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About Jon
Thank You For Not ...

1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with

Ga Ga Gagne, Sha Sha Shandy
2006-02-10 08:38
by Jon Weisman

From this one workout, Gagne appeared to be throwing more comfortably than at any time last year.

This, the best news of the young season comes to us from Ken Gurnick of Dodgers.com:

All winter, Eric Gagne has told the Dodgers his elbow is healing nicely.

On Thursday, he showed them.

With wife Valerie and top catching prospect and Canadian countryman Russell Martin in tow, Gagne stopped by Dodger Stadium for an arranged bullpen session for the benefit of his new manager, Grady Little.

Breaking through the din of construction workers continuing the stadium seat replacement was the popping of Gagne fastballs into Martin's new mitt. Gagne made 40 pitches, using fastballs, changeups and a couple of cutters. He pitched out of the windup and the stretch, with Little standing on an adjacent mound in the bullpen.

Anything that doesn't involve Gagne altering his mechanics to compensate for pain and injury constitutes a better report than we had a year ago.

* * *

Not exactly safe at home? This Tony Jackson Daily News article reports that Viren Moret, the business representative for the Service Employees International Union Local 1877, argues that the Dodgers have not provided a "safe working environment" for their security officers, "because there now is only one officer guarding the entire stadium property between midnight and 5 a.m."

Dodgers spokesperson Camille Johnston disputed a different concern of Moret's, but it's unclear what the team response to the security discussion is.

* * *

Be hopeful that there will be no work stoppage in major league baseball when the current labor agreement expires in December, believes David Pinto of Baseball Musings.

"If there were going to be trouble this time around, you'd already hear owner or players complaining," Pinto writes. "The players seem happy with their situation, the owners (for the most part) seem happy with their situation, and the two sides showed they can work cooperatively by opening the CBA to change drug testing. No one is trying to destroy free agency or arbitration. No one wants to destroy revenue sharing, although the union will try to modify how it works.

Pinto links to an Associated Press article recapping some lunchtime quotes from baseball union chief Don Fehr, most notably that "... the overall atmosphere of the sport is such that there are a lot of reasons that people on the outside should be optimistic about our chances of reaching an agreement."

* * *

Jeff Kent has gotten financing! Rich Lederer of Baseball Analysts e-mailed this San Antonio Business Journal report that "Kent Powersports LP, a local motorcycle dealership owned by Major League Baseball star Jeff Kent, received $6.3 million in financing to expand its two locations in San Antonio."

The dealership groups owns Yamaha of San Antonio, the largest-volume selling Yamaha dealership in Texas, and 35 North Honda in New Braunfels, which sells motorcycles, ATVs, scooters and watercraft. ...

"This deal allows us to take advantage of a growing market," says Kent, who plays second base for the Los Angeles Dodgers. "The funding from GE Commercial Finance, Franchise Finance is helping us grow our business."

Such a clean, simple story - and yet I'm sure there's a punch line in there, somewhere ...

* * *

The Fox finale of Arrested Development airs opposite the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies tonight.

* * *

Maybe I read Tristram Shandy too young. But with the improbable movie version being released in Los Angeles today - and inspiring a "giddy crush" from Carina Chocano of the Times - here is a trip back to some Dodger/Shandy Thoughts from March 2004 - "The Tristram Shandy Nightmare."

I was about a 3.5 student in my four years in college. That number would have been higher if not for 18th-Century Victorian Literature. (2006 note: I later found I remembered the name of the class wrong, but no matter.)

That class was to me what the 2004 season is about to be to the Dodgers.

You understand this intuitively, but we might as state it for the record. The Dodgers are living the nightmare: arriving woefully unprepared for their final exam, desperate for a burst of divine energy. Or at least an easy test.

I lived that nightmare once, just a few months after the Dodgers' last World Series title.

I declared English as my major early in my sophomore year, but by the end I switched to American Studies. I switched because although there were some classes in English that I completely adored, there were others that offered me no love. The trigger was a class on literary theory, taught by Shirley Brice Heath, that at the time held less interest to me than 10 weeks of traffic school.

American Studies was a flexible major that fit in basically any subject at the university as long as America was somewhere in the title. "Sport in American Life" was one of them, and in fact, I never took a class I didn't like in that major. But afraid of becoming too culturally ethnocentric, I would continue to venture outside the box for electives. Which led me, in my senior year, to 18th-Century Victorian Literature.

More than 15 years have passed, but my memories of the class are these: 1) one boring 800-page book after another like Tom Jones, of which I would read about 100 pages before giving up, 2) my least favorite book of all time, Tristram Shandy, which I did manage to finish because it was so mesmerizingly dreadful, and 3) resignation and defeat as I would do the Stanford Daily crossword puzzle in class while my well-intentioned professor lectured, on those days that I could force myself to attend.

To translate this into relevancy, my 18th-Century Victorian Literature classroom experience was as satisfying as the 2003-04 Dodger offseason.

Finals approached, and I had holes in my knowledge of 18th-Century Victorian Literature as gaping as the Dodgers' offensive holes at first base, second base, shortstop, and if Adrian Beltre doesn't heal on schedule, third base. I went over my meager notes and borrowed those of classmates, but little penetrated. My brain wanted Vladimir Guerrero, but all it got was Olmedo Saenz.

I sat down in a classroom on a March day not unlike today, and hoped for the best.

The exam had two parts. Part 1, worth 50 percent of the test, was a list of short excerpts from the texts we (were supposed to have) read, excerpts you had to identify and contextualize. I only recognized half of them, and gave answers of dubious worth to the rest.

That meant I had about a 15 or 20 out of 50 going into the second half of the exam, the essay. If I scored perfectly on that section, I might reach a 70, or about a C-.

I saw the essay question, and I knew that wasn't going to happen.

At that time, Stanford did not give students Fs. Rather, if you didn't earn at least a C- in the class, you simply got no credit - no units. It was as if you didn't take the class at all. Many people, with grade-point averages and grad-school applications on their minds, actually preferred getting no credit than getting a C- or a C+ or whatever, and would drop a class during the final exam by not turning it in (or by turning in a piece of paper that said, "I drop this class.").

Much of my time writing my essay that day was spent deliberating whether I should turn in my test or not. I had about a B in the class going into the final, so even if I flunked the exam, I probably had a good-enough flunk - an F+, so to speak - to earn a C- for the quarter. Did I want that on my otherwise A-/B+ record?

The Dodgers don't have this choice. The Dodgers have a 2004 season ahead of them, and as much as some might like them to, they can't just drop the class. They're going to have to live with their failure to prepare, a failure born partly of nature and partly of nurture, and just hope for the best. Hope that the season isn't as hard as it looks, hope that it somehow caters to their strengths, hope that they aren't as unprepared as they seem, hope that they can suddenly grow smarter in the final moments.

And ultimately, learn from it all and do better next time.

I didn't drop 18th-Century Victorian Literature. I turned in my exam. Even in the doomed reality of the moment, I wanted the record to show that I took the class. I didn't go through all that tedium and low self-esteem to end up with no testimony of it. Better to finish poorly than not finish at all.

D on the final, C+ in the class.

Postscript: Three years later, I found myself in a graduate school program - in English. And I found myself taking literary theory. And I found on the syllabus a book written by a most vaguely familiar name. Shirley Brice Heath. I looked at her bio, and she had taught at Stanford. And then it clicked. Ah, we meet again, my enemy.

Actually, I don't want to give the wrong impression: She was a very nice person and certainly worlds smarter than me. But it was amusing, as her book was lionized in grad school class discussions, for me to chirp up and say, "Shirley Brice Heath was the reason I abandoned English as a major."

No regrets. You don't have to follow the conventional path to be happy. But your alternative had better be good. I do hope that Paul DePodesta finds the path away from the A's rewarding, and that he doesn't regret switching majors.

Update: Rickey Henderson will be a special instructor for the Mets during part of Spring Training, according to MLB.com, but still hasn't committed to ending his own playing career.

Henderson, now 47 and less than 2 1/2 years removed from his last Major League appearance, still isn't ready to retire. But he said Thursday he has reached a point where he wants to "give back to the game" and "help the young kids."

"I felt I have a lot to give back," he said. But he also said he is in good shape and "willing to do that" if some club asks him to audition.

Comments (180)
Show/Hide Comments 1-50
2006-02-10 09:07:23
1.   Ken Arneson
I am in 100% total agreement with your distaste for Victorian literature. Can't stand any of it.
2006-02-10 09:13:21
2.   Steve Saxs Sweaty Jockstrap
Gagne added a cutter to his plethora of pitches? Wow!
2006-02-10 09:36:30
3.   Doug N
What a fantastic coincidence! I've been trying to find the most inane argument for buying a motorcycle that I can think of in an attempt to so thoroughly bore my wife with it, that she will simply cave and let me get one. Now I can tell her that right down the road (im in Austin, TX) is a bike shop owned by Kent, AND if I buy one from him I'm really investing in the Dodgers because Kent won't need so much money from the team and they can spend it elsewhere.

Which part is more ridiculous? Kent taking less pay because the bike business is so good, or my wife EVER letting me buy a motorcycle?

2006-02-10 09:41:30
4.   D4P
I began college as an English major thinking that I wanted to eventually be an English professor. Part way throught my junior year, having taken a few economics classes, I realized

1. That econ classes were significantly easier than English classes (i.e. assignments comprised of workable problems vs. tons of reading and writing), and
2. That I had always (without knowing it) thought like an economist, and that economics was my "true" calling, and
3. That I wanted to be an econ professor.

So, I officially dropped my English major and became an econ major with a minor in political science. After about 2 days' worth of econ and poli sci classes, I realized that I wasn't prepared for the level of econ classes I had signed up for and officially dropped the poli sci minor, re-added the English major, and became an English and econ major. By that time, my schedule was pretty messed up, and I ended up taking 4 English classes that semester (which, BTW, I don't recommend). I calculated my average workload at 200 pages of reading a day and 2 papers to write per week.

2006-02-10 09:41:37
5.   fanerman
I can't watch the finale of Arrested Development because I haven't seen a single season 3 episode. By the time I saw seasons 1 and 2, it was near the end of the season already. I guess I'll just have to wait for the season 3 DVD.
2006-02-10 09:43:00
6.   fanerman
Are there only 10 episodes in season 3?
2006-02-10 09:47:03
7.   D4P
6
There are 4 episodes on tonight, from 8:00 to 10:00. I think that makes a total of 13 episodes...
2006-02-10 09:48:49
8.   Jon Weisman
6 - Well, tonight's finale is two hours, so that's really the equivalent of four episodes.

4 - So how does the story end? Are you an econ professor, or are you in your eighth year of undergraduate study?

2006-02-10 09:55:55
9.   T Money
Jon -

The "Tristram Shandy" novel was really that bad, huh? I was thinking about reading it but I haven't... Because, you know, I'm lazy.

I did, however, see the movie, and enjoyed it enormously. But A.) it's not for all tastes, and B.) it seems to have very little to do with the novel that inspired it.

2006-02-10 09:56:12
10.   Marty
I loved Tom Jones the movie, but haven't read the book. My next book to read is Don Quixote. Not Victorian literature, but a heavy tome none the less. I don't know how I avoided it in my youth, but now I'm looking forward to reading it.
2006-02-10 09:57:21
11.   D4P
8
The story has yet to end. I got a masters in city planning, worked as a planner for a while, and am now getting a Ph.D. in city planning, with the intention of being a city planning professor. Hopefully (for my wife's sake) I don't change my mind again...actually, it's probably better for my own safety if I don't...
2006-02-10 09:57:56
12.   scareduck
The joke, of course, is peak oil production.
2006-02-10 10:01:07
13.   Bob Timmermann
I read the first half of "Don Quixote" about 10 years ago on a vacation in Spain (very cliched wasn't I?) I never read the second half. But I got the general idea.

I took no literature classes in college. I was a history major and sometimes had novels on the reading lists for classes, but you read them in a different way.

I was told by not one, but two different history professors at UCLA that I should not try graduate work in history because I didn't "have it" and I didn't write well enough. I still got my degree in history.

2006-02-10 10:03:47
14.   Jon Weisman
10 - Quixote was cool. Went through that freshman year.

9 - Like I (sort of) said, it would be interesting for me to revisit the novel 17 years later and see if I had the same reaction.

2006-02-10 10:04:29
15.   D4P
I was a history major and sometimes had novels on the reading lists for classes, but you read them in a different way.

Upside down? Under water? With your eyes closed?

2006-02-10 10:16:14
16.   Bob Timmermann
In a history class, you don't have to read the novel to figure out the subtext and all that other stuff. You just try to fit the major theme of the novel into its era.

Hence, you read "The Grapes of Wrath" during a class on 20th Century U.S. history, it's not a big stretch to figure out how it works.

You read "The Big Sleep" and you can slot it into its place in L.A. history.

2006-02-10 10:20:34
17.   Andrew Shimmin
The closest I ever came to reading Tom Jones was Yellow Dog, which referred to it. Bad things happen to people who read Henry Fielding. . .
2006-02-10 10:22:07
18.   Marty
Ahh, The Big Sleep. Crime/mystery is my favorite genre. I love Chandler, Hammet, Elroy, Cain and often re-read their stuff. In fact, right now I'm re-visiting Elroy's "The Big Nowhere".
2006-02-10 10:23:11
19.   alexx
Jeff Kent is throwing out the first pitch at the Cal game this afternoon against Long Beach State. Woo hoo, I'll be there... I hope he rides on to the field on a motorcycle.
2006-02-10 10:24:43
20.   D4P
Woo hoo, I'll be there... I hope he rides on to the field on a motorcycle.

...and crashes. Oh, sorry, was that out loud?

2006-02-10 10:26:46
21.   Cones88
Was that Cal stomping on Stanford last night? I love to see Chris Hernandez blow the game. Go Bears!
2006-02-10 10:27:31
22.   alexx
I would feel bad if he crashes on Jeff Kent Appreciation Day. Yes, Jeff Kent Appreciation Day.
2006-02-10 10:33:21
23.   fanerman
Go Bears!
2006-02-10 10:33:40
24.   D4P
Jeff Kent Appreciation Day

Ugh.

2006-02-10 10:37:48
25.   Bob Timmermann
Evans Diamond at Berkeley faces the wrong way for a baseball diamond. The batters usually hae to look into the sun toward the end of day games.
2006-02-10 10:40:31
26.   Penarol1916
13. Don Quixote is one of my favorite books, I read it one summer in college when I decided that I should spend the time I wasn't working or drinking reading authors I'd never read before. The second half of the book is much better than the first because it is in a world where the first half of Don Quixote has been read by all of the characters in the book and there is a sequel out that consists of things that Don Quixote didn't do, thus making him really mad. It's a very cool early attempt at post-modernism, when modernism hadn't even occurred.
2006-02-10 10:43:41
27.   Jon Weisman
21 - Stomping? A three-point victory at home, barely managing to even the season series, ending a long losing streak to the Cardinal? Okay ...

But Leon Powe was pretty awesome.

2006-02-10 10:46:48
28.   Disabled List
18 James Ellroy is fantastic; any aficionado of L.A. lore would love his work. "American Tabloid" (although not really part of his L.A. niche) is probably my all-time favorite novel.

And of course, Raymond Chandler is without peer. The famous opening paragraph of "Red Wind":

There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen.

I'll put that up against 18th Century Victorian literature any day of the week.

2006-02-10 10:46:50
29.   Bob Timmermann
Sheesh, everybody knows the game of the night in the Pac-10 took place in Pullman. That whole game was one long adrenaline rush.

I was spent at the end of it. Especially after Wazzu had scored 2 points 9 minutes into the game.

2006-02-10 10:48:35
30.   Bob Timmermann
28

I know when the Santa Anas kick in, I usually knife 3-5 people per day.

2006-02-10 10:50:34
31.   Jon Weisman
30 - LOL

28 - It was amazing how hard it was to convince people in grad school the value of novelists who were born after James Joyce.

2006-02-10 10:53:15
32.   Bob Timmermann
I used to go out with a Chaucer expert. In fact, she's a tenured professor in the literature of that era now. But she read just about anything and liked baseball a lot.

I want to know how you can read 18th Century Victorian literature.

2006-02-10 10:55:38
33.   D4P
A good friend of mine is getting his Ph.D. at Duke and is studying 18th Century Victorian literature.
2006-02-10 10:56:30
34.   Marty
Hammett is the King. I love "Red Harvest". That book was the inspiration for Kurasawa's "Yojimbo", which was re-made as "Fistful of Dollars". Both are on my favorite movies list. "Last Man Standing" was another re-make of Yojimbo, but that one didn't turn out so well.
2006-02-10 10:56:54
35.   Jon Weisman
32 - Yeah, smart guy, that was the error in the course title that was pointed out the first time I ran this piece.
2006-02-10 10:58:42
36.   D4P
33
Check that: 18th Century literature, minus the Victorian.
2006-02-10 11:06:59
37.   Bob Timmermann
My apologies to one and all. I'm trained not to read stuff that appears in shaded boxes.

I briefly watched some of the Today show and they were interviewing one of the planners of the Olympic ceremonies tonight. The man, who was right out of Central Casting for a European artist, said, "We will be showing how Torino is the center of fashion in the world today."

I am so glad I won't be watching that. I picture weird fashions and maybe some dwarves and possibly a white horse. Along with the dynamic energy of Bob Costas and Brian Williams.

2006-02-10 11:09:24
38.   D4P
My wife wants to watch the opening ceremony. I hate that kinda stuff. We'll be recording Arrested and watching it later.
2006-02-10 11:23:07
39.   Bob Timmermann
38

We could work on hypnotizing you so think you are a chicken during the whole thing.

Ca-ca-ca! Ca-ca-ca!

2006-02-10 11:23:55
40.   Jon Weisman
I have sentimental ties to the Opening Ceremony from working for NBC's research room in Barcelona in '92.

Among other things, we had to call every country's mission to get biographical information about their flagbearer. One of us actually chose the flagbearer for Namibia because they hadn't gotten around to naming one yet - Frankie Fredericks.

My personal favorite moments were 1) finding out which country had traveled the longest to get to Barcelona (I want to say it was the Ivory Coast, but I'm not 100 percent sure of the memory), 2) calling Williamsport, PA from Barcelona to find out how many international Little League World Series veterans were in the '92 Olympics, 3) stumbling with my dormant high school and college French to talk to some countries, and 4) being able to shout out, "I've got Iran on Line 1."

2006-02-10 11:26:17
41.   D4P
39
Ca-ca-ca! Ca-ca-ca!

That's not even a bird

2006-02-10 11:30:16
42.   Bob Timmermann
If Ivory Coast (or Cote d'Ivoire) had the longest trip to Barcelona of any country, they certainly took the long way around.

I would think it would have to be a country like New Zealand or some other country out in the Pacific.

But I don't know what sort of connecting flights you have to take from Yamoussoukro to get to Barcelona.

2006-02-10 11:38:14
43.   Jon Weisman
Yeah, I know it doesn't sound right. My memory clearly just isn't what it used to be. The Ivory Coast might have been one of the countries I struggled to speak French with.
2006-02-10 11:42:11
44.   alexx
32: Does that Chaucer expert now teach at Cal...? I took a great Chaucer class from an interesting professor.
2006-02-10 11:46:41
45.   Bob Timmermann
44
No she teaches at a college in the Midwest. I won't say which one since it's small and you could pick her out pretty easy among the faculty.

43
1992 was around the time Ivory Coast was trying to get everyone to call them Cote D'Ivoire. It seemed to work for a while, but the whole English-speaking world has started backsliding into Ivory Coast.

2006-02-10 11:49:19
46.   Linkmeister
43 I'm with Bob. I'd guess Tonga or Western Samoa.

Whatever, it's a long flight. I once survived a non-stop from London to LA (13 hours), and I think I needed a six-pack after I got off the plane just to let my tongue know it was still functional.

2006-02-10 11:56:17
47.   fimple
34- Any Hammett favorites besides Red Harvest? have read every Chandler & Ellroy novel/short story, so need to find a new outlet....thanks. Also thanks to all participants in Literary Thoughts, it's making this horrible time between SB and ST pass more quickly.
2006-02-10 12:07:15
48.   Sam DC
Anyone who likes (i)historical fiction,(ii) mystery/thriller/police procedurals, or (iii) smart but escapist writing should read River of Darkness by Rennie Airth, a brilliant story about a Scotland Yard detective working a shocking murder in the English countryside in the years just following The Great War. just read it and, obviously, loved it.
2006-02-10 12:34:14
49.   Bob Timmermann
Nods knowingly.
2006-02-10 12:34:51
50.   bhsportsguy
10-14 - my ninth grade world history teacher at Emerson Jr. High (not middle school), gave an assignment where I ended up reading don quixote, giving an oral report and then answering questions in Spanish. I always remember that, I think his last name was something like Force.
Show/Hide Comments 51-100
2006-02-10 12:37:27
51.   Linkmeister
There's a new translation of Quixote which has gotten raves from the usual suspects. Don't ask me who did the translation, though; look for 2004 or 2005 pub. dates.
2006-02-10 13:09:23
52.   Penarol1916
51. The only Spanish translator I like is the guy who does Marquez's translations, it reads exactly like the Spanish. My mother probably won't like that since she used to translate for Isabel Allende.
2006-02-10 13:26:24
53.   Benaiah
Great story Jon. I am a senior at Duke and now that I am in that period of reflection at the end of college I am constantly wondering why I am majoring in Philosophy. The only answer I can come up with is that I never took any Philosophy classes I hated so I stuck with it. If I knew what I know now freshman year I am sure that I would have been a Lit major or visual arts or something. I wonder if in five years Frank McCourt will be racking his brain to figure out why he chose to get rid of Paul Depodesta in favor of Ned Colletti. I hope not, but it is certainly possible.
2006-02-10 13:34:34
54.   Linkmeister
52 This edition of Quixote was published in 2003, and the translator was Edith Grossman, who has also translated GG Marquez.

http://tinyurl.com/dqdq9

I'm not entirely sure that's the one I was thinking of earlier.

2006-02-10 13:39:06
55.   Humma Kavula
Jon, in working at the Olympics, did you ever work with a guy named Andy Gluck? I think he worked in research...

Ex-boss of mine from Boston.

2006-02-10 13:43:41
56.   GoBears
21, 23. ME!

That was typical CAL last night. They led the whole way, and squeaked it out, but it shouldn't have been that close. Thank goodness Powe pick last night to become a good free throw shooter.

2006-02-10 13:45:22
57.   Marty
Other Hammett recs:
The Maltese Falcon
The Thin Man
The Glass Key
2006-02-10 13:52:48
58.   KAYVMON
I just got done watching the opening ceremonies and the information they provide about the flagbearer is really random. Here, in Europe, the commentators seemed really shocked that India had a team in the Winter Olympics, having to explain the existence of the Himalyas, yet saw no need to explain futher why the Portugese had a prolific cross-country skier. The team that was really mind-boggling was Senegal, which had three members, one being a white blond young woman. The commentators did not explain that one either. If you are forced to suffer through it with your wife, know that you have the foxes on the Italian team to look forward to as they come out last.

I just finished reading "Cannery Row" which a friend of mine gave me as a way of saying, "dont forget about your California roots buddy." Im sure most of you well-read folk have read it, but the thing that struck me was how it gave me this feeling that I was reading a Hunter S. Thompson book, except not in the first person. I kept picturing Thomson reading it and saying to himself, "Damn, if I could make up stories as funny as this, throw in some truisms, and put it in the first person, I got myself a writing career."

2006-02-10 13:54:29
59.   blue22
I'm not nearly the literary that the rest of the group is apparently (though I had a very similar experience in college with a class on Herman Hesse - brutal stuff), so what I noticed from the passage was how pessimistic you were about the 2004 season.

Good things happen when your standards are low, I guess.

2006-02-10 14:08:53
60.   Vishal
[56] there is nothing worse than watching your team lose a game because they can't make free throws down the stretch.
2006-02-10 14:11:53
61.   Exile in Dodgerland
Queen Victoria's dates are 1819-1901. Thus, 18th Century Victorian Literature would seem to be a narrow field, somewhat akin to the study of Brahms' influence on the works of Haydn. But, then, Stanford is a well-endowed private university, and I suppose we should be grateful that as such it can afford to offer a course which would be economically impossible for a poorer state-chartered school to offer.
2006-02-10 14:18:47
62.   Marty
As Bob and D4P noted earlier, 18th Century Victorian Literature would seem to be a non-existant field since it was the 19th century (and 1 year of the 20th)
2006-02-10 14:21:36
63.   Bob Timmermann
With the Cal win over Stanford brought up a few times and the 18th century typo being brought up repeatedly, I think we are all guilty of piling on Jon here. We don't want him to pick up his blog and go home!
2006-02-10 14:29:40
64.   Jon Weisman
55 - Very much so. He was a good guy.

58 - I also read Cannery Row during a time away from California. I always thought the movie version of Cannery Row, with Nick Nolte and Debra Winger, was underrated.

59 - Yeah, a lot needed to fall into place. Remember, that was immediately after the missed Guerrero signing, among other things.

63 - Yeah!

2006-02-10 14:39:48
65.   Penarol1916
64. Wasn't there another version of Cannery Row made before that one? I seem to recall one on TV in black and white. That was a book I read when I first moved to Chicago and didn't know anyone in the city and just hung out reading books at Barnes & Noble every day after work.
2006-02-10 14:49:54
66.   Marty
That's the only version of Cannery Row I'm aware of. Tortilla Flat, a very similarly-toned Steinbeck book was made into a movie in the 40's.
2006-02-10 14:58:21
67.   fimple
57- Thanks. Had no idea Maltese Falcon was Hamett's. My ignorance is revealed.
2006-02-10 15:00:20
68.   GoBears
63 Well, as for last night's hoops, I'm sure there's no harm done. Can't exactly take it (or mean it) too personally when one says "the team that represents the university I graduated from 16+ years ago beat the team that plays for the university you graduated from at the same time!"

It just happened. Not like me to take any perverse joy in reminding Jon about it. Oh wait, maybe I just did. Aw, he'll never remember it was me, GoBears, who would say such a thing. Nah. No harm done, I'm sure.

As for Victoria's Secret, well, Jon was the one who brought it up and pointed it out, much to his credit. Now, I've never been mistaken about anything in my life of course, but if I had made such a goof, I doubt I'd be willing to remind people about it a couple of years later. Our kidding Jon about it is just a way of showing how pleased we are to know that our hero is human after all. Even if he did go to Stanford.

2006-02-10 15:03:16
69.   Jon Weisman
68 - Beautifully written. And of course, wasn't it me who said "Veronica's Secret" a couple of weeks ago?
2006-02-10 15:06:15
70.   gcrl
i love steinbeck's writing. and faulkner's too, although i don't always understand it.

when i graduated from college in '92 i decided to read "the classics", figuring that any book that has cliffs notes would be considered a classic. i don't know how many i have read in the past 14 or so years, but there are still quite a few on my list.

lately i have been reading several books within the same themes - "treasure island", "kidnapped", "moby dick", "billy budd" made up a recent nautical spurt. then i read some jane austen back to back and realized that "pride & prejudice" and "sense & sensibility" are really the same book. now i am just about done with "paradise lost", with dante's divine comedy waiting in the wings.

about the only non-fiction i have read in the last few years has been "moneyball" and "the best of dodger thoughts".

2006-02-10 15:10:29
71.   Marty
I liked Moby Dick. I got through about half of Robinson Crusoe and then just kinda dropped it. There are some gaping holes im my personal library. I've never read Faulkner, Austen, Conrad, jeez there's too many to list.
2006-02-10 15:17:46
72.   Jon Weisman
Austen, Faulkner, Steinbeck, Hemingway, Weisman. That's all I really ever wanted.

I like Faulkner, but my brother is insane about him. I don't think there's a work of Faulkner's that my brother hasn't read five times.

Back to living authors ... there was a debate about this a couple months ago, but Updike's "Rabbit, Run" is still my favorite modern novel. McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove" might be my favorite novel of the past 20 years.

2006-02-10 15:21:05
73.   Marty
Check out Wally Lamb "I know this much is true". He also did "She's come undone", but the former I thought was astounding.
2006-02-10 15:43:24
74.   Daniel Zappala
I've been on a Donald Westlake binge, and taking advantage of inter-library loans to read his stuff all the way back to the 60s. Fantastic writer. Using his real name, he is the king of witty dialogue and wry humor. Under his pen name of Richard stark he writes noir that is equally good.
2006-02-10 15:44:56
75.   Jon Weisman
A Rickey Henderson update above!
2006-02-10 15:46:33
76.   GoBears
72. Oh dear lord. I hate Faulkner with a fiery passion that exceeds even my disdain for the color red. Shuddddddderrrrrrrrr.

My junior honors English teacher in high school (23 years ago?) LOVED Faulkner and made us read every darn thing the guy ever wrote. Thank goodness there were no email or blogs back then, because we'd have had to read WF's cyberspace musings as well (and yes, I get the irony of saying so in this context, but then no one is assigned to read this). And here's the thing - as far as I could tell, Faulkner had exactly one theme that ran through every single thing he wrote. The Decline of the Old South. Yeah, I get it. I think that every one should read something by Faulkner, but I pity you if you read a lot of it. "Sound and Fury was particularly horrible." My favorite was "As I Lay Dying," because it was all the same stuff, but in a shorter, and much less self-indulgent, package. And his short stories, as is often the case, were better than his novels.

Now, Hemingway and Steinbeck? Yeah, dem's good stuff!

Jane Austen I've only come to know through the recent Hollywood obsession with remaking BBC versions of her books. And that can't possibly be a good thing from a critical perspective.

Melville was another guy for whom I could never understand the hype. Hawthorne, who wrote at the same time, was infinitely more interesting to me. Heck the first half of Moby Dick is half-plagiarized (so I'm told) from a whaling manual. Whether that's ethical or not, how interesting could it be?

But then literary criticism is like movie reviews - there's no accounting for taste.

2006-02-10 15:48:50
77.   outdoorminer
I was the person who called Jon (via private e-mail) on "18th Century Victorian Literature" the first time the piece ran, and I hope I did it in a polite way rather than a "neener neener" way. In that e-mail, I also stumped for Tom Jones, which is my favorite book, period. I know it's long but I can't imagine being bored with it for a second. It's incredibly funny, the pace rarely slacks, and the mix of humor/raunch/travel pretty much defines "rollicking." For shorter attention spans, the Tony Richardson movie of it captures the book perfectly. It has to leave out a lot of stuff because, well, it's a movie of a very long book, but everything that's in the movie is from the book and perfectly realized. Plus the hygiene in the movie is absolutely squalid, a wonderful touch that period films set in pre-Edwardian times often lack. Anyway, this has been your DT commercial for Tom Jones specifically, and for the English 18th Century novel generally.
2006-02-10 15:49:15
78.   Andrew Shimmin
Now that Saul Bellow is dead, my favorite (it took every bit of self-restraint I have not to write, 'the best') living writer is Martin Amis. Ian McEwan is pretty great, too. If you never take my advice again (probably a good idea) read Amis's Money.
2006-02-10 15:53:04
79.   Marty
Those young Met kids need to PAY RICKEY!
2006-02-10 15:54:12
80.   Jon Weisman
77 - No, I appreciated the correction - and your Tom Jones defense is always welcome.
2006-02-10 16:02:31
81.   Linkmeister
76 We read "As I Lay Dying" my junior year of high school. Once I got to the chapter that reads, in its entirety, "My mother is a fish," I gave up on the author.

I understand allegory better now than I did then, but I've always felt that Mr. Faulkner had enough fans and he or his shade wouldn't miss me.

2006-02-10 16:02:42
82.   gvette
Is this the first interview that Rickey hasn't referred to himself in the third person?

No discussion of LA Noir fiction is complete without mention of Walter Mosley. Hopefully, the real life Pellicano case has the potential to be as wild as anything that Ellroy concocted in his books.

What's the big deal about Tom Jones. Sure he's getting up there, but I saw him in Vegas last year and the ladies still throw their underwear!

2006-02-10 16:07:37
83.   GoBears
81 Ha! Good stuff.
2006-02-10 16:13:03
84.   Jon Weisman
I'm sorry to say I read "Devil in a Blue Dress," thought it was readable but thoroughly mediocre, and never picked up anything else of Mosley's.
2006-02-10 16:15:23
85.   Marty
I shamefully forgot about Mosely. He is very good. I've read his first six novels I thinkm, but haven't gotten to any of his more recent stuff.

I'll be in Vegas this weekend. I'm going to put a small bet on the Dodgers to win division/LCS/WS. I should get good odds.

2006-02-10 16:20:07
86.   gvette
Jon, like anything else it depends on your point of view.

After all, the works that are hailed as Raymond Chandler's greatest started out as "pulp fiction", including the memorable passage from Red Wind cited in comment 28.

Besides the movie version of "Devil in a Blue Dress" helped unleash the formidable talents of a young Don Cheadle on the cinematic world, so it DID serve a purpose.

2006-02-10 16:24:41
87.   Marty
Don Cheadle was terrific as Mouse in that movie.
2006-02-10 16:28:44
88.   Linkmeister
Most of the great SF of the 20th century started out in the pulps; nothin' wrong with that. I once got a gift that was a collection of noir detective stories, most of them from the 1930s/1940s.

http://tinyurl.com/e23jh

2006-02-10 16:28:50
89.   overkill94
Man, this thread is tied with "politics thoughts" for topics that I have absolutely no interest in. I became an engineer so that I could avoid reading books, but noooo, you guys had to slip it into a baseball discussion and run with it :)
2006-02-10 16:31:00
90.   Jon Weisman
The distinguished "Picket Fences" lawyer himself.
2006-02-10 16:35:14
91.   King of the Hobos
I'm going to have to agree with overkill94.

As for baseball, Beltran Perez has signed with the Nationals.

2006-02-10 16:36:10
92.   Linkmeister
89 Where's that discussion of "best baseball books" in the archives? ;)
2006-02-10 16:39:54
93.   Steve
As for baseball, Beltran Perez has signed with the Nationals.

Speaking of topics nobody has any interest in...unless it's Jim Bowden being tarred and feathered.

2006-02-10 16:43:23
94.   screwballin
Has anyone else read any Richard Russo? I went on a binge a summer ago and read most of his stuff. Nobody's Fool, Straight Man and Empire Falls are all well worth the time, and you really can't go wrong with anything he's done (including the movie "The Ice Harvest," which he screenwrote.)
2006-02-10 17:30:25
95.   bhsportsguy
The Horror:
I know no one can compare to Eric Milton going to the Reds, but aside from the Angels, ESPN Insider has the Reds as Jeff Weaver's next likely destination.
2006-02-10 17:32:35
96.   ToyCannon
"Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo is the book that still stands out for me as having the most effect on my life.
Kurt Vonnegut "Slaughterhouse Five"
Robert Heinlien "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Isacc Asimov "Foundation Series"

are some of my favorite books. Easy reading.

2006-02-10 17:41:25
97.   Andrew Shimmin
If the Red's get Weaver, then the Dodgers get a second round pick, for him, instead of a first, right? But they still get the first round supplemental?
2006-02-10 17:47:53
98.   bhsportsguy
97-Such mercenaries on this site, all players are fodder for draft picks.
2006-02-10 17:56:58
99.   Andrew Shimmin
98- At this point, what other interest should any of us take in Weaver?
2006-02-10 17:57:55
100.   Jon Weisman
96 - "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo - that was something. Did you read "All Quiet on the Western Front," "The Naked and the Dead" or "From Here to Eternity"?
Show/Hide Comments 101-150
2006-02-10 18:02:56
101.   Vishal
the foundation series is bloody brilliant.
2006-02-10 18:15:31
102.   ToyCannon
100
No, I have all 3 in my bookshelf but everytime I pull them out to read something in me puts them back, and there they sit.

101
Asimov was one of a kind. Bet he was a huge sabermetric fan.

2006-02-10 18:44:49
103.   LAT
You guys need this site.

http://tinyurl.com/3m757

2006-02-10 19:20:42
104.   grandcosmo
74. Good call on the Richard Stark books. I discovered him last summer and read about 10 of the Parker books. Almost all in one sitting.
2006-02-10 19:57:46
105.   Steve
My first weekend of college, we had a bunch of breakout sessions designed to blah blah blah, whatever. So in one of them, I was sitting with 15 other people and the professor leading it asked us each what author had had the most effect on us as a youth. The room was full of readers of Victorian Literature -- books I hadn't heard of and authors I hadn't wanted to hear of.

I said P.J. O'Rourke.

2006-02-10 19:58:01
106.   FirstMohican
"I became an engineer so that I could avoid reading books"

I'm an engineer and I love books, just a different kind than others here I'd assume. I don't care that every single Philip K Dick book is basically the same, I'll read 'em all.

2006-02-10 20:13:05
107.   D4P
105
Was Jack Handy your second choice?
2006-02-10 20:25:40
108.   trainwreck
Any update on Arrested Development to Showtime?
2006-02-10 20:32:11
109.   Steve
107 -- Mickey Hatcher.
2006-02-10 20:34:05
110.   Steve
108 -- It is my understanding that AD is moving to Showtime, but that the show has not been officially cancelled yet.
2006-02-10 20:38:01
111.   D4P
Good article on AD's future (or lack thereof...)

http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Kristin/Archive2006/060210.html#

2006-02-10 20:49:52
112.   Steve
People like David Cross and Will Arnett may want to move on too, though hopefully with somewhat more class than Bengie Molina.
2006-02-10 20:53:34
113.   D4P
I kinda have mixed emotions. It has been a great 2.5 seasons, and I'd like to see it continue. But part of me thinks it won't be as good as it has been, and that it might be a good time to call it quits and preserve the perfection.
2006-02-10 21:17:08
114.   Xeifrank
Depo's Dodgers have opened up a two game lead on Arizona.
NL West Standings
Standings
Team W L GB Streak
PD Dodgers 23 13 _ Won 1
DBacks 21 15 2 Won 1
Giants 18 18 5 Lost 2
NC Dodgers 18 18 5 Won 2
Padres 15 21 8 Lost 1
Rockies 13 23 10 Won 1

PD Dodgers vs Rockies
Pitching Matchup Results
O.Perez vs B.Kim PD Dodgers win 5-3
Game summary: J.Cruz had a single and three doubles, and H.Choi pitched in with a single and two walks. .

D.Houlton vs S.Kim Rockies win 4-3, 12inn.
Game summary: G.Atkins hit a HR and drove in all four Rockies runs. .

B.Penny vs J.Jennings PD Dodgers win 2-1
Game summary: The Dodgers outhit the Rockies 5-4. M.Bradley hit a solo HR in the first inning and J.Drew had two hits.

2006-02-10 21:42:08
115.   Andrew Shimmin
105- I would never have passed high school Econ if it weren't for Eat the Rich. Well, if I'd gone to class, or read the text, I might have passed it anyway. I liked my way better, though.

The Enemies List, though, was crap. It's a funny idea, but not for a book. TEL is the middle reliever of his collected works.

2006-02-10 21:46:44
116.   Andrew Shimmin
Since I haven't caught on to AD, yet, and since I'd rather watch my toe nails become ingrown than the Olympic opening ceremonies, I'm watching back episodes of the Sopranos. The one about the intervention for Chris is maybe the best tv show I've ever seen.
2006-02-10 21:57:05
117.   D4P
Flanders still wearing his San Francisco ring...?

http://tinyurl.com/bk3lx

2006-02-10 22:09:15
118.   blue22
maybe a movie... :)
2006-02-10 23:14:45
119.   Steve
Hmmm...it's a good idea...for a....blog...
2006-02-11 00:03:07
120.   Andrew Shimmin
119- Interesting. In the right hands, I suppose, it really could work out well. But the blogger would have to really hate lots and lots of people. Every day a new enemy? Normal people would run out after a week or two. No, it'd have to be run by a real rage-aholic. Can't think of anybody like that. . .
2006-02-11 00:16:12
121.   Sam DC
have listed this in the comments a couple of times, but here are the baseball books named by Dodger Thoughts readers a while back:

Baseball books recommended or mentioned by Dodger Thoughts readers (April 21, 2005)
note -- some of these were liked, some were loathed, search the April 21 game thread for more info

Voices of the Game
Moneyball
Boys of Summer
I Never Had it Made
Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy
Baseball Before We Knew It
National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer
Game Time
The Last Great Season
Rampersand's Jackie Robinson: A Biography
A Whole Different Ball Game
Stolen Season
Willie's Time (warning Giants-related)
Nice Guys Finish Last
Bums
Nine Innings
The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract
The Great American Novel
The Natural
True Blue
The Glory of Their Times
My 30 Years in Dodger Blue
Prophet of the Sandlots (spoiler alert -- if you read the thread on this there's a surprise ending giveaway)

2006-02-11 07:40:17
122.   Vishal
i'll toss in a recommendation for andrew zimbalist's "may the best team win: baseball economics and public policy" if anyone is interested in issues like stadium financing, the antitrust exemption, the luxury tax, league parity, profitability, player salaries, etc...
2006-02-11 07:54:42
123.   screwballin
"Ball Four" isn't on there? In my mind, that has to be near the top of any such list.
2006-02-11 08:33:25
124.   dagwich
Mysteries are a big thing in my house, often consumed via tape or CD. Some of the favorite writers include:
Walter Mosely (both Easy Rawlins and Fearless Jones series)
Neveda Barr (each murder in a different natioal park)
John Strayley (sp?)-- morbid hard boiled Alaskan PI
Carl Hiassen--funny S. Florida stuff. Really funny.
Neil Gaiman --fantasy writer but has a couple of great murder stories ("American Gods")
featuring some supernatural characters.
John Burdett - Featuring half Thai, half American detective, in Bangkok.

There are others but those are some writers we look for.

My favorite serious writers are probably Phillip Roth and Graham Greene.

2006-02-11 09:55:59
125.   Andrew Shimmin
I was pretty young when I read it, so it's possible that it isn't as good as I remember its being, but Bob Uecker's autobiography, Catcher in the Rye (lame name, but some good books have bad titles), was really funny. Sort of a Grabowksi's-eye view of the game. Maybe I can dig it out of one of my boxes and give it another look.
2006-02-11 10:01:48
126.   Bob Timmermann
Mr. Shimmin, I represent the intellectual property interests of J.D. Salinger and I want you to cease and desist calling the work of one Mr. Bob Uecker "Catcher in the Rye". That title is closely identified with my client.

Mr. Uecker's book was titled "Catcher in the Wry."

My client WILL NOT be seeing you in court.

Thank you,
Lionel G. Hutz

2006-02-11 10:05:31
127.   Andrew Shimmin
126- So that's why I couldn't get Amazon to admit that the book exists. Thanks Lionel.
2006-02-11 10:45:24
128.   Bob Timmermann
I would hate to have Uecker's book banned from schools and libraries because of its title.

"The Chocolate War" won the American Library Association crown in 2004 for "Most Frequently Challenged Book" with 547 libraries facing objections to it.

Of the top ten on the list, I have read a grand total of zero:
http://tinyurl.com/cyhts

Although "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" shows up on this a lot, but it didn't make it in 2004.

The 2005 list should be out soon.

2006-02-11 10:50:45
129.   D4P
I read "The Chocolate War" in 8th grade (on my own, not in a class). I remember thinking it was a great book.
2006-02-11 10:54:32
130.   Steve
10% of the list

http://firegradylittle.blogspot.com/2006/02/enemies-list.html

2006-02-11 10:59:08
131.   D4P
130
Sweet. I just bookmarked your blog. Will you be updating it periodically?

PS: Does being an "enemy" also mean being "dead to me"?

2006-02-11 11:26:12
132.   Steve
An homage to Andrew's least favorite P.J. O'Rourke book. This will be a discrete, list-building project, and temporary. I'm retired, but I can't let that get in the way of a good (or bad) idea.
2006-02-11 11:26:44
133.   Bob Timmermann
Steve's enemies list and my "Dead to Me" list both have Jim Bowden near the top.

But Steve's list is Nixonian in length!

2006-02-11 11:30:36
134.   D4P
I'm retired

The Sandy Koufax kind or the Celine Dion kind?

2006-02-11 12:17:03
135.   Linkmeister
Or the Mario Lemiueux kind?
2006-02-11 12:39:47
136.   Vishal
seem like the ricky williams kind, if you ask me.
2006-02-11 12:54:57
137.   Andrew Shimmin
So the whole bar exam thing was just an euphemism for pot smoking? I had a hunch.
2006-02-11 14:17:05
138.   Steve
The Walter Cronkite kind, maybe.
2006-02-11 14:53:23
139.   Bob Timmermann
So Steve is dating one of Carly Simon's sisters?
2006-02-11 14:57:33
140.   Sam DC
Nats sell good guy and fan favorite Jamey Carroll to the Rockies for $300K.

That's all Bowden could get for a serviceable (OK, sorta somewhat serviceable) major league ballplayer?

2006-02-11 14:59:25
141.   Bob Timmermann
140
I'd put that on the Griddle, but the two people here would care about that are:
1) the person who wrote 140
2) Bad Altitude

Why is Washington the only team making transactions now?

2006-02-11 14:59:34
142.   Sam DC
Just commented on the Rockies blog that I suppose this might have been a gesture to Carroll to get him somewhere he could get some pt.
2006-02-11 15:01:36
143.   Sam DC
Steve cares. He is secretly intrigued by the Nationals and enjoys making fun of Jamey Carroll.
2006-02-11 15:07:41
144.   Bob Timmermann
We have still not achieved the critical mass needed for a Jamey Carroll post. He's not nearly as important as pennant races in Guam.
2006-02-11 15:12:54
145.   Sam DC
Well, no argument there.

Looks like Rob Neyer has an Insider piece up on the Dodgers' farm.

Unfortunately, I'm an Outsider.

2006-02-11 15:13:36
146.   Bob Timmermann
Some of us have powers beyond mere mortals.

Basically, he thinks most of the good players are still a year away.

2006-02-11 15:14:21
147.   D4P
Outsider >>> Insider + Registration fee
2006-02-11 15:15:15
148.   D4P
Basically, he thinks most of the good players are still a year away.

My case is rested.

2006-02-11 15:30:07
149.   Sam DC
just one last Bowden vent then off to dinner. Nats placed 25 yr old, had a couple of OK appearances last year, starter/long reliever on waivers this week and lost him to the Yankees. Ridiculous, the team has 40 infielders (including at the time Jamey Carroll) and a huge shortage of pitchers. Why you wouldn't bring a guy like that to spring training and see if he can give you anything is just beyond me.
2006-02-11 15:31:46
150.   LAT
Wow, I was sure I would have made the list under the guise of "Shawn green Supporters"
Show/Hide Comments 151-200
2006-02-11 15:32:12
151.   Sam DC
just one last Bowden vent then off to dinner. Nats placed 25 yr old, had a couple of OK appearances last year, starter/long reliever Darrell Rasner on waivers this week and lost him to the Yankees. Ridiculous, the team has 40 infielders (including at the time Jamey Carroll) and a huge shortage of pitchers. Why you wouldn't bring a guy like that to spring training and see if he can give you anything is just beyond me.

As I recall, the guy was a September callup last year and was jerked around awfully by Robinson.

2006-02-11 15:32:51
152.   Sam DC
I have no idea about that mid-edit double comment happened. Sorry.
2006-02-11 17:13:14
153.   natepurcell
since i was really bored, i went through billingsleys game logs to see how much he turned in the second half. and well, i was correct, he turned it on very much. these are his stats from begining of june til the end of the season; not including the playoffs where he and broxton combined for a no hitter.

IP 89.1
ERA 2.73
h9 5.86
k9 10.40
hr9 0.51
w9 3.13
whip 1.00
k:bb 3.32

2006-02-11 17:21:16
154.   D4P
153
I'm no expert, but isn't it common for the better hitters to have been called up to higher levels by the second half of the season? It'd be interesting to know if Billingsley was facing the same hitters in the 2nd half of the season that he faced in the 1st, or if many of the better hitters were gone.
2006-02-11 17:46:43
155.   overkill94
147 Insider + friend's account info >>> outsider

Not that I advocate that kind of thing

2006-02-11 18:27:12
156.   King of the Hobos
154 Wouldn't that also mean the best hitters from A ball are coming to AA? They may not be nearly as refined as the best AA hitters, but they're likely pretty good. So it's not like the really good hitters are being replaced with AA Neifis
2006-02-11 19:14:53
157.   Bob Timmermann
Ooh, Stanford-Gonzaga is getting Brad Nessler-Dick Vitale treatment.

I didn't think Vitale ever went west of the Appalachians.

2006-02-11 19:21:42
158.   Andrew Shimmin
157- . . . and we liked it that way.
2006-02-11 19:28:40
159.   Andrew Shimmin
Every time I read anything about Bowden, I rethink my policy of giving the McCourts no credit for not signing him. I'm not sold on Colletti, but, really, avoiding Bowden is worth something. Big ups, Frank and Jamie.
2006-02-11 19:39:34
160.   Bob Timmermann
ESPN even sent Erin Andrews to the game. However, I believe her role is solely decorative because I'm still waiting for something informative from her.
2006-02-11 20:00:32
161.   Andrew Shimmin
160- I'm sure she's a terrific addition to the broadcast team's chemistry.
2006-02-11 20:04:02
162.   Andrew Shimmin
Speaking of chemistry, has anybody ever accused Jose Hernandez of juicing, in 2004? Looking over his stats, 2002 was sort of close, but 2004 (when he was 34) was, like, magic. He went back to sucking, last year. Which all goes to show: DePodesta was a witch.
2006-02-11 20:05:39
163.   Bob Timmermann
I think Jose Hernandez was helped out in 2004 because Tracy knew how much and how often to use him.

Go figure.

2006-02-11 20:08:42
164.   Andrew Shimmin
163-SSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHH! Do you wanna wind up on a black list?!
2006-02-11 20:10:19
165.   Bob Timmermann
Despite Gonzaga winning, I still expect them to disappoint when they get to the tournament.

Hard to believe that a WCC team could be considered an underachiever.

2006-02-11 20:16:57
166.   Vishal
[165] another tough loss for stanford. i wouldn't have minded too much had they won, because it would've increased the conference RPI, but oh well. that adam morrison is a hell of a player. i hope he gets the player of the year award over redick. but he won't, of course. man, i hate duke.
2006-02-11 21:39:42
167.   Steve
How'd UCLA do today?
2006-02-11 22:15:04
168.   D4P
Is Jeff Kent an implicit member of your "Enemies List", or do you actually like the guy?
2006-02-11 22:15:59
169.   D4P
PS: You might want to add "Fastballs off the wrist"-prone guys to your list.
2006-02-11 22:18:18
170.   Andrew Shimmin
Brain Cook must feel like a blood clot.
2006-02-11 22:29:27
171.   Bob Timmermann
UCLA beat Miami 7-4 today.
2006-02-11 23:30:43
172.   Steve
Jeff Kent was a Giant, and is therefore represented. Ryne Sandberg is represented as an "analyst," but not based on his career. Jim Bowden could put on a tutu and become a Bolshoi dancer, and he would be #1 on the list. Others may be more selectively represented.
2006-02-12 09:53:16
173.   Suffering Bruin
FJT is now FGL which means another bookmark in the "must read" folder.

Welcome back, Steve. Welcome back, indeed. :)

2006-02-12 09:56:24
174.   D4P
173

As per 131, 132, Steve is "retired" and FGL is just a tease.

2006-02-12 10:00:39
175.   bhsportsguy
Just read the Baseball Prospectus Pecota analysis of catching prospects, it declared Russell Martin a new toy and seens ahead of Navarro by some in the organization. BP likes Navarro due to his OBP and contact (one could argue that Martin is similar skills and is better defensively) They also point out that Navarro is a year younger.

If Martin has a nice year in Vegas, project out to 2007. Do we have two young catchers or does one of them have to go? This may be going back some years but the last time the Dodgers had 2 catchers around the same age was with Fergueson and Yeager and while Fergie did spend some time in the outfield, the Dodgers also had other catchers around too, (I believe Grote was there at some point)

2006-02-12 10:07:55
176.   D4P
175
In Mr. Ned's mind, the Alomar/Borders dynamic duo makes Navarro expendable.
2006-02-12 10:16:38
177.   Suffering Bruin
174 Ouch! Well, that'll teach me to read the whole thread next time!
2006-02-12 10:36:49
178.   Colorado Blue
176 - I'll give Flanders a little more credit. He may very well see Navarro as expendable, but not in terms of Alomar/Borders but rather Martin. If Ned can get good return on Navarro it might not be the worst move in the world. Of course "good return" is completely subjective and we can only hope that Ned has gotten "middle-relievers" out of his system.
2006-02-12 10:42:44
179.   ScoobyGoo
Sorry to hack the thread but..

There was some interest in a Points H2H Fantasy League I believe a couple days ago...I should be setting one up with some friends of mine so if there's enough interest from some posters and you aren't gonna ditch us in the middle of the league when JD Drew and Billy Wagner go down with injuries even though you were sure they would stay healthy...I'll post the info here

2006-02-12 13:23:42
180.   willhite
My compliments to Steve Henson for a nicely written (and admittedly somewhat sappy) article on Grady in this morning's L.A. Times.

Although I think stats are a very important part of the game (come back Ross Porter wherever you are), to me the human element is just as important.

I like Grady because he doesn't take himself too seriously (the anti-Jim Tracy). For example, the following paragraph from the article:

"Once I manage one game for the L.A. Dodgers, people are going to quit asking me about Pedro," he said, skipping a beat before the punch line. "They are going to start asking about what I screwed up in the game tonight."

I know that a lot of you are concerned about Ned's "speed and defense" theories but being old enough to have witnessed Maury Wills' entire Dodger career, I remember how much excitement he brought to the ballpark.

Yes, I admit it, I like speed, hustle and scrappy ballplayers and I think there is a place on this year's Dodger team for Repko (although it should be as the 25th guy on the roster).

As I said, it's probably my age (59) that leads me to these strange beliefs, but I look forward to replacing last year's pompous manager with a folksy one and waiting to see what Furcal and Lofton at the top of the order does to today's starting pitchers, most of whom have a very hard time keeping runners on base.

Mind you, I would rather see Choi at first and Nomar in left. I wouldn't mind another power hitter and/or good starter arriving before opening day, I was very sorry to see DePo go, but I'm ready to see what the Ned and Grady Show brings us. Pitchers and catchers report next week, ST is upon us, optimism is in the air, and we haven't lost even one game yet. I think we can win it all! OK, let's amend that to "I think we can win our division."

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