that is the best quote ever.

Besides anything said by Rickey Henderson

The guy who made Super Size Me gave a talk at my school today.

Bah dah bup bap baaaaahhh...

Did Steve Henson lose his job? Is Jerry Crowe the new and permenant guy on the beat?

Did you get your snow Marty? The NY Times has a nice front page photo of some kids throwing snowballs in Joshua Tree Nat'l Park, complete with Joshua Trees and all.

This article on the Nick Johson extension has two things you don't see everyday in baseball articles.

1. A quote from the player's mother assessing her son's emotional closedness: "'He tends to internalize his emotions,' said his mother, Paula Graf. 'It's not that he doesn't feel things. It's just that he doesn't really show them.'"

2. A reference to OPS (well, to OBP and SLG right next to each other).

(and also, the article informed that Larry Bowa is Nick Johnson's uncle; hadn't known that.

http://tinyurl.com/gezny

missing a word here and a closing parenthesis there.

what do the intellengstia at dodger thoughts put as guzman's realistic odds of winning the starting lf job on opening day?

in his favor:

1. we can't have every top prospect break in next year.

2. we evidently need "another big bat."

3. with lofton/drew in cf/rf, cruz would get a lot of starts anyway.

4. cruz was a depo guy.

5. little seems to like guzman.

against him:

1. he hasn't played above AA.

2. beltre memories?

3. cruz is far more accomplished.

4. cruz makes more $.

5. five man outfield is already set with cruz/lofton/drew/ledee/repko or [ross].

if i were guessing, i'd say guzman right now has about a %35 chance of breaking camp as our starting lf . . .

Sam, no snow, but eveything in the yard is frozen. The snow got down to about 2000 feet I'm guessing. I'm at 16-1700.

My gut feeling is that JtD is in Vegas in April, but is in L.A. in the summer.

Henson's been covering some WBC games, and also needs days off here and there.

5 - We got snow in Scottsdale. The hills above my house were covered and people were pulling over to take pictures.

I think Joel is just angling for an endorsement deal early in his career.

it's not like the risotto

Sorry to seem dense, but can someone explain "JtD". Thanks.

Joel the Destroyer. We started that on one of the Suns Thoughts mini-threads last year.

I highly recommend the (admittedly slightly saccharine) essay linked below to all the scrappy would-be two guards among us. It accompanies a beutiful slide show of black and white phots of out-of-the way but still alive basketball hoops and boys and girls having at them taken by a photographer named Brad Richman.

http://tinyurl.com/q966p

If Joel Guzman makes it, I think he'll make it over Repko. I doubt Cody Ross or Repko have much of a chance at making the team if the Dodgers are convinced Guzman is for real.

I just dont know what you can expect out of Guzman his 1st year. Probably something along the lines of Juan Encarnacion (which really isnt an improvement over Jose Cruz Jr).

Guzman is so much more likeable playing shortstop.

Guzman will be much better off hitting 58 home runs in Vegas this year.

LA has enough veterans who "know how the game is played" to get by.

I saw some pictures of snow in Phoenix/Scottsdale. That's nearly unbelievable. I remember a brief snowfall in Tucson back in 1971 or thereabouts (not up in the mountains; down in town), but it lasted about long enough for one snowball fight on fraternity row.

17 Thats true.

Quick update on Nomar today.
1 error in the 1st (dropped a pop up).
Ground out to 2nd base.

He's 2-21 now on the spring. Still searching for that elusive 1st walk.

19

To be fair, he did follow his error with a great play to start a DP.

Sounds like his shortstop arm may work out at first after all.

With Furcal out, maybe his SS arm and SS bat would work out at SS.

21

I'd have no problem with that.

Nomar just singled.

Drew triples in Nomar.

8 My estimate has been 20% which is just fine by me. He's a special talent, but not quite in the Pujols/Cabrera territory, so babying him just a little bit is a good idea, especially since he's changing positions.

Even after the first injury, I'd rather have Ethier get the first shot since he's a more polished player at this time. I don't want to see JtD up for good until at least July.

Even after the first injury, I'd rather have Ethier get the first shot since he's a more polished player at this time. I don't want to see JtD up for good until at least July.

Agreed. As long as Ethier is healthy and keeps hitting, he should be in LA.

He's already 24, isn't he?

Not to dwell on next year but IF we keep our all of our prospects and not sign any FA's we will have a really fun team to watch.

SS Rafael Furcal
C Russell Martin
RF J.D. Drew (assuming he doesnt opt out)
LF Joel Guzman
3B Andy LaRoche
1B James Loney
CF Jayson Werth
2B Cesar Izturis

Bench:
IF Olmedo Saenz
IF Oscar Robles
IF Bill Mueller
OF Andre Ethier
Delwyn Young or Willy Aybar
C Dioner Navarro

SP: Lowe, Penny, Perez, Seo, Billingsley
RP: Gagne, Brazoban, Broxton, Tomko, Kuo, G.Miller

i am going to invoke the small sample size mantra on oldbear in reference to nomar.

ethier turns 24 in about a month, april 10th or something.

delwyn young turns 24 end of june.

re 26

dodgers arent going to put out a team with that low of payroll- fans would crucify mccourt. if martin is the starting C, navarro will be package with someone to get a impact bat.

25 Turns 24 next month.

Anybody have a link to that one article where Penny said he got in shape this offseason?

Ethier just got his second hit of the afternoon.

I was confused by the JtD thing, too, since we already have a JTD playing outfield...

If you think snow in Scottsdale looks weird, try snow in Marin County, and the hills near San Francisco. We even got hail that looked like snow (or slush) here in SF on Friday night. Weirdness.

there was snow in southeast orange county yesterday- rancho santa margarita area. my lawn was covered in ice and snow.

if martin is the starting C, navarro will be packaged with someone to get an impact bat.

Shawn Green?

if navarro the prospect was worth shawn green alone, then navarro the established 23 yr old catcher + orenduff should be worth tony womack.

35

I'd so do that deal, but only if you replace Womack with Michael Tucker.

Ethier has 2 hits on 2 first ball swings. I guess he's getting that "oakland thing" out of his system.

27. I really think Nomar does have a SS caliber bat. He's a free swinging slap hitter that hasnt hit for power in like 3yrs. I think he's a definite potential steroid abuser.

Look at the drop off Valentin/Beltre had.

I just thought Valentin's dropoff was because he got old and he wasn't overwhelmingly good to begin with.

I just thought Valentin's dropoff

What dropoff?

38. He had hit a career high in home runs (30) the year we signed him. Of course he did play in Comiskey so you gotta take that into account. However, he had SLG'ed .500+ against RHP the 3 previous years.

I know this isn't in the plan but i'd like to see martin starting as a catcher vs righthanded pitchers(2/3 of the time or more) and as a 1b platoon with choi vs lefthanded pitchers(1/3 of the time or less).

Navarro catching vs lefthanders.

I'm expecting martin to be an obp machine.
And i'd like to keep both martin and navarro, because i hate seeing the sandy alomars of the world starting sometimes and catchers need more days off than any other position.

Both choi and martin are perfect #2 hitters.

I want to clarify that i'm NOT saying move martin to 1b, i'm saying martin at catcher vs righties (2/3 or more of the games) and martin at 1b vs lefties (1/3 or less of the games).

I completely agree MB23 but that would require Sandy Alomar getting cut and Russ Martin hitting somewhere other than 8th.

The last game I saw Martin play, Grady had him batting 8th.

Not sure why.

And then he's had the free swinging Nomar batting 2nd. Considering Furcal's skills are that of a base stealer, wouldnt you want a guy in the #2 spot with the ability to take a few pitches that would allow Furcal the chance to steal?

I still like Saenz though at 1st against LHP. We dont have much power to begin with, and if you stick Martin in there, along with the Lofton, Navarro, Furcal, Mueller...Thats just not enough power IMO.

Valentin had four seasons with an OPS+ of over 100 with the White Sox from 2000-03. Then in 2004 it dropped to 88. Last year, it was 62.

Valentin's skill set doesn't give him a big margin for error since he Ks a lot and doesn't draw many walks. So once he starts missing on home runs, then he becomes mostly useless.

speaking of power, Kent just hit one out...

my lawn was covered in ice and snow.
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow?

/Led Zeppelin in suburbia

As far as the odds of JtD breaking camp with the big club, if he's kept at Las Vegas until May or so doesn't that greatly affect is service clock? Might be wise to do without him for a month now so we can have him for an extra year later.

/hangs self at mere mention of the name Jose Valentin

Old friend alert:

Giovanni Carrara pitching for Venezuela now against Cuba.

Brian Kenny and Steve Phillips are perplexed as to why Carrara is pitching when Venezuela has about 10 different pitchers who are better.

47
And yet he's not on the list...

/hangs self at mere mention of the name Gio...

Oh, never mind.

Sometimes managers want to bring in relievers who present a different look from the previous pitcher. In this case, Venezuela was switching from a good pitcher (Santana) to a bad one (Carrara) and a 1-0 Cuba lead has turned into a 5-0 Cuba lead.

No one go read me my second round WBC preview where I said Cuba wouldn't win a game in the second round.

Actually, it's 6-0 Cuba now. There was another home run before I hit submit.

Carrara is finally out of the game.

Carrara is the Venezuelan Al Leiter.

Sometimes managers want to bring in relievers who present a different look from the previous pitcher.

You mean like different arm angles and such?

Venezuela was even kind enough to sacrifice twice

49

What you get from a guy like Carrara is an experienced pitcher who knows what needs to be done when certain game situations present themselves.

You send him out there because you know what you're going to get from him everytime, and that type of consistency is what affords a team the ability to work as a cohesive unit.

55

Carrara was really, really, really awful.

Horrible.

The ESPN guys couldn't believe Carrara was pitching.

Carrara is awful. Final line of 5 ER / 1BB / 0 SO in .2 innings not to mention back to back jax and a rediculous era of 67. hah awful

Vizquel was bunting for a hit on one of those sacrifices.

Venezuela is having serious hitting problems.

Wasn't Luis Sojo one of the candidates to manage the Pirates?

If so, they are a lot better off with Tracy.

Damn i wish Carrara wouldve signed with the giants!

Carrara could have gotten out of the inning with less damage but a Cuban batter hit a grounder that bounced up into Vizquel's shirt and kept him from turning a DP.

You can't stop Repko. You can only hope to contain him.

Two-run triple on an ill-advised OF dive.

I finally have something in common with y'all - we had snow here too last night. Of course, I'm in Slovakia...But I heard from my parents as they were driving from Hollister to Monterey this morning and the hills were covered with snow. Must look amazing.

I keep hoping to read that someone (anyone!) is unexpectedly competing for the starting cf job with Lofton...Anyone see an update on Ethier's injury diagnosis?

64
Good thing Steve already hanged (hung?) himself.

65 I assume he's fine since he played today. He hasn't been overly impressive this spring though, he was 2-11 going into today's game (both hits were for extra bases). Ethier's not supposed to be a CF anyway.

57 That was truly spooky

thnx overkill. Is there any one who's looked good in CF so far?

Carrara was really, really, really awful

There's a reason I refer to him as Done Giovanni.

Why are Lakers games never in HD?

71 - to get to the other side

72

Jerk.

71
People still watch Laker games?

Any TV for US/Japan today?

73 - you expected mother teresa?

75
It's supposed to be on ESPN2.

Hmm... my Tivo says Pacific Life Open Tennis on ESPN 2 from 1-5pm.

76
Maybe not, but at least Jim McMahon...

At best, I can do don rickles

69 Repko? ducks

But seriously folks...

I'm not sure any of our outfield prospects are natural CFers. Kemp is the closest, but I keep hearing he's more of a corner outfielder. Guzman and D. Young are definite corner guys. Ross has hit pretty well, but I think he's a corner guy as well. Can either Raglani or Ruggiano play center? The only guys I can think of are Trayvon Robinson and Sergio Pedroza, but they both played mostly rookie ball last year.

78
I was just going by what the ESPN announcers said. I've seen THREE different things listed as being on ESPN2 right now.

I can't watch now. But Ichiro homered to lead off the game.

74

They've been decent lately. Turiaf looks like a good player.

83
Victories over Detroit and San Antonio were certainly a surprise. I haven't seen Turiaf play yet, but he seems like the kind of player they could use.

Duh, never post when you're undercaffeinated - I'm glad people ignored my "JTD" instead of "JDD" which is who was I confusing the new Joel Guzman nickname with and I... I... need one more cup of coffee.

Anyway, Bruce Jenkins in the SF Chronicle said today that, Bonds or no Bonds, the Giants shouldn't worry too much about winning the weak West:
http://tinyurl.com/nvvkv

Actually he doesn't quite say that; it's that the Giants should be a contender in the West, which is your "duh" moment of the day. However, he doesn't really give the complete picture of the Dodgers - no mention of their prospects, their deep bullpen, solid bench. In short, he's dismissive of a team that should on paper be equal to the Giants, Bonds or no Bonds.

thoughts?

Apparently, my blackberry skills need some work.

86 More than just that.

87
Daniel - What part of town did you live in when you taught at UofO?

87 -- That's the only thing everyone here agrees on.

85 Sounds like a normal homer article. I guess at least someone has to be blindly optimistic, might as well be your hometown writers.

91 and 92 I'm convinced this is oldbear complimenting himself under a different name

93- I do that sometimes. Haven't been caught, yet.

Is everybody else getting like a reverse echo on the WBC broadcast? The muffled echo coming before the thing is actually said? It was worse when they were interviewing the coach, but it's happening to the announcers, too. It's not enough of a lag for them to be time delaying it intentionally, I don't think. Irritating.

I created a perfectly good Game Chat for you on the Griddle and this is the thanks I get!

81 Ross is a CF, but not really much of a prospect. Ruggiano can play CF, although he's hardly a gold glove there. I believe Jamie Hoffman is the most advanced pure CF prospect, but he'll be starting in Vero, and he's not that good of a hitter (but he was signed as a hockey player, so he's "tough"). All of these guys strike out a lot (they combined for 352 Ks in 1307 ABs, to 144 walks)

93. I only post as oldbear here. I post as BTTE on Dodgers.cc I do not post on dodgers.com under any name.

There are trolls that copy and paste posts and pretend to post as me on dodgers.com

Jon Weisman is gonna have to clean up this blog. Thinkingblue has advertised it on dodgers.com...

The trolls might be out of control now.

So it's like a baseball version of "Peer Gynt"?

Sometimes I post under different names in order to take cheap shots at Bob.

14 or Marty
Thanx.

88 Southeast Eugene, in the hills above Churchill High School. D4P -- are you planning to move to Eugene sometime soon?

UCLA plays Belmont in the first round of the NCAA tournament. 2 vs. 15

WWJDD-What would J.D. Drew Do?

UCLA is also seeded ahead of Gonzaga.

Someone's cat was going to dance to the Hall of the Mountain King if the D's won a road trip last year--that Peer Gynt.

I really hope Japan wins now. That's total BS.

Dodger pitching impresses immediately as compared to last year. It is early enough so that this could be luck, but it's certainly much better than the other way around. Does anyone feel this is real?

102
I grew up and lived in Eugene until I was 29, when my wife and I moved to North Carolina a few years ago. I went to UofO for undergrad and masters. I had a good friend named Christian Martin who minored in computer science back in the late 90s. Don't know if you had him in class or not...

I was always told that professor salaries at Oregon are notoriously low.

He definitely did not leave early. What a bunch of BS. These umps are trying to rig the game.

It seems Digger Phelps picked his tie out to match the pen he's holding.

Good to know that non-MLB umps are just as terrible as MLB umps.

109 Don't remember a Christian Martin, and if he minored (rather than majored) I probably didn't teach him since I taught upper-division courses there. Salaries [u]are[/u] notoriously low there, and there was a period where many faculty were leaving for other places. In some departments where they tried to remedy this by brining in faculty at higher salaries, then compression would be a big problem (younger faculty earning as much or more than older faculty). Just as we would all prefer with our baseball team owners, I am convinced that with public universities it is best to hire good administrators and then let them decide how to best spend the money. Unfortunately, you end up with lots of administrators that run things about as well as the KC Royals.

So, the new Sopranos is supposed to have a big/surprising ending tonight, which is rare for a first episode. I'm predicting Uncle Junior goes tonight. Though Janice needs killing.

I can tell I am not following basketball nearly as much as when I was in the Pac-10, since I actually forgot today was Selection Sunday.

114

No talking about it until Wednesday, when I'll have had the chance to watch.

112- actually some of these guys are current/former major league umps

113
Oh well, no job is perfect. From what I gather, most faculty members are unhappy with the administrative aspects of their schools and their jobs, nevertheless often think they have the best job in the world.

118 Absolutely. Being a faculty member means you essentially have no boss, and you can explore whatever crazy research projects you want, regardless of whether they will lead to a product. There's also the bonus of making a difference in the lives of your students. Great job.

119
I'm always happy to hear that. It's intimidating, though, to think about having to bring in research money and design your own courses.

120

That last word of your post is going to get you run Mr. Doe.

johndoe, cut out on the language. It's not accepted here

John Doe- Pay attention: no profanity on the site. Get it?

Oldbear has been respectable here, moreso than you have

Looks like Jon gets to have fun cleaning up the trolls

121 You getting a PhD? In what? Designing a course is not that bad; it's intimidating at first but after a while it gets easier. It's also the most intense work you'll ever do, so I suggest not doing it too frequently, especially as a young prof. Bringing in research money -- no easy answers there, but if you're taking this route email me and I can correspond in private about it. I'm easily googled.

What a travesty (that the US won)! I really dislike Buck Martinez.

I hope Jon is able to ban by IP addresses, so this person can't create multiple accounts.

This must be what they mean by trolls. More like boll weevils. Or locusts.

I'll give it one last try for the team:
johndoe, your attitude is not appreciated here. Your approach is aggravating. I suspect you know this and it's intentional, but I guess I'll give it one last try. Personalizing and acting immature is just not for this board. Please respect this board with civil conduct or go back to whatever board you are used to contaminating. Thank you.

OLD FRIEND ALERT
The next WBC game between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic is loaded with current and former Dodgers.

Puerto Rico is starting Ledee in LF and Cruz in RF. Valentin is playing 3B and Cora is starting at 2B.

The Dominican Republic has Beltre at 3B and Encarnacion in RF.

I don't believe this game is being shown live except on ESPN Deportes.

Who knew that the singer from X was a baseball fan, and that he had such a sailor's mouth?

137

If I'm understanding correctly, my TV is telling me that P.R. vs. D.R. will be on ESPN2 at 5:00.

The only way you'll know is to turn on the TV and see what's on. It's an adventure.

The P.R.-D.R. game looks like it should be a good one.

138 I was going to say, he had to take the name of one of my all time favorite singer/musicians

I know both John Doe and Exene are, or at least were Dodger fans. I talked baseball with them once a long time ago.

Bob, stop calling Jose Valentin an old friend! I would never welcome him back to Dodger Stadium.

You're also bringing back memories of Ross Porter talking to Gary Sheffield.
"Nice to see ya again, Sheff."
Ross is the only person in the Dodgers organization who got along with Sheffield. That has to count for something.

Who's to say he's not the real John Doe?

oh man, don't joke.

By the way, for the Sopranos, I'm making ziti! but not with a red sauce.

Personally--I've found Oldbear more interesting than johndoe. I suppose this could relate to language, but I don't really care to review it!

Mmmm...ziti.

I'm grilling up italian-spiced turkey sausage and stuffing them into pitas.

I have cholesterol issues.

Iggy bin, if anybody wondered, is surprisingly not profain. Short for ignore bin, an option in some chat programs.

The distinguished Mr. Doe raises a great point, though, about Jolbert for Ketchner. What could DePo have been thinking, getting a SP prospect for Jolbert Cabrera? Consider what a difference he could have made for the 2004 team! Jose Hernandez surely failed in the role. Oh! what might have been! Thank heaven that madness has ended. Sic Semper DePodesta!

148
No Dodger Dogs For You!

http://tinyurl.com/d57vd

Mine has spinach, mushrooms and hot italian sausage in it. As well as a boatload of cheese

I usually don't eat stadium food when I go to a Dodger game except for pretzels or frozen yogurt.

152
I went to a game last summer (for the first time since 1985) and thought the food looked pretty unappetizing. Heat lamps are not a turn on...

I've learned that a night at the ballpark is cheaper when you eat ahead of time.

However, some people only want to come for the food. Which is better than wanting to come for the beachballs.

We ate after the game, my first experience with In N' Out burger.

There's another restaurant I eschew. Mainly because I hate to wait in line. I'd rather eat bad food served to me quickly than good food that takes a while.

Just eat at Phillipe's.

A meal at Phillippe before the game is the only way to go.

I'm not an In N' Out fan either.

We didn't have to wait. We drove through, somewhere near UCLA.

158

Oh, did I spell it wrong? Darn.

I had to look it up.

It's actually

PHILIPPE'S

There's no 'S' on their sign, so I always leave it off.

You are correct.

But the URL is http://www.philippes.com/

Bradley likes being an A:

http://tinyurl.com/jtp7o

Italian cooking ... don't get me started. You do not want this to turn into a food and recipe blog.

Keith Olbermann on CSPAN's Q&A. Did he used to be funny? We didn't have cable, when I was growing up, so I never got to see him on ESPN.

Comments 120, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 131, 132 for being profane and/or personal attacks.

One other advisory: No "Sopranos" talk until I confirm I've been able to watch.

I used to like Olbermann when he was the sports anchor for KTLA.

Comments 120, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 131, 132 for being profane and/or personal attacks.

That's like getting Al Capone for income tax evasion.

Olbermann can be funny, but he thinks very, very, very highly of himself.

170- Maybe he's better off a prompter.

UCLA got a #2 seed and the worst sub-bracket in recent memory. No money to be made off of them.

Bob -- no kinship for ending the last name with a double 'n'?

I admit that I like Olbermann when he joins Dan Patrick on the radio. I've always been bigger on radio than TV; it comes from growing up with Vin Scully I guess.

(obligatory Scully reference AND a semicolon)

Not that anybody gambles on the tournament.

I'm waiting for the NIT picks. They should be out any minute!

Not that anybody gambles on the tournament

And when they do, it's for entertainment purposes only.

Regarding Olbermann: I'll always remember (with imperfect clarity) his comment on Sportscenter to the effect "That's 6-4-3 on the putout if you're scoring at home...or if you're just watching by yourself..."

Beltre is back. He's doing that little toe dance on outside breaking balls.

At least Utah State will be the 12-5 upset.

178
My step-brother-in-law played football for Utah State.

169 - No, the opposite. Profanity and personal attacks are the biggest crimes you can commit here.

178 I haven't followed them much this year, but that would be my pick too, based on how Washington has played. My only worry is that Utah State has been down the upset road before, and I'm not sure how often they can keep doing this.

Washington has lost to both Washington State and Oregon. But the Huskies also beat Gonzaga and UCLA twice. They are one of those teams that will likely either go out in the first round or make it to the Final Eight.

Ainsworth, Diaz, and Orenduff have all been optioned or reassigned to minor league camp, due to their arm ailments

Stanford goes to the NIT. They host Virginia Tuesday. The winner moves on to face Missouri State (formerly SW Missouri State).

BYU is in the NIT too and they were seeded right into the second round (there are 40 teams). The Cougars travel to Houston to play the Cougars.

So if Stanford wins two straight and BYU wins at Houston, it's a Jon-Steve matchup!

Current friend alert:

2-run RBI for Jose Cruz Jr gives PR a 3-1 lead over the DR in the 6th.

I came in second in a NCAA pool once. Michigan won and for some lucky reason I had them going all the way even though I barely follow college basketball.

I was all set to win a large pool one year and then Arizona lost to Duke in the final.

I went from 1st place to 5th place and out of the money.

just got home from the japan US game. it was a pretty fun game even though i was rooting for japan.

japan got ripped off, they should have scored on that sac fly. he DID NOT leave early. I love watching them play defense, they made about 5 unbelievable plays. And ichiro hitting that homerun was awesome.

anyways, looks liked i missed the troll action. kind of bummed the comments were deleted, i wanted to read them! what happened here today?

ps vikes sign all pro guard steve hutchinson to a HUGE 7 yr 49 mil deal! yayyy

184 It would also be a matchup of me against myself.

i just saw brazoban is getting back on track, striking out the side. thats awesom to see.

189 That's tough. Internecine struggles are always the worst. Hope you win. (Otherwise, if your head happens to explode, it was nice knowing you.)

So if Stanford wins two straight and BYU wins at Houston, it's a Jon-Steve matchup!

I won the last one!

http://tinyurl.com/zwgkz

I survived a Cal-UCLA Pac-10 final.

I was surprised that UCLA moved up to a 2 seed. Yesterday, ESPN had them as a four seed and then projected them as the worst three seed today.

Now...Tennessee/Winthrop...hmmmmmm

Choi starting at DH for Korea tonight. Seo is the starting pitcher.

Nate, your Vikings need to make another deal with my Raiders and give us Culpepper. I have no problem with us going with Walters, but if we can get Culpepper I think we should.

Lee J. Cobb alert. 12 Angry Men is starting on TCM

196 Here, here.
Or,in Black Hole-speak: Argh, Arghhh...

I think I'll be ready for Minor League games by the end of Spring Training- Cesar Izturis

193 I had heard Utah State and Air Force would both be out, so I was surprised to see them in.

Yahoo's first bracket "breakdown" is up, and:

"Best draw: UCLA. None of the other challengers in the Bruins' half of the Oakland region -- Gonzaga, Indiana, Marquette and Alabama -- are as good as their seed (yes, Seth Davis, that includes the 'Zags.), which means they could potentially sleep-walk to the Elite Eight."

Agreed, as I said already.

#193

UCLA AD Dan Guerrero is now part of the NCAA Selection Committee. It is unlikely that UCLA gets anything other than favorable seedings in the near future.

I hear that Guerrero got a good seeding for UCLA because he sprung for some really good bagels this morning.

Kansas City is a great town for bagels I hear.

Mark Few tried to counter the bagels with some crullers but obviously fell short.

Gonzaga also shouldn't have had to go to OT to beat San Diego and then win by 1 over Loyola Marymount while playing both games at home.

Hi, I guess I missed a troll attack...

Like I probably don't have to tell you, Jae Seo is pitching for Korea on ESPN2 right now. Interesting little delay in his delivery. Good looking changeup and curve.

I like the Mexican red and green.

Puerto Rico's team ERA is around 1.06 now. Korea's is now a little under 1.00.

Not what I expected.

I like both teams' uniforms. Those Korean powder blues are nice.

The colors in this game are very warm and soothing.

Korea needs better caps.

Seo reminds me a lot of...umm...ummm...(whispers) Jeff Weaver.

Sorry about earlier, Icaros.

Can we trade Choi for this Lee guy?

Is the Korea game chat taking place here or at The Griddle...?

S. Y. Lee! S. Y. Lee! S. Y. Lee!
Hee-Seop Choi! Hee-Seop Choi! Hee-Seop Choi!

There's a chat at the Griddle, but Korea is sort of the DT adopted team since it has two prominent Dodgers on it in Choi and Lee.

Puerto Rico has two also in Cruz and Ledee.

Interestingly, neither of those teams have lost a game yet.

>>"I'd rather eat bad food served to me quickly than good food that takes a while."

Bob, I'm going to see to it that that quote is put on your headstone.

Does that imply I'm going to die of food poisoning or choking?

I think Bob meant Choi and Seo in 212. There are many many Lees on the Korean team, though.

Nate, your Vikings need to make another deal with my Raiders and give us Culpepper. I have no problem with us going with Walters, but if we can get Culpepper I think we should.

give us your first round pick.

seriously, i dont want to trade pep. but hes been an increasing nuisance this offseason. he just wont shut up and rehab his knee up in minny with the new coaching staff.

and to steve, seo is the korean greg maddux!

There are five Lees on Korea. And they all start!

There are eight Kims.

Fair enough, nate. The Korean Greg Maddux he is.

seo's hitting 88 with his fb. not bad consdering its about 40 degrees in OC tonight.

I think Jae Seo is the Korean right-handed Jaime Moyer.

i just jinxed seo with all that maddux talk. damnit!

Former Vegas 51 with the bomb.

Mexico, not to be outdone, has two Luis Garcias, one of whom just homered off of Seo.

i think that luis garcia hit 25 homeruns for LV 51s in 2004.

I like how the Latin fans actually care about this tournament, while America is the home team and they can not even get close to a sell out crowd.

The Korean team has four Parks.

224

Bob said he hit 32.

224

Icaros knows the real total.

haha. "who is karim garcia!!!?!"

karim garcia thinks jae seo is the korean maddux.

That reminded me of Jeff Weaver.

I really think it should be right-handed Jaime Moyer.

More realistic, but still pretty good.

The career of Luis A. Garcia

http://tinyurl.com/gexjn

Anything that is not a reference back to the 2005 Dodgers is ok with me.

Hire Rick Sutcliffe!

rick sutcliffe is a choi apologist.

must be really awkward for karros up there.

the 6'4 korean elephant in the room and all...

He was talking about how the Koreans work the count and Karros says, "Are you saying that Moneyball has made its way into Korea?"

I bought "Moneyball" soon after it came out and read the whole thing on a flight to Japan and gave it to some friends there.

I felt like a missionary.

Jorge Cantu looks villainous.

OLD FRIEND ALERT:

Elmer Dessens in to relieve for Mexico.

Icaros's new favorite Korean ballplayer: Bum Ho Lee.

seo's split finger is dancing!

You know that thing we're not supposed to talk about? It's pretty awesome.

what arent we suppose to talk about?

243- see 167

oh right, got it.

5.1 IP for Seo tonight. 61 pitches. 2 hits. 1 run. O BB.

why did they pull seo? i thougth the pitch count was around 80 pitches.

They probably want to keep Seo fresh if they make the semis. And Koo is supposed to be a lefty killer. Except Mexico brought in a righthanded pinch hitter.

Park had two saves in the first round, but I wonder if he is going to start this round.

"Sopranos" talk may commence. I just plugged in my cell phone to make sure it's charged. Very important to have a phone handy.

"Big Love" chat will not be allowed tonight. I haven't checked that out yet. Reviews seem mixed.

I haven't watched "The Sopranos", so goodbye for now. Please discuss MEX-KOR at The Griddle and nothing else.

seo pitched well. hopefully little and colletti turned on the tv and watch him pitch so they realize sele has no spot on this team.

"Big Love" chat will not be allowed tonight.

Or ever.

The WSJ weekend edition has a review of a book about the knuckleball and the lives and loves of those who throw it.

Umm, so I just read through today's comments and they currently go: 119, 121, 122, 127, 130, 133. And then Nate asked what he missed and everybody stayed reeeeally quiet...

Bah, sounds like I missed a good one too!

What did Sutcliffe say about Choi? I heard Karros' stupid moneyball comment, like it's a bad thing to work the count.

Does Seung Yeop Lee seem like a Choi parody to anyone else? Very similar players, just Lee's flaws seem like more exaggerated versions of Choi's.

254- you didn't miss anything good, just some guy coming on the board criticizing another person on this board while using a lot of profanity.

So far, Choi looks like a Lee parody.

Choi is not making a very good case for inclusion on the Dodgers' roster. Not that it really matters what kind of case he makes anyway...

Ben Kingsley is so good he does not even have to be Italian to be on the Sopranos.

259 -- The Dodgers either are or aren't scouting the WBC.

261
You're probably right, but who's to say?

Grittle can't decide which of his players to irrationally favor over all others if he doesn't know which ones make good bridge partners.

Sopranos tonight taught me that old people look evil when they have no teeth.

Juan Marichal -- BOOOO!!! BOOOO!!!

My hope for Big Love is that it survives till the Republican primary race, so that some columnist (my bet: Maureen Dowd) makes a terribly clever joke about Giuliani vs. Romney resembling the HBO Sunday night line-up. And then get pilloried for it.

Another Soprano lesson: Get that elderly family member in to a home the second you can. Your life could depend on it!

There used to be a BBQ place in South Central called Mr. Jim's beef. Their slogan was "You don't need teeth to eat Mr. Jim's beef".

The great thing was, if you didn't have teeth it rhymed.

Just your routine double play on a stupid bunt. Move it along, nothing to see here.

So Steve, if you had to wear one uniform for a day, and it was either Korea (yes, with sideburns) or Mexico (with green batting gloves and red wristbands), which would it be?

Actually anybody can answer this excempt for Bob, who will yell at me for not asking it in the WBC game chat thread. --runs away--

How do you say "work the umpire" in Korean?

270- Bob's staying away from the thread to avoid Sopranos spoilers. We can talk about about the WBC behind his back without fear of reprisal!

I think the domiance of Chan Ho Park proves that what you accomplish in the WBC means nothing.

greetings from ireland! hope you all are doing well. i'm definitely loving it here like mcdonald's.

Good morning! Interesting episode, eh?

Just as long as David Chase doesn't pull an Alan Ball ala Nate Fisher...

275 Actually, I was underwhelmed. I understand that they needed to get every single character into the episode to remind everyone after 2 years who was who. But it meant not much plot. The "surprise ending" would have been better had it been ANY other character, but with Tony, you know he'll be OK. I guess they can now have fun with all the captains vying for supremacy.

The best subplot, I thought, was Tony taking back financial control over Carmela. Oops, sorry I forgot to help you with the house inspector, but here's a car! He's a devious SOB, he is....

277 - Actually, even with the updates, I thought there was plenty of plot. The story of the inheritance was compelling, even though we were learning that character from scratch. I mean, who doesn't despair over being unable to move to Fort Myers, Fla., just in time for Spring Training.

The fact that we expect Tony to survive doesn't detract at all from the well-earned shock value of his being shot. And as time goes on, sometimes there is strength in a storyline even if we know the ultimate fate of a character - it's not like the ending of Oedipus Rex or Hamlet is a mystery.

I thought it was a good season premiere.

Meadow is happily married, I take it.

One thing I don't remember from last season is how did Janice end up with a baby? The show was off long enough for her to get pregnant and give birth. Is that the exlanation? or did I miss something?

279 Exactly. A year has gone by. I think somebody mumbled it in the context of Johnny Sack and Phil.

What if Tony is, in fact, dead? That would be the riskiest move yet for this show, to kill off its main character. The show is called "The Sopranos" after all. Maybe this is now going to be about Silvio v. Christufah v. Paulie and Phil's efforts to exploit whatever the divisions are -- meanwhile Carmella and the kids try to maintain their position.

Probably not, but I'm sure David Chase was tempted.

There were lots of ironic clues. "No good deed goes unpunished," like Tony deciding Junior should be allowed to stay at home. "You can only trust your family," Tony says to AJ, despite the fact that his mother tried to kill him, and just before his uncle perhaps accomplishes it. I thought it was a great episode.

My wife had me tape Desperate Housewives so we could watch it later. That show really has started to suck super-bad.

278 Yeah, fair enough. I think the hokey thing about the ending was how quickly it became obvious in retrospect. Not just all of the clues that Ratt points out, but also the guy (the slimmed down dood - can't remember his name) who kept speculating openly about "God forbid something should happen to Tony..." As soon as Tony got shot, all of that jumped out, and I thought it'd have been much better without all the signposts.

I did sorta like the subplot with the guy who got the inheritance. Torn between 3 masters. But did we need it? It was just Tony writ-small.

I'm nitpicking. It was just fine. I think I just built up ridiculous expecations over 22 months of waiting. And they'd better go back and fill us in on what happened over the last year-plus. How the heck did everyone get through? How did Christopher adjust? Loved Bobby's conductor hat, tho. Hysterical.

In retrospect, maybe it's the Meadow thing that had me bummed. I guess Chase thought a "on this, the day of my daughter's wedding" episode would be too trite."

Or WAITASEC.... Maybe Tony IS dead, and the whole season will be a flashback, given that they have a year to fill in.

Hmm, something to ponder all week.