I don't believe I should count in the survey about "Talkin' Softball".

Heck, I remember the versions that were done for each team. There was even a Padres version that invoked Nate Colbert's name!

I don't think the DT audience is a relevant sample.

From Jon's weather link:

7pm: Rain. Chance of precipitation: 100%.
8pm: Rain. Chance of precipitation: 100%.
9pm: Rain. Chance of precipitation: 100%.
10pm: Rain. Chance of precipitation: 100%.

Ouch.

Some people need to be introduced to a little CD called Baseball's Greatest Hits Volume 1 (volume 2 was never released, so far as I can tell). Including what must have been Count Basie's band playing the song about Jackie Robinson. And A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request. Do they still play the blues in Chicago, when baseball season rolls around?

Terry Cashman got more millege out of one song than anybody but Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Just thought I'd be the first to mention (unless it appeared on a previous thread) that this is our chance for Lou Gehrig, v.2.

Loney will begin his HOF career today (or whenever the rain stops) and Nomah at first base will be Nomore.

Optimism reigns supreme in my little corner of the Dodger world

When the snow melts away, do the Cubbies still play, in their ivy-covered burial ground?

Optimism reigns supreme in my little corner of the Dodger world.

Wow, no kidding. So does understatement.

7 -

Being a fellow Cal graduate, the future always looks better than the present

A young player's career hangs in the balance:

Ryan Doumit is now 0 for 1. In nine at bats, his job will be permanently be given to chemistry wizard Humberto Cota. Will talent win the day? We'll know in a week.

I never really liked the Cashman song. Too lethargic.

Anyone want to guess the lineup? This was always a fun game to play when Tracy was managing.

I'll go with:

Furcal
Cruz
Drew
Kent
Mueller
Repko
Navarro
Loney
Penny

5-9 dont look so tough.

Repko batting 6th....Yep.

Actually Grits has been batting Navarro mostly either 2nd or 8th this spring, so I could see 6-7-8 being Repko, Loney, Navarro.

I hope we get to see Loney tonite, although Im going to be cautiously pessimistic in expecting an 0-4 performance. This is something of a watershed moment in that Loney was the first Logan White draft pick, as well as his most controversial.

By the way, how do you pronounce Loney? Does it ryme with "Tony" or "Ronny" or "Loony"?

Cashman and West actually had about one good album out of the two they released together, long before "Talkin' Baseball" was written.

Cashman and West: Lifesong

Cashman and West: Moondog Serenade

Sometimes it pays to have one's album/cd collection on a page at one's website. ;)

On ESPN, a AP article re: Nomar contains this quote:

"Looney has performed impressively the past few springs with the Dodgers.

'I feel great, man,' he said. 'I saw I was in the five-hole. That's cool. This has been a dream for who knows how long."

So it looks like
Furcal
Cruz
Drew
Kent
Loney
Mueller
Repko
Navarro

No shame in going 0-4 against John Smoltz.

Wow Loney is going to protect Kent? Hmmm....I wonder how many good pitches Kent will see tonite.

11, Only two Colletti purchases in that lineup, so this still looks like a Depo team. Which of them gets credit for Loney and other promotions? Here's hoping a few farm successes this year allow both Depo and Colletti to be adopted as permanent Dodger family members. Malone shall remain in purgatory for the Brown fiasco.

Who knows, maybe Loney is recreating the Eric Karros role from the 1992 season. Team has trouble finding a workable solution at first base, until the rookie's 9th-inning homer wins a game. (That was the night before Mother's Day, against the Pirates. And the next afternoon John McCain's SUV nearly flattened by little Nissan, but never mind that.)
If this scenario plays out, this would also put Garciaparra in the role of (ick) Todd Benzinger. And the Dodgers would go on to lose 99 games, so perhaps I should stop here.

Hmm. Neither album is available at Amazon, but there's a greatest hits album out, although no longer in print:

http://tinyurl.com/o56x9

10- Well, it's no Van Lingle Mungo. Anybody heard of Jeff Campbell? I made a mix CD for my sister's opening day office party the other day, and came across this: http://tinyurl.com/phpgp

It's not great, but makes good filler. Better than Bruce Springstone or The Intruders, but not as good as Stormy Weather (nothing beats four part harmony) or Sister Wynona Carr.

Thanks to my brother, I've pretty much got the Simpsons softball episode memorized. In fact my theory on the appropriate owner/GM relationship was pretty much summed up by Burns' instructions to Smither (after learning that his dream team including Honus Wagner and Mordecai Brown was, er, unavailable):

"All right, then, get me good players. LIVING players."

3 (volume 2 was never released, so far as I can tell)

It was released a couple years later. I have a copy. It wasn't quite as good as volume 1 unfortunately.

22 Ah, but can you name the entirety of Mr. Burns' team?(I've watched a lot of Simpsons).

C - Scioscia
1B - Mattingly
2B - Sax
SS - Smith
3B - Boggs
OF - Canseco
OF - Griffey
OF - Strawberry
P - Clemens

C - Scioscia
1b - Mattingly
2b - Sax
ss - Ozzie
3b - Boggs ("Pitt the Elder!" "Lord Palmerston!")
OF - Straw
OF - Griffey Jr.
OF - Canseco

25 Well done, but I was refering to his team featuring Three Finger Brown.

Nuts - forgot Roger.

21. I've got the first volume of the Diamond Cuts series, and it's pretty good. It even has Bob Dylan singing about Catfish Hunter.

18. I dont think either Depodesta or Colletti should get "credit" for anything the young players do (aside from Navarro and Ethier). The real credit should go to Dan Evans for overhauling the dodgers front office and scouting department when he came to power.

Its ironic to me how much turnover has happened in the Dodger front office since 2002 and how little really changed. Evens, Depo, and Colletti all seem to have taken the "restock and protect the farm system, stay competative with veterans" game plan. Obviously there are some differences, Evans wouldnt have traded Loduca, Depo wouldnt have signed Nomar or Encarnacion, but Im not sure the past 2+ years would be a whole lot different if Dan Evans was in charge.

24. zephyrs?

18. Actually if were going by whom acquired each player:

Furcal---Ned
Cruz-----DePo
Drew-----DePo
Kent-----DePo
Loney----Evans
Mueller--Ned
Repko----Malone
Navarro--Depo
Penny----Depo

I haven't heard the Dodger version since the late 1980s, but I still remember snippets of it.

Tommy's titles back to back
Maury steals another sack
Koufax with money on the line
He won it every time

Russell, Sax, and Landreaux [!]
Monday, Yeager, Howe, Guerrero too

Carl, and Bud Furillo (the one line that confused me when I was a kid, because I didn't know who Bud Furillo was.)

30- If Evans were in charge the Dodgers would probably have Vlad?

"In fact, your right fielder has been dead for 130 years."

When I saw that episode in syndication and was old enough to realize it, I looked it up and saw it was a parody. Another Simpsons/baseball friend I know also knew it was a parody. Not sure about my other Simpsons/baseball friends though.

24 I think he's asking for all nine of the dead guys. No, I don't know. Was Nap Lajoie involved?

Better than Bruce Springstone

There is, of course, no version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" that comes close to bettering Bruce Springstone's.

Evens, Depo, and Colletti all seem to have taken the "restock and protect the farm system, stay competative with veterans" game plan

DePo acquired alot more younger players entering their primes. Thats the biggest difference.

Colletti I think is like a combo of Kevin Malone and Fred Claire.

Evans was inconsequential.

I'm still at work and forgot to set the Tivo. Did anyone watch Bonds on Bonds?

30. Evans was in charge during the 2003 offseason, he didnt sign Vlad, or couldnt sign Vlad, because McCourt hadnt yet finalized the purchase of the team and the payroll was cut from ~$120m to ~$100m. He instead settled on Juan Encarnacion. Im pretty sure my details are right here, but I could be wrong.

40- Thanks for the clarifying that. I had thought the reason Vlad wasn't signed was because Evans was fired.

38. Didnt Evans get Izturis, Roberts, Perez and Mota? Didnt Depodesta get Finley, Valentin, and Kent?

The major problem with Evans was that he had no idea about cost-benefit analysis.

The salary swaps of Sheffield for BJ/OP, and Karros/Gruz for Hundley were killers. Along with Juan Encarnacion, Nomo, paying middle relievers 4 mils a year....

When you spend money on riff raff, and then complain about not having enough funds when a major talent comes along (like Vlad), you really shouldnt get sympathy. Its your own fault.

I watched some of Bonds on Bonds. First episode basically just gave Bonds history and all the problems he has to face.

A show that definitely tries to make you sympathize for Bonds some.

30
I thought DePo wanted to bring in Nomar to play third.

DePo offered Garciaparra a contract for a significant amount of money (and I think two years) -- I can't remember how much now.

cost/benefit analysis? youre going to have to explain that more fully

He traded Sheffield because Sheff wanted an extension Evans couldnt afford, the Hundley-Karros move was a trade of bad contracts, and Nomo was one of his brightest moves, at least through the first two seasons. He was overpaying somewhat for Quantill and Shuey, but both were good pitchers through 2003 and he also went with Mota, Gagne, and Martin. And dont forget his best move was trading Kevin Brown, getting Jeff Weaver, Yhency Brazoban and $7-8m in payroll relief.

Im not saying Evans was perfect or anything, but his biggest problem was the total lack of payroll flexability. He didnt do a whole lot to help, but his greatest failing was probably a lack of imagination.

46. I remember hearing his first choice was for Nomar to play 2nd and for Joe Randa to play 3rd.

DePo wanted Nomar for second.

Thanks Trainwreck. I suspect it wasn't too interesting. Bonds hand picked the producer and retains 100% editorial control. Not like we get to see anyting he doesn't want us to see.

I'm downtown and see blue sky. Only a little but its there.

but his biggest problem was the total lack of payroll flexability. He didnt do a whole lot to help, but his greatest failing was probably a lack of imagination

I agree. But why not keep Sheffield? The worst case scenario is he leaves, and now you have 10mils to work with.

And spending big bucks on middle relievers, and giving Encarnacion any amount of money whatsoever just left me with complete cluelessness.

I was just invited to the game. Guess I'll go.

Hopefully better than right field pavillion.

The Marlins beat up Pettitte for 10 runs in 4.2 innings. Hermida is the only player without a hit (both Mitre and Abercrombie have hits). Their 3-4-5 hitters each have a homer (Cabrera, Willingham, and Jacobs). I guess Girardi (who caught Pettitte I believe) did a good job explaining to them how to hit Pettitte

I'm guessing Steve's firm ticket became available and he got invited. Dugout Club for Steve (hopefully)!

No more blue sky. Clouds are moving very fast.

53. I agree completely with those two points, except that Shuey and Quantrill werent exaclty being paid "big bucks" Shuey was paid less than $4m per season and Quantrill made a little over $5m combined for two excellent seasons and was then allowed to leave and sign with the Yankees.

I'm hoping to just go over there, see five innings and go home before the rain falls. They're good tickets, but not the dugout club.

they're saying on Channel 9 pregame that looks like they'll get the game in. tarp is off right now.

The Abercrombie story has to amongst the most unlikely in baseball. I had heard last season he had given up playing the OF, and was going to try to pitch bc his hitting was so bad. Turns out he just needed different contacts! Unbelievable.

Also, is the game delayed? I've clicked on gameday and its a no-go. No lineups, nothing.

I'll be in the right field pavilion Thursday night thanks to coachjpark.

I'll be the guy in the Team South Africa baseball cap.

I wore it to Disneyland because I figured it would stand out in a crowd. My brother turned to me and said, "If this were a sitcom, a whole bunch of people wearing South Africa caps would be getting off the bus at the same time as we get there."

That wasn't true, but we did park near a car with a South African flag on the back and the occupants eyed me strangely.

61 - see 60. they are going to play.

I think if they play tonight, they'll go all 9 innings.

Josh Willingham has gone deep for the second time tonight. I honestly believe the Marlins will be far better than expected (and better than the Nationals)

62 - I thought that was Wednesday night.

I already feel validated for having Willingham as my backup fantasy catcher.

Why does Prime Ticket not have it on the schedule, a Hawai'i fan asks plaintively?

67. hes sitting on my bench right now in favor of kevin mench. damn.

willingham was my steal of the draft in round 24. i wanted him or johjima, but johjima was taken in the 23rd round. all of the other teams had catchers by the 15th round, so i figured i could wait. after all, who carries more than one catcher?

i should note, however, that i left chris shelton on the bench yesterday.

66
Wednesday, Thursday, one of those days.

68

Isn't tonight's game on KCAL?

For Christmas, err, the holidays, I received "The Great American Baseball Box", a 4-cd set of baseball related audio. One CD of songs (The Catfish Song, Centerfield, It's a Beautiful Day..), and 3 CD's of famous calls, speeches, etc. Lasorda's Kingman tirade is there, Gibson's HR, lots of good stuff.

68- Are you getting the Extra Innings free preview? Shouldn't be blacked out for you.

Wow. The stands are empty. I wouldn't have gone out tonight, so, I guess there's that. Loney is starting.

I don't believe Extra Innings picks up games that are on over-the-air channels.

According to Vinny just now, Izturis and Gagne had MRIs "just to check the elbows".

Was Gagne scheduled for an MRI or is this the precursor to him being out again... I'm guessing he doesn't last long this year.

Extra Innings will never carry an OTA channel, but tonight they are using the Braves feed, which I guess is not OTA.

77- I thought that too, but the Dodger game is listed on Comcast channel 494, starting at 7:10. I expect it to be blacked out here, but figured if it was listed, it'd probably be carried on out of area EI packages. I don't actually know anything about it, though.

Vin says water on warning track is "treacherous".

Sit Drew now!

This crowd definitely helps you get a look at the new seats.

81

I thought the water on the warning tracks was usually provided by inebriated fans in the bleachers.

I like the colors.

77 79 80 The game is on EI via Fox Sports South, always an alt. to look for on KCAL games.

Hence, here in AZ I'm listening to Sutton and while next proceed to cut my ears off.

FYI, tomorrow night is on FSN-HD like yesterday...available on EI with proper HD equipment.

84. Steve how are you posting if you are at the game? Blackberry?

81, is the warning track still an artificial surface this year? Hard to tell on tv.

83- You'd have to be a Kegel master to clear the fence.

i like that breaker.

61 -- About Abercrombie, if OldBear were dead, I would guess he would be turning over in his grave. Hee-Seop Choi (a veritable poster boy for the Moneyball philosophy) and Reggie Abercrombie (a toolsy, athletic freak of nature with possibly the worst plate discipline in the history of minor league baseball) were traded from one team to another in the same deal. Now Abercrombie has a job in the majors (one half of a platoon) and Choi is in Triple A. You don't have to be a stathead to say, "Didn't see the coming."

Is KCAL anti-radar?

3 money pitches there by Penny to pull outta that inning.

28 pitch 1st inning for Penny

The warning track was restored to a "natural" surface last year.

In other words, it's not rubberized.

93- How horrible and I thought he had 3 strikouts.

Rain is delaying the start of the game in San Diego.

Or as Vin would say "Down south"

90 -- Correction: "Didn't see THAT coming." Jon BETTER be working on getting my post edit feature!

Jones is a whiner.

Weird to think that the Angels are lucky they are in Seattle so they won't be rained out.

I live down in the Irvine area and it's dumping.

that change up he threw to andruw was money. He didnt have that pitch last year.

Furcal sure seems to have a nice compact stroke, wasn't there an issue earlier in his career that he was trying to hit too many homers?

JDtD

rope by Drew!!!

Nice job JD!

drew!!!! yayyy

Abercrombie really tore up high A, at 24 and 25.

excellent.

JD Drew!

What idiot said sit JD Drew

A power sighting at Chavez. And Loney now gets to bat this inning.

please stay healthy david jonathan.

Wow drew slugged that one. Kent hits one right up the middle and here comes the kid...

3-0. come on grady. green light

Woohoo Loney with 1000 OBP!

nice debut, Loney. Good job.

first major league walk, go loney!

Good eye Loney.

Nice AB by Loney, how long do ya think id take for Nomar to take his first walk? nice hit mueller, take that oldbear:)

Weak offense my butt ;)

Wow, he looked kinda Hee at the plate there laying off those bad pitches. Nice walk, but can he run? Waiting for replay...

If no umpire made the call initially, what would change now?

how does the ball get into the outfield if it hit Loney?

not sure if someone already asked, but for those of us unable to watch, how bad is the rain?

What happened?! I missed the play! What happened!

lets knock smoltzie out the game this inning.

its not even raining.

WOO HOO!

Cox is trying to whine his way into a rainout.

Repko will make the all star team!

... and loney is off to an nice start. Repko does seem like a totally different hitter so far.

go kids!

126

thanks, gameday says it is

see, jeff kent just gave loney a pound.

who says he cant relate to black people?

Thats a cool sight to see Loney and Kent in the dugout. Repko is a different hitter early on in the season.

Dang, Dioner smoked that one, too bad it was right at the 2B.

I think every ball was hit hard that inning, and against Smoltz of all people.

navarro hits it hard, but right to giles. oh well.

I hope the rains holds off now.

Okay, we better hurry and get 5 innings in, one thing Bobby used 6 bullpen guys yesterday, so Smoltzie will be out there for a while.

133. well, their both Texans ...

133- funny.

lets hurry up and get 5 innings in shall we? we dont want this 4 run explosion to go to waste.

137- Have you smiled yet?

133 - okay guys, lets leave that topic alone, kent's problem is that everyone doesn't drive trucks and race motorcyles....

143- Loney must like dirt bikes.

Bobby Cox will tell Smoltz to take his sweet time out there. Braves will result to stalling tactics.

Whose with me, I say bring up Joel, and put J.D. in center and Cruz in right when we finally can get down to 11 pitchers

145 - what, the Braves are going to go to the Four corner defense or will everyone imitate Nomar at the plate?

not with the way repko is hitting. we need his bat in the lineup!

Francoeur will be back in AAA at some point this year.

146
If i had to bring up an outfielder id rather bring up Ethier before joel. Joel needs to work on his contact skills.

penny has shown like 3 new pitches since last year.

any word on Penny's velocity?

Is it just me or does Penny seem to be throwing harder than usual? Kinda reminds me of how he was throwing when we first traded for him.

That sux Kcal isn't showing the MPH on Penny's pitches.

In general, teams don't use stalling tactics if there is inclement weather. The main reason for this is that it's against the rules and the umpire can forfeit the game if he thinks that stalling is going on.

I thought this place was supposed to be a pitcher's park.

nice swing McCann.

That was a great at bat my McCann.

156.???
have you been paying any attention to this season yet? 14 runs in the first 10 innings.

It's not a pitcher's park when it's a nice, warm night like tonight!

what about yesterday?

159. Mueller hit a RBI single to right, and Repko his a RBI single to left

161 Yes, I was referring to the 26 runs in 10 1/3 innings.

watch those hands smoltzy.

165Whoops, I missed the reference. My bad.

well, Loney throws a pretty mean sinker

Hmmm, using a handle of "witheredgrizzly" and making statements that are meant to rile oldbear up, sounds fishy to me...

well, Loney throws a pretty mean sinker

he use to be a pretty good pitching prospect

Thanks Bobby. Buntin on 3-1....

doesn't brad penny moonlight as a blue collar stand up comedian?

Kenji Johjima has homered in his first two MLB games.

I'd say there's about a 97.6% chance we see Lance Carter tonight.

78.2% chance for Seo.

hey witheredgrizzly, mocking another poster is not tolerated here.

anyways, the ball has been really carrying these last two games. wierd...

Penny should thank Bobby Cox for helping him get out of that inning.

171. wasnt he considered the 2nd best HS LHP coming in to the draft?

seo pitched an inning on saturday.

its been 3 days and it was only an inning so he could probably go.

id rather see seo then carter.

wasnt he considered the 2nd best HS LHP coming in to the draft?

i dont think so. he had a 2nd round grade as a pitcher coming out. not a lot of teams looked at him as a hitter but logan white saw something he liked.

okay its raining now...

152 From Turner South:
FB: 95-92 MPH
CB: 77 MPH
CH: ?? MPH

The Dodgers dont have any long relievers. Penny has thrown 58 through 2 IP.

Hopefully this game is called after 5.

Ooh!! The tarp crew.... This should be fun!!

ahh a dodger win wasnt meant to be...

Cripes. Looks like a DH tomorrow.

Odalis and Tomko tomorrow? That should be interesting.

Odalis and Tomko tomorrow? That should be interesting.

new here, hello all. how many dodger games have been rained out in their LA history? anyone know a stat on that?

witheredgrizzly

please stop.

194 Haven't they been saying 19?

I thought I heard 17 rainouts in DS history.

sorry, not watching on tv. keeping up via the net and this place while studying in library.. :/

re penny: well he was throwing strikes and i read above that his velocity was in the mid 90s. you're right about figuring in some luck. that can be tempered by the players' defensive prowess and if yesterday was any indicator, looks like we won't be losing as many outs to the left side of the infield this year.

Izzy to the outfield.

If the game is rained out today, do they pick it up tomorrow where they left off? Or do they start over?

i don't like izzy in the outfield w/ that reconstructed elbow...

205. They start over.

hey oldbear: do they count the players individual stats from the innings that were played? no debut BB for loney in the books?

WG:
Anything new to add, or are you just going to rebroadcast OB's greatest hits?

milton just popped up. i love that guy.

what's the story on the rain? is it just passing through, or is this gonna turn into a PPD?

game on!?!?

i live a stones throw from the stadium and the rain has let up over here.

i'm downtown and it's stopped for the moment here as well...

"I don't say yes, I don't say no," said Izturis. "They haven't 100 percent decided where I'm going to play. He didn't mention second base, not to me. He said outfield for this year. For the first time, it shocked me a little bit. I've never played outfield before. He said, 'We need you in the lineup.' That part is good. I'll just wait and see what happens."

This makes no sense. Why would the Dodgers' "need" for Izturis in the lineup be so great that they would consider putting him in the outfield just to make sure he's in there? Is his offense that good?

which school library you at ninja?

219
Copy and paste...?

not a bad idead WG but
1) sub 2:1 SO/BB last year is not a good sign, regardless of division
2) why would TBJ's make that trade? do they have 8.7 mil to burn?

From the NWS Short range reflectivity:

There seems to belight rain to the west of DS, then clear band out over the harbor for about 10 miles, followed by a moderately heavy band that extends from about ten miles offshore to Santa Cruz Island.

Cones: loyola law school. go lions!

of course its copy and paste.

this guy has no class whatsoever. you are annoying the whole community here and i am getting really sick of it. please stop or leave. this is getting to the point where i cant even come here anymore because of the crap being posted here.

Game on, but maybe not for long.

ninja, im a 3L at loyola law.

228 - He's lucky Jon is at the game.

I swear, they really did play for about 5 minutes. Furcal grounded out.

tiny, tiny world cones. 2LE here. congrats on your upcoming grad, i hope (?) :)

hey cones and ninja, i'm a college senior trying to pick between pepperdine and loyola for law school. i know this isn't the forum, but what would you guys say makes loyola the better choice?

do we have to just get the top half of the 5th inning done or the whole inning for it to be official?

230- That's enough out of you, don't you think?

Thanks ninja. 3 years of legal education is enough for me.

You know.... This game might get in tonight. The storm seems to be moving SW==>NE and after the big band passes, there doesn't seem to be anything.

Sweet. Play ball.

237 I believe it has to go 5 full innings.

I'd like to also add my voice to the mix: grizzly, knock it off.

237
If the home team is ahead after the top of the 5th, the game could end and be official. If the away team is ahead, they have to play the bottom half for it to be official.

237 - Just the top half if the home team is leading.

work quick penny! no more deep counts.

Pepperdine is a politically conservative school. Loyola definitely has a liberal faculty. If that makes a difference. Loyola is also closer to downtown, which makes internships/jobs easier to get to.

243, 244, and 246. I stand corrected. Though I'm not sure why you felt like correcting me twice, wg.

nice work penny!

re nick's law school decision: email me @ ninjavshippo at yahoo dot com and i can give you a more in depth review of LLS v. pepp.

Penny is looking hot.

If Flanders puts Izturis in the outfield, everyone here will become Repko fans.

Just got the following email from my friend who works for the National Weather Service here in SoCal.

I started watching the Dodger game but I knew it was going to rain eventually. I see they've pulled the tarp to restart the game but based on radar it's not going to last long. There's some pretty good rain headed their way. They might get another inning in tops before it starts raining heavily again. I wonder if they look at the radar because I'm surprised they would make the effort with heavy rain just off the coast

its either a base hit or a strikout penny. so far, more Ks then basehits so all is well.

They're trying to get the game in because McCourt doesn't want a doubleheader tomorrow and it'd be tough, schedule-wise, to work a makeup game in down the line.

Hopefully we can get 5 in....

251 thanks a lot

257 - See... There's this TV show called "The Simpsons"...

smoltz is going deep into counts on purpose. i can sense it!

Yeah, I thought Smoltz was throwing balls on purpose.

Rain is hitting the coast at Santa Monica.

ESPN's Gamecast says Loney bats (undeclared). Needless to say, they don't have a picture of him either.

is it raining at all? i cant tell.

loney!!! i am smiling right now.

OK... Now it has to go official. How much would it suck for Loney to say he got first hit off of John Smoltz but the game was rained out?

telemachos: the mlb gameday thingy linked in the blog here DOES have a pic of loney and it says he bats LH... ;)

jeez.. a BB and a single in his 1st 2 ABs? hee sop who?

Here is the local LA real-time radar shot of the big storm cell sitting just off the coast.

http://tinyurl.com/r9fl4

seriously. if there really is a big blue dodger man int he sky, this game has to go at least 4 and half innings.

Stop getting hits!

re 269

thats a pretty ugly picture. i did hear that this is a very slow moving storm so maybe it will slow down a bit more..

wow repko with another hit, are you kidding me?

I know nothing of weather prediction (Although, if the local ABC news is to be trusted, even trying to predict the weather without something called a Doppler is fruitless. Don't even try it.), but I'm really hoping that tomorrow night's game isn't rained out. I have skybox tickets, and a rain-out would stink. I mean, really.

268 MLB is clearly ahead of ESPN, then. ESPN's pic of Navarro is from his Yankee days. (!)

Great to see Loney get his first hit. And Mueller is laying a claim to Kent's title as RBI Machine. :)

but I'm really hoping that tomorrow night's game isn't rained out. I have skybox tickets, and a rain-out would stink. I mean, really.

coachjpark bought out the whole right field pavilion for tomorrow night...

i'd be worried about smoltz for the braves, but then again, he was awful in his 1st game as a starter last year too...

Until Martin is called up, Loney is my new favorite Dodger. He looks like he's enjoying it.

The players just need to swing at the first pitch and hit weak grounders so we can get this game in.

an inning and a half to go... im crossing my fingers.

Loney the Kid!

It will probably start raining in a half-inning or so, then they'll need to wait about an hour to an hour and a half to let it pass...

Funny how excited you can get with a prospect since youve been following him for a while.

277. Well, I'm not exactly happy about it, but Smoltz has earned a bit more confidence than that. It's still early, I expect he is just getting into the swing of things. It also wasn't really the best of conditions tonight for a pitcher to make his first start of the year. I just would like for him to go long enough into this game to avoid having to work our bullpen too hard. Or they could call it after 4 1/2. That wouldn't be the worst outcome, I suppose.

maybe we can get another string of ROYs w/ Loney/Martin/LaRoche.. :D

okay.. must.. put down.. kool-aid...

It's early but...
ESPN's GameCast > MLB's Gameday.
Maybe I'm just a sucker for animation.

smotlz's pitches looked sharp, he just couldnt locate.

Nice debut for loney so far, i just wish he would develop power.
He's a john olerud type right now.

288
If he had power, Flanders would trade him.

Penny looking good so far. Wish Lowe wouldve had half the nuts Penny is showing tonite.

He's a john olerud type right now.

there is seriously nothing wrong with a john olerud type hitter.

288, except for the all-time batting helmet.

288 - And the last time the Dodgers had a first baseman of Olerud's caliber was...?

Id take a young Olerud over anything we have had the last 3+ years.

287 Yeah, I'm willing to give a 39 year old a game or two to get back to his usual form. Plus, you have to give credit to the Dodger's hitters for taking advantage of Smotlz's command troubles. It wasn't like he was giving base hits away out there.

1 more inning!

291

there is seriously nothing wrong with a john olerud type hitter.

I agree.
I just like power hitters more.

Penny does look sharp. I've honestly never really watched him much, but he seems to have good stuff.

re 295

i agree. if i were a braves fan, i wouldnt worry about smoltz. he was/is/will be a complete stud. just rough conditions.

rain or not, if the blue keep hitting like this, we'll get to the sweet spot of the braves' pitching staff.. the bullpen :D then, let the stats-padding begin..

281 -- Loney already has a nick-name, given to him by the vets in 2005 spring training : "J-Lo." Does his bum look big?

Penny does look sharp. I've honestly never really watched him much, but he seems to have good stuff.

last yr he was very timid to let his cb and fb fly because of the bicep nerve injury. this year, penny says the injury is behind him so he can get a little more velocity on his fb and a little more bite on his cb.

hes developed a change up and slider that hes thrown a couple times tonight as well.

If you are 21years old and are a Olerud type, than thats pretty damn good. I think its way to early to tell how much power he will develop he's still young and looks like he could add a bit more muscle to his body.

That was a good, let's hurry up, at bat by Furcal.

you cant stop jose cruz jr, you can only hope to contain him.

305
XD n1...

Cruz and Repko! Who are these guys?!

Anyone else notice Drew has the dirt/grass stain on the same exact parts of his pants everygame? Casual obervation...

JCtD?

Anyone thinking that not having old man lofton in the 2 spot is helping our offense.
I mean think about it, if lofton was playing he would be hitting 2nd, but since repko is playing he is at the bottom of the order.
Not that i'm praising that repko is playing.

2 quick questions.

1. Why didnt Smoltz start yesterday? Did they set the rotation so he could start the home opener?

2. Why is there always a day off in between a lot of the opening series?

(I guess thats 3 Q's)

Here is an excerpt from todays dodger notes on Loney:

I've worked hard for this," said Loney, who reeled off thank you's to pretty much everybody in the organization from the owner on down. "I figured when they called me up, I'd be ready."

Loney studied video of Smoltz before the game.

Little inserted Loney into Garciaparra's No. 5 spot in the batting order, protecting Kent, a tall order. But Little said he rejected his other option, dropping No. 2 hitter Jose Cruz Jr. into the fifth spot, because Cruz had four hits in the two-hole on Monday, and the skipper liked the way Furcal and Cruz set the table at the top of the order.

Little said he would "mix and match" Loney with right-handed hitter Olmedo Saenz at first base until Garciaparra returns, and he wouldn't rule out the possibility that Loney's stay could be extended depending on performance.

"Once a guy puts on a uniform, sometimes he forces you to make decisions you didn't plan on," he said. "Hopefully, he does something that makes it tough for us to make that decision."

302 What's his story? Looking at his numbers on bbref, he looks like he's been pretty hit or miss, both with regards to effectiveness and innings pitched. Has he been nagged with injuries at times, or did his managers just not trust him some years or what?

3 more outs!

Most cold weather cities where rain is an issue leave a day open after Opening Day in case there is a rainout.

311
i think i read something about there being a passing of the torch in the ATL, basically that Hudson is the consensus #1 guy there now.

I believe the Dodgers will need 15 more outs to win this game.

Loney could be a Renteria type hitter, average pop but a good hitter. Id be happy with that

317 - Twelve of those outs may be taken care of by that band of rain marching across the west side on NWS's radar.

Thank you Bob and ninja.

okay. rain...commence!

312 Interesting. Grittle seems open to the idea of Loney staying at first.

311 Smoltz didn't start the opener because he was wearing down at the end of last year and might not have been able to even pitch if we had beaten the Astros in the NLDS. This year they decided to take steps to limit his workload some. Last year he was our workhorse and really carried us down the stretch and it was just about too much for his arm after those years of closing. They want Hudson to step into that role this year, so he got the Opening Day start. They may skip Smoltz a few times too, when the off days work out. He also had a tendency to go deeper in the games than was perhaps necessary in the middle of the season, just out of sheer competitiveness and because of the bullpen struggles we had. They want the bullpen and Hudson to step up so that perhaps we can avoid that this time around. As for your other question, I have no answer there.

at 6'3'' he would seem to have the height at least for 1B

The last Dodgers home game that didn't go the full nine innings, but still counted was on September 10, 1954 against the Braves.

They won 2-1 in 4 1/2 innings.

They've had close to two dozen roads games shortened by weather since then.

The rain just returned to my house in the hills above Vine and Franklin.

That wasn't so impressive, but Loney's done good enough that I won't complain

Well forget the Loney for ROY campaign. LOL

If Loney becomes Edgar Renteria, then he should be left in the minors for four more years, and traded by opening day 2012.

324 - Huh??

/takes loney rookie card out of it's commemorative plaque..

I guess the A's don't have as much faith in A. Perez's shortstop skills as originally thought; DT pseudo-whipping boy Marco Scutaro is starting for the injured Crosby today.

J-Lo's pretty slick with the mit.

smooth play by Loney there

*For the first time, manager Grady Little addressed what to do with Izturis when he returns, saying the Gold Glove Award-winning shortstop could show up at his normal position if Rafael Furcal gets hurt, at second base "if Jeff Kent moves to first base" or the outfield. Little said he just wants to get Izturis back in there somewhere.
"Wherever we can to get him in the game as quickly as possible," he said. "We're real optimistic the way he's progressing."*

Please tell me that when grady said he wants to get izturis in the game as quick as possible, its because they want to show other teams that izturis is healthy so we can trade him.

Wow, he sure made that scoop look easy.

Nice dig by Loney

Perez played yesterday, so I assume they are giving Scutaro his turn.

Rain about to cross the Harbor Freeway south of the Santa Monica.

(That's 110 south of 10 for those of you who use the numbers.)

I will call upon my vast God-like powers to turn the rain around.

Or perhaps head it off to the San Gabriel Valley.

Seriously, does anyone care if it rains in Rosemead?

Yo MSarg!! Long time no see. Lovely weather we've been having around here, eh?

would they really rain delay this game into the wee hours of the night? it's 9:21 and they're only in the bottom of the 6th

335. outfield? is this mike edwards all over again? or would it be jose valentin all over again, I cant tell. Last year really sucked.

68% of Dodger fans are very optimistic.

Of course, these are the same people who are willing to pay 50 cents to express their opinion.

hey, Chuck James, good night for prospect hounds.

cox taking out starters cause of rainand injury potential. Little should do the same.

329
If Loney can hit like 2003 Renteria I wouldn't be mad. 13homers 100rbis 330avg 394obp, thats pretty solid, it doesn't matter how you bring in the runs so long as you bring them in.

Personally Id like him to turn into Derrek Lee. Still too early to tell though.

They'd wait at least an hour. Both teams still have to play here tomorrow.

holy cow, Repko draws a walk from Chuck James of all people.

CapDodger, thanks for the shout out. I've been lurking for awhile. Glad to be back.
Weather looks crappy, its been a little better here in DC.

a real hitter has taken over jason repkos body.

345 Indeed, I'm excited about this kid. I hope he gets a chance to succeed as more than just a LOOGY. I think I'd take him over Horacio Ramirez right now for the lefty spot in the rotation.

chuck james has a dynamite change up. thats his bread and butter.

Check out Roger Clemens' quote.

Clemens, who broke down late last season with injuries, said he felt fine after the WBC and left the tournament impressed by the quality of the international teams.

But he made a questionable comment when speaking about the devotion of the Japanese and South Korean fans.

"None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea," Clemens said. "So we couldn't get any dry cleaning done out there, but I guess the neatest thing is that 50,000 of them were at Anaheim Stadium."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2397288

351. shhh! youll jinx it.

352 But he's looking a little rough tonight. I hope we can get our pitching staff settled in here soon. Not that I'm worried yet, it would just be a little easier on the nerves.

347 Derek Lee? Why not Albert Pujols? or Lou Gerhig?

347- Right. 2003 Renteria. 2002 wasn't half bad (not up to par for a 1B, but nothing to turn one's nose up at), either. Those are the two years he put up that were good enough to deserve a spot at 1B. If Loney's going to be him (which I don't believe he will be), then those are the only two years he should spend on the big team.

Though it was hit foul, I liked that call by Grady.

I don't think I've ever met a Korean or Japanese dry cleaner in Southern California.

Maybe it's more common in New York.

351 I'm not going to complain, especially if he and Cruz do so well that Izturis gets nowhere near the OF

I'm up in the bay area so I can't see the Dodgers game. How has Loney looked? How did Penny look? Jason Repko is an offensive juggernaut!

I'm watching the A's/Yankees game and the umpires have been terrible so far.

WOW.... nice one Clemens.. my g/f is Korean and a Clemens fan. Wonder how she will feel about that one. (Her parents own a Beauty supply...lol)

I equally disliked the next call by Grady.

353 Everyone just wants to know whether his extreme flyball tendencies will turn into homerun tendencies at the major league level.

360
Koreans are not welcome in LA.

Koreans are welcomed in L.A. if they can pitch, but not if they play first base.

360 - I can tell you it is certainly common in NY,NJ, and the DC area.

my mlb.tv just died.

I've never seen a Japanese owned dry cleaner in Socal. Plenty of Korean owned ones, though. And what's up with the Cambodian owned doughnut shops and Vietnamese own nail salons? Sorry, but some of the stereotypes are true...LOL.

I'm Korean, BTW...

I've never seen a Japanese owned dry cleaner in Socal. Plenty of Korean owned ones, though. And what's up with the Cambodian owned doughnut shops and Vietnamese owned nail salons? Sorry, but some of the stereotypes are true...LOL.

I'm Korean, BTW...

Okay, not down with the Blue Man Group between innings.

Maaan, there is no one at the game right now.

350 Weather looks crappy, its been a little better here in DC.

That's what I was talking about.
Cap = Capital

nice change by seo

367 - LOL

Gotcha Cap - Little punchy, staying up late watching the Dodgers.

Loney from what I've seen of him in AA is no slappie hitter.He goes with the pitch which is a plus.Lots of young guys try to pull everything and end up getting ate up by outside pitches(Can anyone say Beltre)I saw him turn on a couple pitches when the situation demanded it.I think his hand injuries slowed him alot for a couple years,but he has a big upside as a hitter.His defense is outstanding.

The two other games going right now are really good.

Yankees and Oakland tied in the 8th with Rowdy Kyle Farnsworth facing Frank Thomas.

Angels down one against Seattle.

Yeah, I think Grady Little probably ought to pull Kent and maybe Drew. You guys don't want one of those guys to hurt themselves on some stupid rain-induced injury, especially with a 4 run lead.

supposedly Loney shows much more raw power during batting practice ...

Langerhans probably cant believe he swung through that pitch.

Seo... Wooops!!!

we dont have enough bench players to start pulling players lol.

Having people of certain ethnicities predominate certain professions is a longstanding tradition in the U.S.

If you're an immigrant, you want a job. So you ask someone you know, who is usually of the same ethnicity, for a job. And so on and so on.

Eventually, a group will do well enough economically that it will drift up the economic ladder and then find itself in different professions.

Irish, Germans, Japanese, Chinese are all good examples of how the process works.

381 Not the most ringing endorsement. Remember how Piazza and Billy Ashley had contests during BP to see who could hit the most balls out of the stadium?

Dang, too bad Lowe wasn't pulled out early in favor of Seo yesterday.

Hey, does someone want to remind me why Grittle (oh, and everyone at the Mets) seems to adverse to using Seo as a starter? I don't get it.

big shout out from the Braves announcers for the Dodger ground crew.

The slick-fielding Angels have made four errors tonight.

386 Well, Piazza didn't turn out so bad.

388 The Mets hate all of their young starters (see Heilman, Aaron). So that explains half of it.

388
Because Perez and Tomko are "proven" starters.

One gets the sense that if you cloned Seo, and he (they) started for opposing teams in the same game, said game would be over in about 45 minutes.

That's the good thing about having a legitamate starting pitcher(not a sele type) as a long reliever.
And that's why i'm hoping eventually this season billingsley takes tomko's spot and moves tomko to long reliever.
I just think a legit starting pitcher as a long reliever makes your pen better.

386. i agree completely. I dont think Loney will ever become a big power threat. If he can settle in as a .290/.370/.475 type hitter in Dodger Stadium, Ill be happy.

Well Seo doesn't have the "stuff" to profile as a prototypical starter, plus I imagine his time with the WBC as well as his proven versatility pushed him to the bullpen early.
Mind you I am looking forward to seeing him in the rotation.

There was the changeup.

Braves havent really figured out that with the rain they should start swinging at borderline pitches.
The umps want to go home.

354. wow, pretty ignorant comment by Clemens. Somehow I'm not too surprised. Must've gone to the same school as John Rocker. vr, Xei

Seo is in the bullpen because the dodgers dont need a fifth starter for a while, not becaue Grittle has some problem with him. Once they need a fifth starter again, hell be in the rotation. Well have enough stuff to critisize Little for, we dont need to be making stuff up.

The Dodgers must not have sold many tickets to the May 10 or May 22 games if they are going to give them away to anyone who sticks out tonight.

401- Good point

Dodger win expectancy is 96% after the A.Jones double. vr, Xei

Homer for Tim Salmon tonight for the Angels. Good to see that.

Seo should throw the next pitch over the backstop and get this game called due to rain.

told you...

You know, Adam LaRoche seems to hurt us a lot.

Wow, I was almost sure that we were about to pack it in. Sweet.

We were cruising along a little too comfortably.

Win expectancy down to 87.6% after that blast. vr, Xei

There was a guy at the LF pavillion yesterday who bought $112 worth of cracker jack's and started throwing them around to folks. Then the same guy started throwing dollar bills around.

Now coachjpark gives away free seats in the RF pavillion for tomorrows game.

Somebody pinch me.

Bradley leads off with a walk for the A's. Tied in the bottom of the 9th.

Do we bring in Gagne in the rain?

An Oakland sacrifice!

Hrmm.. guess it was a good idea not to pull Kent and Drew because of that insurmountable 4 run lead.

I doubt Gagne would pitch in these conditions. He wasn't warming up. It was Baez and Hamulack warming up.

414 Gagne's serving a two-game suspension, so no. I think the radio said Baez is warming up.

Gagne is serving his suspension.

Marco Scutaro doubles home Bradley to win it in Oakland 4-3.

Scutaro doubles in Bradley. Oakland wins.

416 I suppose so. But my point was not really that the lead was insurmontable, just that it was fairly comfortable and the conditions were great for some sort of freak injury. Second game of the season isn't that important.

Scrappy!

I forgot about the suspension. Sorry.
You can't stop Repko....only hope to contain him.

Hey Nate Maxwell, is it too soon to say the Bravos miss Leo?

Who is this #17? The goatee looks familiar.

we have to ride repko until he runs out of hits.

I suppose it's time to move Repko up to the 3 hole.

Repko just won't stop. He just needs to keep this up, keep Izzy in the infield

425 Yes, far too soon. It's only the second game.

classic Joe Torre bad move: Rivera dosen't enter tie game in bottom of 9th, Joe "saves" Mo for anticipated 10th that never arrives, Yanks lose with Proctor on mound, their 4th best reliever....

Seattle beat the Angels 10-8 so this is the last game going.

Murray must have changed Repko's stance a little. He looks a little lower to the ground and his feet are a little more separated. I like the results, not that he can go the entire season like this, but I think he'll be a lot more consistant as long as he keeps the stance.

We could of used some insurance.

Repko for comeback player of the year!

429 I'm messin with ya. I hadn't used my Jump To Conclusions Matt in 5 months.

Thanks for 323 btw.

Who spells Danny with one n and an s?

436 Cubans?

435 No problem.

No Gagne?

436 Must be.

439 He's serving his suspension

Memo to self: Read, then post.

I think Baez's name would normally have the "s" pronounced, but he's likely just changed the pronunciation to "Danny" in the U.S.

A spark of life for the Braves.

Repko did a good job of nearly giving Betemit a double

It couldn't be 1-2-3 huh

You can only hope to contain Repko indeed...

Gamys Over!?

443 That makes sense.

[445] explain for those tv-deprived of us.

Poor Baez. He had to live in Winnipeg!

did repko almost blow the game?

450 Line single in front of Repko, he dove to get it, missed, and kicked it

GAEMEZ OVER

Gamys Over indeed!

ESPN changed Clemens' quote

Same link (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2397288)

Remembering back to a Japan-South Korea game in Anaheim, Calif., Clemens said he took clothes to a dry cleaners and was told he wouldn't get them back for nearly a week.

"They said, 'You've got no chance,' they told me," Clemens said. "I said, 'I'm going to get it tomorrow, right?' And then she goes, `No chance, we're going to the game.' So we couldn't get dry cleaning done out there, but I guess the neatest thing about them was there were about 50,000 of them at Anaheim Stadium, Korea and Japan.

450 Or for those of us who had GameDay Audio kick out after one down in the ninth. Grr.

Dodger magic number is down to 154. Or something like that. vr, Xei

Repko the Home Depot player of the game.

Betemit on first, two outs, but Baez whiffs Marcus Giles for the save. Nice pitching for the Dodgers, for the most part. Hope tomorrow is a little drier.

ah, thanks. well, we won anyway. and at least he's hitting well.

Did everyone's gameday audio go out? Here in St. Louis it went out just as the ninth started.

[456] now that is hilarious. "sorry clemens, we're gonna go watch some baseball. find someone else to take care of your dirty laundry."

Chris Donnels is on Outside the Lines on ESPN talking about Amphetamines in baseball.

Jeff Shaw is back!

Jeff Shaw is back!

The Dodgers magic number is 162.

Great pitching for the Dodgers tonite.
13K's 0 walks.

great pitching except for the 2 homeruns.

a know a lot of people here dont want to say it or admit it (including me), but repko seriously looks like a different hitter then last year.

much more patient, much more selective.

467. How do you figure?
vr, Xei

Since I know you're all dying to know, Mr. Burns' original team.

C: Gabby Hartnet
1B: Cap Anson
2B: Nap Lajoie
3B: Pie Traynor
SS: Honus Wagner
LF: Shoeless Joe Jackson
CF: Harry Hooper
RF: Jim Creighton
P: Three Finger Brown

Repko

It was pretty amazing that the game didn't get rained out or delayed more than it did. We got around 9 inches of rain in some of the local mountains from this storm and non-homogeneous rainfall is just starting to hit again. Go Dodgers!
vr, Xei

Repko feels the pressure of Babe Izturis, coming to take his spot.

You know, Adam LaRoche seems to hurt us a lot

I'll never forget his first homer against the Dodgers. Grand Slam after Tracy leaves Weaver in. Then Bradley in the bottom of the 8th hit a Grand Slam.

LaRoche has hit at least 3 HR's at DS. 1 Grand Slam, a 3runHR, and a 2run HR.

Lots of promising starts, albeit after only two games, with excitement around Penny, Baez, Drew, Mueller, Loney and Repko, even Alomar. Wow, a week ago I'd have said that list is way too optimistic. Maybe Lowe can get his head and off-field act together quickly.

The Dodgers have 160 games to play. They are -1 in the loss column to Arizona and Colorado.

Magic Number = Games to be played + 1 - games ahead in loss column.

160 + 1 - (-1) = 162

Repko!

Dodgers Win!!!

wow they showed a clip of the bonds show on sportscenter. he starts crying and cussing. very emotional clip.

481- Just like someone on the roids would do.

I think what the Dodgers should do is let Loney play everyday up here. Tomorrow Horacio Ramirez (a LHP) is pitching for the Braves. Instead of just assuming someone cant hit lefties, I hope Grits keeps Loney in and lets him get comfortable being in the lineup everyday.

As for Izzy in CF...all I'll say is it'd give me something to watch for the sheer curiosity factor. Not sure what the Dodgers are thinking in making Izzy a CF'er, but it at least is out of the box thinking. Way way out of the box.

It sounds like Izzy just wants to play SS. Why doesnt he just accept a demotion to Vegas and play SS there, until the Dodgers find a trade for him?

Converting him to a CF'er is crazy.

Maybe dsfan was onto something about Furcal being a CF'er. He just had his GG SS's confused.

481 You mean SportsCenter was pimping another ESPN show? I'm shocked; shocked, I say.

470- Anybody watching can see it. I just don't know whether to believe it, yet. What happened that he's suddenly not swinging at crap? Was he wearing the wrong contact lenses last year, too?

Upon a review of tonight's game, a good night to be at the ballpark I see.

What is up with the Repko love. Did everyone already forget how he tore it up last April? That is why I wasn't worried about Repko being our CF while Lofton is healing.

Great Clipper victory tonight. They were down by 20 at halftime and then rallied to beat Denver, their possible playoff opponent. Denver made their first 11 shots of the game. Dunleavy benched Cassel and Mobley to start the 2nd half and Livingston was awesome and Radmonovich went 3 point crazy getting us back into the game. Sorry I missed the Dodger game, it sounded like a good one.

re 485

hes just not swinging at balls; especially the breaking ball away.

his stance is wider. maybe its eddie murray, maybe its repko adjusting. i just hope he can keep it up.

re 487

its just his approach is completely different then last year. even though last yr he was tearing it up, he was still hacking, swinging early in counts and getting Ked on the low and away breaking ball.

8ABs incredibly small, but the adjustment hes making should be noteworthy.

487- Was he an April-only hitter in the minors?

He's no different in the field. All that swearing on the tv in the ninth inning was me. But I was intrigued by a Repko that could hit more than a down and in fastball.

last year, repko hit this in april:

.239/.327/.522 3bb 11k

And Loney will be fine. He's going to have nine homeruns and 100 RBIs.

Entirely possible if he hit 5th and Kent, Drew, Furcal, and Cruz played everyday.

478, 471 When I do it in my head, I use a different formula for Magic Number that doesn't require calculating how many games are left:

163 - Dodger wins - Rival losses.

Just remember that before any games are played, any combination of 163 Dodger wins/Rival losses will ensure that the Dodgers finish ahead of their rivals. 162 will guarantee a tie, because if the Dodgers go 162-0 they can still be tied by another team going 162-0 (scheduling notwithstanding). 163 guarantees a better record.

The Brewers are my new 2nd favorite club. Hope Sheets get healthy so they can make a run at the Cardinals this year.

Funniest thing I've read so far is that Izzy is being moved to the outfield. Come on Twins make an offer, you don't need Kubel, he's a hitter with a bum knee, you should give up on him. You'd be much better off with a slick fielding, slap hitting SS, then with a bum knee line drive machine in RF. If you think Castro is good wait tell you see this Izzturis guy. You can never have enough of them.

492
Check out what he did in April at home:)

However, the Dodgers effective magic number is lower. If the Dodgers were to win out and go 161-1 the Diamondbacks, Padres and Rockies would all have 18-19 losses.

As for Izzy in CF...all I'll say is it'd give me something to watch for the sheer curiosity factor. Not sure what the Dodgers are thinking in making Izzy a CF'er, but it at least is out of the box thinking. Way way out of the box.

That's so far out of the box, that's not even in the warehouse in which the box is being stored. Still, it would be fun to see...

Got to go to tonight's game! Kind of a surprise to start the day in court and end it with Randy Newman singing I Love LA.

Penny looked filthy. Seo was baffling them until, suddenly, he lost it. Yes, Repko looks so much better at the plate, but his fielding looks, if anything, more tentative than last season. Baez got a smattering of boos (it would've been worse if the crowd wasn't so small by then), but I have to say, he looked like a rough ride for hitters.

The same volume of rain that halted the game earlier was falling steadily during the later innings, and the game went on. In fact, it was worse due to the wind and suddenly fallen temps. I didn't hear any post-game news, but I have to assume Little didn't want Gagne to pitch on that field in that chill.

The seat colors are weird! Is this really what Walter O'Malley created back in '62? It looked like the stadium was invaded by a Restoration Hardware SWAT team.

Also, it was very nice to see James Loney's first ML hit. The fans like him. Trade Nomar!

Now I see, Gagne was under suspension.

Lowe is taking amphetamines!!!

http://tinyurl.com/g8y7c

I didn't see the first part of the game. Was Loney's single a clean hit?

504 Yes. It was not weather-aided like Drew's second hit.

There are a few players who are allowed to take drugs like Ritalin. Adam La Roche is one. Scott Eyre does as well.

loneys hit was a hard hit line drive to right field off a 3-2 smoltz slider.

I miss living in LA. I can't see Clippers games anymore, except those on National TV and I don't want to buy mlb.tv this year, but I need to get good grades this semester. The Clippers made a huge comeback after being down by 20.

Repko has definitely improved his approach at the plate. From what I saw of him on Monday, he wasn't chasing outside breaking balls. If he starts going the other way, he might actually be a respectable hitter. How does Navarro look? I know he walked twice tonight, but his poor spring has me worried about how he's going to do this season. I'm glad that teams aren't running wild on the Dodgers yet (I know it's only been two games and against a team that isn't likely to steal a lot of bases).

30% and 50% chance for rain is certainly better than 100%....

I'm guessing that 596 of the 1000 tickets I had will show tomorrow... perhaps that's being overly optimistic...

508 Navarro looked OK. GiDP in first AB was a rocket, but right at Giles. Just bad luck on that one.

I also thought that Penny was getting a wide strike zone that Smoltz wasn't getting. If that's true, then Navarro might have had something to do with it...

Loney draws comparisons to J.T. Snow and Wes Parker in the new Henson article. Great.

512 -- Henson was camparing Loney to Parker and Snow DEFENSIVELY, as should be clear by the use of the adjective "silky." Very high praise.

512- I don't know whether he's talking about defense only, and neither do you. It could be, but since he started a new paragraph (and, since he's not Plaschke, paragraphs presumably mean something to him), it seems more likely that he's speaking broadly. Also, if he'd meant only to compare their gloves, it'd have been super easy to do that. "Silky style," may bring out the cryptographer in you, but I would be gobsmacked if your interpretation is the prevalent one.

Doing a little googling, doesn't look like many people are enamored of the metaphor, generally, for baseball, but those who are seem to lean decisively toward the construction, "silky-smooth swing." Google Tip: the search "baseball 'silky style'," will return an Australian lingerie model website, among 138 others.

513 -- Speak for yourself: I DO know that Henson is talking about defense. I have never heard a swing called "silky" (WITHOUT the word modifying the word "smooth", that is) in my entire life. However, I have heard the word "silky" (alone) used to describe defensive play many times. I doubt a Google search is going to yieled transcripts from radio and TV announcers and sportscasters.

Aside from the word "silky," there is the entire context of the statement. From the context, Henson was clearly paying Loney a compliment. Comparing Loney to Parker and Snow defensively is consistent with a compliment. Comparing Loney with Parker and Snow offensively would be consistent with a put-down.

I think it is clear that the Choi die-hards (not the Choi "well-wishers," because before the Garciaparra signing made the question moot, I certainly supported Choi and wanted him given a chance under Colletti) -- I think the Choi die-hards are going to do everything they can to pooh-pooh Loney and anything he does well, the way people around here used to groan every time Repko got a hit or made a good play, believing that anything Repko did right undermined the all-important cause of getting rid of Repko. If the Choi die-hards want the Dodgers to look bad for waiving Choi, if they want the Dodgers to be thinking "40-Homer Slugger" when they contemplate the future of first base in this organization, it is obviously in the interests of these people that Loney fail, and fail in spectacular fashion. Contrary to the sort of nonsense one reads on Dodger Math lately, the Dodgers didn't absent-mindedly waive Choi anticipating that nothing could possibly go wrong with Garciaparra's health. The Dodgers considered the "Garciaparra goes down" scenario very carefully, and their opinion was that in Garciaparra's absence they have a lot more confidence in Loney filling in COMPETENTLY than in Choi trying to do the same. I would like to see the Choi die-hards just come out and say the "Dodgers are idiots for believing what they believe" instead of pretending to be in outright denial about what the Dodgers, as baseball professionals, in fact believe, regarding both Choi and Loney.

514- I didn't present the googling I did as definitive proof that my interpretation was correct. I mostly did it on a lark. However, if you were right, if silky=excellent defense, that should have been obvious in a quick google search. It isn't. At all.

Pretending that silky doesn't modify, implicitly, smooth seems silly, doesn't it? What would silky mean, if not particularly smooth? What other attribute of silk could possibly be relevant? Was Henson suggesting that Loney would make a lovely scarf?

I would LOVE for Loney to be useful. You compared him to Olerud the other day, and Choi bless him, I would love it. But he's not done anything, quite yet, to make that seem credible. Right? His minor league numbers are alright for as young as he's been at each stop, and considering his injuries. But he's not an obvious star in the making, and at 21, he's not, today, even an obviously average MLB 1B. His numbers aren't even Sid Bream-ian. So, while I beg your pardon over it, he'll have to actually do something before I can find cause to fall all over myself praising his glorious name. Again: I'm not projecting him to be eternally worthless. I don't know how much more clear I can be on this point. Please stop pretending that people dislike Loney, or hope to see him fail, just because they don't see fit to predict his becoming Albert Pujols's twin brother.

The Choi stuff I'd be delighted to respond to, but I can't find an argument in any of it. If Choi were playing every day, in a Dodger uniform, I'd still want Loney to succeed. I want Repko to succeed. I want Tomko to succeed. I predict that Bonds will succeed, even though I'd rather he didn't. I predict that the Yankees will succeed, even though I'd rather they didn't. See how that works? There are things I think will happen that I'd rather didn't, just as there are things I don't think will happen, even though I wish they would.

Nobody hates Loney. I've not seen any post written here that would lead me to believe that anybody hopes he will fail. Entirely the opposite. We could run a quick poll, if it would make you feel better:

Show of hands, who hates Loney? Anybody?

514. I'm a Choi die-hard, and while I will resist the temptation to speak for anyone but myself, I can state unequivocally that you are dead wrong. And offensive.

I think the Dodgers were stupid to do what they did, because I think they are wrong to believe what they believe. But it's no mystery what they believe (about Choi and Loney), and now that the deed is done, I have only the best wishes for Loney. I smiled like a proud papa when he walked today, and then roped that single. If I have any feelings about proving the Dodgers wrong, they involve Choi succeeding in Boston, nothing more.

Howzabout you stick to offering your own analysis (which I almost always find interesting) and opinions about the team (which I often find interesting) and avoid the broad-brush generalizations about anyone who disagrees with you about anything? Because one thing I rarely enjoy is your tone.

I'm imposing at least a two-day ban on myself, because I don't want to say anything more that would violate the spirit of what Jon has created here. Unbelievable.

Seems to me that Choi and Loney are apples and oranges. My sense was that Choi was considered valuable in comparison to Nomar, mostly because he cost so much less than Nomar, while being able to deliver about what we could reasonably expect Nomar to deliver.

Loney was seen as having a possible role in the Dodgers' future (some more optimistic about him than others) as the successor to Choi. If Choi didn't pan out, I think even his supporters would've been ready to see him bounced. And if Choi did pan out, he would expect much more money, dramatically changing the evaluation criteria for him compared with Loney.

The Choi-lovers on this site were, in fact, the hard-headed realists. Other than his personality, nothing about Choi was generally overpraised. It's like if you have someone working for you who you think is a decent contributor, but your boss thinks is terrible and should be fired. You defend that employee disproportionately, not because you think he's an all-star, but because the judgement against him is unduly harsh. That's where most of the pro-Choi energy came from. His detractors were over the top and missed the point of his value; and his value was instructive as to how to build a baseball team on a limited budget.

[514] i'm going to take issue with this too, although posts 515-517 did a great job representing my point of view.

1. choi is my favorite player
2. if repko turns into a good player, i will be overjoyed and more than happy to join the repko parade. if he is able to maintain his batting approach as he has shown this season, wonderful. he still gets too much credit for his "hustle" (and don't get me wrong, hustle is good, but being overcredited for it isn't), and his defense is significantly worse than people seem to acknowledge, although he has a very good arm. i hope he starts taking better routes to the ball and is steadier at catching it. if he improves in these areas, i won't be disappointed; rather, i will be pleasantly surprised. however, if he does not show long-term improvement and he is given a lot of playing time anyway, i will be upset about it.
3. i don't have very high expectations for loney in the near future. he may develop power, he may turn into olerud, both of which i would be happy with. i think he probably needs more time in the minors. if he blossoms immediately, that's wonderful, and makes the loss of choi somewhat more tolerable. i still root for choi to do well though, and i think he has the ability to be a good player, so losing him for nothing hurts. i would rather see choi than loney [at this point, at least], but i can still root for both to do well. i am a dodger fan foremost.

and since you asked: i believe the dodgers are idiots for believing what they believe.

well, not exactly idiots per se (it's your word and it's a little strong), but i believe they are wrong and misguided.

Zzzz. Must resist all Choi vs. _____ talk.... will resist... must not...

Meanwhile, I enjoyed the Yankees-A's game last night, which was swell. And my dad, a Yankees fan, left early because he had a long drive home (to Marin, not NYC) and thus he missed the Yanks losing at the end. So all worked out.

The Oakland Coliseum uses the old fashioned scoreboard for other games, which is either fun or annoying, depending on your penchant for nostalgia, but it was odd seeing the scoreboard operator put an "R" for the SF-SD game, and then I got nervous when I saw the Dodgers were up 4-1 in the 2nd, only to see an R appear there, too. I was relieved to see it disappear and "3" appear 25 minutes later. Whew!

Meanwhile x2, it was really fun to see and read about Loney's enthusiasm (thanking everyone but the Academy) and delight at playing. He may not be up very long for now, but it's fun to see.

But I will resist the above debate... must resist... better things to do... can't get sucked in...

I hope some of you, if not all, can find some joy in following this season. Here's to dryer weeks ahead, too.

One game, one hit; It's a little earky to be expecting good things everyday from Loney, but it appears he'll get a chance to play for awhile, albiet in a platoon... Nevertheless, I am not happy with him hitting fifth, not enough power. I'd hit him second and Cruz fifth; on days Saenz plays, I'd hit Mueller second and Saenz sixth. I don't think moving Mueller around in the batting order would bother him as much as it might some of the others.

520 I agree, or mostly think Mueller should bat 5th until Nomar returns. Cruz seems to be doing pretty well in the 2nd slot right now.

Btw, Guzman isn't the only top prospect being shifted to the outfield: In the No Surprise department, Justin Upton joins him --

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/news/26917.html

Who'd a thunk it, the phrase "silky style" sparks another battle in the Choinic Wars.

Mark, would you give us that program again? I've grown tired ofkicking the cat. Burnishing doesn't help either.

I posted what I did, frankly, HOPING that it would HEAD OFF what I said I could foresee happening in the future (Loney has only played ONE game in the majors, and hasn't done anything yet to get anybody riled up, but obviously there are going to be some 0-for-4 nights ahead, and I am not expecting home runs -- for a while, at least).

Is anybody even going to try to deny what I said about Repko and the way he has been treated here? Are people going to deny the existence of Project BROTHER, or however the word was capitalized, the campaign to wish for the kid to fall on his face? Are people going to deny the belittling comments, the sarcasm, even when Repko did well in the past? That does not mean that EVERYBODY has acted that way, but it has gone on, it has gone on for nearly a year, at Dodger Thoughts, and I have found it offensive and demoralizing as a Dodger fan who likes reading and contributing to Dodger Thoughts AND has really been rooting for Repko, even though I have never really expected that much from him. I have FEARED for some time that not just Loney but a few of our other prospects who do NOT fit the profile statheads like will be similarly "Repko-ed" around here, hence my defensiveness about Loney. If I have offended anyone, my apologies, but I have very strong feelings about this, and I do not hesitate to let it be known how strong those feelings are.

And this headline and subhead in Baseball America gave me momentary pause before I read it more carefully:

Rangers Get Another Arm
Dellucci goes to Phillies for Tejeda, Blalock

Wait, Texas already has Blalock, and Tej... oh, not Tejada. Pitcher Robinson Tejeda, and outfield prospect Jake Blalock.

Must get prescription checked...

522 Do you suppose that Anna Benson has silky style? Her style (and clothing) looks silky in the FHM type of pictures.

I'm with you Canuck.

Given that I am for Loney, it is probably fair to ask what in the world you are talking about.

524 There is some truth here.

Holy Mountain of Comments. This is going to be a very long season indeed if taking off DT for 24 hours means I am 850 comments over two threads, as I am right now.

Not only that but you already know that I am for loney because we have already had this increasingly pedantic discussion

526 - I think she has "skanky style", which is really more Juan Samuel than Wes Parker.

524 I'm about as pro-Choi as anybody out there. Do I believe that the Dodgers were idiots for outright releasing him? Yes. It's obvious, however, that that may have been the best route for Choi on a personal level. It's hard to argue that Loney is a better first base option TODAY than Choi would have been.

That being said, even I, of the "die-hard Choi fan" ilk, must say that I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Loney succeed. Would I have gotten rid of Choi had I been the Dodgers GM instead of Coletti? Absolutely not. Is the fact that the Dodgers waived the Korean 1B rather than give him a roster spot instead of a Ramon Martinez or Cody Ross a sunk cost? Absolutely.

I think Jon's previous post of not being as invested with Coletti's Dodgers than with DePo's Dodgers rings true with many DT posters who are "moneyball" fans.

If James Loney can hit 20 HRs and bat .300, great. If he develops into a player worth rooting for (statistically), I'll jump on the Loney bandwagon, and I certainly wouldn't be aLONE in doing so.

No matter how good Loney may become, one thing that he simply cannot provide at Dodger Stadium that Hee Seop was able to provide was the excitement generated from chanting his name.

"TROY LONE - Y" --- it just doesn't have the same ring to it...

And of course the guillotine would be put away if Scrappy McHero had misplayed that ball last night into an inside the park home run;

I think the insinuation that Choi supporters are rooting for Loney to fail is ridiculous. To paraphrase Rick Pitino - "Hee Seop Choi is not walking through that door." Only the bitterest of Choi fans would hope that the homegrown Loney doesn't play well.

In fact, I could argue that I am actually rooting for Choi to fail in Boston, so as to decrease the chances of LA winding up with JT Snow as the year progresses.

Anyone else remember this post by Jon on March 18?

Manny Mota changed Jason Repko's batting stance in September, according to Tony Jackson of the Daily News, and the dividends seemed tangible, giving credence to the notion that Repko might really be better than he showed most of 2005.

"His stance was so closed (before) that he was dropping his head," Mota said. "That was causing him to get under the pitches too much. I wanted him to try to stay on top more."
*
Could be an explanation for his early offensive outburst. Or it could just be luck. Time will tell.

scrappy McHero. Dude Steve you always make me laugh so hard.

I dont' think most people here are rooting for Loney to fail, they're just expressing concern about a 21-year-old who's never played at AAA before and put up only decent numbers at AA. It's fair to wonder whether he's ready to face the likes of Smoltz every night, his first start notwithstanding.

528, 531 -- Steve, I am not saying YOU are anti-Loney. But I think that my fears can accurately be described as being about the possibility that SOMEONE, or some group of DT posters, will start waging an anti-Loney campaign that RESEMBLES the campaign that you have undeniably waged against Repko. You are an intelligent and witty poster. You have made more than a few legitimate points about Repko. Nobody thinks his 2005 season was acceptable. But, please, just stop beating up on the poor kid. For the love of God, no more digs about "scrappiness." I sometimes think my own Repko sympathies may be just a reflexive instinct to defend the downtrodden. Every time you post about Repko, I can't help but picture you in black-and-white, a silent movie villain in a cape and top hat, twirling your moustache while you tie a helpless Repko to railroad tracks.

Meet your NL Batting AVG leader: Jason Repko

Baez needs a song.

Since all Who songs are only used for CSI's I guess "we wont get fooled again" is out

I think a good song needs a strong guitar riff

1. who made who-AC/DC
2. Iron Man by Black Sabath
3. Oyo Como Vas-Santana
4. Crazy Train-OZZY (is this Hoffmans?)
5. Breaking the Law-Judas Priest
6. Rusty Cage - Soundgarden

Other choices here:

http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_guitarriff.html

But I think that my fears can accurately be described as being about the possibility that SOMEONE, or some group of DT posters, will start waging an anti-Loney campaign that RESEMBLES the campaign that you have undeniably waged against Repko.

Who cares?

And why are you so insistent that I either confess or deny what I think about Repko? I make fairly clear what I think about Repko. For instance, he almost cost us last night's game.

539 - Look, if someone wants to start an anti-Loney campaign, that's their right. If the campaign has merit, it will stand on merit. If it doesn't, people will expose it. I can understand the impulse to protect Loney, but I think it's safe to say that it went a little overboard in 514 to suggest that Choi die-hards would root against Loney. Neither the generalization nor the logic held water at all.

For what it's worth, I never endorsed the anti-Repko project, so it's not like it took over this site. I've criticized the over-infatuation with him at times, but I've also written about the possibility that Mota fixed him, that he can improve - and just a few days ago, wrote that the counter-criticism of Repko sometimes went overboard.

I guess the irony is that in hoping other commenters would be less inflammatory, you went pretty inflammatory yourself. But overall, I think we could all be careful about our rhetoric.

New post up top. Be mellow.

It's ironic that Rekpo here -- like Choi in the MSM -- has suffered somewhat from how the team has used him.

The anti-Rekpo sentiments largely stem from Tracy's infatuation with him, IMHO. I've always liked his energy, but to this point he's really only played at the level of a fifth outfielder, at best. I hope that changes -- that'd be cool. We'll see.

I care, and I agree with what Canuck has to say about Repko and how he has been treated on this board by the silly project. It is no different then the Simers attacks on FP Santagelo that were unwarranted and nasty little drivels of lousy writing.
He was a 1st year player who struggled and his pedigree is every bit as strong as Mr. Loney's. He was a 1st round draft choice moved to the outfield and has only been playing it for a few years. It took him a few years to bring his skills into focus and while he may never be more then a 4th outfielder I don't and never have understood the scorn with which he was subjected to here. He has shown skills and I've posted them before so I won't bother again. More then anyone I'm glad he's started out hot again in April. Soon he'll crash into a wall and this will be a moot point since he'll get hurt cause you can only do that so often.

542 -- Who is asking you to confess or deny anything, Steve? Clearly I have just asked you to to stop picking on Repko, because you have picked on him enough for a lifetime, but of course you are free to ignore the request. I think my argument really comes down the proposition that we all know how you feel about Repko, so why beat a dead horse, unless you get off on beating a dead horse, and if you get off on beating a dead horse, well, what does that say about a person? The way I feel about the Jackson/Tiffany trade, I could rail about it everyday for the next year on this forum, and I am not promising that I won't ever complain about it again, but I am conscious of the fact that people here have read my complaints, know my position, and just aren't likely to want to hear the same negativity on the same subject expressed over and over again.

HEE SEOP CHOI SUCKS.

World Baseball Classic: 4 for 22, OPS of .581 against lousy pitching
2005: .253 avg, 34 walks, 80 strikeouts
2004: .270 avg because he had Lowell protecting him

He is a terrible player that is getting worse.

Get over him. He is done. He is no longer a Dodger, and he was never a good Dodger. If you want to blab about Choi, go to Sons of Sam Horn, because those of us who are Dodger fans are goddamn sick and tired of hearing about him. Every single time one of you losers brings up Choi as some sort of salvation, you waste brain cells on a guy who isn't any better than Daryle Ward.

Repko is a Dodger. Loney is a Dodger. Choi is not, and never will be ever again.

Also, and let me make this perfectly clear: Anna Benson is fugly and her 15 minutes should have been up 14:59 ago.

547 - I think that's basically fair. I think it's fair for people to point out when a player doesn't do well, more than once, but that people can go overboard.

Most of all, I think that it's starting to get a little personal, so we should just move on. I really think every point has been made on this subject that needs to be made.

The violins play a lonely tune for Scrappy McScrappington, the Man Who Can Do No Wrong. To have braved the insults of a few commenters on a website, while having to suffer through basking in the halcyon glow of embarrassingly fawning media coverage in the middle of an embarrassingly terrible year, is truly more than the human spirit can endure.

548 - What was that about? This wasn't even a Choi debate.

Mark, you're suspended from commenting on the site, not for criticizing Choi, but for a completely over-the-top, uncivil comment. I know you're not a regular commenter, so that may have no meaning for you. In any case, come back in a week if you wish, or if you're so unhappy with the people here, don't come back at all.

I agree it is time to move on. I have no hard feelings toward anyone, especially Steve, whom I fear may believe I have insulted him, though I did not intend to do that.

541 Shouldn't Baez's theme song be something by his Aunt Joan?

Seriously though, I'd pick something by the Beastie Boys...

Well, he was certainly good at making, uh, bold statements. Sigh... I'm moving on to Jon's new post.

Debates are debates. They're not tiddly-winks.

Tiddly-winks can be cutthroat, no?

When I play them.