would always bat our best hitters #1 and 2 so they would get the most ABs. Over the course of a season, it made a big difference in the number of plate appearances.

My internet connection is balky. From reading these comments, I assume we're losing 14-0, Tracy has been calling bunts with two outs, and Lasorda just told Gagne to "just rub some dirt on it and warm up like a man." My gameday is stuck with the Dodgers only losing 1-0. How'd all this happen?

Penny is being about as economical as Jose Canseco on a bender tonight - 3 IP, 67 pitches

#63

and she likes them going 97. wheeee!!

67 pitches?

Did the first baseman just throw his glove?

Whoa, thats our break. ooh hopefully not for sweeny

See, that's why you bunt, to injure the other team's best hitter.

95 had his glove knocked off by werths body

BREAKING NEWS:

Eric Gagne is a super nice guy, but not so smart when it comes to reading his body. I couldn't believe how frank he was in telling how this latest injury happened. He felt pain in the bullpen, but decided to ignore it and knew that adrenaline would take over, so he pitched the 9th anyway?

"I figured if this is my last start for a while I should go out there and have fun"???

(or something to that effect)

What the heck? Anybody else a little miffed about that?

Ouch! There goes their best player. I hate to win that way. Who are we, the Detroit Pistons?... ok, I know it was an accident.

Still sucks when a great player gets hurt.

man, choi didn't even get bank of america player of the week. i'm moving to new york in august, and i was thinking of switching to b of a... after this, maybe not!

i still don't like bunts.

As for Penny throwing 97, the gun also has Lima throwing 90, so I'm assuming Penny's just throwing his usual 92-93, which is still just fine with me.

Hey Landonkk...

Check out #87.

I'm shocked as well.

99 -- Why not? He's getting paid regardless.

Did Drew just hit that ball to the exact same spot he did in the first inning?

This may have already been discussed, but what's with the blonde 'do on Lima? Or is it just gray?

Absurd. If Werth can't swing bat and hit ball, we should trade him for Esteban Yan.

Is that a toy poodle under Lima's hat?

Another RBI for Kent. The guy is so Hall of Fame.

Hey, an RBI single. What's that?

No Hoffman at thrid base coach? Jim Lett tonight.

saenz hit hoffman on the side of the head today in BP. He's ok but has a concussion.

And now in LF for your Los Angeles Dodgers -- Tony Womack!

Why do they take a ball out of play after a pitch in the dirt, but leave the ball in play after it has been hit? For instance: after a ground out, the infielders throw the ball around the horn, then back to the pitcher. Surely more damage is done to the ball after being hit than on a pitch in the dirt, no?

112. He didn't blow out a rotator cuff?

Re: 114

No, it's all about whether the ball has been scuffed or not. The ball simply being thrown has no effect on the ball, and for some reason they don't care about balls that shorthop an infielder.

Re: 116.

Yeah, I get that it is about the ball being scuffed. My point is that a groundout will be at least as scuffed as a pitch in the dirt, yet that ball stays in the game and a pitch in the dirt is tossed out.

#115
You never know what really happened because it's the dodgers medical staff but they are saying it was Olmedo BP batted ball hitting hoffman in the head.

104-

Smirk,

Sorry. I zoomed through the comments quickly and didn't see your post.

Yeah, I don't understand why he would (A) Not say something in the first place considering he came off the DL less than 6 weeks ago for an elbow injury and (B) That he would admit that he basically didn't care about the pain because he wanted to pitch the 9th.

His competitiveness is great when he is healthy, but not so much when he isn't 100%. Coming back this spring, limping around on the mound trying to pitch with a bad knee is another example. Even if it is just a slight tear, we should shelve him for the rest of the season to make sure this doesn't happen again.

I just noticed that Jon Garland, who went to my high school, is losing to my archenemy 6-2.

URGH!

#115

lol

118. I just thought from all the waving home he does, that would be the logical injury :)

freaking edwards. now we get more bunts.

Steve Lyons has compared hitting to typing. I've always had trouble with the z key. It's low and away for me.

My wife's OB is named Grabowski. I think that's what I'll call him from now on: The OB

Thanks Vishal, I'll be here all week :-)

A K and it only took 9 pitches.

Sigh.

Landonkk

I agree. Obviously, love Gagne and his competitive nature. But it's weird when a professional athlete shows such a lack of awareness. He talked about the pain like it was a sore throat or a headache or something trivial, not the multi-million dollar instrument that it is.

Nothin' wrong with Gagne that some 'roids wont fix.

Reminding myself: the Royals are a team on the rebound... the Royals are a team on the rebound...

What happened to the Dodgers offense?

Well, the good news is that Penny is getting ground balls.

I'm grateful to get out with only 2 runs scored.

We are going to bring out another pitcher for the next inning, right? Right? I know our bullpen isn't great, but Penny's at 107 pitches and we've seen how many pitches he's expending even on the outs.

The Dodgers offense looks like it needs to read some more Milton.

Paradise Lost?

great at-bats we're having here against lima. this is one of the few instances when it's NOT good for your lineup to resemble the cardinals.

#132

osoria's been warming up, i'm assuming he's in for the 6th...

..or not.

Justice prevails. The White Sox score 6 in the 6th and lead Arizona and the Evil One, 8-6.

Royce Clayton made a pair of misplays to help the rally.

I guess they want Penny to retire the bottom of the order rather than waste Osoria's arm on batters who theoretically should be automatic outs.

We'll see how well this works out.

and it paid off, oddly enough.

did i comment for the cycle?

I'd make a snide comment about the remark that `wrists and elbows are meant to go in only one direction', but I'm eating a taco.

Bob's pal Russ Ortiz is blowing up. Gave up 5 run lead with the help of Royce Clayton and others. 9-6 White Sox

Hooray!

We're not going to push our luck next inning, right?

Attack of the Killer Olmedo

another professional 3-pitch strikeout from saenz

nice play

If we hadn't injured Sweeney, Graffanino would have been there and Choi would have had a single.

wow, nice play.

I'm going to switch over to the beginning of the Angels-Nationals game to see if Colon throws at Jose Guillen for last night's game. Or maybe he'll just throw one at Frank Robinson in the dugout.

If the Dodgers suddenly start scoring, you're not allowed to switch back, Bob.

Not all the "heroes" of 2004 are having a good night. Green is 0 for 2 in Chicago. Cora isn't playing in Cleveland. I think Beltre is going to sit out tonight's game against the Phillies.

haha, the tagline for tonight's angel game is "the sweet smell of colon". we'll see if it's the english pronunciation or the spanish or french one.

...penny is STILL pitching?

Ortiz gives up 3run jack to Konerko 12-6

Actually that's Claudio Vargas in now for Arizona.

152. Vishal, you've ruined my appetite.

I know Gagne is on the DL...but this is ridiculous.

You are correct Bob. Its just that whenever I see a D'back give up a 3 run HR I assume its Ortiz. If you go to the AZ Snakepit blog, D'Back fans have really had it with Ortiz.

Colon didn't throw at Guillen. He grounded out on the first pitch.

I did picture-in-picture by the way.

I just can't believe we are going down so meekly to Lima

Neither did the Cardinals last year.

How did everyone know that Lima was going to dominate us tonight? Is it only Lima Time when the Dodgers and/or Cardinals are involved? Such a mismatch on paper...

Geez, all of a sudden EVERYTHING is called a strike.

162 - simple. Murphy's Law.

I guess the ump decided it's time to loosen up.

#164: Exactly. Plaschke is sitting at home drooling over the story he gets to write after the game.

No if Gio keeps it close, we can bunt our way to victory in the 9th!

11 pitches, 3 outs, no runs. I'll take it.

To make matters worse I will predict we get 1R but not 2.

Interesting development in AA. Jonathan Broxton was just moved into a relief role. He pitched 1 inning giving up a hit while striking out 2. Some scouts project him as a closer, and in a late-inning relief role he could move much more quickly through the system. We have a dearth of strong relievers in our system, so this could be the first in a series of such moves.

Same city, doofus Lyons...different organization.

Hey this is one of those situations where Choi batting 2nd could've affected the outcome!

So much for my predictions.

Last night was frustrating; tonight was just depressing.

Just another example of baseball's fickle nature.

Well, I'm just gonna throw up. The KC Royals, for crying out loud.

Re: 174

Agreed

You know the play by play and color commentary has been bad when you flip over to the Angels and think the announcers are an improvement.

Go figure. The Yankees beat the Pirates on a game-ending home run by Jason Giambi.

Does this mean he's better or does it count for less because he hit off of Jose Mesa?

#170: I now see another reason why. Edwin Jackson is currently listed on the Suns roster, and Eric Stults was moved up to Las Vegas to take his place:

Suns Roster: http://tinyurl.com/79qga
51s Roster: http://tinyurl.com/8vgtg

Had anyone here heard about this move?

There seems like there's another move in order, perhaps pulling someone from the rotation in High-A up to AA. Edwin Jackson took Stult's rotation spot at AA, so moving Orenduff to relief still leaves one rotation slot open in AA (Billingsley, Jackson, Hanrahan, Hull, and ???). Orenduff and Billingsley seem to be the two likeliest candidates to be moved up from Vero Beach.

SCSR Interview with Lima "I wish I could face the Dodgers every night."

No kidding, Jose

#180: To summarize: Edwin Jackson has been demoted to AA Jacksonville.

Lima "I didn't get one phone call from the Dodgers in the off season, Not one phone call. Not even thanks for the help last season."

Gee, where have we heard that before.

Jose,
You got a bonus check for the playoffs. What else do you want?

anyone know if Depo said anything interesting in his radio interview today?

#180: Another intriguing possibility would be to move Hong-Chih Kuo up to AA. He's old for Vero Beach at 24. Additionally, his last 3 starts have been superb. He now has 34 Ks and 9 BBs in 22 IP.

SCSR interview with Gagne not very encouraging. Break out the Ghame Over tee shirts. . .again

Does anyone know if the Dodgers have insurance on Gagne if they lose him for the rest of the season?

ESPN has the full story on Hoffman's injury.

"Hoffman, 46, was standing on the third base side of the infield near the Dodgers' dugout when the ball struck him squarely on the side of the head, in the right ear. It was hit by Olmedo Saenz and the impact made a sound that was clearly heard by everybody in the area."

http://tinyurl.com/cfpc4

If I'm a Royals fan, I'm PISSED about tonight's game. Lima basically showed that he can dominate an otherwise good hitting team if and when he is motivated to do so.

At least the rest of the division is as crappy as us, the white sox came back to beat AZ, only SF won tonight....not really counting Colorado, nothing against the state or anything.

Sorry, I actually enjoyed Lima time again. He gave me to much enjoyment last year not to root for him. Wouldn't have given him a contract but that doesn't mean I can't root for him.

Moving Broxton to relief tells me that they are clearing a quick path to the majors for him.

Today our starting lineup looked more like the Royals since our lineup consisted of Edwards/A Perez/Grabowski/Werth, 2 AAA players from last year with little upside, one career pinch hitter, and one player(Werth) who looks like he should be in AAA. Some posters make fun of the Padre and Diamondback rosters, then I see our starting lineup, and it makes me laugh. All we need now is to start Robles tomorrow. Don't be fooled by the high average A Perez put out in the beginning. The more he plays against RHP the more his average will fall to the proper place between 260-275. He's a decent player for a middle infielder. If our outfield corners had any power he could stay at 3b but with the power outage that Werth is demonstrating we can't afford a single hitting 3b. I hope that MB comes back soon and knocks some of these dominoes out of place.
Werth is really bugging me this year. Not just the fact he's hitting like Royce Clayton but his mannerisms at the plate and in the field are just driving me frickin crazy.

I saw the Broxton thing and was pretty disappointed. Broxton has dominated as a starter and it seems like a waste to turn a seven-inning pitcher into a one inning-guy. But, with Penny, Perez and Lowe locked up, and guys like Billingsley, Jackson (hopefully), Orenduff, Tiffany, and maybe eventually Miller, there's not enough roster spots for all these guys.

I know this is a Dodger site and this is way off topic but I can't help myself. After the Dodger game flipping channels I came across a show on ABC called "Dancing With the Stars" This is the worst thing I ever saw. The stars are of the most marginal quality, such as Trista (the bachlorette) and a bunch of other no names. Except for this: Evander Hollifield. Yes the boxer. This is wrong on so many levels. Now there is nothing wrong with the man who kicked Mike Tyson's ass, twice no less, dancing but this is embarrassing. I haven't read anything about Evander losing all of his money but he must have to be tinkerbelling his way through this chezzzzy show. Worse yet, the guy who played Elaine's boss on Sienfield just danced and after commending himself for letting it all hang out said "No one came here to see Reggie [Jackson] bunt." (Maybe Steve would nominate him to replace JT)

I apologize this Dodger interruption, but until you see it you can't fully appreciate this debacle.

#193

what's wrong with being a relief pitcher first? Orel Hershiser and Dave stewart were in the bullpen before they broke into rotation, along with many others. I hate this defined role bull crap. get some of these young guys with the live arms up here. Put in the pen. it won't kill them. I mean Gio and erickson are wastes(little hard on gio but i'm pissed)

#195: I agree. I don't think the Dodgers are declaring an end to his future as a starter. What they are doing is putting him in a position to contribute sooner as a reliever. I think the bullpen is a great way to nurture a young pitcher who has a couple good pitches, but is still working the kinks out of the rest of the arsenal. For a prime example, see the Minnesota Twins' handling of Johan Santana. Even Duaner Sanchez is a good example, as he's always thrown hard, but he's more recently developed some good complementary pitches.

#193: Besides, as you mentioned, the number of legitimate starting pitching prospects we have is ridiculous.

Just got back from tonight's game, perhaps the most depressing thing ever (yes, that is a ridiculous thing to say). The first bad omen was Hoffman's taking one right in the head. Seanz's shot literally curved around the BP backstop and nailed Hoffman. He started to duck out of the way and when it hit him he just fell face flat. He lay there for about five minutes before they rolled him over. I said that was the first bad omen, I guess the second would be Lima's Limanade hair job. He was desperate. It must have worked, because the jocular Kansas City(an?)in front of me kept saying the peroxide leaked into his brain and made him pitch better. Intangibles, man.

I was pretty depressed throughout (the Dodgers haven't won the past eight games I've attended). The walk back to the car made it all better. Royals fans kept yelling "Dodgers suck" whenever they saw my jersey. I think they may have forgotten which team is out of first place by 30 games. Perhaps they are desperate; I'm sure I will see half the crowd with peroxide-blond hair tomorrow night. It's also funny that we (not the Royals) can seem to beat everybody else in their division (he said, realizing the Dodgers still had to play the white sox this weekend).

Anyway, here's to better results tomorrow. If they lose, I guess I really am cursed. My apologies in advance.

I think the Dodgers' have decided that Broxton's power arm is needed to replace Gagne's as soon as possible, and Santana is a good example of how a starter's move to the bullpen to fill a need does not have to be a permanent move.

After the Dodgers drafted Broxton in 2002 and he reported to Rookie ball in Great Falls, he started six games and was used as a reliever in five others. I remember him closing a game pitching two innings, facing six batters and striking out all of them. As a reliever he did not have to pace himself, so his fastball was red hot and nobody stood a chance against it.

#196 & 199. Well said. much better than I.

#199 Good God, harased by KC fans. No one deserves that.