but for now, i will be a pessimist for the day so i wont be dissapointed.

5.2 innings. 7hits 4Runs 3K's 2bb's

I expect at least Derek Thompson quality today from EJ. Anything less, and I will be disappointed.

Perez 2002 or 2003, and Penny 2005?

Another legit lineup from Tracy. This is about the best I could hope for against a lefty, save Cesar dropping to the 8 hole.

In 2003. In Double-A.

Of course, he may have gone on the DL today to make room for Jackson. Anyone hear yet what the Dodgers' roster move was?

August 22, 1918

With the season about to come to a premature end as the newspapers were filled with casualty counts from World War I, instead of baseball scores, two teams playing out the string, Brookyn and St. Louis, split a doubleheader at Robison Field. The Cardinals won the first game 4-3 and the Dodgers won the second one 5-2. Brooklyn was in fifth place at 53-62 and 22 games behind first place Chicago.

Because of wartime labor shortages, the government ordered the season to end on Labor Day. And on this day, the Secretary of War gave indications that he would allow the World Series to be played. But for the rest of the world, there wasn't much to be happy about. Fortunately, the war would end in three months, although baseball would play another abbreviated schedule in 1919.

In the opener, Brooklyn started Rube Marquard and he gave up 10 hits and walked four in 8 2/3 innings pitched. It was 8 2/3 because Marquard walked Bruno Betzel with the bases loaded to force in John Brock with the game-winning run. Brock, a seldom-used backup catcher, would go 4 for 7 in the doubleheader.

Brooklyn managed 9 hits off of St. Louis starter Bill Sherdel, including a triple from Hi Myers. Zack Wheat had three hits.

In the nightcap, Brooklyn started George Smith and he too gave up 10 hits, but he was able to scatter them around better and also issued no walks, so the Cardinals could only score twice. Brooklyn was more efficient using six hits and three walks to score five runs. The Dodgers left only one runner on base.

There wasn't much more of the 1918 season left and Brooklyn would win just four more games and finish 57-69, 25 ½ games behind the Cubs and in fifth place.

Zack Wheat was the Dodgers standout, leading the NL in batting average at .335, his only batting title. Jake Daubert led the NL in triples with 15. But the Dodgers season was symbolized best by third baseman Ollie O'Mara who batted .213, had an OBP of .242 and a SLG of .242. Brooklyn hit just 10 home runs overall. Pitcher Jack Coombs gave up 10 on his own.

Coombs played his last full year in the majors and went 8-14 with a 3.81 ERA. He also played some in the outfield and played both games of the doubleheader this day in right field. Coombs had won 31 games for the A's in 1910 and 28 in 1911 and he was the first Dodger to ever win a World Series game.

Burleigh Grimes had an outstanding season, going 19-9 with a 2.14 ERA. Marquard led the league in losses with 18, but had an ERA of just 2.64.

Brooklyn might have had a slightly better record if the whole season had been played out. But the early end kept the team from having a balanced schedule. So Brooklyn played just 54 games at Ebbets Field and 72 on the road, where the Dodgers went 24-48.

Thanks to the Washington Post, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

oh wait damn, im being optimistic again.

http://jaxsuns.com/games/050303100455.shtml

And would that surprise anybody here?

Hey, your personal life is your own business, Bob...

I'm afraid OP's deal is gonna look like the worst move DePo made. Because his contract is pretty backloaded. I think next year he makes 10mils.

"I object to the 21st Century selections because I'm on one of those people who doesn't think 2000 is part of the 20th Century."

I tend to detract from my dogmatic stances on unimportant matters by making typos.

28 reflects my true stance.

Oldbear,it is 2am. I should be sleeping. But, we really need this win.

Nice lead off batting for Cesar!

At least we know that Lima would be the pitcher in the playoff game:)

From the radio, it sounds like a pretty decent crowd. Probably lots of kids.

"MLB: Didn't you nearly go to the Dodgers until a last-minute snag?
VG: I don't want to comment on how close the Dodgers were. It doesn't matter now. I always thought that this is where I wanted to go. Long-term, you want to go where people have trust in you and play in an environment like Angel Stadium and for an owner [Arte Moreno] who is a fan of the game. It makes it interesting. It is a right fit."

Anyhow, watching the scores, I expect the acceptance/denial pendulum was swinging fiercely this week . . .

My 4-year old wears a Dodger cap a lot of the time (not because of me or even the Dodgers, really, but because of his hero from The Sandlot). So we get other LA transplants coming up to make conversation every now and again. This last week I met a guy who was a big Dodgers fan growing up in the 70s, but quit rooting for the team, or even watching baseball after Steve Garvey went to San Diego. For no real reason, he says, he started rooting for the team again this year, got a new jersey (Izturis), got mlb extra innings, and "feel in love all over again" during the 12-2 run at the beginning of the season. Needless to say, he's a bit bitter at the moment.

It seems the only gamer right now (among the walking wounded) is Ledee.

This is a hard game to follow online. I think the Gameday operator is being affected by the heat.

It's a calendar, not an odometer.

Btw, about the blog topic today - kinda sad that Green gets the 1B nod given how little he played there, but just speaks to our inconsistency at the position so far this century. Chris Donnells? Wow..

There was no year 0. There was Year 1 B.C., and then there was Year 1 A.D.

So, the "2nd decade" didn't start until year 11 A.D.

...and the 2nd Century didn't start until 101 A.D.

and so on.

Everybody else would say "I shall not put up with this nonsense."

People think 2000 marks the beginning of the 20th Century because it's a Big Round Number.

You mean 21st, right?

I was just upset that the only "000" year in my lifetime was a leap year. Stupid Gregorian calendar adjustment!

I've also done the SI free-issues, free MLB Audio move in year's past. But, this year I signed up at the beginning of the year and paid the $15 (the SI offer wasn't yet available). I've found the $15 to be well worth it.

The rule may or may not be silly, but that example isn't why.

We can quickly solve the 21st Century argument, by saying this is the Dodger team of the 00's.

Maybe he stole his lunch money once.

or walk.

That run from 1st to 3rd on the Cruz double was in super slo-mo. Cabrera had a long run to the ball, way over in the corner. As he was approaching the ball, they cut to Old Maid and he was JUST rounding 2nd. I don't know what happened.

can one boo on a game chat?

After grounding into a DP in the 1st, he took the rest of the day off to get in touch of his inner self.

Or, if you want to go with the official story, he hurt his patellar tendon when he landed funny at first base.

But we can wonder why Edwin Jackson has walked Damion Easley three times!

But since it would be Rick Monday and Al Downing, I would stick with Dave Van Horne and his sidekick.

He competed very well, Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said of Vargas, a native of Apple Valley who played at Long Beach State. "He threw strikes. He had a catcher behind the plate [Paul Lo Duca] I've seen more than once take a young pitcher and do good things with him."

How many young pitchers has LoDuca done good things with??? I remember Odalis Perez' season a couple of years ago which would qualify, but other than that nothing rings a bell. Am I forgetting any of LoDuca's good deeds with young pitchers??

Maybe Tracy needed to be reminded that Repko was only subbing for the #3 hitter.

I consider Repko only a slight upgrade from a pitcher.

Shouldn't this be Dessens time?

Sure felt that way!!

Alfonseca vs. Brazoban. Don't play with matches around these two.

Worst thing is he threw 107 pitches. Way too many.

Dodgers placed LHP Odalis Perez on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Thursday, with a strained right oblique muscle. It looks like Edwin Jackson might be needed to make two or more starts. Perez won't be eligible to return until Sept. 2.

Heck no, and join the ever growing club.

Tracy just wanted to show off by proving he knows how to double-switch.

Hey, silver lining time: maybe the 2-run deficit will reduce the probability that Tracy bunts the team out of a big inning.

Grasping at straws here.

To make things easier, let's combine those two words into one: sucky.

Werth, a pinch hitter (likely Choi), and Navarro in the 9th!

Woo hoo!

"As long as we are ONLY 5 games back with 5 weeks we are okay?"

That's about it.

Dodger road record: 24-34
When Jon attended: 1-0
When Jon didn't: 23-34

Has it occurred to anyone that we need to keep Jon away from Dodger Stadium and send him (and I guess the family too . . .) out of town for a series or two?

That may be true, but Repko has been given twice the opportunity as those two players combined.

The Dodgers are 2-6 when I go.

Let's see:
Beat the Giants
Lost to Dbacks
Lost to Nats
Lost to Cubs
Lost to Angels
Lost to Twins
Lost to Brewers
Beat the Giants

Chen has had a few chances in several seasons and he's been found wanting.

wild pitch
walk
and a hit by pitch?

he loves gio.

Phillips isn't playing, so we'll win, right?

Where's Schmoll? Isn't he supposed to be our best reliever (non-Duaner category)?

Broxton? Schmoll?

Phew, finally out of it. 3 runs against Jones is a tall order.

Bases loaded grounder to third, and the only play is at first?

I turned on the radio on my way home to hear Rpko, Kent, Saenz due up in the 8th. I started to fear something happened to Bradley... Anyone have any prognosis based on the replays? Has an announcer said something? We don't need more injuries, things are not looking up, especially for my state of denial

257 Any other season, and you wouldn't say that

The two bobbles were bad though.

The two bobbles were bad though.

http://tinyurl.com/an9xw

On the first "booted ball," he fielded it cleanly, just took a sec to get the ball out of his glove. Who knows if they'd have gotten the DP.

Only on the last one did he boot anything.

Choi was in his usual spot.

Apparently Jackson was throwing in the high-90s with good movement (too good?).

A C C E P T A N C E

I'm not giving up until we are eliminated in this wretched division.

I think our season is done.

Well, we have 3 games vs. colorado first. and the Pads start a series against Houston today. I'm still hoding out some hope. I can't give up on the season yet. Not with the pads playing about as horrible as we have.

If it's Clarence Clemons on the hill, I'm betting on the Dodgers.

I can handle AP bobbling balls if he hits .325. We've been going with the all defense/speed/scrap lineup and were 6 games out.

What do we have to lose by playing the best offensive lineup?

Can someone tell me how to make my hand scream? Is this some evolutionary thing that my family missed out on?

Human Resources wants to talk to me now.

I'll be right back.

I'm much more interested in showing Odalis Perez the door. Why did we sign that guy again anyway? I see that he cleared waivers and suddenly went on the DL. Activate and trade that guy.

i just call him chipmunk.

Now, I was just arguing that APerez "looks" bad, but that it is misleading b/c his defensive stats show him being better. I don't know if this is the same situation - do Repko's defensive stats show him to be a superior OFer?

Still doesn't change the fact that he hasn't hown me anything offensively. At least with Perez you know that his bat will overcome his glove.

Which really doesn't prove much at all.

Oh, and answer me this, How does it happen that as Peanut takes 3 days off to goto the Dominican and when he gets back he's hurt in a freak Bullpen high throwback? I think he hurt himself partying, Coincedence
? I think not!

I also doubt it was partying, since I've never seen or heard anything remotely along the lines of him being a party animal.

And frankly, what's the point of trumpeting this "Peanut" business instead of providing reasons for keeping him or getting rid of him? You say it's not his fault he's getting knocked? Why not?

He has, on occasion, been a stud pitcher. However, he also appears not to have a killer instinct and easily knocked off his mental game. I'd be fine if he was our fifth starter in a staff of stronger pitchers. He isn't, which makes his flaws all the more apparent.

So, Yakface, do you actively root against him when he pitches or are you merely frustrated that he's still on the team?

Take your choice:
Odalis
Weaver
Lowe
Duaner
Yhency

I can certainly see how stretching high to catch a throw above your head can result in a muscle tweak (esp. when you're expecting it at your chest, and you have to adjust at the last minute). Plus, I think he was there on a family emergency, not to go clubbing.

And the Peanut stuff makes sense if its a nickname, but I think you're going overboard with it. Just a friendly criticism...

So far, I think Goggles for Phillips and Scrappy for Repko are the only two that have earned that seal. It's sort of like getting ISO 9000 certification.

Any rational person at this point would accept that the Dodgers chances of postseason are done for the year. With 38 games left, the Dodgers are 5.5 games behind San Diego, with Arizona also above us in the division. Baseball Prospectus gave the Dodgers a 6.74% chance of making the playoffs, and that was before today's loss. This week, we have home games against Roy Oswalt and Roger Clemens coming up, followed by a trip to the Cubs. All in all, by all logical counts, we could be 7-9 games behind in ten days from now. We need to go 25-13 in our remaining 38 games just to finish .500, which I don't even think will be enough to make the playoffs.

The brightside... well, we are behind San Diego and Arizona. Unless one of them wakes up and goes on a semi-tear (.500 ball), we have a chance to catch up to them. But, if either one of them can go slightly over .500 the rest of the way, well, we have an almost impossible task. Wait, this is the brightside... this is our schedule the rest of the way:

3 games v. Colorado
3 games v. Houston
3 games at Chicago
3 games at Colorado
3 games v. San Fransisco
3 games v. San Diego
3 games v. Colorado
4 games at San Francisco
3 games at Arizona
4 games v. Pittsburgh
3 games v. Arizona
3 games at San Diego

That is as light-weight a schedule as anyone can ask for. The Houston series is the toughest series we have left. The DBacks still has to play the Mets, Phillies and the Brewers. The Pads have to play the Astros, Brewers and the Nats. 16 of our 38 games left are against San Francisco and Colorado. We need to go 13-3 or something amazing like that in those games to have a decent shot at being above .500 before the end of the year. Definitely not impossible, but, nothing the Dodgers are showing so far has me believing (hard).

Beyond those series, we take 4 of 6 from the Dbacks and the Pads and I think we should be set for the playoffs. All that being said, it would be almost fatal if we do not sweep Colorado before the Houston and Chicago series after that. So, I could be in acceptance by Thursday, or we can see how long the denial lasts.

What about Wunsch tripping out of the bullpen?
The dude who went on the DL because his eyeball got scraped by a nasty feather from his goose-down pillow? Pathetic as it is, I once tweaked my back flipping through a photo album. You can be lean and limber and fit and still suffer tweaks, twitches, and other oddities.

As to whether baseball players seem less able to play through injuries than other athletes, that's up for debate -- but Perez certainly isn't alone in that regard.

324 The only hope we have to win the division is to start playing consistent baseball. We haven't, and don't show any signs of starting to.... so I think we're toast.

Wouldn't it be hilarious, though, if J.D. Drew coming off the DL sparked an offence resurgence that made us win the division? Would that qualify him as the new Heart-and-Soul(tm) of the team?

Muwahahaha its so crazy it just might work...

It's probably not a huge difference at this point.

However, I know that won't happen. My guess is that Osoria will get a couple of innings here and there, mostly in non-impact situations.

http://tinyurl.com/dzrfy

the suns need broxton to close the door when the suns win the southern league championship. duh.

he could start, but he would probably go 4 innings max. i like what they are doing with him now. i would let him start in the AFL on strict pitch counts, and next year, have him maintain a full starting role.

Of course the last time I applied, I entered my resume all wrong on Monster.com, so they likely rejected me on spec.

I thought he was just a first baseman.

Padres and Giants not yet underway.

but beltran perez i like. hes a pitcher we got in the green deal and before he was injured, he was considered one of az's top pitching prospects couple years ago.

he is 23 now and seems to have found his niche in the bullpen and is doing well. i like his stuff a lot. good heavy clement like fastball with great movement and good velocity and a good slider.

and depo isnt doing the contract talks with boras/hoch, its logan white.

That game was far more depressing than anything I've seen this year.

I still remember the Dodgers getting consecutive singles from Piazza, Karros, and Mondesi with nobody out and not scoring a run.

Thanks for the support Sam. I think I am fated not to have that job.

My scorekeeping skills get used by the Daily News covering high school football games. That's an even more picayune form of scorekeeping.

I was glad to have the pictures, though. JtD looks big and beefy. Kuo looks hard core; I'm glad I'm not his UCL. Actually, is the re-assigned tendon in a TJ surgery properly called a ligament? Honorary ligament? Is Kuo the one with a cadaver tendon? Billingsly is a pretty boy. Martin looks like a snow-mobile enthusiast.

They'd have to edit him out of all the Boys and Girls Club PSAs he's in anyway!

The mathematic argument may be for the 20th century, but the aesthetic argument is for the 21st - and that's the one I'm going with. It is about the odometer changing, regardless of there not being a year zero.

Now don't talk about it anymore. You've talked about it too much already. We fought this out five-six years ago.

Of course, it figures that the actual team selections generated about a tenth of the comments as the inclusion of the year 2000.

In other news ... Peanut sounds way too snide for my taste.

I will say this from my just-partially-delusional perspective: I predict that before this year ends, Choi will replace somebody as a bench player. He's starting to get more patient at the plate and it's paying off. Tracy can only ignore him for so long. The next 40 games, I think Choi plays very, very well.

By the by, anybody know of an LA Unified School that needs an English teacher? Believe it or not, those jobs are scarce.

Sorry.

I think the inclusion of Matt Herges got me angry.

so where did you pick it up? a local barnes and noble? reason i ask is because i dont get the mag subscription and i kinda want this one for the cool pictures :)

I just expected at least one comment about Chris Donnels!

What about Choi/Kent/Saenz/Phillips, 2005. I think I heard the combined offensive production from that group is second only to the Cardinals this year. In the NL.

Answer: Lance Berkman (at least for tonight)

The Giants actually have two decent starters now in Lowry and Schmidt. And if Bonds returns.....

Um, if this becomes the new measuring stick around here, we're all in trouble.

On the thread topic, no Dave Hansen!

Is he some unholy amalgamation of Lonnie Smith and Willie McGee? Neither guy was overly tall.

I think Vin calls a lot of tall players Daddy Longlegs.

Hey, weren't the Marlins 0 for 3 in stolen bases in the series?

Ozzie and Lonnie. Not Willie and Lonnie. Least I had the team right... :)

Whatever...

I always liked Lonnie Smith. He was a really gifted athlete, yet always fell over in the outfield.

I know the orthodox view here is to hope the Padres lose. I think I mentioned this the other day, but I hope the Padres win. If the Dodgers win a pennant I want them to win it rather than depending on the teams around them to lose. Also, I don't want the Giants hanging around and end up winning the NL West. If the Dodgers are good enough they can keep pace with the Padres. If they are not good enough, they don't deserve to be in a pennant race anyway.

Stan from Tacoma

Sometimes Vin calls guys who are really tall and skinny as "He's all elbows and kneecaps!"

Hear what you're saying, Stan...it kind of boils down to a pride of division thing.

"one thing that you would like to see is our ability to sustain some offense. The opportunity to have three or four guys in the lineup swinging the bat collectively at the same time."

http://tinyurl.com/bb8by

Stan from Tacoma

407 - I was surprised to see Tracy getting so much support (or lack thereof) in the national fan base. I figured that most people know that Piniella (a given) and Perlozzo (who?) are both gone, so to see Tracy first among the rest is impressive.

I think both Dusty and Hurdle come back, for what its worth. I don't think Torre comes back if the Yankees have a disappointing finish to the year.

Remember when an announcer likened Willie McGee to "E.T."?

409 Ah, the New York Post.

Stan,
I would be a bit more confident if there was a guy named Koufax starting every four days as it was back in 1963.

But the 1963 squad led most of the year. The 1965 team was the one that had an incredible hot streak from its pitchers at the end of the year.

But read this and picture me in a blind rage:

http://tinyurl.com/ar3oa

It's the NY Times, so they'll ask you to register.

Let's look at some of his moves:

1. Lowe--an indisputably terrible move. He was not that good and Depo gave him a bad contract.

2. Resign Perez--we are getting less than we expected. Is this Depos fault? Not sure. The pitching market was getting away from the Dodgers but someone was going to give OP big money. As in the past, this season he has shown a few signs of being great and more signs of being mentally weak and physically not durable. The market was crazy at he time and I am not sure there was any better option.

3. Kent--Perhaps one of the top three signings in all of baseball this year. Depo deserves full credit for this one.

4. Drew--Tough start. But for those watching carefully we started to see what a great signing this was shortly before he got hurt. Given his history, should depo have foreseen this injury? IMO, no. We are not talking about a pulled muscle or a twisted ankle. If you think Depo should have seen this coming then you have to say Depo should have seen Werths or Wunch's injuries coming. If so, please tell me who will win the feature today at Del Mar.

Valentine--Was a terrible signing at the time and turns out to be even worse. For me this is the most inexcusable mistake Depo has made. Perhaps not the worst but the most foreseeable.

Erickson--This one is all Depo. I wouldn't expect much debate here.

Ledee--Too bad for the injury because he was a nice signing for which Depo deserves credit.

Phillips--As much as it hurts to admit. This still remains a good trade. I am not a Phillips fan and resent that Choi doesn't play, in part, because Phillips can't do his real job, but Ishi is still in the minors and has had a terrible season. Given the Dodgers problems we could not have survived another Ishi tightrope act every fifth day.

Injuries--Brutal. Can't remember any other team in recent history having an injury season like this. The capper for me was Wunch. When that happens you know the Gods are against you. In any event, injuries have deprived this team of any real opportunity to compete and show who if they really are any good.

People Depo let go:

Beltre--People can say "oh if he were here he'd be doing better" but the fact is neither the 2004 Beltre nor the 2005 Beltre is the real Beltre. The truth lies somewhere between. Would he better than Valentine? I think so. Would he have been worth the money? No way.

Ishi--See above.

Cora--Cora v. Kent. That thunderous clap was the scales tipping over in favor of Kent.

Green--(I will do my best to be objective). IMO, if we had kept Green and paid him his $16M we would have been better off, for this year at least. Although it is clear his power days are long behind him, he is hitting for average and has somehow turned into one of AZ's most consistent hitters. (Jon, probably wouldn't remember this but a year ago I took issue with his statements that Green's shoulder would rob him of his power--I have conceded that issue). In addition, he is not as "light hitting" as he was when he was here, i.e. meaningless HR in late inning of blowout game. We paid AZ $10M to take him and for the $6M we saved we would have been better off keeping him. Should we have given him an extension? No. Too much money and his days are behind him. The third year of that AZ deal will look bad, but for now we could have used him.

Lima--Nothing needs to be said. But he was fun while he was here.

I am sure I have forgotten some deals and people will disagree. I didn't intend for this to be so long but as I got into it I realized I was trying to determine for myself what I thought of Depo's moves overall. (That and I don't feel like getting any work done today) In the end, the conclusion for me is that there have been some very good and some very bad moves. For me he is not the savior or boy wonder some see him as. So far, is he better than Dan Evans, probably, but not by a lot. Is he better than Malone? Karl Malone would be a better GM than the Sheriff. Yes but that is not saying much. Is he the next mad scientist, as in Beane. I'm not convinced yet, but injuries have deprived him of any real opportunity to show his true ability.

After the 2004 Red Sox championship season, the entire field was replaced and the infield was preserved. Under the watchful eye of MLB authenticators, portions of the field were removed, transported and transplanted on a turf farm in Rhode Island.

A limited amount of Fenway Championship Sod is now available to become a part of Red Sox fans' lawns and gardens.

Your piece of Red Sox history
The sod will be cut into 18" x 9" rectangles and can be purchased for $150 (plus 5% sales tax).

Fans will be invited to pick up their sod at 9 a.m. on September 24, 2005 at Fenway Park Gate C. Parking will be available in the Brookline Avenue parking lot across from the Red Sox ticket office. Sorry, orders cannot be shipped.

The Lowe signing was bad at $3.15 million / win so far as opposed to the league average of $2.15 million / win, but "indisputably terrible" should be reserved for Eric Milton and Russ Ortiz.

Valentin has been a terrible signing, but at the time it did look like a reasonable option compared to Randa. In the end, it's still just a 1 year / $3.5 million deal.

Last year was a really bad year to have to rebuild most of a team through free agency. Even more unfortunately, this year doesn't look like it will be any better. At this point, I'd definitely rate DePodesta above-average for major league GMs, but how he manages our upcoming prospects will likely determine his Dodgers legacy.

Great post. Appreciate the time it took to type it all out.

As far as the credibility of the NYP, well, I returned just over a month ago from being there for 8 LONG weeks. IT's a very popular paper back there and in truth I don't see all that much difference between it, the Daily News or Newsday. All of them are so screwed-up that they print the sports page from the back page, in. I hated it! Not to mention the fact that reading anything about the Dodgers was little if anything. The scres are all a day late!