Nice piece Jon. Sounds like you still think you made the right decision which is good. No time for regrets. We are certainly better off for you leaving that job!

Their loss.

Oh, by the way, what the heck did Chad Kreuter do last night that was the funniest moment of the season?

Jon,
You and I are/were in the same profession, so it's nice to see I am not alone in possessing a... distaste, I'll call it, for covering the seamier side of sports, and life in general.
Professional ghouls, reporters can be. That's part of the job. But what isn't a requirement is enjoying that aspect. Many reporters bring that to the gig on their own. They can go their way; I'll go mine (and, apparently, yours).

Quick odd story before I head off to Wrigley with my buddy. I bought tickets for this game to take my daughter, who through her mother is a Cubs fan, to her first game at Wrigley. I was so looking forward to it. Last night rolls around and she freaks out about missing the afternoon at school and refuses to go, luckily the only other Dodger fan in Chicago that I'm friend's with has the least demanding job in the world, but my question is, what did I do wrong that my daughter refuses to ditch the 3rd day of second grade to go have some fun with her dad?

3 - I don't know who invented the Kreuter rule that if you badmouth a player sincerely enough, he'll do something good, but right on cue, Mike Edwards homered after we were all trashing his appearance in the lineup. It was funnier at the time - just too poetic.

Very decent Jon.

Putting it out there is a good thing isn't it?

5 - You've done fine. And you can feel good about the fact that she'll be a success and taking care of you in your old age.

This is not a repeat:

Random Dodger game callback

August 31, 1941

Dolph Camilli homered and drove in four runs and player manager Leo Durocher drove in four of his own in a rare start as the Brooklyn Dodgers pounded their crosstown rivals, the New York Giants, 13-6, before a crowd of 24,694 at the Polo Grounds. The win put the Dodgers record at 82-46 (.641) and they were just percentage points behind first place St. Louis, which was 81-45 (.643) as the teams headed for the final month of the season.

The Dodgers had been swept in a doubleheader the day before by the Giants and Durocher decided that he needed to shake up his lineup so the Dodgers could stay in the race. So Durocher started himself at shortstop instead of second-year player Pee Wee Reese.

Brooklyn wasted no time in getting at Giants starter Cliff Melton. Dixie Walker led off with a high bouncer in front of the mound that Melton gloved and gunned to first, but first baseman Babe Young couldn't handle the throw and Walker was safe. The Dodgers would go on to score four runs in the inning, two on a bases-loaded single by Durocher.

But Dodgers starter Kirby Higbe wasn't going to have a good day either. He gave up a pair of runs to the Giants in the first and another in the second to make it 4-3 Dodgers. In the fourth, Higbe surrendered a 2-run homer to Mel Ott and the Giants were ahead 5-4 and Durocher pulled Higbe in favor of Luke Hamlin. Dick Bartell homered in the sixth to put the Giants up 6-4.

Then the Dodgers came back in the seventh, Pete Reiser and Joe Medwick singled and Camilli followed with his 28th homer of the season to put the Dodgers back ahead 7-6.

In the bottom of the seventh, Giants shortstop Billy Jurges drew a walk against the third Dodgers pitcher, Tom Drake. Drake then threw two wild pitches to put Jurges at third with two outs. So Durocher went to his bullpen again and brought in Whitlow Wyatt to face pinch-hitter Ken O'Dea. Wyatt struck out O'Dea looking to end the inning.

Giants manager Bill Terry brought in Ace Adams to start the 8th, but he was an Ace in name only this day. He gave up a single to Dixie Walker, who looked to be out trying to stretch it into a double but Young dropped a relay throw from Jurges at second base. Medwick singled home Walker to make it 8-6 and send Adams to the showers. Johnny Wittig followed and gave up two walks and two singles, including another 2-RBI single to Durocher and a bases-loaded walk to Wyatt. The Dodgers led 12-6 after eight innings. Camilli singled in another run in the ninth to make the final score 13-6.

September would be the Dodgers month as they went 18-8 to win the pennant over the Cardinals by 2 ½ games with a 100-54 record. The big win came on September 13 in St. Louis. The Dodgers led the Cardinals by one game and Wyatt came through with a 1-0 win over St. Louis ace Mort Cooper. The Dodgers clinched the pennant on September 27 when both the Dodgers and Cardinals lost to give the Dodgers a 2 ½ game lead with just one left to play. It was the first pennant for the Dodgers since 1920.

The 1941 Dodgers had an impressive starting lineup. Camilli was the big power hitter in the lineup, leading the NL in home runs with 34 and RBI with 120 while batting .285. He had plenty of RBI opportunities as the top of the order got on base a lot. Pete Reiser led the NL in batting average at .343 and slugging at .558 and was fourth in OBP at .406. Reiser also led the NL in runs scored (117), doubles (39) and triples (17). It would be the career year for the injury-plagued Reiser, who was just 23. Medwick batted .318 with 18 home runs and Walker batted .311 and had and OBP of .391. Camilli ended up being the MVP winner.

Reese, in his first full season as a starter, batted just .229, but would be the Dodgers starting shorstop for over a decade and would end up in the Hall of Fame. His double play partner, Billy Herman, would end up in Cooperstown, as would Medwick. Another future Hall of Famer, Paul Waner, was released by the Dodgers in May of 1941.

The pitching staff was one of the best in Brooklyn history. Wyatt was outstanding, going 22-10 with a 2.34 ERA, second best in the NL. (Elmer Riddle of Cincinnati had a 2.24 ERA.) Higbe also won 22 games (with 9 losses) and had a 3.14 ERA. Swingman Hugh Casey was 14-11 and Curt Davis was 13-7 in the same role. Veteran knuckleballer Fred Fitzsimmons was 6-1 with a 2.07 ERA in limited action.

The Dodgers moved on to the World Series to take on the Yankees in their first ever postseason meeting. And the first one was a classic.

In Game 1 at Yankee Stadium, Red Ruffing threw a complete game and Joe Gordon homered off of Curt Davis to give the Yankees a 3-2 win. The Dodgers did not get a hit until Reese singled in the fifth.

Game 2 saw the Dodgers notch their first World Series win since Game 3 of the 1920 World Series. The Dodgers scored twice in the fifth on RBI from Reese and catcher Mickey Owen to tie the game at 2-2. And Camilli singled in a run in the sixth to make it 3-2. Wyatt went the distance for the win.

The scene shifted to Ebbets Field. Fitzsimmons and Marius Russo of the Yankees each pitched seven scoreless innings. But in the seventh, Russo lined a ball off of Fitzsimmons' kneecap. The Dodgers turned it into an out, but Fitzsimmons had to leave the game. Hugh Casey relieved and gave up RBI singles to Joe DiMaggio and Charlie Keller. Reese singled in a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 2-1, but Russo held on for the win.

In Game 4, the Dodgers looked to have the series tied. They led 4-3 in the ninth thanks to a 2-run homer from Reiser. Casey retired the first two Yankees and appeared to have struck out Tommy Henrich to end the game, but Owen couldn't handle the pitch and Henrich reached. (Under the rules of the day, Owen was charged with an error.) DiMaggio followed with a single. Then Keller doubled home two runs to put the Yankees ahead, 5-4. After a walk to Bill Dickey, Gordon doubled home two more runs to make it 7-4. The Dodgers went down meekly in the ninth.

Game 5 was somewhat anticlimactic. The Yankees scored twice in the second on a Wyatt wild pitch and an RBI single from Gordon. The Yankees won 3-1 as Ernie Bonham closed out the World Series and gave the Yankees their ninth World Series championship.

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

5

cute story. little girls can be uh how to put this delicately, wound a little tightly. don't worry about it and try for a boy on the next one. Enjoy the game.

4. Oh come on, when referring to sportswriters who are ghouls and enjoy covering the seamier side of sports, you can mention Skip Bayless by name.

Werth
Robles
Kent
Saenz
Phillips
Edwards (he's hot!)
Cruz
Repko
Lowe

vs

Hairston
Perez
Lee
Burnitz
Garciaparra
Walker
Barrett
Patterson
Rusch

Bob really likes Edwards 8^)

10. My two year old and 6-month old boys are both going to be Dodger fans, so that won't be a problem. Now, I'm off to Wrigley for real.

The very thought of hearing Charlie Steiner sing `Take Me Out to the Ballgame' is giving me a slightly nervous feeling in my stomach...

But will he sing "root root root for the Yankees"?

14

Perfect.

That would be "Murtontroid" Jon...

Penny's last 3 outings have been very depressing, could it be the curse of Pedro?

How come Rick Monday isn't being asked? You know, he actually played for the Cubs. And he's a recorded singer!

Doesn't anyone else have Monday, Reuss, and Johnstone singing "We Are the Champions"? (I think there may have been a fourth guy).

Monday used more of a Rex Harrison-like approcah to the song and sort of spoke his lines instead of singing them.

I would say that recording ranks up there among my top two recordings of all time. The other, of course, being Walter Brennan's "Old Rivers."

I was a huge baseball fan when I was a kid, but I wouldn't have missed class to go to a game. Because I was absolutely no fun as a kid.

I have made amends as I've gotten older.

Steve Yeager was also on the recording of "We Are the Champions."

18 - Oh, you're right. Thanks, Marty. Some insidious USCness must have gotten in my brain.

Nice preview of the AFL over at Baseball Analysts.

Hitters:
http://tinyurl.com/ammu6

Desert Dogs lineup:
C - Jarrod Saltalamacchia
1B - Daric Barton
2B - Elliot Johnson
SS - Stephen Drew
3B - Andy LaRoche
LF - Matt Kemp
CF - Elijah Dukes
RF - Andre Ethier
DH - Wes Bankston
Bench: Kurt Suzuki, Tony Abreu, James Loney

Pitchers:
http://tinyurl.com/d3urh
(4 of the top 5 are local.)

If I ever see Bowden in the Dodger organization I'll start rooting for A's

And Bowden has refused to admit to making mistakes, while DePodesta has.

DePodesta might not be admitting to the mistakes that everyone in MSM wants him to, but he acknowledges more faults than Bowden does. In the sense that any positive integer is greater than zero.

Have any of you happened to see the latest HBO Real Sports, featuring the story on the Dick & Rick Hoyt?

If you happen to get to see it, don't forget to bring some klennex. One of the most moving stories I've ever come across.

#15, Jim, just drink a gallon of milk and you will be fine. You might want to look for some earplugs too. Luckily, I will be listening to the Cubs broadcast today. I don't like Hughes and Santo all that much, but those two are better than anything in a Vinless Dodger broadcast booth. I never thought I would say such a thing.

Jon, I am not sure of the road that led you to the spot you are today, but I think I can speak for everyone who reads this site that we are glad you have made the career choices that have resulted in the creation of Dodger Thoughts.

Stan from Tacoma

Plus, Bowden is a friend of Lasorda's

btw, I see that Plaschke's poison pen is starting to veer southward after last night's game at the Big A.

28 The Raffy earplug incident is too bizarre. Wow, what a putz.

28 - Dodger Thoughts: Making lemonade from lemons. Or, making lemons from lemonade. With a gallon of milk on the side.

22
Bob,

I hate to admit I had that record and played it many times as a kid. On the back side, they sang "New York, New York."

30- Although there's a tidy little excuse in there for Finley blaming his injured shoulder for his 2005 cliff dive. I also found it funny that he singles out Glaus and Eckstein as big losses to the offense but not Guillen (24 hr, .868 OPS).

If anyone should be on the hotseat why not Bill Stoneman? The offense is clearly worse than last year and he stood pat at the deadline with a 1 game lead. Winning 90 when you could've won 100 is worse than winning 75 when you could have won 80 no?

But no one else has listened to either of Walter Brennan's albums! They're classics. They are great to play if you want to annoy someone.

Walter Brennan:
1) Could not sing
2) Could not read music
3) Could not keep time

So he just read sappy stories over overorchestrated pieces of music while the producer pointed at him to tell him when to start and stop.

Plus, Stoneman just got a LOOGY gas can from the Giants.

Brennan played "old" pretty well though.

No brag, just fact, the Dodgers are second best!

I would say that recording ranks up there among my top two recordings of all time. The other, of course, being Walter Brennan's "Old Rivers.

Bob, to complete your trifecta of spoken song wonders, you have to add William Shatner doing `Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'.

28 Thanks for the advice, Stan, but I'm fairly certain listening to Steiner's rendition would cause said milk to come streaming out of my nose, and that is so unbecoming.

"You ever been bit by a dead bee?"

That was a weak start.

Kent looks at 3 in a row? What did that look like on TV?

Kent looks at three strikes.

Thanks for sharing your story, Jon.

In college, I considered sportswriting as a career but balked at the extreme amount of patience it requires. Tim Kurkjian was gracious enough to discuss his experience with me, and his advice was basically "just keep writing whatever you have to and after 10 or 15 years, someone ["someone" meaning a national publication like SI] will notice if you're good."

Needless to say, I didn't have that kind of patience. Today I have no complaints; I start B-School in a few weeks and am looking forward to the rest of my working life.

Let me tell you about a family
Known as the Real McCoys
From West Virginny they came to stay
In sunny Californi-ay!

Could they make a sitcom now where some of the jokes are predicated on the fact that the main character is illiterate?

What did that look like on TV?
Fastball, at the knees on the outside corner.
Fastball, at the knees on the outside corner.
Fastball, at the knees on the outside corner.

Kent is learning to be patient.

Bob Brenly is a great announcer. Ball hit to 3B "Jeff Kent can't handle it"

It's funny. I had liked Keith Olbermann when he and Dan Patrick were doing SportsCenter (although it created a style I've come to deplore), but I never thought much about him till he quit his job at CNBC, MSNBC, or whatever network it was in protest at having to cover "All Monica all the time." Then I decided he was worthy of a little respect.

Nice job by Lowe to find the bag.

But he had "country" wisdom. Enough to get Luke, Little Luke and Pipino out of jams.

39 -

"The girl with Kal-iiiiiiii-descope eyes..."

Those Shatner songs kill me. The cast of Star Trek were guest voices [as themselves] on an episode of Futurama, in which Shatner does a spoken word version of Eminem's "Slim Shady." How do you do a spoken-word version of a rap song? I dunno, but he found a way.

Leonard Nimoy also had an album. One of the songs, which also had a video, was about Bilbo Baggins.

Bob Brenly said the Cubs would "get a bunch of runners on against Lowe and run wild". We'll see.

So apparantly Edwards is in for defensive reasons, right?

"Saenz at first, which moves Phillips behind the place." How sad is that statement? The fact that Phillips is considered the regular firstbaseman still gives me headaches.

48 I caught that too. Hey, at least the Cubs announcers are still ten times better than the White Sox have. The Sox have my vote for the worst team in baseball, if not all of sports. The only I've heard that come close are the guys who do Minnesota Gophers Hockey.

#48, The Dodgers need to get a second baseman with better range.

Stan from Tacoma

49 - Boy, do I ever agree with that, Link. I was felt the same about Costas' statement last week.

Keith Olbermann quit MSNBC out of principle. He was also rehired by MSNBC out of a desire to be employed again.

54- have you heard Jerry Coleman and Ted Leitner?

Other Cubs announcer:
"I bet the Mets wouldn't mind having Pihllips back right now"
Please, take him!

AprilWinchell.com has lot's of mp3s of TV stars singing.

You can hear Nimoy sing "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"
Jerry Springer sing "Mr. Tamborine Man"
Telly Savalas sing "You've Lost That Loving Feeling"
Ed McMahon sing "Thank Heaven for Little Girls"(!)

And many more.

Cubs announcers proclaim:
1. The Mets now wish they had Phillips' bat, due to Piazza's injury.
2. The NL West champion doesn't deserve a playoff berth if its record is below .500.
Ohhhh-kay.

If you're the Mets and you had the option of Jason Phillips or Mike DeFelice as your backup catcher, I think I would take Phillips.

Mike DeFelice would fail the Plaschke Character Test.

Phillips goes first to third, barely. I think I've seen everything now.

58

You rather have Ishii than Phillips?

Squeeze payback time.

63- I'd rather have cash considerations

60 I almost agree with #2. Because of all the teams that make the playoffs in the NBA and NHL, this happens fairly regularily. I think those teams who can't win half the time should be dropped, and their opponents given byes. This would reward the regular season's best teams, which apparantly only the NFL has recognized the benefits of. I'd like to see the best, rather than the hottest (or luckiest), teams in the finals. But in baseball, with only 4 teams making it, I'll give a pass to a sub-.500 team.

A promo for the Cubs' legal scalping operation.
Eeeeee-vil!

59 - Marty, I can envision of compilation called `Egos Gone Wild'.

"Werth is in the process of striking out"
??

Blooper ball!

Haha, Brenly jinxed his team again.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Chicago White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle called the Texas Rangers cheaters on Tuesday, claiming that the team signals pitches to batters through a high-tech light system in center field

I've heard rumors, so it's not just me saying this,'' Buehrle said. ``I've heard it from tons of people. It's not just me saying this. ... Something's going on because they hit so good at home. The way they hit here, you'd have to raise an eyebrow to figure something's going on. Look at the stats. I'm not just making this up.''

``It's crazy and it's funny,'' said Rangers home run leader Mark Teixeira. ``It's an outrageous comment, an outrageous claim.''

Texas DH Phil Nevin jokingly asked Rangers manager Buck Showalter why the lights weren't working when he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts on Monday night.

god bless Ozzie:

``You can go either way with it,'' Guillen said. ``The way Buehrle pitched yesterday, it seemed they didn't need signs. Everything was right down the middle of the plate.

This would reward the regular season's best teams, which apparantly only the NFL has recognized the benefits of.
Even in the NFL, if you win your division you're in - no matter your record.

Glendon Rusch's GameDay photo is a masterpiece. I can't tell if he's smiling or trying to devour an entire ham in one bite.

66 - If the sub-.500 NL West team is so weak that it should be dropped from the playoffs, then it's as good as a bye.

If a 79-win team makes it to the NLCS or the World Series, I'm sure some will call it a travesty. But for the team to do it, they'll have to have had some plucky if not great victories that people will marvel at. I bet it would end up being a happy story.

that was uncool.

He's smiling with a mouthful of chaw.

Was that three singles that inning in front of Burnitz?

I bet it would end up being a happy story.

Or for us it could end up being a scrappy story

73 Well, in the NFL, the top 2 division winners have to play 1 less game than the other winners and the wild-card teams. I like this, because it really helps ensure the best teams are playing in the conference championships.

78 - Yes, plus one single to Hairston.

66 - What I would agree with, is for the NCAA basketball tournament to adopt a policy eliminating from considerating any team with a sub-.500 conference record.

That's right, Cubbies. Get Kerry Wood ready for spring training, that way you'll have him until May before his ridiculous mechanics hurt his arm again.

Considerating....great word 8^)

So why is a team that wins 80 games cast out of the playoffs while a team that would win 82 would be welcomed?

It's something of an arbitrary standard. And nobody kicked out the 1981 Royals from the playoffs.

75- Seems that these "underdog" Cinderella stories are what make March Madness great. If it's not a regular occurrance in baseball, why not celebrate it? It's a perfect David v. Goliath story.

Even if the Dodgers don't get in, I think it'd be hilarious if the Padres beat one of the more "legitimate" teams and advance a round.

"Considerating?"
Yeesh.

Nibble, nibble, nibble, CHOMP!

#56, Jim, what was the Costas statement.

Stan from Tacoma

Awesome, a race car driver is now in the Cubs booth. Brenly must be really excited.

Race car driver "the Cubs are much better than the Dodgers, they'll turn it around"

Olmedo sure has a silver head of hair. He seems to age 20 years just by taking his hat off.

Any bullpen action, or is Rusch pinata for the day?

Last 10 batters:
6 singles
1 homer
1 walk (to Phillips! Grabowski Principle?)
1 strikeout
1 lineout

90 -

LA 60-72
CH 63-69

Yeah, they're sooooo much better :)

Brenly is now promoting Nascar. I didn't realize that a game was going on.

89 - He was hosting Larry King for a week, but refused to do a show focused on the Natalie Holloway story. CNN had to use a replacement replacement.

96 - More specifically, he refused to do CNN's 1,001st show focusing on the Natalie Holloway story.

pile it on boys, no lead is safe.

XBH for Cruz

That's my boy Jose!

85 Sure, it's a little bit arbitrary, but I just think there's something particularly bad about not being able to win half your games.

Jose just wanted to play for the dodgers.

Game Score for Rusch - 15.

Not a productive AB by Repko

Ai-yai-yai.... Repko, that was a horrible at-bat.

Dodger offense since Aug. 23 (start of the COL series):
8
1
4
1
8
1
9
3
7 (so far)

I liked Costas's rant against the televised poker phenomenon a couple weeks ago.

Brenly "the Cubs did everything well last night...clutch hitting, clutch defense, a couple of stolen bases, a squeeze play..."

Is it wrong to be upset that we left a runner at 3rd even though we already scored four runs?

107- For TV rants, you can't beat Jon Stewart on Crossfire last year.

Dodgers are on 21-run, 18-K pace, with the rare 20-20 game not at all out of reach!

he refused to do CNN's 1,001st show focusing on the Natalie Holloway story.

In his statement to the press, Costas said his objection was based on "not wanting to be thought of as just another dalmation..."

109 - with no outs? No, I don't think that's an inapproriate reaction for you to have.

110 Missed it, but Jon Stewart is great.

Werth has three terrible ABs before the Cubs' 7-8-9 hitters come to the plate.

The discussion in the booth turns to The White Stripes.

110 - Yes, that caused a definate wilt in Tucker's bow tie.

112 - well, that makes me feel bad. Dalmatians always get such a bad rap (outside of Disney). We had dalmatians growing up and they were completely lovable, if sickly.

Telegram for Mr. Lowe! Telegram for Mr. Lowe!
THROW.
STRIKES.

-definite. Hate when I do that.

{115] Werth's two-run single was a terrible AB too?

113- oh yeah, there were no outs, that makes it even worse!

110 I showed that to a friend of mine just a couple of days ago. If you haven't seen it, go and get yourself a copy of the clip. And if you can't find it and are extremely interested, I could probably get you a copy of it myself.

Best line ever: "You're comparing your show to mine? You're on CNN. My lead-in is puppets making prank phone calls." - Stewart

121 - Oh yes. Terrible swing. Don't let the result convince you otherwise.

thanks Jim. I don't have cable tv so I miss out on some things. It is remarkable I have a computer.

Stan from Tacoma

the expression on that cubs fan face is priceless.

Arizona at San Diego starting soon. Vazquez (delayed a day after a bout of stomach flu) facing "old friend" Park.]
Both teams have two "old friends" in the lineup.

The DBacks have Counsell and Green. The Padres have Park and Roberts.

I'm not sure whether I consider Counsell scrappy or just extremely plucky. Always liked him, though. Still remember his dad saying, after the Dodgers released him, "My son can play!"

127- since Ross Porter and Gary Sheffield are no longer Dodgers, I don't think you can use the phrase "old friend".

Bob Brenly is talking about Vodka and other alcoholic beverages. He's a perfect Harry Caray replacement.

Is Robles rookie of the year eligible?

130
Yes.

who are the favored candidates to win ROY? I'm trying to think of some but I am coming up blank

I would think Jeff Francouer of the Braves is the leader in the clubhouse now for NL ROY.

Lowe has thrown 56 pitches through 4 IP, meaning he should be good for at least 7.
In the bullpen, who needs work?

134 Sanchez. It's never a bad time for Duaner in JT's world.

But Sanchez says he wants to pitch frequently. And he will throw everyday even if he doesn't get into the game.

Cruz is a HR short of a cycle.

Warm up the Wes Parker graphic - Cruz needs a homer for the cycle, and he'll probably get two more ABs.

A. Nice to check in and see the Dodgers with a huge lead.

B. Great piece by Jon today. I feel lucky he has this great Dodger blog, but also sorry the beat writing gig didn't work out. Things happen for a reason, and it's important to be happy. Having a job that you don't enjoy or bosses or co-workers that you don't enjoy working with or for is difficult. I consider myself very lucky to work with a very professional group of people here at the Circus. :) vr, Xei

The Cubs announcers are praising Burnitz's defense.
Gotta hurt, being that much of a homer.

Wait! Is this a live game or a replay of mondays game again. I'm not falling for that trick more than once per week. vr, Xei

Osoria came up when Broxton went down, right? I bet he gets some time.

Then why not have him pitch the first inning of two out of every three games?

Gentleman, start your scoreboard watching. Pads/Backs is underway!

There are actually very few announcers who aren't homers. The Cubs just expect it out of their announcers.

1-2-3 inning for Park.

I fully expect Park to pitch the clincher for the Padres at PETCO on the final weekend.

The game will end with Mike Edwards flailing at a Hoffman changeup.

Clayton and Chad Tracy swapped spots in the lineup. I hope they switch back before the Dodgers' next series there.

Nice graphic, WGN: SANEZ

Padres take the lead!

Could second place be beckoning?

2-0 Padres!

3-0 Padres.

Speaking of "the stomach for it," it is hard to watch Corey Patterson. He's getting worse, not better. I think a change of scenery (and coaching) might do him some good.

Bob, wouldn't it be better for the Padres to lose?

Vazquez gives up three (two earned) in the first, and strikes out the side.

I'm trying to find a bright spot in the season.

Besides, I promised Icaros that the Dodgers would finish ahead of Arizona and I can't let him down after all we've been through this year.

"Old friend" Paul Quantril was DFA'd today and Sean Burroughs was called back up.

Bob, Don't think I haven't forgot my preseason prediction....

The lowest dark spot of the season is going to take place here in one out when Charlie Steiner starts singing.

Gotta go, Laura Leighton wants to rub my back with Coco butter

Alright, I'm back from Wrigley. My buddy made us leave after a drunken Cubs "fan" puked on him, the Dodgers were well in control and the idiots in front of us kept asking if we were rooting for the Cubs even though we were both wearing Dodger hats.
In retrospect, it's probably a good thing that I didn't bring my daughter. I didn't have to explain to her why those guys were peeing on people's front lawn, plus getting puked on and mercilessly taunted by her dad as her Cubs lost would have scarred her for life.
In better news, this potentially could bring my Dodger road attendance record to 17-0. I curse my 2-year old for breaking his arm and making me miss all 3 games of the White Sox series earlier this year.

Classy!

Consider the milk curdled.

I bet Charlie sings real nice.

Cruz leads off the 8th. Likely to be his last at-bat.

Now that he's sung, I've heard far worse than Charlie (once again, the tube's on in the other room while I try to get some work done).

Consider a few cows kicking over a few more lanterns after having to hear that!

Hateds lead the Rockies 2-1 on homers by Moises Alou and the electic bat of the Mike Matheny Group.

154 I've invested so much faith in Bob that I'm afraid his being wrong would be like having to watch my dad lose a fight.

Was Wes Parker the last Dodger to hit the cycle?

The Wes Parker graphic will be displayed when Cruz comes to bat next inning. I think the producers have it set aside ready to go as needed. Sort of like a newspaper with Abe Vigoda's obituary.

Abe Vigoda? I thought he was dead?

Wes Parker needed 10 innings to hit for the cycle also. He got a triple in the 10th off of Jim McAndrew at Shea Stadium.

And the Mets had the bases loaded with one out in the 9th against Dodger reliever Ray Lamb with a chance to win it but Ken Boswell hit into a 1-2-3 DP to send the game to extra innings. The Dodgers won 7-4. It was May 7, 1970.

This assures that Jose Cruz will not hit a home run in the 8th.

Did you hear that? Lowe just broke the 4.00 barrier. He's still got that unearned runs problem screwing up his VORP. But his K/9, BB/9, H/9 all look like Penny's. At what point can we downgrade his signing from inexcusable to neutral?

Since the Cruz cycle has been jinxed, let me just say how ignominious it would be for us to have to see his name on the graphic for the next 35 years.

166 He is. He sold Michael Corleone out to the Barzini family and had to pay the price.

He's still workingm, Tommy. Look for him as Uncle Morty in `Frankie the Squirrel'.

I don't remember Burnitz having that graphic of a swing when he was with the Dodgers. At least in this series.

It's almost looks like the only thing from missing is a couple of photogrpahers directly to the backside of the plate, ready to catch the Whammer, just like in the Natural.

Here's what I want to see: a switch-hitter hitting for the cycle from each sides of the plate. In the same game!

They never showed the graphic! Guess they had no faith in Jose.

No, no, no, no! You cannot take a walk in that situation!

Well, Wes can exhale.

When Wes Parker hit for the cycle, he had three hits right-handed and the last one left-handed.

What was Cruz just doing???? He didn't even try to break-up the DP???

Have the Dodgers made it through a game with nine players yet this year? Should be easy enough to check.

Derek Lowe has faced two batters more than the minimum.

I should be happy. I am happy. Yet, somehow, this ticks me off.

Jon-great post above. You perfectly capture life in a newsroom (in particular the DN newsroom, where a few friends of mine have worked). The editor telling you he's sick of staffers wanting promotions was priceless.

168 I've never had the opinion that the signing was inexcusable. He's put up the numbers I expected him to (slightly better actually) just in a different way.

Actually Parker had two hits from both sides of the plate in his cycle game.

Three of the four hits were from the seventh inning on.

Now that the moment is gone, I guess its kinda neat that the last Dodger cycle was 40 years ago by Wes Parker. I wouldn't want the next one to be Cruz, on account of his old man being an all-time Dodger killer. Plus, what did Jose Cruz, Jr. ever teach Bobby Brady?

176 - Not good enough. I want to see four and four.

168 I've been saying that for awhile now. That's what you pay for decent pitching these days, and Lowe is a decent pitcher.

Castigating DePodesta for signing Lowe is like putting someone down for buying gas at $3.00 a gallon.

183 What if it happened in both games of a double header?

182 Wes Parker also wore the Dodger uniform for a few years, and was part of a couple World Series teams. If the answer to the question "Who was the last Dodger to hit for the cycle?" became "Jose Cruz, Jr.," my guess is half the people would say "When did that guy play for the Dodgers?"

If it hasn't been said, we'll recall 2 minor leaguers on Friday (no game tomorrow). No word on who they are

Tracy really should play Aybar before he claims Edwards is a better defender. I can't think of any other reason why Edwards is playing

The Dodgers used just nine guys on April 17.

A 6-0 shutout by Weaver over the Padres.

Wow great play by Cruz

185 - Um, okay. I can live with that.

Anybody remember the promotion the Dodgers had a few years ago where you had to guess which Dodger would hit for the cycle to win a grand or a car or something? That's some long odds. I believe somebody had picked Sheffield, though, the game where he needed just a single in Colorado, and he got with a pitch in his final at-bat. That was classic.

191

Julian Tavarez was the pitcher in that situation. He said it wasn't intentional. I was skeptical.

Answering my own question, the Dodgers used only nine players on April 17 in San Diego.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=250417119

One of those nine are playing today.

wow! A one hitter so far. What inning did the lone hit come in? Lowe is impressing with 7Ks thru 7 innings. But his GB/FB ratio is 7/7 = 1.0 a little low for him. Is the wind blowing in? vr, Xei

(is playing)

i've watched the whole game and was still stunned to see that Lowe is throwing a one hitter through 8.

Lowe and Weaver seem to have decided no more homers lately.

Cruz is now batting .300/.407/.440 for the Dodgers. More power may be nice, but what we're getting for Schrager is very nice. Guess this is payback for Roberts-Stanley

This is almost like the Jerry Reuss game we've been discussing. The only hit was a leadoff single. Infield hit, right?

196- Yeah, and that hit was the first batter he faced.

WILLIE!!!!!

Aybar sighting

Robles 0-5. Werth 1-5 with 3 k's.

shattered bat, ground out back to the pitcher

I'm guessing Tracy doesn't realize Aybar can play 3rd, and now he has no chance of playing

184. Great analogy on the $3 gas. It jumped from $2.73 yesterday to $2.77 today where I live. vr, Xei

204

wasn't he PH for Kent? I think he'll play 2nd in the ninth

From Dodgers.com

CHICAGO -- After a telephone consultation with Players Association assistant general counsel Bob Lenaghan on Tuesday night, Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny accepted his five-game suspension Wednesday and a reduction in the $2,000 fine he was assessed for his July 14 ejection.

Penny had geared up for a morning appeal hearing before an arbitrator in an attempt to get a reduction of the games he would sit out and avoid missing a start. Instead, he began serving the suspension immediately and will miss his scheduled start Sunday in Colorado, with Edwin Jackson picking up the assignment. Penny will next start Tuesday at home against the Giants.

"They called me last night and said [the union] didn't like our chances, because they just lost two hearings like mine," said Penny. "They said we really had no chance."

Aybar won't play for a while now. Why was Quantrill DFA'ed? He has been pretty good for the Padres.

206 That's the idea. Tracy is putting him at 2nd, because that's where he has played most his career. I'm sure Tracy knows he can play 3rd, I just don't like Edwards at 3rd

198 - I once worked with a guy who was at that game, and he said the most remarkable thing was the warm weather at Candlestick Park.

207

it doesn't make sense to suspend a starting pitcher less than five games. it's a useless suspension at four games. that is why he never had a chance.

205 I think those prices are cheap. You're now the Billy Beane of gas consumers!

Either the Padres want to trade Quantrill or they wanted Burroughs superior bat and attitude!

209

oh, I get it. No chance of him playing 3rd.

Edwards could have allowed Cruz to get another AB...

Edwards had the moneyball...right down the middle

I'm going to fill up my tank right now before it gets to $4.00

How's the Prius coming, Bob?

210 - You're thinking of Reuss' no-hitter. I'm talking about the leadoff-hit, 27-in-a-row game he pitched in L.A. against the Reds after that.

I wish Vin was announcing.

I think he would have seen that shot of Aybar taking a sip out of that cup, then mentioning the excitement of having your first ML at bat, even though it resulted in a broken bat ground out.

Something poetic would have come out.

Maybe if Depo picks up Quantril, Tracy in return will play of Depo's players.

They still don't have a Prius for me. I may have to get one the old-fashioned way:

Carjacking.

213 Maybe Burroughs is going to pitch. He hasn't shown enough power to play third every day, and he was nearly unhittable in Little League.

The DBacks had 1st and 3rd with no outs and Glaus up.

Glaus K'd.
Green K'd.

It's up to Royce Clayton!

Clayton grounded out.

208 They dont like a 3.41.2 ERA in 31 IP with 24 Ks, 2 HRs, and only 2 BBs. In .1 fewer innings than at New York, he had 13 more Ks, 5 fewer walks, and 3 fewer HRs. His GO/AO was still under 1 though, which is never good for him. However his stats are Petco induced, he's fairly mediocre on the road

221

You know the Prius is getting popular when..

I was at a Billings Mustangs game (against Ogden) while on vacation a couple of weeks ago and I overheard the couple behind me telling their friends that they just bought a Prius.

I think I even saw one in North Dakota, the land of gas guzzling pick up trucks.

221 - Do it in New Orleans, soon, while the cops still don't seem to care.

221

Ah, the L.A. 1980's Old School Way. Nice

GEM!!!

Lunchtime!

Hateds lead the Rockies 3-2 now.

Trade Lowe now! Steinbrenner might have been watching. Matsui for Lowe.

Lowe's Game Score - 90.

Now that the game's over, any speculation on the 2 players we're calling up on Friday? Kuo? Broxton? Young? Venafro?

There's the theory that Lowe has to wear his arm out all year before he gets the proper action on his sinker--hence great playoff performance last year. Whatever it is we'll take it.
By the way I haven't read everything yet, but why has our Guzman vanished for a few days?

I got a Prius in February after being on the waiting list for just a month. I imagine its a quite a bit harder now.

That game score ties Lowe for top 3 in the NL this year:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/bestgames

Jake Peavy had a 90 against the Dodgers on June 20 - despite going only eight innings.

I thought venafro was traded.

I know the Cubs are terrible and all, but this was a really nice game from Lowe. Stopped the losing streak cold, gave the 'pen some rest... exactly what a veteran pitcher is supposed to do.

234 He was suspended. He was ejected from a game for some reason. Someone probably knows more

Lowe's average game score this year: 49

http://tinyurl.com/8wmvt

So I tune into Gameday's coverage of Padres/D-Backs and the first thing I see is "With Dave Roberts batting, Ben Johnson caught stealing home."

!

Busted squeeze?

Anybody watching the Pads game? The yahoo game channel seems to indicate that Johnson just got caught stealing home.

234 If there's truth to that theory, maybe Lowe will be better at the end of his contract after he has four more years of wear on his arm.

Just being positive...

234, 239 - I had heard it was only a one-game suspension, but perhaps I heard wrong.

237 Nope, pitched for the 51s yesterday. So far, his dominating stats:

0-1, 6.44 ERA, 51 games, 43.1 IP, 3 HRs, 31 ER, 34 BB, 22 Ks

If it was a busted squeeze, they broke even.

Then Roberts homers. Way to take a run off the board.

234

Lowe on the postgame chat is giving the credit to moving over to the 1st base side of the rubber. said he did it for the Houston game.

241 And then Roberts homers

242- The Padres should lose on principle just for how they played this inning:

- Johnson doubles.
- Park sacrifices him to third.
- Johnson out stealing home.
- Dave Roberts homers.

I heard they're combining the Prius and the Geo-Prizm. O course the name will be Priopism.

248 Seemed to work so far, and with the offenses we'll be facing, it probably will continue to work

Also, for what it's worth, Lowe was interviewed before and after today's game and came off very modest and self-depricating. He said he's been, "Pretty much lousy all year."

He also said moving to the other side of the rubber last game has really helped him get the ball in on leftys better.

Experts: $4 a gallon gas coming soon
Pricing analysts say consumers can expect even higher prices at the pump.
August 31, 2005: 4:11 PM EDT

By Grace Wong, CNN/Money staff writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Consumers can expect retail gas prices to rise to $4 a gallon soon, but whether they stay there depends on the long-term damage to oil facilities from Hurricane Katrina, oil and gas analysts said Wednesday.

give Weaver 10 mill..it will be a bargin soon LOL

Here in Scottsdale, you can get a Prius within a week or two. But I'm waiting until Jan. for two reasons:
1) 2006 model has better Bluetooth, MP3 CD, leather option & most importantly improved airbags (ships late Oct.)
2) In 2005 a hybrid will get you a $2000 tax credit (~$500 in pocket)...starting 1/1/2006 a hybrid will get you a $2750 tax rebate (all in pocket)

If you're commuting enough now, you may still save more in gas then waiting. Now, back to hoping for a D'back comeback.

243- too bad it doesn't work that way for Kevin Brown-just think how good he would be by now!

Trying to be optimistic... if the padres win, we're back in 2nd place. If the snakes win, we're back to 4.5 games back.

253

Did he say that before the playoffs last year in his walk year? I remember he was upset going to the bullpen and he had a really lousy year last year. Guaranteed contracts are like truth serum.

Bob, if you can't get the Prius, just go for the Mustang Cobra.

255

that's not a bad idea. you could also save on state tax buying in AZ. only a 5-6 Hr drive, Bob.

251 - THAT'S funny!

In the Padres game, Thom Brennaman read off an anti-smoking advertisement. I wonder why Mark Grace didn't do it?

256 Do the Yankees still use Kevin Brown?

What is the actual cash price of a Prius after tax and everything?

Not much for pitching -but he keeps their water coolers in line.

The Onion, a popular fake news publication (think Daily Show), has just redisigned their web site and now offers free access to all its archived content. There's a great OP/ED written from the perspecitve of an old man ranting about how baseball was back in 'his day.' I thought I'd share it with you because I thought it was hilarious, and his perspective is not what you'd think. There is some questionable language, but here's the link:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33402

264 For a 'package 3' (includes basically everything except nav system and fog lights) it was about $24k out the door. That includes tax and license, and was the sticker price. Some dealers, I understand, charge up to $3k over the sticker to avoid keeping a waiting list.

267

That's not too bad. My buddy bought a hybrid Civic about a week before I bought my "regular" Civic. The difference in price between our cars was about $6,000.

The Prius gets better gas mileage than the hybrid Civic (I think).

dodgers.com saying two likely candidates for the two September callups are Broxton and Donovan. In a game earlier this year, Donovan stole 2nd, 3rd and home in the same inning (striaght steal - not part of a busted squeeze).

looks like we'll move into second all by our lonesomes, it's now 7-1 padres in san diego.

Jon get's a nice plug for his post today on L.A. Observed. www.laobserved.com

Check it out.

Thom is not a "professional announcer". He is nothing like his dad. He almost cried when Clayton threw the ball away.

Chan Ho pitching a 3-hitter.

And the Hateds lead 5-2 now.

Jeff Francis started today, so the Dodgers will miss him. I assume they will face guys named Kim. They might get both. Jamey Wright is pitching in relief today, so Sunny could move into the rotation.

The stringer at the Pad-Dback game is having a bad day.

From post 53:
"Bob Brenly said the Cubs would "get a bunch of runners on against Lowe and run wild". We'll see."

So is Bob Brenly a worse announcer or manager?

I think Mark Grace just threw up in the booth. I heard him gag and make a hurling sound. Maybe he just finished smoking a pack.

This is the funniest thing I ever read at The Onion:

Pepsi Super Bowl Ad Raises Worldwide Pepsi-Awareness .00000000001 Percent
January 28, 1998

SOMERS, NY—A 60-second, $2.6 million ad that aired during Sunday's Super Bowl telecast has raised awareness of Pepsi .00000000001 percent, Pepsi officials said Monday. Specifically, the ad raised Pepsi-awareness in Xiao Bu—a 71-year-old Pyongyang, China, peasant and one of five known humans not familiar with Pepsi—who learned of the existence of the soft drink while watching the Super Bowl. "This $2.6 million was money well spent. With it, Pepsi has finally surpassed 99.9999999999 percent global saturation and cracked the hard-to-reach Xiao Bu market," Pepsico's Ken Doyle said. "We now look forward to introducing Pepsi to Mala N'dougou of Gabon and babies who were born in comas." In response to the Pepsi ad, chief rival Coca-Cola announced Tuesday it will launch its own $11 million ad blitz targeting Xiao.

The Hateds won.

The DBacks got to within 9-5, but Royce Clayton got thrown out at third base to kill a rally. Ahh, Royce....

Pyongyang is in North Korea, not China. Or is that supposed to be funny?

260, 267 The Prius is selling for sticker price here in AZ, but FYI if you by it in another state you still pay taxes, etc. in your state of residence.

Now let's see a 5+ run 9th from the Snakes.

snakes lose. 2nd place is ours. Still 5.5 back.

We're finally better than Arizona. Icaros can trust me again!

255. From what I've read not everyone gets the tax rebate, only the first X amount of cars get it. Dealers are charging more than sticker price for a Prius here, they are charging an extra premium on top, and that's if you can get one. vr, Xei

Until the end of this year, it's a $2K tax deduction. In 2006, it's a tax credit based on a sliding scale depending upon how fast the cars are sold.

Completely out of the blue question:

Do you pronounce the final "e" in Tulare?

286 I do, yes.

The Pads were not content with Chan Ho and Astacio, so they have acquired Manny Alexander, presumably to give him a roster spot for some reason. What's worse, they actually gave up a prospect, albeit a young one. 19 yr old Juan Jimenez, who pitched for the AZL Padres this year

286

It's prounced Two Lair Ee

Thanks.

One of us at work knew where it was, the other person knew how to pronounce it.

I knew where it was. In 2002, it had the percentage of its residents under the poverty level of any California County.

"It had the percentage."

That must be one cool percentage.

(Now you reply, "please e-mail corrections to me instead of posting them in the comments.")

Beat me to it, Jon. Who's got the over/under on highest/lowest?

22.5% was the figure.

It was the highest.

Placer County was the lowest at 5.5%

I've been in Tulare county. In wonderful Porterville. The high country is very pretty. Also the giant redwoods.

The county seat is Visalia.

Where's Xeifrank? Is this better than the TV discussion?

All in all, I'd rather be in Turlock.

Jon, just read your column today. Great stuff and I'm glad you didn't stay in the business because then we wouldn't have the pleasure of having you all to ourselves.

August records for the NL West

San Diego 15-12
Colorado 15-14
Los Angeles 14-14
San Francisco 14-14
Arizona 9-19

For Xei: The TV reception in Tulare county is poor.

Colorado had a better record than us. Ouch. We were almost an above .500 team in August. Oh well...

The Padres magic number is 25.

It's Randy Johnson vs. King Felix up in Seattle tonight. Should be interesting. I hope Johnson doesn't get out of the third.

The Angels-Athletics race took a turn today as you can see by the entry for Catfish Stew.

As a car-trip time passer this summer, I tried to write down as many California counties as I could think of. I got 33 out of the 58. Knowing the names of counties is somewhat relevant to my job, but I bet Bob could beat that.

I once sat down and wrote the names of all 88 of the incorporated cities of Los Angeles County.

I actually could only make it to 87.

I left out Hawthorne.

My family enjoys doing feats like this. Many people find my family frightening.

On occasion, I still need to know the "number" of the county that the state assigns to it for election data processing. L.A. County is #19. Alameda County is #1. Yuba County is #58

Very funny piece over at the Yard Work site by "Michael Medved". It ends thusly:

Ignore this demeaning nonsense and the stuff like it - the caustic sarcasm offered by various sports weblogs, the dime-store insults that supposed "think tanks" like Baseball Prospectus and The Hardball Times trade in. Look to thoughtful writers, like Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, or Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times. Click over to knowledgable Yahoo! Sports columnists like Ryne Sandberg and Todd Jones. See what good baseball journalism - nay, good journalism - should look like. And never settle for anything less.

305 The Wilson family is very disappointed in your leaving out Hawthorne.

They expressed it via song.

That's extremely impressive, but of all the cities to forget, I'm surprised it was Hawthorne. Home of the Beach Boys. You couldn't have forgotten something on the 710 corridor, like Cudahy?

The Kansas City Royals.

Mathematically out of the playoff hunt now.

Tampa Bay is next on the chopping block, but they have a 10 game cushion to play with.

Pittsburgh will be eliminated from the NL Central race with a Cardinals win tonight. But the Pirates still have a shot at the wild card.

Sure Bob, change the subject to baseball, you no-good Hawthorne forgettin' so-and-so.

I remembered Cudahy because I have never been there! I just skipped past Hawthrone while I was going through the South Bay.

Weird since Hawthorne isn't a small place. And I once worked in Hawthorne too. I knew all four cities in PV. I even got Avalon.

I once had an idea to drive through all of the cities in L.A. County in one day. Fortunately, it never got past the idea stage.

Avalon. Easy to remember. Tough to drive to.

I once had an idea to drive through all of the cities in L.A. County in one day.

Unless you become The Omega Man, that's probably a two-month journey.

7 runs and a possible loss for the wildcard-hunting Marlins at risk of being erased in FL -- game delayed because of rain in the middle of the fifth with the Cards up 7-0. (They have to play five full for it to count if the home team is behind, right?)

The trip would have been done on a Sunday and it just would have meant passing through each city. Not actually visiting all of them. You can knock off a lot of them just driving along the 10 and 60.

The PV cities, Avalon, the gated cities cause a lot of the problem.

I tried mapping it out once. You would take the earliest boat from Avalon to L.A. and then start driving. (Probably need a friend to share the chores.) The last city would have been La Canada Flintridge.

I worked in Hawthorne for 12 years, Bob...where'd you work?

234, 239, 244 - Guzman is actually out with a sore shoulder, per the Suns wrap of today's rain shortened game.

Billingsley goes tomorrow. He's given up 2 runs in his last 32 innings.

Now back to regularly scheduled programming.

Jon, I'm not sure if it's my computer or not, but the link to Choi Central for some reason goes to a porn site.... you might want to rectify that...

#318: From the same story:

"The Suns end August at 21-9, their best record in recorded history (since 1988)."

Is there something not quite right about that line or is it just me?

I used to collect coins out of apartment laundramats while going to college. I visited every place in Southern California. Cudahy was the dirtiest place I had the pleasure to visit. Loved that job but dreaded the Cudahy route. Could be why cockroaches don't bother me.

319 Unless you consider a shot of Hee-Seop's HR follow-through to be somehow pornographic (not that there's anything wrong with that), I think it's just your computer, coach.

319 - from my sidebar? I get Choi Central.

I think CoachJ be trippin' :)

324

Coach J ain't tripping homey.

I think he is having a bit of a problem with a browswer hijack.

Get yoself some Ad-aware and Spybot Search and Destroy. And if you are a PC dude, ditch Internet Explorer and download Firefox.

Watching the A's / Angels game...Benji Molina just pulled off possibly the slowest baserunning play of all time. You missed a real treat. He makes Phillips look decent.

I worked for about six months or so in the old Holly Park library in Hawthorne, which the County had converted into a center for a telephone reference center. It was like a boiler room except it was roomier.

It was right by the Hawthorne Airport. One day a plane couldn't make the runway and crashed outside the building.

I took that day off.

To this day, I think that a small plane is going to fall out of the sky on to me just to get even.

That magic number was a good dose of reality.

Josh Paul's wife is pretty hot. It just goes to show you, even marginal ML caliber players do pretty well when it comes to the ladies.

Darin Erstad's wife looks like he met her back in North Dakota.

That's not a knock against the good women of North Dakota, but she doesn't seem overly glamorous.

One day a plane couldn't make the runway and crashed outside the building.

I remember that, Bob. Young guy, engine problem, hit a telephone wire, IIRC.

He was asked if he was hurt as he got out of the plane, and replied "only my pride".

I was in North Dakota last week.. Lemme tell you, I didn't see anything like her the whole time I was there.

327

Do you have bad dreams about it like Richie did in La Bamba?

333
I can't since I didn't see it.

It's just part of my catalog of irrational fears.

The plane crash in "La Bamba" was a real event. Actually both plane crashes. The one at the beginning of the film killed people on the ground at Pacoima Junior High.

The other plane crash was on 2/3/1959 which is the day that my oldest brother was born. He believes that the Big Bopper's soul inhabits him now.

Hey now, the women of NoDak aren't that bad. The big difference is difference is in the amount of work they put into themselves. However, I think the ladies here are as naturally good-looking as anywhere else. Then again, I've got a thing for scandanavian women, and that's all we have here, so perhaps I'm not an objective observer.

And apparantly one of the girls on the next season of America's Top Model is from Grand Forks, so we've got that going for us.

332
Mrs. Erstad is from Nebraska, not North Dakota.

That must explain it.

332 Where were you in ND? I'm beginning to find that for some reason, Fargo has a disproportionately ugly population compared to the rest of the state.

And you've gotta love a state where the newspapers run daily updates on the seasons of Hafner and Erstad.

Rick Helling starts for the Brewers in Milwaukee tomorrow against the Padres.

Go North Dakota!

SI.com rates all 30 parks on their "fan value".

Angels Stadium is #4, Dodger Stadium is #25.

Here is a link to the page on the Angels.

http://tinyurl.com/a8wsc

Toward the bottom on the pictures of "players to watch", they have a picture of Carlos Lee don't they?

Angels took the lead with smallball (hit n run)

337

I was in the Northwest part of the state, near Minot.

Admittedly, I was in a pretty small town for the short amount of time I was there and from what I understand, most of the young folks are getting out.

My bro and his friend did say that they noticed the girls they saw actually looked their age. Like you know, they weren't spending hours upon hours sunning at the beach and going to fake and bakes like they do here.

339 According the image's link, it is c_lee, which would make that Carlos Lee. I'm pretty sure he's still a Brewer...

339 The Dodger's amenity score is a 4 for apparently one reason, there's nothing for parents to do to entertain their children

maybe Guzman can stay at SS...

BJ Upton makes Joel Guzman and his 29 errors at shortstop look like Ozzie Smith in his prime. Upton has 51 erros this year!

344 - 51 "errors", that is.

There are plenty of amenities for kids at Dodger games. They can hit beach balls around and annoy me to no end.

Up Bob's alley"

MIAMI -- Florida's Jeremy Hermida became the first player in more than a century and only second ever to hit a grand slam in his first major league at-bat, connecting in the seventh inning off the St. Louis Cardinals' Al Reyes in the Marlins' 10-5 loss Wednesday night.

The only other player with a grand slam in first major league at-bat was William "Frosty Bill" Duggleby, who did it for Philadelphia at home against the New York Giants in the second inning on April 21, 1898, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Elias was not able to determine whether Duggleby was a pinch hitter.

346

And if the kids spend time in the pavilion, they can enroll themselves in Cussing 101.

Why doesn't the Elias Sports Bureau just look at a newspaper boxscore?

The boxscore lists 9 guys in the boxscore for Philadelphia that game. So Duggleby wasn't a pinch hitter.

The fact that Duggleby hit a grand slam in the game didn't seem to be important to the writers of the day.

A later article on the AP states that Duggleby was a starter so somebody figured it out.

Oakland has scored a run, 2-1. Still 2 men on with 2 outs

I live in none of the 88 cities in LA County. I'm from Placentia if anyone has ever heard of it.

hey jon, dayn perry has an article up on foxsports called NL west prospects. you should make it part of your post tomorrow. theres 5 dodgers in the top 10 for the nl west headed by Guzman at #1.

it would be great for prospect gushers like me, daveP,fB,hobos, etc.

347

Frosty Bill. I wonder how he got that nickname.

The thrill of watching the Angels lose is second only to watching the Dodgers win.

Chavez flies out to deep center (warning track) as the last out, A's lose 2-1

355- No dice. Angels win. But seeing Payton spike Izturis in the ribs was pretty sweet.

Does anyone happen to know when Nick Johnson will be a free agent??

358

I'm gonna assume that it will be in roughly six seasons from now. I'm no expert on the service time thing, but it takes six seasons of service time for a player to become a FA.

Johnson's first year with the Yankees was 2001. He came up in August.

Oops.. my bad.. I got Nick confused with Dan Johnson.

So in that case, it shouldn't be long before Nick is a FA. If DePo is still around, can you imagine the grief he would get for acquiring him?

Johnson could get hit by a bus (and not substain a serious injury, but still land on the DL) and DePo would get criticized for signing an injury prone player.

Well, it's back to work tomorrow. The days of sitting on the couch watching TV and sleeping the day away while doped up are coming to an abrupt end. Having very rarely watched any day time TV I did notice quite a few things about the TV programming while flipping through all 82 channels.
#1 The hurricane was really really bad. Now I wonder where those idiots they showed drinking on Bourbon street hours before the hurricane hit are at.
#2 FSW replays Dodger games from the previous day. And when you are doped up, they look an awful lot like a new game. Houlton is pretty impressive in that he can pitch on zero days rest.
#3 VH1 has a gay version of the show "Date My Mom". I found it to be pretty gross. But hey, whatever floats your boat.
#4 Bill O'Reilly not only has a radio show, but a TV show too.
#5 You can pretty much find poker on TV all day long.
#6 Speed Racer just doesn't seem as entertaining as it did 30+ years ago.
#7 There's this guy named Lou Dobbs who is quite the Xenophobe.
But that's enough TV talk, can we please talk about baseball now!! :) vr, Xei

362

Lou Dobbs: "There's this guy named Xeifrank who is quite the Homophobe"

(just busting your chops, Xeifrank!!!)

#353: Here's the link to the story Nate recommended:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/4826574

What are the drawbacks of moving somebody from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL if they are not coming back this season?

Just wondering, because I read how spots on the 40-man could open up if Gagne, Wunsch, or Bradley were moved to the 60-day DL.

Is it just that they didn't need these spots on the 40-man and now they might need them?

364 - That's a pretty phenomenal list. I've seen national prospect rankings that had Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin in the top 10.

I'd have to assume this is the best division in baseball in terms of top prospects. A dubious distinction given this year's standings.

Speaking of the tunnel vision apparently necessary to be a sportswriter, here comes the LA Times Sam Farmer on the front page of today Sports Page, talking about one, true hidden victim of Hurricane Katrina.

That's right, in the midst of possibly the greatest disaster in lives and property lost to hit the US since the Civil War, Farmer takes time from his usual occupation of mindless speculation about the future of the NFL in LA to worry about those perennial doormats, the NEW ORLEANS SAINTS. Huh???

Sure, three states are wrecked, lives are lost, or ruined, but hey, is there a chance the Saints can play in LA?

Jon, if that's the type of single minded purpose needed to succeed in sports writing, you, by far, made the right career choice.

Hope everyone is making their donations to the relief charities of their choice.

Red Cross site is down. Anyone know an alternate way to donate?

Nevermind, I got through. Their donation page is being run through Yahoo Store, and it takes a few tries to get through.

Have patience and keep trying. It's worth it.

New thread above, essentially an open chat thread.

Kuo was added to the 40 man and promoted to the Dodgers today (per Suns game notes). Can't wait to see him in action.