I have no clue to the trivia answes. Sorry.

But I posted first for the first time (Woo-hoo!)

number 2 is maury wills, i believe

2 - correct.

feel duty bound to half guess and half remember that RFK is older.

I'm pretty sure Dodger Stadium is older.

4 - correct. Bonus - by how much?

And I'm wrong. RFK opened for football the fall before Dodger Stadium opened.

Oops, sorry.

6 -- I think it's very little, like they both opened for the same season but DC played first. As to which season, um, African, no European . . .

Well, RFK must have had a different name if it's older than DS. Cuz RFK himself wasn't being memorialized before 1968.

1965

10 - It was DC Stadium.

RFK opened in 1961 as D.C. Stadium. It replaced Griffith Stadium. I believe you can see shots of old Griffith stadium in the movie Damn Yankees.

Which makes me think, the Dodgers could use a Joe Hardy about now.

On #4, I know that Steve has been trying to trade for him all year. Does that count?

Marty, Did'ys get a followup e-mail from Eric Neel?

OK, I turned on Mason & Ireland at 1pm. They're giving me a migraine with the Raffy-Roids stuff. Any idea when DePo is scheduled to come one?

I did Jim. This morning. I hadn't realized he didn't know my first name!

Meanwhile, a couple of items of potential DT interest from today's Wash Post chat with sportswriter Les Carpenter:

Coronado, Ca.: If the Nationals are to get back in the race, shouldn't it start on this homestand against 2 teams in the NL 'Jest' division? 10 of the next 13 road games are against tough opposition. It could be an uphill battle? Thanks.

Les Carpenter: Indeed you are right. The Dodgers are a perfect team to get good against. While they still have some good starting pitching they are now trying out a young catcher, have stuck a third baseman in left field and a young shortstop at third base. Your beloved Padres -- and if I'm guessing correctly at who you are, your beloved Jerry Coleman -- aren't much better right now. It's a great time to pick up some wins. Especially with the Marlins playing St. Louis.

. . .

Schmoll-ville: Rookie Steve Schmoll who played at Magruder High School and is the University of Maryland all time and single season strike out record holder returns to DC as a middle reliever for the Dodgers. Thanks for letting everyone know Les, and although I hope the Nationals get the better of them, I hope he has a good outing.

Les Carpenter: Yes Schmoll is a great story and a local story. I wish we had the space and time to catch up to him when the Dodgers were east last and do something then. He's pitched very well of late. In their bullpen they are now relying heavily on a converted catcher and a converted outfielder.

http://tinyurl.com/cz77m

some good bulletin board material in that first one . . .

the Raffy-roids stuff has been going on all day on all sports talk shows...who cares at this point...

they'll put Bonds into the hall, they'll put McGwire into the hall, Raffy was a tough sell according to all the "experts" before this...his 500 + 3000 wasn't as good as that of others, apparently

D.C. Stadium opened April 9, 1962. The first Dodger game was the following day. D.C. Stadium was renamed in January 1969.

14 - not the answer I'm looking for.

Jon, Ballparks.com has RFK D.C. stadium opening in 61:

Opened: October 1, 1961 (Redskins game)

wasn't the question, when was the last time they played there?

18 - I have two words for Les Carpenter: Bob Costas.

Actually, the question isn't the last time they played at RFK, but the last time they played anywhere in D.C. So it could be Griffith stadium, but I don't know the answer.

was wilkerson ever drafted by the Dodgers. I recall hearing that once. maybe he turned them down and went to school. I didn't google or look it up so a pure guess

Steve is always the problem, never the solution. :(

I read the answer in the Times this morning about when the Dodgers last played there so I won't answer that one.

http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2005/08/02/Si7AONPZ.jpg

Is it just me, or is this a little bright and childish?

Baseball reference has Wilkerson drafted by the Dodgers in 1995, but not signing.

First Chase Utley, now Wilkerson. It was all that money we were spending on Bobby Bonilla.

The last Dodgers game for keeps in DC was on October 5, 1899. Brooklyn lost to Washington 4-1 at Boundary Park.

25, 29 - correct.

Steve has quite the touch for evoking tears of rememberance in me.

21 - guess we're only talking baseball here.

Mem'ries,
Like the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures,
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were

Oh, geez, isn't Bob in Toronto? A 737 just crashed there.

...skidded off the runway, to be more accurate.

Well I was headed off to the Hockey Hall of Fame here in Toronto, but there's a severe thunderstorm watch out in Toronto right now, which caused a place to overshoot the runway at the airport here, which doesn't look like a good thing.

I think I will stay in the hotel room for a while.

It's the SABR convention this week. Lots of baseball people heading up there.

Mason & Ireland about to talk "sleaze" -- the Lowe story (with Ron Fineman, presumbably.) Probably more truth in this upcoming interview than in the scheduled DePo interview ...

It's a sobering sight.

Of course the next time I'm on a plane that is delayed because of weather I'll complain.

It's an Air France jet that was landing right around the time when the weather was at its worst.

Sorry I wasn't able to post sooner, but for all you Ry Cooder fans who popped up the other day, he was on KCRW this morning talking about his Chavez Ravine album. You can listen to the program here:

http://tinyurl.com/992om

Off topic, but sort of related since we're talking radio here.

Wolf Blitzer: "...a huge 737 airplane..."

Well, yeah, compared to, say, a Cessna Citation.

What would Lufthansa be doing flying a 737?

Thanks, Peanuts!

_________________

O.K., now they're saying Air France, probably an Airbus A320.

737s can fly pretty far now. I flew a 737 from LAX to Toronto.

Yeah, the stretch models have pretty fair range.

I'd draw the line at a trans oceanic flight.

There is some sort of FAA regulation that requires any flight that goes transoceanic to be a widebody. I have a brother who works for Honeywell who tried to explain it to me.

I do hope that the passengers will able to get out.

This is why your seat has to be in the full upright position and your tray table stowed.

A340, says CNN.

I hate flying.

A340.

If the plane overshot the runway, I doubt it would be due to wind shear.

Bob, maybe you shouldn't read this:

Does anyone remember the ATA plane several years ago that had both engines cut out? The pilots were unable to restart, but were able to glide 40 miles to a landing on an island (somewhere off Nova Scotia, I think).

I'd guess the widebody requirement would have something to do with number of engines, for redundancy. A 747 CAN fly on 1 engine, if necessary, but has 4. Over the ocean, you can't just land at the nearest airport.

Boy, 1 hour of M&I endured, and no DePo yet. Now they're talking about Lowe and Hughes, but in the cowardly, disingenuous way that drives me nuts - they've framed it as a introspective exploration as to whether or not this is a story that should be reported. I love it when the media gets all holier-than-thou about itself. "We're not reporting this story because we think it's sleazy, but we have to tell you what it is, in gory detail, so that you'll know what we're too high-minded to talk about. Feh.

757's, 767's, and 777's are all twin engine, I believe.

Just out of curiosity, to take a tangent from a tangent, anyone here familiar with Sir Douglas Bader?

53, Sure. He flew for the RAF in WWII. He kept flying Spitfires even after he lost his legs.

Washington Nats series is the first round of the playoffs for the Over/Under Challenge. Picks for tonight so far are...

8/2, Weaver vs Nationals
.........................
CT Bum: 7-1/3
Xeifrank: 7
.........................
Louis in SF: No pick yet
Colorado Blue: 6-1/3
.........................

The legless RAF pilot?

I confess to googling it.

51 GB - M&I only sound like they take themselves seriously. They love sleazy and have lowered it to a level equilalent to crayon scribbling. What's more, they are quite proud of having done so.

55 - playoffs? The regular season is already over? What were the final results of the regular season?

53: I have now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Bader

Fearing Blue: Are you around? I've been thinking about your minor league hypotheses. What numbers are you using as the bat mitzvah (when a rookie becomes a man) line? I was wondering, what if rookies just aren't that good? There are obvious standouts like Pujols and Piazza (and Ichiro and Godzilla; I'm leaning toward not counting them) but what if most of them just aren't good? It still doesn't solve the question of whether a player can be fully seasoned in the minors (I lean towards guessing not, but it's a guess). Anyway, I'm spreadsheeting ROY vote recievers for the past 10 years (so far I've got 2 years 8^) ) and I wanted to see if they would be counted as successful by your standard. Don't worry about it if you don't have time for this now. I still obviously have a lot of data entry before it will matter. If it ever does. Thanks.

51. Sorry for the Steve Mason torture you are going through; He can be a horses rear most of the time; Ireland I can stand; Let us know what Depo says; but it;s highly predictable what he;ll say; I dedicate this post to my good friend the semi;colon; who is highly underrated if you ask me;

vr; Xei

54 - Yes. As a child my dad idolized Bader, and eventually got to meet him and become friends with him a little bit. Books and movies were made about him, all of which I was exposed to at a young age. Just an extraordinary man. When I was about 8 or 10 or so, he came to Los Angeles and even went with us to Disneyland.

With all the airplane talk, he happened to pop into my head.

57. Ah. Well, OK.

All I know is that DePo had better come on soon, because my head and stomach are gonna explode.

58. Regular season results were... I had to plan it out that it finished before my trip to China. Joekings and Howard have a bye this series, then the Pit and Phi series will end the contest. vr, Xei

Standings...
1-Joekings 8-4-1
2-Howard 8-7-2
3-Xeifrank 8-7-2
4-Colorado Blue 8-9-0
5-Louis in SF 5-6-2
6-CT Bum 6-8-3

The Bader talk makes me think of Aaron Bank, who basically created the Army special forces after world war II. A good friend of mine is married to his daughter. He died at 100 last year. When I first met him, not knowing his history, I remember at being amazed at the respect that other military people gave him.

I keep thinking that since it's 5:16 here where I am, I can turn on a baseball game to get something cheerier on the air.

But I'm in the stupid Eastern time zone.

54 - Believe he wound up in Stalag 13, home of `The Great Escape', also.

63. I feel your pain. I'm a lot more tolerant of Mason now that I have an 8 to 5 and don't have the option of punishing myself by listening to him every day.

Having just finished the Da Vinci Code, I'm wondering if there's something more Jon's not telling us about Sir Douglas.

To further tangent, the Da Vinci Code is a fine fun book -- very smart thriller, cool art/museum/religion context. But I am just shocked that it is like the best selling non-Harry Potter book of the last 10 or whatever number of years and that it is treated as a such a highbrow piece of writing. I read bunches of Ludlum books in my yute and, to me, those stories were far more complex and the characters, including very minor ones, were much more densely and fully realized. Again, I'm not saying that DVC wasn't a fine book or that Ludlum was Proust's heir, but I was most surprised at the relatively short arc of the story and the obviousness of some of the plot twists, given the overwhelming critical acclaim and commercial success of the book.

69 - Sam, you really, really have to read Frederick Forsyth. Start with Icon or Fist of God.

By comparison to Forstyth and Ludlum, the Da Vinci Code was thriller light.

62 - Jon, That is cool! Ever read any of the Derek Robinson books? Piece of Cake was phenomenal.

#69 - What shocks me most about the book is the number of people who still don't realize that it's a work of fiction.

69 - I have avoided the Da Vinci Code but was reading Harry Potter (finished the first three) until DT started taking up almost all my book reading time.

What's on Jon's nightstand now? Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri. An outstanding writer. I recommend this (a collection of short stories) or The Namesake (a novel).

Da Vinci code to me is the same level of writing as Grisham/Anne Rice, those types of popular novelists.

71 - No, don't know those.

CNN reporting that the pilot and copilot both survived and are safe, and that survivors were taken to a hospital. No word on how many.

I've read everything by Forsyth and Ludlum (tho nothing by Dan Brown), and I like Ludlum a lot better. (That said, "Day of the Jackal" is a classic.) Excellent conspiracy theory stuff. Like, say, Faulkner, Ludlum has only one real theme, but despite that, the stories are not predictable. I just finished one of the books written under Ludlum's name, but posthumously, by Eric van Lustader (sp?) and was shocked by how predictable it was. EvL ran with Ludlumesque theme, but signposted all of the plot turns too obviously.

My wife has read the Dan Brown stuff. She's like you Sam -- thought most of them were fun, but didn't get the hype. I gather that part of the succees of Da Vinci Code is that some people actually want to believe that it's true.

75 - I've long had an interest in the Battle of Britain. It's a great book.

Ooh, can we all start recommending thrillers?

Alan Furst is where it's at -- sort of John Le Carre meets WWII. :)

I think the thriller genre has suffered from the end of the Cold War. It's like a dilution of the heavyweight division in boxing. No adversary (other than some sort of made-up corporate hegemon) to be feared and respected at the same time. Demonizing terrorists (who are pretty one-dimensional in most of these sorts of books) gets boring after a while.

77 - Gobears, I loved the earlier Ludlum, particularly The Icarus Agenda. I read one post stroke Ludlum book (the coauthor was female), and it was awful.

Parsifal Mosaic was my favorite Ludlum. Off to get family and get to the game.

#60: not to pick nits, but a bat mitzvah is when a girl becomes a woman. I believe the term you are looking for is bar mitzvah.

80 - Totally, totally agree about the plot to catch the evil terrorist genre. Yuck. That'swhy I liked Icon and Fist of God so much.

HAve an Allen Furst book laying around somewhere...

And where's that jolly chap from the UK?

Okay, this accident in Toronto is pretty scary:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4740381.stm

85 - I could be wrong, and forgive me if I am, but if that's a sarcastic comment directed at a commenter, it is inappropriate.

WaPo reports that "most" of 252 passengers are safe. Of course, WaPo reports that we have a good pitching staff, so take WaPo with a grain of salt.

88 - That's both great and amazing. Makes me think of the Souix City crash.

I highly recommend the three following books that I have read hundreds of times the past 6 months. All of them a good read. :) vr, Xei

1. Moo-Ba-La
2. Pat The Bunny
3. Goodnight Moon
4. C is for Cookies
5. Toes, Ears and Nose

83- Yeah, I was punning on (baseball)bat. The thing is, I knew it wasn't funny when I wrote it, but the giddy thrill of a pun was just too great. Sorry.

Given the demands of work and home, I find my mind can only handle a few pages at a time of Grisham, Brown, Michael Connelly or Kellerman before I nod off. Makes me a barbarian, I am sure.

I call 7 2/3 for Weaver tonight, whether I'm in this playff or not.

90. 5

Has Depo appeared on the radio show yet? Can anyone report what he said? Thanks. vr, Xei

#91,
I remember reading an ESPN article about Shawn Green that used that pun.

85- Did you mean Ian Fleming?

#90 - 4,
And that's good enough for me =).

90 - Xei: which 2 didn't you read so I can brush up on my reading skills with my kids? :)

A cow says moo
A sheep says baa
Three singing pigs say la-la-la
No, no you say
That isn't right
The pigs say "oink"
Both day and night

93: Not yet on Depo. I'm starting to think it won't happen.

[99] Too bad. Would have liked to have heard his take today.

#99,
How long does the show go for?

They're now interviewing the director of The Aristocrats...

Good deal. No fatalities.

What about Trevanian? The Eiger Sanction, The Loo Sanction and Shibumi. Because there was so little information about Trevanian, for a while there was speculatin that he was Ludlam writing under a pen name. His books are great and run a wide gambit of genre.

Have to agree with those who said DeVinci is over-rated. I enjoyed it but too many layers. Eventaully I just wanted it to end.

103 - In the Aristocrats?

Update on links: you don't need two bracket pairs. Just [X] will make a link that looks like 99.

90 - My daughter still checks to see if I have "scratchy face." (#2)

102. Yeah, right after ragging on an emailer saying they should cover other drugs besides steroids, saying they are a "sports" talk program.

This show is killing me.

101. Too darn long, if you ask me.

Right now, they're interiewing Paul Provenza, who directed "The Aristocrats," which is apparently the funniest movie ever made. About a famous joke, a documentary in which every comic you've ever heard of tells the same joke in different ways.

Ooh, ooh, they just teased "Paul DePodesta coming up."

90. Love "Goodnight, Mr. Night"

The Times has an update to the postgame vendor stabbing story. Three arrestees have been released.

I guess, re Mason, IDNRC

That's some act you've got there. What do you call it?

The Aristocrats!

I'm off to RFK to catch the game. Based on the few Nationals games I've been to, I don't think it's a very good place to take in a ball game, but having the Dodgers in town should make it a better experience ... as long as we win.

CNN and Canadian TV report that all people on the plane in Toronto survived, although some were injured.

Whew.

OK, here we go. DePo "coming up next," after the 3pm Sportscenter.

There taking Depo questions from listeners coming up...

LAT, the only Trevanian I read was as a very young teenager. I was in a bit over my head, but I loved it. I mistakenly remembered it as the Ugly American (by Lederer, I find out), so I guessing it was Shibumi. Did the lead character play Go in it?

"Everybody. Everybody. Everybody wants to be a cat. . ."

Sorry, wrong movie.

42 -- thanks for the Cooder link. I'll try to listen tonight.

66 -- Bob, you only have a short time share here in the "studpid eastern time zone." I live in it! No wonder I don't get enough sleep. I'm up monitoring stupid 11 inning losses to the Cards.

88- The Post also reports today that President Bush "said he still believes his friend, Baltimore Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, has never used steroids -- in spite of the player's suspension Monday for violating baseball's anti-drug policy." Wow! I wonder on what body of evidence he bases that belief.

Finally, all this talk of thrillers leads me to recall in the last mystery I read ("Fear Itself" by Walter Mosely) the worst of the bad guys is named Theodore Timmerman (note only 1 "n" at the end). Let's just say that I hope he was not based on anybody in Bob's family. So even when I was up in Montana I was reminded of the folks at DT.

Q1 for DePo: Surprised that nothing happened at deadline?

A1: No surprise. Not a lot of clubs were interested in making big deals.

Q2: We heard that sellers were looking for immediate help, current major leaguers.

A2: Yes, that's true. Very few teams were just looking to move salary.

Q3: Did the Dodgers go after Manny or Soriano?

A3: We asked about them, yes.

Q4: Is part of you disappointed that you weren't able to do something?

A4: Sure. "We weren't going to do something just to do it, but I'm disappointed that we didn't do anything." But we're still looking?

Q5: Did you have authorization to add payroll?

A5: Yes.

Then the phone cut off. M&I speculate that McCourt hung up the phone when salary came up.

...or McCourt didn't pay the phone bill again.

More A5: We had the authorization to go after anyone we wanted. We were trying to add money to deals. We were in the best financial situation of all the teams out there.

Q6: What IS the Dodger payroll? $85M?

A6: It's more than $90M, but I'm not saying anything further.

Q7: Aren't August deals tougher?

A7: Well, in the next few weeks, more teams will fall out of the race, and additional players will become available. Plus, our current poor W-L record gives us an advantage in the waiver game.

Q8: How is that Baez, Huff, Sweeney didn't get moved?

A8: Well, they have season-ticket holders too, and don't want to be seen giving up.

Q9: So all 5,000 Devil Rays fans will be disappointed? Isn't LaMar just impossible to deal with?

A9: We got Antonio Perez from him. He's not impossible.

Q10: Did you think the West would be this bad?

A10: No. Everyone has been killed by injuries. We've brought a bunch of guys up to help us win it. And we'll look for more.

What's on Jon's nightstand now? Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri.

Lahiri is a friend of a bunch of my friends. She grew here in Rhody, and they all went to high school together.

Piece of Cake was phenomenal.

I second this rec.

Q11: What took so long to get Broxton up here?

A11: We wanted him to adjust to the bullpen. We moved him there when Gagne went down for the 2nd time, and brought him up once he was ready.

Q12: Don't you have to dump Jeff Weaver if you're out of it?

A12: We expect to stay in it, and we're trying to keep Weaver past this year.

End of interview.

Jim, I don't recall that the main character played Go but it was a long book about a retired assassin. However, it was not about Dr. Jonathan Hemlock (Clint Eastwood) who was the character in the Eiger and Loo Sanction.

88- The Post also reports today that President Bush "said he still believes his friend, Baltimore Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, has never used steroids -- in spite of the player's suspension Monday for violating baseball's anti-drug policy." Wow! I wonder on what body of evidence he bases that belief.

Dear President Bush, Raffy admitted using steroids the only issue is whether he used them intentionally.

DePo got Antonio Perez for Jason Romano? I didn't remember that. Maybe DePo really is the most brilliant GM in the history of the game. . .

Now they're speculating that the Dodgers will trade Weaver to the Angels.

Shaa, as IF.

Questions:

Why is the payroll over $90 million?

Who might we pick up in August?

Who is DePo bringing up next and when?

HE can't be serious about keeping Weaver?

Well, that was uninformative. At least now I can turn off the radio.

"A12: We expect to stay in it, and we're trying to keep Weaver past this year."

Oh dear god. Someone hit him with the Hammer of Reality, please?

Huh, they told the listeners to get their questions ready for DePo, then let him go without any calls. Maybe he wasn't interested.

'President Bush "said he still believes his friend, Baltimore Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, has never used steroids -- in spite of the player's suspension Monday for violating baseball's anti-drug policy."'

Maybe Raffy knows where the WMDs are?

132: Well, that may or may not be true. Might as well give a public vote of confidence to the guy who is pitching tonight, and for the next 8 weeks, tho.

133 - Or maybe McCheap said "Hang up that phone. You're costing me a fortune!!"

Our President believes in a faith-based testing policy.

Did Palmeiro play for the Rangers while Bush was the owner? Maybe Bush is his source?

Why would Bush need evidence, when he has The Office of Special Plans?

Did Question #1 get answered? 'Cause I saw a spring exhibition game at DC Stadium between the Senators and the Dodgers somewhere between 1963-1966. I know that's the right period because we moved to Annandale in Dec. 1962 and Koufax pitched part of the game, so it couldn't have been after 1966 when he retired.

133-Technical issues I'm sure. They seemed to hint at that right after he left

A9: We got Antonio Perez from him. He's not impossible.

Shouldn't that be, "We stole Antonio Perez from him."?

138. Yes he did. Also, Canseco went to the team and the next thing you know, Palmiero's homeruns double. Not that the two things are connected but...

DXMachina are you in Rhode Island? I'm from RI living in Los Angeles. Come back every year to see family in Prov. anmd Pawtucket I love the place. Every year Wife and I wonder why we don't move back. Great quality of life.

If we could trade a Ja(y)son to the D-Rays, maybe we can trade them all!

The other Bush item along with that Palmeiro comment was his belief that Intelligent Design should be taught in schools. As you might imagine, every science blogger in the country has gone ballistic. If anyone's interested, here's a post with links to many of them.

http://tinyurl.com/85egn

125 - Tell Lahiri how much my wife and I love her writing!

Gameday still has Alvarez active, not Osoria.

I know Tracy has benched Choi until doomsday, but does the anti-Choi faction like starting Phillps at first?

Off topic question (although it does deal with the DC metropolitan area)...

Anyone here ever visited Camden Yards in Baltimore?

I will be travelling to DC in about a week and want to check out an O's game. Specifically I would like to know what parking is like(proximity and cost), and how easy it is to get tickets (box office walk ups at gametime, scalpers, etc.). I don't need exact figures, just gerneral impressions.

Actions speak louder than words.

I like the Perez slam. Really, it's trades like that that have LaMar completely scared of the trading deadline. Season ticket holders. Please.

140 - yes, you've narrowed it down to the correct timeframe

Go Bears. Thanks for the interview text updates. About what I expected. He can't really say anything, which is too bad. I think we should put together a mock interview of DePodesta, have Steve, John, FB or someone be DePodesta and have us send in questions to be answered. I think that would be much funner and informative than any interview Depo will ever give. vr, Xei

Still no Choi (%$@#! Tracy)

SS Izzy
3B Robles
CF Bradley
2B Kent
LF Valentin
1B I'm not going to bother, but I will say he was our catcher
C Navarro
RF Repko
P Weaver

vs

CF Wilkerson
2B Vidro
RF Guillen
1B Johnson
3B Castillo
LF Wilson
C Schneider
SS Guzman
P Loaiza

Gameday still has Alvarez in the bullpen

I'm sure Jon will interview DePo again, somehow. I have faith in Choi Almighty that He will make such an interview happen. Then Jon can ask DePo all our burning questions, mostly related to Choi, Tracy, Dunn, etc.

I just can't believe it.

148 - I've been there a few times, but not since 1994. My best advice for you is not to go there during an offshore hurricane. I learned the hard way.

That's it. DePodesta has to go. I'm fully committed. I'm with Mark. Stalinist purge. This is ridiculous.

Looks like the year (1991) Palmeiro's home run total doubled (or almost doubled) was when he was 27 years old. Isn't that suppose to be the peak age for a hitter? Canseco joined Texas at the same time that Palmeiro entered his peak years. Not trying to imply anything, just passing along some info from Columbo. vr, Xei

This is amazing. It's like where ever Tracy could have made a choice in the lineup, he made the wrong one.

146 - Thanks for the links, Link...Creation Science (gulp) by any other name...

147 As someone who had two feet firmly placed in the anti-Choi camp at the start of the season but now only has one lightly placed foot there, the answer is no. Would I rather see Kent (w/ Perez at 2B) or Old Maid (Sunday's DP notwhtstanding) yes, but Phillips is far down the list after Choi. What is the point of playing him over Choi. Especially when Choi seems to be making contact right now. Also, if Choi is to play 1B someday, he needs the practice. Phillips, I assume, is a temporary solution at 1B. Just ask the Mets. Let Choi learn the position if that is his position.

Now that Erickson and Grabs are gone and Werth is out, Phillips is rising up the list as my least favotire Dodger. At least Gio seems like a nice guy.

It's sad that Tracy does this, because I used to really like Phillips.

Now I have no recourse but to hate him.

148
i went to camden yards back in july of 99 - blue jays and david wells. anyway, we bought our tix about a week in advance and stayed in the inner harbor (saw roy halladay walking around and was tempted to ask him his opinion of bobby higginson's performance) and walked to the park. anyway, they do have a train/light rail station very close to the ballpark, and we saw a few scalpers. obviously didn't bother with the walkup. not much help, i know. it's a nice stadium, though. not one of my very faves, but much better than my local stadium (the hhh metrodome).

I don't know how you can hate Phillips - it's not his fault (unless you're being tongue-in-cheek). It's not like he can be a conscientious objector. Or can he ...?

144- LAT, yes, I'm down in South County. Came here to go to school, and stayed.

146- I saw that. Bush feels that it's good to provide alternate viewpoints, to which a friend of mine quipped "does that mean he also in favor of teaching other points of view than abstinence-based sex education?"

RHP and Phillips starting at 1B over Choi again? WTH!! Is Tracy really that dumb, that he thinks that Phillips is a better choice at 1B over the left handed hitting Choi? I think there is something going on behind the scenes. It's almost as if Phillips is his buddy and when Navarro was given the catchers job, Tracy didn't want Phillips' feelings to get hurt "oh oh oh feelings..." so he decided to make him our newest first baseman. I mean Phillips was a bridge to Navarro/Miller at best, but now he is such a great hitter that he has to follow in the footsteps of other great hitting catchers like Mike Piazza and move to first base. It's all getting clearer... fade to black. vr, Xei

I shall retype my Choi haiku.

Currently 4th string
Our best option at 1st base
Fire Jim Tracy.

I feel sorry for the Devil Rays fan base. They could have had the Giants, but instead got stuck with an expansion team.

They have a very entertaining manager with more passion for the game than the 25 guys he manages.

Too bad they can't draft a new GM.

Maybe Phillips said that he's feeling sexy.

I'm pro-Tracy and don't think Choi is all that, but I still think Choi is a better choice.

Unfortunately for Choi fans, I can see the following scenario play out: September rolls around and the Dodgers have given up the ghost, now 10 games back. Having nothing more to play for, Tracy finally lets Choi start every game at first. Starting in his fourth game, Choi goes on a hitting tear and ends September batting .325 with 9 homers and 28 RBI.

DePo fires JT the day after the season ends for being a MO-RON.

#170,
No. The media will praise Tracy for seeing that Choi only performs in no-pressure situations.

170. In order for the Dodgers to fall 10 games back, that means somebody in the division is going to have to win atleast 6 more games. I just don't see that happening in two months time. :) vr, Xei

"After living with the repercussions, my client regrets the late night rendezvous with Mrs. Tracy."

--Hee Seop's Agent

Actually, I think I get it. Obviously Choi can't start because he made a bad defensive play, once. So that left Olmedo. But don't we all remember his last AB? How can Tracy, in good conscience, start a choke artist? So Phillips is the only acceptable option.

"It's lonely on the road. And I had to do what I had to do to stay in the line-up and feed my family." Comments by Phillips upon the revelations of his liaison with Manager Jim Tracy.

I don't hate Phillips at all. He's not very good, but he's kinda spunky and I'm always disposed to liking catchers. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing him pull a ring-finger ligament.

Phillips did have that impressive K in the same game as Saenz's choke...

At this rate, Phillips, Olmedo, Perez and Valentin would all have to pull ligaments for Choi to start. And then they'd call up Loney.

Go Bears-Thanks for the DePo interview update; I stopped listening to Mason/Ireland while they were beating the Derek Lowe story into the ground.

As for disliking players,not knowing the players personally, it's hard to work up a personal animosity for them, unless they're a public jackass like Erickson, or Kevin Brown.

That said,I really hope Alvarez can have a long talk with Carrara about the joys of retirement, the sooner, the better.

178- That's the thing; I've made my peace with Olmedo. I'm not thrilled, but am okay with the Kent/Perez shift. Phillips is outrageous. It's not at all okay.

As I've said before, Choi's position on the depth chart is equal to the number of other options Jim Tracy has at 1st base + 1.

Considering that we had Bako and Ross as our catching corps until the end of Spring Training (can you believe anyone ever thought the Dodgers would finish first?), I thought Phillips was a huge upgrade.

He's doing fine at first base. But it seems silly for Tracy to play him there ahead of Choi, if only because Choi is either our first baseman of the future, or is one of our best trading chits for the off-season.

Phillips will always be a journeyman--a gritty guy, maybe even a great guy to have in the locker room. But he's not the Dodgers' future, so it's a waste of everybody's time to be starting him.

It could be worse. Tracy might have Dioner sitting on the bench next to Choi. If Dioner has a bad game or two, we might expect to see Phillips go back behind the plate.

Jon, in some measure it is Phillips fault. If he could do his job, i.e. throw out runners, he would still be behind the plate. This would result in Old Maid and Choi platooning. Maybe JT would find another reason not to play Choi. But Phillips at first is not why he was brought here and for some reason he is being give a chance to try something else at other people's expense.

As an aside, its a strange season when I'm coming to Choi's defense.

I also began the season with strong doubts about Choi. One of the things I was looking forward to was finding out what, if anything, he could do. I haven't had that chance.

I figure that the platoon with Saenz would give Choi plenty of playing time and Olmedo enough rest. Everyone's happy. Alas, the best laid plans...but Phillips? It's surreal.

I think of myself as the boy who wanted to believe in a Choi. I desperately wanted to know if there was a Choi or if it was just a man behind a curtain. The only thing worse than finding out that Choi is a fraud is having the opportunity to find out, one way or the other, stolen from you. Now I may never know if there is a Choi. But I do know that the number of the Beast has been changed to 16.

Every bit of this is Paul DePodesta's fault. The first few times, sure, you know, it's Tracy. He's an idiot. He does stupid things. He plays Little League rules in a Big League stadium. But after that initial period, DePodesta knows Tracy is going to play Phillips at first. It's his job to take steps to prevent it. If he has to trade for Sweeney and his 12.5 million contract to stop it, then that is what he has to do. He made the mistake of signing Tracy in the first place, knowing that he has the IQ of a drugged lab rat, and I'm not so sure that I should have given DePodesta the pass I did for that fact.

If we are going to have this kind of open warfare between the two, then DePodesta either has to win the war, or concede. This junk is killing us.

182- He's not an absolute train wreck at first.

Phillips 313AB .240/.290/.371
Choi 245AB .245/.330/.461

But he doesn't belong starting ahead of Choi, there. No matter how chokey Choi is. Or how clumsy his glove is. It's inexcusable.

I predict .498-OPSing Christian Guzman will reach base five times in this series.

-choi is a better defender
-choi is young and even though many hate him, he at least has a possible future we need to find out about.

in 57 ABS Phillips is batting.228avg .290obp .316slu .606ops since the all star break

in 31 ABS CHOI is batting .310avg .412obp .483 slug.895ops since break.

this is just insane.

This can be restated 100 ways, but there is no logic to it. So we are left with Sherlock Holmes, eliminate every other possibility, and the answer is the last possibility left.

This.

Is.

War.

Has anybody tried finding DePo's e-mail and just bombarding him with 188's stats telling him that he has to get Tracy to give Choi a chance? I think 100 e-mails from DT posters might make a dent.

189 - Or we could end Steve to picket his house some weekend...

185. Ha. Good rant, Steve. I think DePo will win this battle. But that he's calculated that it's better to wait til the off-season. He has more to think about than just day-to-day optimization (including who the replacement should be). If Tracy is the manager next year, and Choi is still the 25th guy on the team, then I'll join you in blaming the GM.

I was at Camden Yards back in 1991 or 1992. It was pretty easy to park at. There are trains that run from DC to the park. I drove from DC to Baltimore which isn't a lot of fun.

I remember asking the guy at the AAA in DC for directions and he basically said, "I don't know, I never go to Baltimore."

Tracy has such a love affair with Phillips, I'm sure he'll start wearing his number when Phillips is eventually traded/released.

190-

Yes, this frustration is killing me. I really wish there was a way to contact Tracy and/or Depo and let them know how stupid this situation is.

Game started, by the way. Cesar led off by K'ing on 3 pitches.

Bastards. Every last one of them. We'll have to flush them out of the caves.

184 Langhorne, I wish I had said it so well. I'm not wedded to Choi one way or the other but I would like the opportunity to find out if he's for real or not and Phillip's inablity behind the plate plays a role in depriving us of that opportunity.

I refer you back to the Steve Henson interview with Jon though, where Henson said that Tracy was "not a big Phillips guy" or something like that. I think that it might just not be true, but it makes this stranger. I think it is more evidence that what we are seeing here is Tracy's Last Stand. Thank God.

187-As long as we don't intentionally walk him, a la Jack McKeon

Well, there's a BRadley DP for you. Maybe the bunt was smart

#190,
Nonviolent protest! We need to start an ad campaign. We need t-shirts, posters, anything. We need to picket in front of Dodger Stadium. We need to bombard the newspapers with emails.
This IS war. And we need to mobilize.

I wonder in all seriousness if Choi has an attitude problem or something. I mean I don't see it, but I am not there.

Or I guess Steve is right.

I looked up and we had Broxton throwing to Navarro. We had repko in right, Edwards in left, robles at 3b and yet choi cant play over Phillips? Makes no sense, so yeah, I'm with Steve.

I'm sure this has been answered before,but who is our emergency backup catcher if Phillips and Navarro both get hurt in the same game? Not an unlikely scenerio this season ...

#203

Werth

Everything I've heard about Choi's personality has been exemplary.

Tracy does plenty of things like this every season. Remember when he sat down the Giant Killer Paul LoDuca against the Gnats, in favor of having Kreuter catch for Park?

Oh man, Monday and Downing on the radio. I'll get my updates from Gameday. At least they'll be faster.

Repko is the greatest RF of all time. Bar none.

204 - As spirited as Werth is, I don't think he can come in when he is on the DL.

201-

Yes, mobilization is indeed needed. And quick. While we still have a chance at winning this thing. Even if we don't, I don't want us to loose with phillips playing first while a better option was available.

Quick inning for both pitchers

april of 1965 last time the dodgers played in DC. I held off as long as I could. it was in the Times this morning

Exactly Jon. Guys like him (penny and bradley being obvious), the crowd loves him and "bleep" it, I give up!

Honestly, if Phillips get's plunked in the head and Navarro pulls something, I think they call up Rose and Martin. Can Choi play catcher?

Whohoooo! Way to go kent!

There's a rarity at RFK. Thankfully Kent did it

Can somebody describe Repko's most recent scrappiness.

#209

Touche. But when Werth is available, he is the emergency catcher.

I'm thinking that Mike Edwards would go behind the dish if necessary. He's pretty much cannon fodder at this point anyway.

Whooo, go Kent!

I shudder to think where this season would be without Kent.

I wouldn't miind seeing Phillips hit into a DP here. Valentin is hardcore breaking up DPs.

217-fly ball near the line in right, Repko ran a long ways and had a pretty easy DP at first

And good job Phillips

Phillips comes through again:-(

201,210 - Something really needs to be done, i can only handle so much; (nice job kent) Were is depodesta? The reason i was happy that mccourt hired him was because we would make sure this type of idiocy (nice job valentin); How about a online petition? We could have it in korean as well. Ok, just watched phillips hit into a double play on the first pitch, that has to be it.

201,210 - Something really needs to be done, i can only handle so much; (nice job kent) Were is depodesta? The reason i was happy that mccourt hired him was because we would make sure this type of idiocy (nice job valentin); How about a online petition? We could have it in korean as well. Ok, just watched phillips hit into a double play on the first pitch, that has to be it.

Choi would have had a hit.

217 Came along way to catch a fly ball and doubled the runner off first.

If there was a more tailor made double play, I haven't seen it.

5 pitches for Loaiza.

I like Repko not only as the emergency catcher, but the Dodger who might play nine positions in a meaningless late-September game.

221-

Remember when all the sportwriters were giving depo a hard time for breaking up the "best double play combination in baseball." It turned out to be one of the best aquisitions of the offseason. But of course no one gives depo credit for it.

Valentin was the only one who actually saw more than one pitch, although I'm not complaining about Kent by any means

In my own private hell, all the play-by-play will be done by Al Downing and the guy from those Motel 6 commercials.

232

"You can't expect someone to learn new dance steps" -- Bill Plaschke, Opening Day column.

Nice hustle by Johnson--I've seen pitchers make it 10 feet further before turning around

231- How envious would Chone Figgins be?

subclub, we'll leave the light on for you.

Are we going to see 200 pitches in this game?

231 - I wonder what kind of fastball Repko would have.

Bless Kent! But after him we didn't waste any time on anything productive. Guess we don't want to wear out a pitcher who might groove one!

238, where do these guys come up with those crazy stats anyway?

Who will get more hits this series: Izturis or Guzman?

Man, Castilla must be close to the end of his career.

If we needed a position player pitching, Repko is easily my first choice.

I like how the Nationals decline occured at exactly the same time they acquired Wilson.

That was the quickest two innings ever. Bob?

this might turn out to be the quickest games in history. It might also be the one with the most DPs in history. ;)

Just to put things in perspective with this whole phillips at first thing, frank robinson has vinny castilla and his 497 OPS starting and preston wilson playing left? True, these are in part his GM's fault, but if your going to aquire wilson, isnt it in part because of his defensive value?

Most games that started at the same time are in the bottom of the first. we are in the top of the third. How about taking a few pitches guys. At this rate game will be over by 5:15.

Nice bunt by Repko. Another 1 pitch at bat though

That scrappiness thing is turning out to be a non-joke.

250 - you guys are too optimistic/pessimistic. The pitch counts will soar by the middle innings.

i like repko's play and weaver's bunt, but i fear this will only incourage tracy

250 - Hey, they are on East Coast time and want to get to that DC nightlife.

Izzy took a pitch! Wow

Robles must have seen as many pitches as the rest of the players combined

Two bunts. Tracy seems to have been encouraged already.

full count again. Robles is good.

Loiaza: SIX PITCHES TO GET THAT GUY OUT! WTF, I'm losing it!

Robles' pitches-12
Rest of team-13

Impressive...

"Old friend" Masao Kida recalled by Seattle during the bereavement of Jeff Nelson.

Rather than go off on my own rant, I'll just agree with Steve's above. Tracy may be an idiot, but ultimately it's Depo's responsibility to prevent it.

What I don't get is that THIS is the year to find out what Choi can do. I fully expect to be a 90-win (easily) team next season, if healthy, and we will probably want to know if Choi can handle the job full-time. Because Philips certainly is not going to be the starting 1B next season.

Loaiza averages 15.75 pitches per inning this year.
Weaver averages 15.56 pitchers per inning this year.

I think that's about average.

By the way, what is this story about Lowe that I'm missing?

Since the All Star break, Guzman is 4 for 22.

This raised his average.

#266 - I really hope they keep playing him every day. I'd like to see just how bad of a season a player can really have.

Wouldn't you know it. Guzman...

Don't the Dodgers, at some point, need to know if they have a "legitimate" first baseman? How can you tell if you refuse to play your young first baseman?

Choi is essentially worthless as trade bait. We need to know if he can be a worthy, consistent player or not.

Maybe Trace is waiting for us to fall out of the race before trying out the "Choi experiment". (insert eye-roll smiley here)

Phillips was out of position at 1st. What a surprise.

265. He got caught having an affair with Fox sportscaster Carolyn Hughes.

Somebody make some "Play Hee Seop Choi Now" t-shirts.

272 - "Free Choi" has a better ring to it.

#273,
Yes it does. Good idea.

273 - I dunno, sounds like you are giving something away ...

I'm liking Valentin in left. Can he hit?

Despite a busted squeeze, Jake Peavy leads Pitt, 2-0.

Re: 269

DePo may have already decided in his own mind that Choi will be the starting 1B next season, and thus is okay with Tracy not letting us see for sure if Choi can play 1B everyday. This may be especially true if the assumption among both parties is that Tracy will be let go this winter.

WWSH

For comparison purposes, Al Leiter is already over 50 pitches in the second inning.

Isn't Jose Valentin the perfect example of someone who swings for the fences in every at bat?

Valentin just doubled Loaiza's non-Robles ball count

Tracy IS signed through next season, right? But it's an option of his? Or is the expectation that he gets fired?

Hanrahan served up Stephen Drew's first hit, an RBI double

Why couldn't Weaver do that to Wilkerson? His pitches sure are dancing this game

283-Correct: His first hit in Double A

156 - steve, no telling but DePo is kidding.

I hope.

RE: 282

My understanding is that Tracy has an escape clause in his contract. Besides, even if he doesn't, we could just release him, right, and him his money? Maybe this is why DePo lowballed him last winter in the contract negotiations.

WWSH

I'm Korean. I've invested in a Hee Seop Choi shirt. I bought a 100 tickets to the Minnesota game in which Hee Seop hit the walk-off homerun against Terry Mulholland.

Imagine my frustration right now.

I made a comment that Tracy must have been rooting against Hee Seop during the Home Run Derby... and was semi-kidding at the time, but how can one argue that he was in fact hoping for Choi to do well? The answer is no. Will I continue my rant? It depends on the voice intonations that are needed for success. I certainly don't want my future rants against left-handers to take away from the past rants I have made against righties...

Jeff Weaver pinch-hitting in the 11th inning?

Yea, there's finally baseball on TV in my hotel.

I get to watch the White Sox and the Blue Jays. In Canada, there aren't a lot of options.

289- It's a shame they don't show the Expos up there anymore.

It's best not to bring up the Expos, but I did bring my Expos cap to wear around here.

That's our great 1B! Shoot me...now.

Save a bullet for me.

It would be amusing to go thru this season's DT logs and list the DT whipping boys as the weeks have gone by. There have been those that have recovered (Robles, Repko, Weaver to a certain extent), those that haven't (Erickson, Izzy, Grabs), and then there is the current one... Phillips.

294 - A good project for Jon in the off-season?

Very scrappy. Good job Repko

I love it when Gameday is ahead of the audio.

I'm almost in favor of letting Repko touch a bat again.

REPKO!!!

And a scrappy child shall lead them.

295 - only if Jon can afford to hire an intern.

Repko now has an average higher than Phillips, and his OPS is now over .700

I wonder what Werth's future is going to look like... considering the modest resurgence of Repko.

With that swing, Repko's season OPS creeps back above .700. I was just noticing before the game how four of his five homers came in April - he's been on much more of a doubles kick lately.

Basically our offense is Kent and Repko. Might as well put Choi in. He can't do worse.

When is Miltie gonna get into a groove?

303 - I think it involves the thin air in Las Vegas.

303 Werth? Who is that?

Can Repko play first base? We could use another one.

3-0 SD

309 - Hssssssss.

Nice inning for Izzy.

I decided to buy Gameday Audio for the rest of the year.

But I'm listening to the Washington guys. I realized that I won't be able to listen to West Coast games out here.

Make that 4-0. Kip Wells is gone, had very little control it seems

Al Leiter pitched innings and faced four batters in the third.

He threw 78 pitches.

Giving up a double to Jake Peavy isn't a good thing. Peavy could be the second coming of Bob Buhl.

Taking a break. I'll be back in an hour and I expect this game to be long over, with Choi winning it with a pinch-hit homerun in the 9th. You have your orders.

How the hell did Repko's average get up to .240(!)?

#303 and #304 beat me to the resurgence of Repko...

Werth is on the DL and maybe done for the season, but Repko has really come around of late. Given the defensive prowess of Repko He has earned my nod as the official 3rd OF until Drew returns. And before anyone points out that his OBP is 30 points less than Werth, I will point out that Repko is a year and a half younger than Werth.

Also thanks to the posters' comments regarding Camden Yards.

Camden Yards was very easy to find despite the dope at AAA. It's right next to the freeway.

If you're driving in Maryland, watch your speed. They love giving out tickets there.

318 - So Valentin is our official 2nd OF?

Felipe Alou couldn't wait to get Randy Winn in the lineup. He's starting in center for the Giants today.

And Yamid Haad is catching. His major league career consists of one AB for the Pirates in 1999.

318 - I still wouldn't get carried away about Repko. He's doing well lately, but I'd like to see him sustain it for longer than he did at the start of the season.

This should be the Weaver melt-down inning. If Weaver gives up a home run, some lucky fan should win burritos for theyear.

#320 I don't know if my rankings are "official" but Valentin has a similar OPS this season, he has shown pretty good defensive ability the last two games (combined with some good OF defensive numbers in his career) and I like his high pitches/PA ratio. Anybody else you could put at #2 right now?

Again, I shudder to think what this season would be like without Kent

There isn't a remaining moment in this game that I wouldn't have a reliever ready to replace Weaver while he's still out there.

#322 I am not getting carried away with Repko, I just have had it with Werth... He breaks down too frequently and when he is not in a rythm he looks aboslutely awful.

The Washington radio guy (Dave Shick) just said, "With all of his team's injury problems, Jim Tracy is forced to use both of his catchers today."

But the first basemen aren't injured!!!

Valentin playing left field is an injury-related move.

324 - I agree with you for the most part... I was just pointing out out how our second outfielder is one who has only played a handful of games there.

Now I can't complain. I must say Phillips seems to have gained some power at 1B

Wow. That went very, very far.

Sadly, Phillip's tenure is now increased another two or three weeks.

Is Phillips the goat today still? I think I need a scorecard.

The Kreuter Effect seems to be taking place here.

"Phillips has been a hot hitter. That's why he's staying in the lineup." - other Washington announcer.

I just had to laugh.

Phillips trots like a Show Pony. I love it

So does shiny Weaver go back out there? I guess we need to et to his spot in the lineup if we can

tracy's gut wins us a game?

I can't believe the way you guys rip on Phillips. He is the heart of this team. The guy is awsome. For the record I have always felt this way and would never say anythiong bad about him. :-)

That is why Depo and JT do it for a living and I am sitting on my couch.

What is this? We have a whole team of players who barely have warning track power (excluding Kent, of course) and we've hit three home runs in one of the most spacious ballparks around? What gives?

#320 I can't beleive I forgot about Ledee... I guess all these injuries and trips to and from the DL have got me confused. I will say that the trio of Valentin, Ledee, and Repko for the 2nd and 3rd OF spots is not terrible.

331 - what is your gripe with Phillips (other than he's blocking Choi, can't throw out runners, and is horribly inconsistent at the plate)?

we should have two relievers up and throwing right now.

#312 Bob
Why are you listening to the Washington feed? Do you not want to listen to the L.A. feed? I wasn't clear on that.

Bullpen activity now.

Good outcome from a bad bet. Almost every day somebody wins the lottery; doesn't make it a good idea to buy lottery tickets.

Nice, Job. Let some one else blow up besides Weaver.

We finally pre-empted a Weaver meltdown YEAAAAAY!111

341 - I do believe you just answered your own question. Having a first baseman with a sub .670 OPS is a bad thing. (The next worst first baseman, Erstad, has a .715 OPS)

Look, I'm happy as a clam that Phillips homered. It's not like I forgot he got a hit or three over the weekend. But I'm sorry, it still doesn't mean it's the right move.

Choi hit 13 home runs this year, yet he's benched. For those who agree with that benching, the home runs are irrelevant.

So of course, Tracy's going to win some with his gut - and I'm glad when it happens. But it doesn't change the fact that he's gonna lose some with his gut, too.

That makes 3 HR in the last 7 days by our right handed 1B's against RHP's. Tracy swears by platoon splits managing his bullpen but ignores it in setting his own lineup- then is proven right.

347 - ... only to induce a Duaner Discombobulation.

With Wilkerson due up not too soon, do we put Choi or Ledee in the pen?

Wow - an aggressive bullpen move in a Weaver game - that I like. And Sanchez had a fine July.

Phillips is batting 250/250/625 since moving to first. Obviously the sample is absurd, and all of the slugging is explained by two home runs, but still seems like he hasn't been a disaster so far. All that said, it is absurd to play a catcher over Choi. I don't understand how Tracy can possibly look at what Choi has done this year and decide that he is worse than Phillips.

349 - the problem with gut management is all the E. coli.

He better not walk Guzman

I do believe that Duaner Sanchez has not "gotten better as the season has worn on" Charlie.

Count me in as a Philips fan. I guess its mostly due to him getting some decent ABs at the games I've been to. And Im not sure how much to invest into this stat, but as of a week or so Philips has the second highest RBIs for catchers in the NL.

My hope right now: Duaner 7th, Schmoll 8th and Braz in the 9th, with the OX up and ready if anyone gets in trouble.

Getting 2-0 on Cristian Fargin' Guzman is a sure sign of a pending meltdown.

Doesn't it seem that Phillips is playing first base mainly because Ryan Freel stole five bases in one game? Wasn't that game the one that made Tracy lose confidence with Phillips as a catcher?

Duaner is almost as shiny as Weaver. I would not want to be pitching in that humidity

359 - you are hoping for a guy with a 9.00 ERA to come up with a win on the line?

354- Tiny sample size. I don't think there's any other response; it's just too small a sample size to draw any reasonable inference.

355 now that's funny

357 - Sanchez had a 1.76 ERA in July.

#361 Don't know if Tracy lost confidence in Phillips after the Freel game, or it was that closed door session with DePo after that game that did the trick.

366 - Yeah, but the phrase "gotten better as the season wears on" implies a month to month improvement.

Not good April, good May, atrocious June, great July.

335

He was running full speed.

it's not just that JT is playing Phillips over choi, it's that he's also playing Phillips over Saenz, and the option of playing Kent at 1B and Perez at 2B. There are three better options.

6-2 Padres over the Pirates in the fifth. Two on and two outs for the Bucs.

Nice job by Sanchez. Sanchez-Schmoll-Brazoban is starting to look really good

I say you send Sanchez back out for the 8th? who's with me?!!!

368 - So except for a June blip, the statement's true :)

6-3, Bay up, Pirates closing in

$1 million for the mound at RFK!!! What a joke! Even if they change it 30 times a year they could basically pay 3 guys $300 a day to make and tear down the mound for the next 35 years amd still save money! (not to mention the interest the money would ear over 35 years).

374 - He had a worse May than April :)

Actually there was just one out for the Pirates, which is Rob Macowiak drove in a run with a ground out to make it 6-3.

373-I'm not, Sanchez leads off the 7th

373

not funny!

U think Tracy is trying to keep Phillips sharper with the bat in case Navarro isnt ready and Phillips has to play every day again? Dumb reason, but possible.

The only reasonalbe explanation is that there is a deeper team sentiment against Choi. But Phillips hasnt been bad since moving to 1B, so lets let it go for a bit. For me, Antonio Perez not starting over oscar robles is far more frustrating. Choi gets overrated on this board, Perez underrated.

Choi retains his job on the bench!

remind me again why hee seop is sitting on the bench

379

LOL, I got a little excited. thanks for the cold watger

By the way, brackets are your friend

HEEE CHOI!!!!!

Your honor,
The jury is deadlocked.

Our Lord & Savior, etc.

Well that makes it a little tougher for JT to fill out his card tomorrow.

The Dodgers are the first team to hit four homers in a game at RFK this year.

Anthing you can do, I can do better (in only 1 AB)

Love,
Hee-Sizzle

The better Hee Sop does in these pinch hit roles the more Tracy will use him as a pinch hitter!!!! Its a viscious cycle.

Anyone else think that homer by Choi was a big middle finger to the Phillips at first contingent?

381

I think a lot of us think a lot of perez. Maybe it's just me, but Tracy spurning of Perez seems more like benign neglect, as opposed to his treatment of Choi, which I would characterize as malicious.

guys, there is clearly a new technology that some of you refuse to use. embrace the brackets when responding to a post. like this

380

In Choi's last 6 PAs (all as a PH), he's 4-5 with a double, a home run, and a walk. Now, if we could only get him to pinch hit once every time through the line-up.

381 - Perez does need to play, I fully agree. He's the third best hitter on this team (probably second best until Bradley gets his groove back), but I would much rather see Izturis sit than Robles at this point.

The only reasonalbe explanation is that there is a deeper team sentiment against Choi.

I don't see what makes that a reasonable, is there any evidence to suggest there is a team sentiment against him?

Wow, point and counter point. Phillips and Choi are working it out on the field. Unfortunately, since Choi hit a pinch hit homerun this confirms that he should onlybe used as a pinchhitter.

Hee-Seop the new Dave Hansen?

Odysseus try [ the post numer ] and another bracket. no space in between

like this, click on the number below

381

392 I fear change. I need to go take a shower now.

The maddening thing is that Phillips starts at 1B, out of position, despite trailing Choi (and probably Saenz) in every relevant offensive statistic, except perhaps strikeouts. Given that logic, Tracy woulod start Phillips at 1B over Adam Dunn.

395-No just guessing. Tracy seems like the type to bench a player if a couple veterans apporached him and said negative things about a young player.

So html for offsite links is next?

399

Atta Boy!!

anyone read yard work over the last few days

http://www.yard-work.org/?cat=6

funny

Steiner and Lyon are morons they want Choi to be more agressive!!! I guess they haven't been paying attention to the fact that Choi has been doing well of late because he has been more patient!

Nice BB for MB. He could use some OBP love.

394-Why? Robles has been free falling since his hot 2 weeks which was greatly helped by his 11 for 19 at Coors Fun House. His average is down about 70 pts from its high 2 weeks ago and Izturis is better on d. Despite what u might read here, MUCH better on d.

Doesn't Drew have more than 42 walks?

Also Lyons on the telestrator is a joke... stop any major leaguer on any swing at the right time and you can draw a straight line from head to toe... even if they miss!

From today's notes:

"Rookie reliever Franquelis Osoria was flown in from Triple-A Las Vegas to replace Alvarez on the roster, but was not at the ballpark on Tuesday. DePodesta would not discuss Osoria's location and added that the club would go day to day with the current situation."

Sounds like he's DePo's hostage...

407 I've never seen Robles take a bad at bat. He actually does things like work the count and take pitches. Things this team used to do correctly.

Izturis has no power, and doesn't walk. If he doesn't hit the ball on the screws everytime, he's out.

According to Baseball Prospectus, Izturis' glove has saved us four runs versus the average shortstop. Robles has saved us two. When you take playing time into account, Robles has been about as effective as Izturis defensively.

I realize that FRAA isn't the best defensive stat, but its far more accurate than any of the other easily avialable stats.

410 Last I knew no passport was required to get from Vegas into DC, but as aggressive as TSA occasionally is...

402 - only if they can guarantee no spammers, hence, no offsite HTML.

411-You forgot Depo's 9 million dollar man. Our Ace, Derek Lowe. He is the weak minded sort that likes the peace of mind that comes with Izturis.

Okay, Izturis can start when Lowe pitches. I'll live with that.

Slightly off topic, but is Derek Lowe doing any worse than anyone thought he would be?

Hey guys, I'm back and I'm disappointed that this game isn't over yet. Is it only Choi taht can follow orders? 316

Hmmm, tying run on first with no out in the 8th, and your best hitter at bat...

If FRob were JT, he'd have Nick Johnson bunt.

silly DC fans think every fly ball is going to be a homer now due to the Heesplosion!

Anger Mismanagement pops up to center. Nice. Wonder if he'll eat his bat?

What Gameday just told me doesn't make any sense unless Bradley made a great catch? What happened in Johnson's AB?

My main issue with Izturis comes from how bad our lineup is right now. If we had every player we should, sure, throw a slap hitting shortstop in the 8 hole. We can have a luxury like a purely defensive shortstop. However, when you have three or four players in your lineup who have no chance of getting an extra base hit, Izturis suddenly isn't worth it anymore.

I fear we are going to need Choi's HR.

Why not bring in Yhancy here.

421 so really, the problem is JT' use of no-hit guys at many other positions...like 1B, and 3B, for example

420He flied to deep center; both runners tagged and advanced. Then the same thing happened again.

amazing by navarro

Navarro is the greatest catcher of all time.

411 - BP's Rate2 says Robles is a league average defender, Izturis 104 (a bit over league average).

Speaking of D, D-Nav prevents a run scoring on that near-wild-pitch.

423Basically. I hate seeing an inning where we have the 9-1-2 coming up, and figuring we're going to need 2-3 hits to score.

2 hits
2 deep deep balls to CF
1 walk

New pitcher please.

Torro!!!! Torro!!!

BRING IN THE BULLL!!!!

Here comes the bull. Looks like he gets Schneider

[415] - I think that this is somewhere between his 60-75% PECOTA card. Which is to say, he is slightly outperforming his ERA expectations. The thing to remember is that Lowe probably won't be worth his contract, but his contract is probably worth not having to start Houlton as our number 4 and someone even worse as a number 5. Without Lowe, who has at least been healthy all year, Erickson might have stayed in the rotation longer, and who knows who we would have started between the time when Erickson got the boot and Perez came back. How about the tandem of Houlton-Dessens-Stults?

424 -thanks. i was surprised to see the runner tag from first on a routine flyout to CF. I assumed Milton had to run, leap, or dive to catch it in order for BOTH runners to advance, seeing as how his arm is pretty good.

Or did he try to get the out at 3B and Guillen advanced that way?

Schmoll has nothing today. Tracy brings in Broxton. Brazoban doesn't throw an offspeed pitch, so Broxton is probably a better choice. Navarro can really play defense.

429 - if the distance to the walls are as advertised, I wonder that it isn't 5-5 at this point. They're supposed to be something like 20 feet off.

[427] The fickle finger of fate strikes again. Glad Phillips is at 1B becasue if he's behind the plate the score is 5-4.

El Toro for one batter, or a 4-out save opp?

Toro, toro, toro!

Navarro's first test wasnt so good

When they say JT manages by the book, do they mean this book

http://tinyurl.com/d3v6d

or this book

http://tinyurl.com/dx9rh

436 - what was that again?

432 That actually was my point. I've seen a lot of criticisms of Lowe, but, I've never considered him an ace. I had him pegged for something like 12-10 with a 4.2 ERA this year.

People point to that signing when complaining about DePo, but it has been successful for the reasons you mentioned.

433- the throw was to second. Just not in time.

[416] The fickle finger of fate strikes again, now it doesn't matter who was behind the plate.

Throw the pitch you threw to Pujols

I leave work at 5:15. I come back to see Choi hit himself a nice little home run. Woohoo! I hope Tracy doesn't think that Choi's adjusting well to his new "role."

Could use a Valentin HR for insurance.

Who predicted that Choi would hit a PH HR to win? That might come true I hope.

Too bad we can't use Choi more than once per game.

Wow Majewski has a mullet in his Gameday photo!

450 - Seriously, it is awful. That guy is the ugliest player I have seen in recent memory.

Looked like Penny was barely concealing his hatred for Choi in that last cutaway.

Any chance that Broxton can close in the 9th.

452. What does that mean?

Now we get to sweat with Brazobahn (sounds like a workout program).

The Nationals announcers aren't very well-prepared.

They said tonight was Broxton's second appearance, except it was his third.

Now they tell me Brazoban came to the Dodgers in the Lo Duca/Penny trade.

Braz scares me when he comes into the game.

I have a bad feeling that Carroll will walk to lead things off

454- Wasn't it Penny who's supposed to have complained about Choi's D to the press?

Midwest blue predicted the Choi PH HR. Actually he demanded it before he had to leave for an hour.

453 - careful what you wish for.

So, why doesn't Ryan Church play?

Or, I guess the better question, why did the Nationals get Preston Wilson?

458
Well that didn't happen.

I worry that Yhency throws low inside fastballs to Lefty's.

get those up, Yhency

454 that was sarcasm, Penny and Choi were chatting on the dugout steps in a very friendly way, which would belie the claim that vets, and specificially pitchers don't like choi

459 Pretty sure Brad Penny said Choi was his best friend on the team.

Nice, High fastball Yhency

That was a gift.

wow, that looked like the tag was applied...

Vidro did a good job getting around the bag, that should have been an easy tag

Wow, that was amazingly dumb on Vidro's part.

466- My bad. Sarcastic and just plain wrong shot withdrawn. I have trouble keeping straight which pitcher it is who hates Choi.

Wouldn't facing Castilla be a better idea here?

Never mind.

Our Lord & Savior gifts the Dodgers with a win. Blah.

Now can Choi earn a start.

He darn near threw away that ball to first, but I'll take it.

So Jon, what's the answer to the exhibition game date?

473
Jose Guillen is not the sort of hitter who strikes so much fear in me that I would have walked him to put the winning run on base.

Weep not for Jose Guillen.

GHAME OVER!

Very nice win for the Dodgers

Padres pouring it on now, 8-3 in the 8th.

The DBacks stay in first may be brief as they are facing Clemens and the Astros tonight at home.

479 True, but Jose Guillen is the only player who strikes any fear in me in that lineup.

Kevin Kennedy can't go more than 25 seconds without saying something stupid.

"Why do you need another outfielder, you have Repko?"

478 april 1965

Chad Tracy just hit a homer against Clemens. So much for his 0.38 (something like that) road ERA

Hurray! Hopefully, this kicks off the 15 game winning streak that catapults us into 1st place!!!

But I'de settle for a sweep of the Nats for now. =)

How's this for closing the door?

Ryan Dempster pitching
2-0 Cubs lead at Philly, bottom 9

Popup - 1 out
Utley walked
Abreu walked
Burrell walked
Howard walked
Bell K
Lieberthal up with 2 down

11-3 Padres.

The NL West may get some respect this week.

Or this could just be one of those one day blips.

483 Thanks. I remember that weekend, because Koufax was supposed to pitch on Saturday, and I had to stay home and mow the lawn. Then the Dodgers switched the rotation and Drysdale pitched that day and Koufax pitched on Sunday, when I was able to go. I was behind home plate for a half-inning watching him pitch, and I could understand why nobody could hit the guy much.

Ewww they PH Tomas Perez with Jason Michaels available.

488 Wow. I would have loved to see him pitch live.

Anyone notice that it was only the righties that hit homers off Loaiza? Every righty, save one, hit one (and every Jeff/Jason, save one, hit one). The only righty Jeff/Jason that didn't hit one had one hit in his spot in the lineup

[316.] Midwest Blue

Taking a break. I'll be back in an hour and I expect this game to be long over, with Choi winning it with a pinch-hit homerun in the 9th. You have your orders.

Midwest, any tips on some hot stocks or real estate I should be looking into?

damn, those arent brackets.

493 I suspect the period got you.

494 yep

How to manage the 1st/2nd, 0 out situation according to the Moneyball Handbook section 7.15(b)

Oakland at Minnesota
2-2 tie, top 8

Kotsay singled to right.
Crosby walked, Kotsay to second.
Chavez singled to right, Kotsay scored, 3-2
Johnson singled to center, Crosby scored, 4-2
Payton reached on fielder´s choice
Hatteberg reached on fielder´s choice
Swisher grounded into fielder´s choice

Oakland's problem is that they can't generate runs. That might work now, but, come playoff time, that approach simply doesn't work.

Just got back from the game; thought that for the benefit of those watching on TV or on Gamecast, I would post a couple of things that stood out to me.

1. Valentin made a perfect throw to the plate on a fly ball hit by Vidro in the 3rd. I mean this ball was on a line and hit Navarro in the chest. The fans around me were asking who was out in left.

2. Repko's defense and speed are a lot more appreciable in person than on Gamecast (which unfortunately is how I have to follow most games.) His arm also impressed a lot of the fans, especially on the DP he started in the first inning.

3. When Broxton came in, I decided to track his pitches, like Jon has done for us before. I didn't have the greatest vantage point, so I might be a little off, but I don't think he threw anything but gas to either Schneider or Baerga.

(All speeds according to RFK radar gun)
Broxton vs. Schneider
1. 89, FB, high
2. 95, FB, swung/missed
3. 96, FB, high
4. 95, FB, low + outside
5. 96, FB, grounded foul of 3B
6. 93, FB, high + inside, BB

Broxton vs. Baerga
1. 85, ?, called strike
2. 86, ?, in play, 4-3

Not sure if the gun was right during Baerga's at bat. Anyway, just wanted to contribute a little bit.

Are happy? We are three posts away from delirium that might be psychologically disturbing...

That's the National Air Traffic Controllers Radar Gun!

Aw, heck with it... I thought I would get a grand slam ending on post 500 but here goes nothing...

CHOI!!

You cannot stop the man, you can only hope to contain him. The team plays better when he plays, no doubt sensing the presence that the Korean Crusher brings to this ballclub.

He homered. A game winning homer. He just bought a seat on the bench for three more games.

Through four innings in Phoenix, Roger Clemens and Claudio Vargas have each struck out seven batters. Still 1-0 DBacks who are trying to hold on to their slender first place lead.

When did the Nats change their scheduled starters? It was suppose to be Drese and Armas, now it's Armas and Patterson. So much for an easy win on Thursday

Biggio just singled in a run, 1-1 tie

498

Thanks, Nick. They weren't showing the gun/mph on TV here in LA.

Everett just doubled in a run, 2-1 Stros

Eastern Sports Preference Network Watch:

They show four 3 HR: Kent, Phillips, Repko. but not the one which Choi on high drove out of the building.

It was the winning run in the end.

Off topic for tonight, but does anyone know how they determine which minor league teams are affiliated with which major league teams? For instance, why did the Dodgers move from Albuquerque to Vegas, and why don't they have Bakersfield anymore?

Great game tonight - I had great seats, but am sorry I didn't see the other DT posters...

That play made by Navarro on Schmoll's pitch was amazing (even if ultimately having no effect).

The one thing that I was frustrated by, that viewers on TV may not have been able to catch, was the positions of our fielders on a couple of plays. In the first, Robles seemed to be way out of position on the ball that Vidro hit. Robles was a step on the grass, and it seemed to me that he would have been able to get it if he had been playing back a few steps. Similarly, in the 3rd, Phillips was playing on the bag, attempting to hold Schneider on, leaving a huge hole on the right side for Guzman. Why hold Schneider on there? I can understand shading him some, but actually playing on the bag just gave too much room on the right side for Guzman. Otherwise, great game.

508 I'm not completely sure, but I believe most minor league clubs are just under a contract, and once the contract is up, you're free to move. The Dodgers moved from San Antonio to Jacksonville to put the club closer to Vero, then moved from Albuquerque to Vegas to be closer to LA. Once the Vegas contract is up, I wouldn't be surprised if they move again, that place kills our pitchers

Most minor league teams are on two-year contracts with their big league affiliates. Especially in the lower minors, teams just switch teams for whatever reason. Usually because one location offers a better deal. Sometimes the big league team just doesn't like the minor league operator or vice versa.

AAA tends to have the most stability. I think the Braves have been in Richmond for a while and the Tigers have used Toledo for a while too.

I was at the game tonight and was also impressed by the Dodger outfield's arms.

Also, the play at second on Vidro's double in the ninth was curious. He looked out from the moment he rounded first until he slid by second. It all happened too fast. Could someone who saw it more slowly tell me was it a missed tag? off-line throw? great slide? The slide looked a little too great from deep in the right field corner and I expected some protest from the Dodgers that he slid out of the baseline.

A final comment before sleep: Growing up going to Dodger games and watching the last out from the concourses near an exit, I was surprised by how few people moved from their seats even with two out and no one on in the ninth.

512

Good slide by Vidro. Kent chased and lunged at vidro and missed him. Kent should have just brought the glove to the bag. vidro would have to have come back to him.

throw was good enough, it beat vidro there.

Also just walked home from the great game tonight. Navarro's play on that wild pitch was just unbelievable. A whole bunch of Nats fans sitting around me tipped their hats and clapped as he got up. Between the DP, the homer, and the deadball bunt single, I got a lot of "who's thats" re Repko.

After Choi pinch homers and we are up 3, how come he doesn't stay in for defense. Is Philips considered better defensively at first?

Thank you Bob for answering the question I hadn't yet asked re four homer games at RFK.

509 Sorry I didn't catch you Mush (or Sam DC, for that matter). I went over to 313, but it was rather crowded.

Let me just say that I'll never, ever sit below the Press Box again (Sec. 316 Row 17). I lost sight of every single flyball. On the flip side, you get to watch who's coming and going from the press box and suites behind the plate. Tonight, this included Tommy Lasorda just after the 8th inning. He seemed to be moving well, and waved to the masses below when people realized he was up there, though some of them might have been jeering.

Driving to Camden from DC Very easy -- you take the Baltimore Washington Parkway, a nice landscaped highway with no trucks allowed. Traffics never too bad on that road, except between 5:30 and 7:00 (so weeknight games are a little tricky, do need to leave early). The easiest way to the parkway is to take East Capitol Street east out of the City -- as the name suggest, East Cap runs from the Capitol due east. You run into RFK -- follow the circle around and go over the bridge, just over the bridge is a sign for the Balt Wash Parkway, also known as MD route 295. Don't get on I495 or I95 when the option presents itself. The BW parkway runs directly to Camden.

Parking -- there are plenty of affordable lots surrounding the stadium, esp. to the south surrounding the football stadium, now called M&T Bank Stadium.

Yeah -- it was very busy and hard to find other DT posters; lots of blue, though nothing like a Yankees/Mets/Cubs game. Was one of you the guy wearing a Steve Sax jersey?

514 Choi doesn't stay in because Tracy doesn't want to burn his "backup" catcher.

518 (first time) Aha. Makes perfect sense. Wonderful.

Nick Johnson's long fly off Schmoll really did look darn long. Someone asked about the walls. A couple of Post reporters (Nats excellent beat writer Barry Svrluga and Tom Boswell) snuck out and measured. That pressured the team into re-surveying the park a week or so ago. The presumably accurate new survey found that the foul line measurements of 335 are accurate and the dead center measurement of 410 is accurate. The right and left center alleys, marked at 380, are actually 395 -- they were marked at 380 because, when they put the wall up, the put the labeled pads in the wrong place. The pads are now moved.

516 If you want public transport, and if you're going on a weekday, you can take a Camden Line MARC Train to Baltimore - Camden Station from Washington Union Station and a 508 (?) bus back from Camden Station to Greenbelt on WMATA's Green Line. The buses leave 15-20 minutes after the last pitch (or an hour afterwards if there are fireworks).

If it's a weekend, it's buses both way from and to Greenbelt.

Houston up 3-1 on the DBacks in the bottom of the 9th

Bruntlett makes a great play to steal a run scoring double, and throws it in for a DP to end the game. Astros win, and the DBacks fall back into second

The combination of Choi's offensive inconsistency, Phillips' throwing problems from behind the plate, yet his run production at the plate led the Dodgers to move Phillips to first base, promote Navarro from Triple-A and turn Choi into a pinch-hitter.

Ken Gurnick from mlb.com

Absolutely absurd assessment...

523 Yup. That's pretty stoopid.
514 I think that Tracy believes Phillips to be a better defensive 1bman than Choi. I also think he's wrong about that. But it really looks to me that Tracy is trying to put his best defensive team out there (hence, no Choi, no Perez, less Saenz), with the ironic benefit that his bench is then better for PH duties.

Which would be fine if (1) our pitchers could keep the ball in the park more often, and (2) better hitters wouldn't produce more runs in 4-5 PAs each than in 1 each. Hey Jim! 7-6 wins are just as good as 2-1 wins! And a lot better than 6-2 losses!

Ah shoot. What's the point?

This "Dodger players hate Choi" thing is dumb. Even if it was true, I can't think of a worse reason to leave someone out of a lineup. Unless it is to play the second worst hitter on your team at first base.

This "Phillips is better defensively than Choi" would get you put in the funny farm if Choi had a name that sounded less foreign and more like Bob Smith.

This "Jason Phillips hit two homeruns in the last four days, so he'll hit a lot more" is how we got stuck with Jason Grabowski.

We're sunk.

Remember back when I thought Buck Showalter might be a good idea?

Never mind. He just had Phil "I wish I was Jason Phillips" Nevin and his Beltre-like OPS batting cleanup tonight. Yikes.

Out of curiousity, and possibly to stir things up, I pose a question. Who would be the "perfect fit" Moneyball manager? With Macha taken, who's the best fit to replace Tracy this offseason?

Ron Washington?

I'd do it...

Someone who is probably under the radar and willing to do things a little differently (ie, buck conventional wisdom).

I think with the crop of young guys coming up, the manager would also need patience in dealing with younger players.

510, 511 Take a look at the standings and affiliations for the long-lamented Hawai'i Islanders. They were hooked up with 8 major league teams in 17 years.

http://tinyurl.com/8t7rr

That was a two-day project I did a while back; don't laugh at the sloppy coding. ;)

527
Someone a while back suggested Orel Hershiser. I haven't heard a better idea. He'd command respect, and he's learned sabermetrics from Showalter for the past 2-3 years. And he'd sure as hell know when pitchers were tiring.

Lopes?

527. You? Me? 90% of the people on the DT board. I don't think we would want any current managers. It would have to be someone with the same philosophy as DePodesta. Otherwise, what's the point of having DePodesta? vr, Xei

Delwyn Young went 4-4 with a double and a walk today. Vegas isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so both he and Aybar have good chances at September callups (plus they're both on the 40 man roster).

I have no idea what the contract status of either Hershiser or Washington, but both guys are going to move on to bigger things within 2 years. While the talk about Orel is that he might be going to a front office position, I think that he'll be a field-guy for a few years first.

I would think both would actually be likely candidates. Both are pretty much in the position of being able to pretty much choose their next job, and like Depo, both will probably wait until they find a good fit. Both are obvious choices because of their histories with the team and/or Depo.

I'm still not sure that Tracy will be gone though. One thing working in the favor of those of us sick of him is that he isn't making too much money. If he has an out clause, he may well use it to take a job somewhere else at twice the salary.

Over/Under Challenge update.

Best two out of three...
8/2, Weaver vs Nationals (6 IPs)
8/3, Penny vs Nationals
8/4, Lowe vs Nationals
.........................
Xeifrank leads series 1-0
CT Bum: 7-1/3 (W)
Xeifrank: 7 7
.........................
Colorado Blue leads series 1-0
Louis in SF: 6-2/3
Colorado Blue: 6 (W) 6
.........................
Standings...
1-Joekings 8-4-1
2-Howard 8-7-2
3-Xeifrank 8-7-2
4-Colorado Blue 8-9-0
5-Louis in SF 5-6-2
6-CT Bum 6-8-3

527 - Hatteberg?

Broxton looked really slow to the plate.
Tracy should use him to start innings instead of bringing him in with runners on base.

I don't know who's worse at holding runners between Broxton and Braz.

527 maybe after the dodger fail to get Dusty they can take a shot and try to pull Joe Morgan out of the booth.

60 Hey Bokonon, sorry for the delayed reply. I was at the DBacks game tonight, watching them get mowed down by Clemens. To determine a players first good season, I use PRAA (Pitching Runs Above Average) for pitchers and FRAA (Fielding Runs Above Average) + BRAA (Batting Runs Above Average) for position players. The goal was to determine how long it takes young players to make a significant impact (obviously some never do), rather than just providing replacement level (or potentially worse) output. Did I ever send you the spreadsheet? I'm currently in the middle of a cross-country move, so my head is all over the place.

312 Hey Bob, are you staying at the Holiday Inn? I'll be there tomorrow night and I picked up the MLB.tv package if you'd like to watch a very choppy version of the game. I'll try to track you down after I check in, which should be around 6:30pm EST assuming the airport has resumed full operations.

460 / 492 - Thanks for the hat tip. Just trying to do my part to motivate Choi through these stressful times.

As the Soup Nazi might say: "No stocks for you."

I vote for Orel. He would be great.

541

I assume Fearing has already left, but I'm actually at the Intercontinental hotel.

SO, there's no Nationals blog anything like Dodger Thoughts. There are some OK blogs with decent writers and good information, but no Jon Weismans and no real community. There are some pretty noxious "chat" zones (one of which attacked Rob earlier in the year . . .). But there's one guy out there who is a very smart and excellent writer, who does seem pretty brilliant "game stories". www.ball-wonk.com. His story about last night's game gives you an idea of the flavor, though it's not his best stuff. I pass it on in futherance of my DC-tourguide duties.

http://www.ball-wonk.com/archives/000456.html

543 I should have left already, but they rescheduled my flight. So, now I won't be getting into Toronto until after the game (10:45 pm to the airport). I'll try to find you at the conference on Thursday.

I will be the moderator in the King I meeting room.