Chen was the first Taiwanese MLB player ever. Kuo is, what, the third?

5 of Ruan's 11 PAs in 2002 came on the last two days of the season, after the Dodgers had been eliminated.

9, 11 - Yeah, new information (or misinformation). Supposedly, now there's a chance that Hochevar could still skip classes today but be in limbo. I pity this guy's GPA if he stays.

10 - Hiatt had a bad early season callup that year but then had some pinch hits in September.

A) Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Odalis Perez, Jeff Weaver, DJ Houlton

B) Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Odalis Perez, Jeff Weaver, Edwin Jackson

C) Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Odalis Perez, Jeff Weaver, Chad Billingsley

D) Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Odalis Perez, Edwin Jackson, DJ Houlton

E) Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Odalis Perez, DJ Houlton, Chad Billingsley

F) Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Odalis Perez, Edwin Jackson, Chad Billingsley

G) Other (please specify)

Penny, Lowe, and Houlton will be back IMHO.

June 2006: Penny, Lowe, (trade), Billingsley, Houlton/Jackson. Perez on the DL.

http://tinyurl.com/bb27r

I don't know exactly what I think of this and/or if I find it obnxious/elitist, but I will go so far as saying that I see some truth in the related point that the widely-shared social experience of sports allows all sorts of people to talk in an informed and engaged way about it, even if they come from different walks of life, backgrounds, etc. And lots of people know more about sports than they do about more newsy issues. (Of course, celebrity gossip probably tops sports on that score.) Don't know if today is really different than the past, or if it's really true that other things don't also support that sort of connection, but it's interesting. Obviously, the horror of New Orleans and other such events provide such a shared experience, albeit sometimes only briefly.

Interest, yes. Passion, yes. Information, well, no.

What passes for sophisticated discussion in the sports world is John Kruk, Stephen A. Smith, and Jeff Brantley. No thanks.

If the Padres can get their rotation set up so Peavy goes in Game 1 and Eaton in Game 2, that's not easy to get past.

The Padres bigger problem is going to be their inability to score a lot of runs.

Near my school were a couple of businesses where you could buy lecture transcripts sorted by class and date. Except they printed them on red paper, so your friends would have to buy their own instead of photocopying yours.

http://www2.dailynews.com/sports/ci_2993771

I just didn't bother taking notes when I went to college. I don't know if I can ever recall having to go back and read notes from a class to learn something.

It's easier just to remember the stuff the first time you hear it.

25 I hated classmates like you.

Zach who?

If you have the attention span of a Superfriend.

Of course, Dan Evans and Kim Ng weren't around when Dreifort was re-signed. That one still goes on Malone's illustrious resume.

Icaros would have hated it when I went to go see a movie the night before one of my finals instead of studying for it.

I got an A in the class too.

(It wasn't a very hard class though.)

"What you are witnessing is real. The participants are NOT actors. They are actual baseball players with a game pending in the National League. Both parties have agreed to have their dispute settled here in our forum -- Dodger Stadium!"

If anyone has tried to read anything written with my own hand, you will wonder if I actually got out of the second grade.

Bob's typical elementary school report card:
English A
Math A
Science A
History A
Social Studies A
Handwriting C
Art C
P.E. C (although I got an F in that subject on one report card in 9th grade.)

He also said the only airline he'll fly is Qantas.

Come high school, those A's in math and science turned into B's and C's.

My good relationship with mathematics ended more or less when they started substituting letters for numbers. The last math class I ever took was my junior year of high school.

Nah, I thought you were serious. ;-)

The real question about Hochevar is, what kind of senior would have had a class on a Friday anyway?

No thanks.

Especially one on the baseball team.

I took a night class at Long Beach State one semester with about half of the baseball team: The History of Women in Sport.

The teacher tried to tell us that there were plenty of women good enough to play Major League Baseball who weren't allowed due to sexism.

Absent sexism -- and therefore absent the cultural pressures that encourage girls to play with dolls instead of baseballs -- there would probably be a handful of women athletic enough to play in the major leagues.

They would be mostly junkball pitchers and speed-reliant middle infielders, but still.

My daughter is always encouraged to try many different sports and recreational activities. She loves dolls and art classes. Period.

If anything I think the pressure is more the other way: it is perfectly acceptable for girls to play all kinds of sports and is mostly encouraged. However, boys who prefer dolls usually cause their parents concern once they are older than 3. My youngest son loves playing with his sisters dolls and wear her shoes and clothes... he'll be 4 in November. I have 2 months to straighten him out!

I don't foresee a big sports future for her. She will harbor dreams of being a dancer. I wonder if she knows that she's probably going to be about 6'2" when she's fully grown.

I would not be like Matt Leinart. There's no way I would just take one class and have it be ballroom dancing. That would be terrifying to me. I'd rather take something like linear algebra.

They hate us because we don't even KNOW why they hate us.

They have a lonnnnnnnnnnnnng way to go to catch up to the Yankees in the hatred department. Very long way.

Everybody hates the teams that are successful. Why people are still hating the Dodgers now is different. It's just a holdover from the past.

But here is a list of teams that the Dodgers have been a close pennant race with or faced in the playoffs since 1969:
Giants
Padres
Braves
Reds
Rockies
Astros
Cardinals
Mets
Phillies
Pirates

The Dodgers have never been in a close race with Arizona in my opinion.

The Nationals fans don't remember or likely even acknowledge that the Dodgers beat their team back in 1981.

The Cubs and Dodgers never have been in a race of any consequence. Same thing with the Marlins. The Brewers were in the wrong league most of the time.

The Lakers are hated.

Ask Cubs fans what they think of the Cardinals. They hate them. Cardinals fans have really taken their "Best Fans in Baseball" to heart and they can be really annoying to be around.

If that's the case, then Hurdle has every right to talk about a sweep. I don't think anyone wants the team he manages to be written off as an automatic win for the other side.

The Rockies had the second best record in the NL West in August and I think they have the best record in the division since the ASG.

The Giants
The Yankees
The Celtics (not so much anymore)
The Cowboys (from my Ram days)
Notre Dame (always, no matter how bad they are)

C'mon people! Don't we remember how much we hated Juan Bonilla? Or Kurt Bevacqua?

Interesting point... if they win it all this year then the "Best Fans in Baseball" will become more nationally irritating and they will be hated.

Whether or not this is true is something others can judge. But plenty of Cardinals fans leave games early. And they boo players they don't like.
The Cardinals benefit from having only paper of any consequence in their area and its civic boosterism resembles that of L.A. papers of the first half of the 20th century.

Now people are defecting from their old teams to root for the A's. Which is a pretty unusual phenomenon in baseball for people who don't move to a new home.

I don't agree with this statement.

I have no idea why I decided to share all this...

The Cardinals fans aren't bad people. They are fans. They are better than most in some areas, but they aren't perfect.

If the Cardinals were having a really bad year, they would boo more. Amazingly, Tony La Russa has lasted a long time in St. Louis despite being widely disliked by Cardinals fans. Primarily because La Russa doesn't live in the area.

Despite my Cardinals bashing, they are one of my favorite teams in the majors because of ancestral ties.

http://tinyurl.com/csgx2

Now Red Schoendienst, there's a local guy who was a great manager!

And Mike Shannon, another local, who is beloved by Cardinals fans despite being one of America's most incomprehensible radio announcers.

Have you ever sat in field level near the foul poles? That doesn't have an October feel. Those seats have more a "Family Visiting Hours" at the County lockup feel.

http://tinyurl.com/armuy

"A Lincoln Park Trixie has been described as "the prototype of the blond, late-twenties woman with a ponytail who works in PR or marketing, drives a black Jetta, gets manicures and no-foam skim lattes." The location (Lincoln Park) refers to one of the more fashionable and expensive neighborhoods in Chicago.

The term was brought to the attention of BTF by Cub fans to describe the prototypical female bandwagoner Cub fan, usually denoting someone with the aforementioned qualities who is good-looking and utterly clueless about baseball other than knowing how to say "Go Cubs!" By convention, the boyfriend of a "Trixie" is named Chad."

Now for the question everyone's asking, is there a website?

There was. There's now an archive

http://tinyurl.com/cuwoo

But all it says is (good news Trixie fans) is that there will soon be a smashing new presence for Chicago's most elite social organization.

I've actually moved to the upper reserved sections and had a better time. There is always at least one guy actually keeping score. And given that it is the Rockies the seats are always nearly empty.

http://tinyurl.com/cp6tz

The world in general and baseball in particular are full of dumb rules. What possible justification does failing to attend class have in keeping eligibilty to sign a professional baseball contract? If anything, the rule should be the other way around; if education is important to society, attending classses rather than skipping them should be rewarded.

Stan from Tacoma

I know that's an overgeneralization, and I know there are exceptions to the rule. But that's the rule. And the newspapers perpetuate it ad nauseum.

I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night and I work all day

I cut down trees. I skip and jump.
I like to press wild flowers.
I put on women's clothing
And hang around in bars.

I cut down trees. I wear high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra.
I wish I'd been a girlie,
Just like my dear Papa

Priceless.

"I'll...I'll put it here, white suit, right front pocket."

I was a teenager when that album was released. I wore it out.

117- Honestly, pretty much every town, and especially its sports fans and coverage is incredibly provincial, regardless of how worldly or cosmopolitan that city claims to be.

A few years ago he brought in a LOOGY to face (I think) Lance Berkman in a key late-season game. Berkman homered, and Cards fans to this day lament LaRussa's decision to "go down [Jeff] Tabaka road."

The unofficial anti-LaRussa Cards' forum is: www.birdsonthebat.com

My lone criticism of Cards' fans: too many mullets.

When the Cards were out West a few weeks back, he kept referring to our boys as "the disco Dodgers" because of the flashing lights and loud music in DS. It was almost funny once, but by the second inning (and, by extension, Shannon's seventh or eighth "frosty cold Bud") it was hugely annoying. Jack Buck kept Shannon under his thumb, but the Great Wayne Hagin just eggs him on.

And obviously, your comment about provincialism does not apply to Vin.

119

Or a San Diego water polo fan.

Jim Tracy, meet Karl Dorrell, Karl Dorrell, meet Jim Tracy. I hope you both enjoy your new careers.

I don't know if Hagin eggs Shannon on. Supposedly, the two men don't care much for each other.

Certainly Todd Helton doesn't care for Wayne Hagin.

When Hagin got the Cardinals radio job, the Cardinals made it a point to tell people that Hagin's wife was from Illinois and grew up near St. Louis.

St. Louis and Hawai'i have one thing in common I've learned. They are both places where people are very concerned about which high school you attended.

I've also learned in recent days that St. Louis claims to have the second biggest Mardi Gras parade in the country behind New Orleans, so it could be time for the Mound City to step up to the top spot.

And now, ladies and gentlemen - Bob "RDGC" Timmermann!

September 2, 1988

Dodgers starter Tim Leary, who had given up just six home runs all season, surrendered four of them to Mets hitters as Ron Darling shut out Los Angeles, 8-0, at Shea Stadium before a crowd of 44,889. The first place Dodgers lost to the other first place team in the National League. They were now 77-56 and 6 ½ games ahead of second-place Houston.

Leary's long night started in the third inning, when two Mets rookies had solo home runs. Shortstop Kevin Elster led off with a home run and two batters later, second baseman Gregg Jefferies hit another to make it 2-0 New York. Elster added a 2-run shot in the fifth inning to make it 4-0.

The Mets broke it open in the seventh. Elster led off with a walk and went to second on a wild pitch from Leary. One batter later, Mookie Wilson homered to make it 6-0 and knock Leary out of the game. Lefthander Ricky Horton relieved and gave up a single to Jefferies who went to third when left fielder Kirk Gibson misplayed the ball. Keith Hernandez singled home Jefferies. After Darryl Strawberry struck out, right fielder Mike Davis misplayed Kevin McReynolds fly ball for an error to score Hernandez with the eighth Mets run.

The Dodgers had only one chance to score against Darling. With one out in the first, catcher Mike Scioscia doubled and Gibson got a double when Strawberry lost track of his fly ball, but Scioscia could only make it to third. Davis then hit a fly ball to Wilson and Scioscia tried to tag and score, but was thrown out to end the inning.

In the 1988 regular season, the Mets would beat the Dodgers 10 out of 11 times with one game in New York rained out. (It was two days after this game.) The Dodgers only win was a 4-3 victory at Shea on June 1 and the Mets had the tying run on second with one out in the 9th inning of that game when Lee Mazzilli lined into a game-ending double play.

Of course, as most of us should know, 1988 ended pretty well for the Dodgers. The team finished the regular season with a 94-67 record. That was seven games better than second place Cincinnati.

The heroes of 1988 are already legendary in Los Angeles. Who was the greatest hero that year? Was it Orel Hershiser with his record-setting 59-inning scoreless inning streak at the end of the season and his 23-8 record and 2.26 ERA? Was it Gibson's MVP performance of 25 home runs and 106 runs scored with a .377 OBP (along with the fact that not many people liked Darryl Strawberry).

But what of the other big contributors of 1988? Leary went 17-11 with a 2.91 ERA. Tim Belcher was 12-6 and 2.91. Jay Howell saved 21 games with a 2.08 ERA and Alejandro Pena had a 1.91 ERA in middle relief. Long man Brian Holton was 7-3 and had a 1.70 ERA.

GM Fred Claire, in addition to signing Gibson as a free agent in the off-season, made a controversial trade on August 16. He pulled off a waiver deal with the Cardinals that sent first baseman Pedro Guerrero, limited to 59 games because of injuries, to St. Louis for left-handed pitcher John Tudor. Tudor would go 4-3 with a 2.41 ERA down the stretch.

The postseason was both magical and tumultuous. The Mets won Game 1 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium, 3-2 with three runs in the ninth off of Hershiser and Howell. But the Dodgers scored five early runs against David Cone in Game 2 and won 6-3 to even the Series.

After a day of rain, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda started Hershiser again in Game 3, but the Mets rallied for five runs in the eighth off of the Dodgers reliever, spurred on by the ejection of Howell for having pine tar on his glove. The Mets won 8-4.

Game 4 was some of baseball's finest theater. The Dodgers trailed 4-2 in the 9th when center fielder John Shelby worked a leadoff walk against Dwight Gooden. Scioscia followed with a homer to right to tie the game. In the 12th, Gibson homered off of reliever Roger McDowell to put the Dodgers up 5-4.

The bottom of the 12th was a classic. Running out of relievers, Lasorda brought in Leary to start the inning. He gave up a singles to Mackey Sasser and Mazzilli to put runners on first and second with none out. Jefferies flied out. Lefty Jesse Orosco, a pitcher that Lasorda had lost confidence in, came into relieve, and walked Hernandez to load the bases. After a tongue lashing by Lasorda, Orosco retired Strawberry on a popup. With McReynolds up, Lasorda brought in Hershiser to relieve and he retired McReynolds on a fly ball to center to end the game.

The Dodgers won Game 5, 7-4, went back home and lost Game 6, 5-1, but Hershiser sent the Dodgers to the World Series with a 6-0 shutout win.

Then the Dodgers got to the World Series and faced the Oakland Athletics. The Dodgers won in five games. Game 1 was pretty exciting. At least that's how I remember it. Well, at least the end of Game 1 was exciting.

Thanks to the Los Angeles Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

I think they probably feel it's okay to start his clock now since this is about the time he should have been ready anyway.

Also, Jim Tracy has really been pining for a new LOOGY.

I was just thinking about typing the LOOGY thing before I read your comment.

And what Icaros said in 144.

The Padres send Brian Lawrence to the mound in Milwaukee to face Chris Capuano.

The Giants have Jason Schmidt pitching against Brandon Webb in Phoenix. Giants can move into third place with a win.

And with Bradley being transferred to the 60 day DL today, they didn't need to move anyone off the 40 man roster.

I think Kuo is here because we can use him. We could have used him a month ago. Just hoping his arm holds it together this month. Were going to sweep boys. Bet the over on Sunday.

CF Werth
SS Robles
2B Kent
LF Ledee
1B Phillips
3B Edwards
C Navarro
RF Cruz
P Weaver

vs

Barmes
Sullivan
Helton
Holliday
Hawpe
Atkins
Closser
Miles
S Kim

SS Barmes
CF Sullivan
1B Heltn
LF Holliday
RF Hawpe
3B Atkins
C Closser
2B Miles
P S Kim

So you want Susan Powter as the manager?

At least the guy with the bad hamstring can hit.

Just fill the team with either legit prospects, or guys that can hit.

No more Mike Edwards, Jason Repko's, Jason Phillips, Cesar Izturis...

Edwards is terrible. He's like the Dodgers version of Marco Scutaro, except worse. Both have no business being on a MLB club, unless they are the 25th man.

Three I agree with. Phillips could be useful as a catcher, but has to be ditched as part of a further round of Tracyproofing the roster.

He was 5 for 6 with 2 home runs in his career against Sunny Kim.

The only current (as in on the roster now, not the DL) Dodger with more than 4 ABs against Kim is Cruz who is 2 for 7, with 1 HR.

At least put Ginter in there because there's a chance he'll knock a few out of the ballpark. Scutaro does nothing but make outs and provide little power.

Hopefully Crosby, Harden, Kotsay are back before too long.

JP should never ever play 1st base. Kent, Saenz, Choi all better options. But Tracy once again picks THEE worst option.

And honestly, whats worse: Robles/Izturis, or Edwards/Robles on the left side of the infield. Its still bad either way.

I thought for sure when Izturis was DL'ed that Tracy couldnt possibly mess up the lineup.

But he did. He 1st went to Valentin. Then he's gone to Mike Edwards...

Tracy is working backwards. Using the worst options 1st.

Tracy loves scrappy career minor leaguers with little talent, because he himself was one.

Oooohhhhhh.... Scary......

Eric Milton is getting the crap beat out of him again.

Oxspring is an Australian who's a AAAA of sorts, but pitched very good in the PCL. Walks Lee, then Jenkins hit it out

7-0 Brewers

Not that it matters...

I have Jorge Cantu on my fantasy team (benched tonight). He hits a 3-run jack.

Gah...

Is Joel the Destroyer playing tonight?

You can set up so you can not follow either game!

I am supposed to go see Ismael Valdez pitch against someone -- maybe the Nationals'll pick up Sir Sydney by then -- on Monday, but wife is making noises about using the tickets herself. I have an autographed Ismael Valdez baseball (was sitting right by the bullpen one day and got him, Pedro Borbon, Alan Mills, Todd Hundley and Rick Dempsy all to sign -- it was the day of the huge brawl with Seattle, where Grudz . . . anek got into it with, um, what's his name, played first for seattle, went to Baltimore, David _____ ?)

He popped up to short at the end of it.

Sure would have been nice for Kent/Ledee to at least drive in Werth. This is Colorado, so I'm not too worried, we have a pretty good 7-4

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=250706127

But go ahead and argue that Mike Edwards is a good defensive third baseman.

.300 .407 .440 .847

There's something about that sentence that perplexes me, but I don't know what it is...

Remind me never to rent the apartment below you, Uncle.

That's supposed to be sarcasm, right, DDger?

Oscar is an idiot

Hey, even the greats fail 2/3's of the time.

Also, it just seems that Weaver and Lowe are too of the weakest minded pitchers I've ever seen. When they have their good stuff and things are going well, they just roll along and pitch great. But, if anything goes, they don't have their best stuff, or, God forbid, someone commits an error...then they just blow up. You can almost see it in their eyes. That Helton homer was a perfect example...

So far ....

The bases are loaded with 2 outs and it's 4-0 Oakland.

Kent meanwhile looks like he just wants to pad his HOF #'s rather than try to get on base. Swings at a borderline 2-0 pitch when we need base runners.

Fire this entire coaching staff at the end of the season. Please

Dont "Take" signs come from the bench? Although honestly, if you're in the MLB, you should really know when to swing away and when to take without someone telling you.

It's 6-0 Oakland now in the first.

But really, a discussion of who is flakiest between these three is like arguing who was the dumbest Stooge.

322 - You have to have the page showing, DDger.
Refresh, of course, cancels that.

From the start, he was already thinking about tomorrow's game by resting his relievers and his offensive stars.

However, he's thrown a lot of good games against the Giants.

I'd vote Weaver as most flakiest, but I think Tracy has a hand in that bc he's left him in too long also on occasion.

334- while Lowe blames the defense, Odalis has actually stood by some of his teammates after making errors (Repko, A. Perez). After an inning in which Repko misjudged a flyball, Perez patted him on the back as to say "it's ok"

There, I'm cured.

First off, Tracy wastes Choi AND Perez in the same dang pinch hitting spot.

Then he LETS Robles face the left hander.

Idiot. How easy would it have been to simply let Choi bat against the LHP? Then pinch hit AP for Robles. He could have even left both in the game.

Indeed.

Baseball is weird.

Trust me on that.

Now, we're stuck with Robles/Phillips/Edwards for the rest of the game.

If ever an instance to get on the team about defense, that would have been one.

But I never heard Odalis say anything. I've always liked Odalis because he tells it like it is. Even last year at the park people would talk to him from the stands about how much Green sucked, and OP would just grin and agree.

Once by Glenn Beckert on 9/16/1972
http://tinyurl.com/c9ch8

And again by Todd Helton on 4/11/1998
http://tinyurl.com/atqxp

The 1998 boxscore doesn't have a play-by-play.

Oscar has a long way to go.

The DBacks are looking to go belly up soon.

Dang I hope tomorrow's game features a better lineup.

Almost seemed like we were beat before the 1st pitch was thrown.

Helton went 0 for 5 with a sac fly.

365 - No, but I trained my parrot to hit refresh, so that's a moot point to me.

Ideally we'd play Aybar at 3rd, AP at SS, and Choi at 1st the rest of the year.

Not only is that most likely our best lineup, but those 3 may actually have futures as everyday players in LA.

Phillips, Edwards, Robles not likely.

Kuo is coming in!

NL West "leaders" are on the short end of a combined 20-3 score with more to come.

ddger and bokonon42 have the other two.

Question:

Isn't it common logic that when you're playing in Colorado, aren't you supposed to put your better offensive lineup?

Tracy's answer:

It is, but let me ask you if you had a sinkerball pitcher who has been pitching lights out lately, wouldn't you want to put your best defensive players and manufacture few runs and win the game?

Whatching choi and saenz sit while phillips plays, and then watching edwards play ahead of the clearly superior aybar, an objective observer might think that Tracy's racist. Think about it, hes always finding stupid reasons to start guys like edwards and phillips, while allways finding stupid reasons to sit the guys that are foreign born. I dont actually think tracy's racist, but at this point he's either an idiot or a racist, and like i said; i dont think he's a racist.

I wonder if Tracy will find ways to not play Kuo the way he does with Choi. My guess is that somepoint next season well be hearing about how Kuo cant handle guys with odd batting stances.

Mike Edwards 1st ball hacking... Not so much.

Sorry, it's just that I saw the word "rarefied" on a list of "hard words to spell" and then I see it here.

So I'm thinking, "Hey, there must be some truth to that!"

keep in mind this guy has thrown a grand total of 60 innings in 6 years since signing in '99!

And Schmoll decides Kuo needs a high ERA

428- I posted that before the BB. His windup reminds me of Ishii's.

Great, Tracy is warming up Sanchez in an 8 run game. Would he ever waste Gagne in a game like this?

I'm a vampire, at heart.

Kuo's ERA: 54.00, Will Tracy still use him as a LOOGY?

The Dodgers used just six starters that year.
Sutton and Osteen were good. Foster was mediocre. Moeller, Vance, and Singer split up the rest.

Fred Norman was on the Dodgers in 1970, but he hadn't started much in the majors yet and he was 27. He wouldn't become a good starter until he was on the Reds.

When 1970 was over, Campanis traded Foster AND reliever Ray Lamb for catcher Duke Sims. And Duke Sims wasn't all that great. He had hit 23 home runs for Cleveland in 1969, but he hit all of 12 in his 2 seasons with the Dodgers.

http://tinyurl.com/e3pwg

In the same article, there's the following Tracy gem regarding Kuo:

"We brought him here for some left-handed hitting situations," said manager Jim Tracy. "Does that mean that tonight I'm going to rush him out there against Todd Helton? I'm not going to say yes, I'm not going to say no. We'll just see how things go."

Now you're talking!

It's 6-3 Giants in the 8th. Alou has already brought in Eyre. He's probably ready to trot in four guys to pitch the 8th.

438. Hochevar and Boras are getting worked by the Dodgers. He doesnt seem to have any leverage now (Hoch) that is. The Dodgers should keep their offer at 2.5 and tell Hoch to take it or leave it. If he leaves it, he still wont make up the lost money from this year for not signing.

A) David
B) Cody
C) Porter

Haha, Werth barely made it

I really miss Porter's stats.

Is it coincidence that Ross Porter and David Ross are no longer with the Dodgers?

So how well will Houlton fair tomorrow? Considering relies so heavily on offspeed pitches, I'm not liking the prospects of tomorrow's game. Especially considering we'll ge the same lineup with Repko in for Cruz

Meanwhile, it's really 12-0 in the 7th.

Everytime the Dodgers Lose and Padres Lose, the Dodgers are losing ground. I hate when the Dodgers play in Denver. At least they don't have to go to Denver anymore this season after this week. Dodgers have pitch around Helton because he just killing the Dodgers. It's only 1 loss but they need to win the next 2.

Tracy does a poor job of making out lineups and an even worse job of in game management. I think I might prefer to have the drunk intern running the Rockies scoreboard manage the dodgers for the rest of the season.

Everyone keeps saying that there isn't anyone to replace Tracy. This is kind of the point. Everyone can replace Tracy.

Chad Bradford for Payton might be the best in-season trade in a long time.

I hope you were kidding!!!

6-3 win over Arizona.

They pitch Lowry tomorrow too and should have a good chance at moving up to second.

Note: Websites that change their name midstream have a low user recognition rate.

Of the playoff money, it's get divided up this way:

WS winner - 36%
WS loser - 24%
NLCS loser - 12%
ALCS loser - 12%
Division series losers - 3% each - 12%
Four other second place teams - 1% each - 4%

This means that some teams in the NL East are getting shafted at the end of the year. Too bad.

Schemp was definitely the stupidest stooge, though, and I'll fight any man who says otherwise. I hate Schemp so much. . .so much!

Good PR for baseball. And they could argue that they are literally playing to see whom the best team is, not for money.

The Red Sox gave out the smallest winners shares since 1997 because they gave each player who was on the team at some time a full share. They all got around $226,000.

Oldbear's idea is a great one but most likely won't happen.

Was the Matt Clement for Dontrelle Willis deal in-season? That one looked pretty good when the two teams met in the NLCS that year, but my blinding hatred of Jeff Conine prevents me from mentioning that deal

"Ahm sorry ah ruined your Mew Years, Sgt. Dan. She tasted liked cigarettes."

$15 million is about 36% of $42 million isn't it?

Here's a tip for next Saturday. Don't bring up "Forrest Gump" unless you want me to strike you in rage.

Not my favorite film....

Seems like Tracy's moves these days are "stupid is as stupid does"

Still like it, though. :)

OK, I will deign to sit with you people anyway.

:-)

But I get that many people loved the movie - just wasn't for me.

My question is what do we do with him next year? He clearly can hit in Vegas, although that's not saying much. Do we give him another year? Does he play the OF or 2B? Trade him? Keep him on the bench with Aybar? Trade Aybar and keep him? I'm not sure how his Ks will translate in the majors, and in the OF he loses a lot of value. His K rate actually went down in Vegas (22% in Jax to 20%)

We do so love to cheer the underdog.

And the music is great.

At it's core, I view it as a fable; much like `Big Fish'.

And every character in the movie who had any ambition, any idea of what to do with themselves that didn't include doing just as they were told, ended up dead, crippled, or AIDS ridden. Nice message, that.

Gump's character illustrated a child's wonder of the world. Is there anyone who doesn't have a sense of loss at losing that?

Jenny was the rebel that Bokonon describes. She did die of Aids, but are you saying she got nothing, got nothing out of her life? I don't think so.

And Sgt. Dan certainly strived to live a life of tradition, following orders, doing as he was told, which kind of refutes your second paragraph.

Tell you what, Bokonon...you bring a beachball to the game, you're going over the side...:)

Perhaps the message of the movie wasn't that life is scary, and that horrible things happen to people who try to think for themselves. That it was cloyingly saccharine, and utterly unfunny seems like reason enough to hate it.

I'll bring the beachballs (and milk) if you'll pick up some thundersticks.

I don't usually go out of my way to spit on the taste of others (in public). Lots of people really liked that movie. I just couldn't stand it. I hated Titanic and American Beauty, too, so I've come to accept that my taste is out of the mainstream. Anyway, Tom Hanks has a long way to go, yet, before working himself out of the doghouse that Bonfire of the Vanities earned him.

But look, what's this -- Bob T has cracked! He's got a letter to the Times in today's paper! And it's a "j'accuse!" on our buddy Plaschke. Well done, even if it's buried on page 2 on the web site of letters about the Dodgers.

Maybe Bob is starting to live up to his "Mr. Smith" designation, and he is responding to the will of the people.

Besides, his finest work is Band of Brothers, if only as a producer :)

Hey, Bob, congratulations! Well said.
Did they print it unedited?

Yes, I'm kidding...

http://tinyurl.com/ct458

Whenever you see a columnist making outlandish statements, I'll be there. Whenever you see hear a talk radio guy making an outrageous claim, I'll be there.

I would think that the groups of people who liked both of these movies would almost be mutually exclusive.

My vote is definitively for the latter.

P.S. Hoffman?

Guess they didn't want Pete Rose using that against them.

Next time I start to get maudlin about sappy movies, please cut me off.

Thanks,
Jim

You'll get to hear Thom Brennaman saying this:

"There appears to be a disapperance over in the seats. It looks like a man is beating up three other men with a souvenir Bubba Gump Shrimp Company bat...."

He thinks the Yankees might not make the playoffs because of suspect pitching.

WOW!

Yes, but that was back in the day when we thought the Dodgers had a chance to do something with the season. Back when there was hope. Back when Hee-Seop Choi hit home runs that landed in the top row of the RF Pavilion.

Those were good times.

They seem so long ago. Just another dream crumpled up and tossed under the seat like a cup for a $6 O'Douls.

Thanks!

btimmermann at gmail dot com
Double check the n's

If you're a member of the family, you should know how the name is spelled!

I didn't get a notice of non-delivery either, so I guess somewhere out there is a btimmerman scratching his head...

I can picture that as the caption for a Gary Larson cartoon.

The one that stays in my mind is where the dog leaves his two pals to visit the next yard over...

...and shouts "Yo, Jake! Got any magazines?"

My mother was accused by other parents of being this monster parent who constantly forced her children to study and never let us outside.

Which was pretty funny since my mother had no idea how we came out the way she did. She was asked about her parenting secrets once and she had none. Maybe we were all part of the 4400.

This is an article on Norfolk manager Ken Oberkfell. One thing I found interesting:

"One Major League executive who has seen Oberkfell in action, both as a player and as a manger, believes that would do well in the big leagues again if given the opportunity. While he did not wish to be named -- he doesn't want any praise for Oberkfell to be viewed as an indictment of his team's current manager -- the executive said Oberkfell's style is deceptive at first but quickly becomes attractive."

I wonder if DePo ever saw him as a player, but wouldn't be nice if this was DePo? Especially if it is an indictment of the team's current manager

Ruling out Washington/Macha and the former Dodger greats, would anyone here be interested in a mangaer like Oberkfell? A minor league manager who has proven he can win (albeit in the minors) and will allow the kids to play, or are we aiming at Washington/Macha, Former Dodger great, manager with experince, or bust?

Also, this is not an endorsement for Oberkfell (who was a former Giant for a whole 83 games). I have no idea what his style is in game and whether he micro manages

I noticed on the preview that the bracket things above the "," and "." make text disappear (I had them instead of quotes)