Isn't it nice that despite all fears, walks have been embraced (however accidentally) by the current Dodger team?

Yeah. Whatever happened to Grittle's aversion to "that Oakland thing"?

Walkers such as Rafael Furcal and Jose Cruz, Jr. must also be given due credit for their strike-zone judgment in a season in which pitchers have had no reason to fear challenging them

How long will pitchers continue to avoid challenging them?

Getting in late from the last thread. I was astonished that anyone would not know that the term "rubber match" came from the card game Bridge. I used to play a lot of Bridge, so that may explain it, but it seems like that's one of those "sure, everyone knows that" things.

2. At some point, Cruz may become a late inning defensive replacement and strict platoon agaist RH. I think his lack of production from the leftside and the plan to play Lofton about 60-70% of the time will possibly either bring a trade (unlikely) or a callup Guzman or Kemp.

Also, Furcal, Drew and Kent have always been fairly decent in drawing walks. Garciaparra is showing better plate discipline while still mashing the ball and while 2 out of 3 kids have shown good eyes in the minors, we'll see what happens when the league sees them a second time.

3. I never played Bridge in my life. Am more of a pinochle player. To me, Bridge is what my grandparents use to play when I was a little kid.

Baseball.
What happens when Navarro comes off of the DL? vr, Xei

3 - I have listened to Vinny for many a year and until Sunday, never knew that the phrase "in the hold" came from old ship lingo.

5 You're missing a great game. Bridge has a steep learning curve; you need to learn all the conventions or you won't bid right, and then, you need to think about proper play and communication between your hand and your partner's hand. Learning this stuff might be more work than some people are willing to put in to learn a card game, but for me, it was a really satisfying game when I played it well.

Now, I haven't played in 10 years and have forgotten everything.

Is there a way to look up how we compare in scoring with two outs. I don't know if its just me but it seems like the Dodgers are getting a lot of two out runs.

5 - As opposed to pinochle?? :)

almost?

I came from a pinochle family, although my family's rules did not seem to match any that I ever found in any printed source.

We had lots of our own lingo.

The weird thing in pinochle is trying to remember that 10s beat the face cards.

10 - You know, "almost" appears twice in the above post, and I should probably cut them both out. I'm almost sure of it.

Jon, I completely agree with you about the baseball savvy shown by the Pittsburgh sports media. I think it also shines a glaring light on the lack of said savvy of many of our local reporters.

I love how Tracy has become a little GM in Pittsburgh just as he was here. If you need to point to his biggest flaw, that has to be it.

Bridge is the second-best card game there is and I've tried to get my friends interested in learning it but to no avail.

13 - could we maybe convince the Times to fire Plaschkers and hire this Kovacevic guy?

Oh do these comments sound like some posts here in DT in say about July 2005...

Bob_M: I agree with playing the youngsters. Even if it does not improve the record, it will make for a much more interesting season. What would most people rather see, an aging veteran who had an average career try to hold on for one more season, or a youngster trying to sink or swim?

Dejan Kovacevic: If you ask the upper levels of Pirates management, they seem convinced the public in Pittsburgh would prefer to see a "competitive" team -- a term I hear often -- as opposed to one that is young and takes its lumps. I would beg to differ, but no one is asking me.

Wilbur_Miller: Has anybody in management been able to explain how the Burnitzes, Simons and Randas of the world make the Pirates "competitive?" I mean, really, how connected to reality are these people?

Dejan Kovacevic: Well, that aside, the larger issue, Wilbur, might be how connected they are to the fan base. Only about 99.9 percent of the mail I get strongly, vocally advocates going young. Now, I understand that I am hearing mostly from diehards and the club has to sell tickets to all types of fireworks lovers, but that general sentiment -- and you hear it all over -- has to represent enough of a groundswell to justify doing the right thing.

Bob_M: As a side note, I always enjoyed your writing on the Penguins, and now with the Pirates. I hope in the near future you are writing (and I'll be reading) about meaningful games after the All-Star break.

Dejan Kovacevic: I appreciate that, Bob, but I'm afraid meaningful baseball will have to hold until next April. Unless, of course, the team goes young. That, to me, would represent something plenty exciting to cover and, from a reader's standpoint, to follow.

Sort of a belated comment from yesterday, but for once I got to go to a game...

How does defense figure into all this? Yesterday, I think they had 2 outfield assists at the plate and 3 double plays. Save for that Aybar error in the first and a missed (albeit tough) diving try in center, could snappy defense be helping in keeping the team ERA so low? Any stats available for that?

Canasta was the game I played with my parents. They also played bridge but probably thought it to strenous for the younguns to play adequately.

Why this comment?

[Isn't it nice that despite all fears, walks have been embraced (however accidentally) by the current Dodger team?]

What makes you think it is an accident? Didn't Grady come over from the RedSox who were one of the most patient teams in baseball during his reign? Manny, Ortiz, Nixon, Varitek, Mueller and Damon are all known for the ability to take a walk.

7 I also like bridge and haven't played in at least 10 years, probably 15. It is likely the one game my kids would have a hard time picking up and enjoying. So we stick to fun board games like Settlers of Catan and Puerto Rico. Amazing how 6-8 year olds can pick up complex rules as long as they involve colorful pieces.

12 The first 'almost' could stand to be removed. I think the second one is 5/6 right - just change the 'l' to a ' ' and you're good to go.

We used to play canasta in the back of the van on the way from LA to Seattle. Those were the days when you could lay some boards over the luggage and sit in back, without any fear about wearing seatbelts. I still love canasta.

Tracy clearly feels a loyalty to a player who did quite well for him on a 2004 Dodgers team that he holds in - how to put this? - the very, very, very highest regard.

That was funny.

20 This comment has made my day. Another boardgamer!

I'm currently addicted to Caylus, but I'm not any good at it. My favorite (non-current addiction category) is El Grande or San Marco...

20 It's good to hear that 6-8-year-olds can pick up these games... our gaming group -- all in their early 30s -- are starting to breed now and we're wondering at what point the kids will be able to join in. It seems like a great family activity, but the rules can be complicated.

I played a version of contract rummy called "Shanghai", you could google it, kids can play it with adults, it is a good time killer.

19 - I just wasn't sure how conscious it was on Little and Colletti's part to put together a team that might lead the team in walks. I think it's possible that they look at walks as a fringe benefit. I don't know.

24 Nice to see another gamer! I'll have to look at Caylus. We've played San Marco, but not as much as Puerto Rico, and we haven't yet bought El Grande. Ticket to Ride is also fun. My kids always bug me to pay "Super Settlers", which for us refers to taking all the sets, mixing them up, and making as large and convoluted a map as we can.

25 Start them young with easier games and work them up to it. Also, let them play with you on a 'team' ... eventually they figure it all out. Mine are rapidly reaching the point where they are a serious challenge.

I used to play Shanghai on computer.

I would say that Backgammon, Gin, Hearts, Monopoly and Scrabble have been my most common non-computer game pursuits - off the top of my head, anyway.

15 I think bridge is the best four-handed game there is; gin and cribbage the best two-handed game. Pinochle is a good three-hand game. I play bridge on the ocmputer; don't know people in LA interested in playing bridge, although I guess there must be multiple thousands.

18. the Dodger defense ranks 6th among NL teams in Defensive Efficiency, and 11th overall. The davenport translations show Kent and Martin to be excellent defenders so far, while Furcal and Mueller have been nearly replacement level defenders. Every one else is right around average, including Nomar.

We played bridge, pinochle, and several versions of canasta as kids. Those were the days before the Walkman, cable TV, videos, and video games. Other than reading, diversion pretty much required interaction, and in the times that I lived outside California, there were plenty of lousy-weather days that forced us to stay inside. Card games were the modal activity.

For the pinochle fans, my brother pulled double Aces-around in pinochle one time (only time I've ever seen it - it basically ends the game) and forgot to "bury." As his competitive older brother, I sure wasn't going to remind him. Once we'd played a set of cards and it was too late for him to correct his mistake, I pointed it out, voiding the hand, and pretty much ending his willingness ever to play pinochle again. That was rougly 25-26 years ago - I think he's still ticked off.

Funny story. One of my good friends is from Chicago and he was back for a wedding the weekend of the Cubs/Padres series. So pretty late friday night (night before the Piazza homer game), he is out with the guys from the wedding party at a neighborhood bar somewhere. And he looks over and sees Dusty Baker at the bar picking up takeout! So my buddy goes over and starts talking to him (Cubs had gotten shellacked that night) and spent about half an hour buying him drinks and stuff. Apparently, Baker told them about watching Hank Aaron hit #714.

Best part. One of the other guys (not my friend!) asked if the Cubs could do better by adopting the White Sox smartball approach. Baker basically said, "[profanity] smartball, [profanity] smallball, you give me those starting pitchers and I'll win playing baseball."

True story -- I've got pictures.

Oh yeah, lots of backgammon and cribbage too.

Caylus is a bit heavier (more of a "gamer's game") than San Marco, Ticket to Ride, Settlers, or even Puerto Rico. Definitely check it out, but make sure you think it would be good for your kids before buying...

If your kids like the big board, try Railroad Tycoon. They should be able to handle it if they can handle Puerto Rico. It's a very good game and the big board is very cool.

30 Monopoly? Boo! Hiss! :)

If you like board games, you might want to check out some of the games Daniel and I have been describing. Rather than Monopoly's roll-and-move-and-do-what-it-tells-you philosophy, these games are all about choices -- there are any number of things that you CAN do, but you have to choose one or two of them. They're less luck-dependent than Monopoly, more about making a strategy and implementing it without incurring the wrath of your opponents...

37 - You're assuming that I'm looking for some high-end intellectual experience when I play Monopoly.

Of course, it should go without saying that my all-time favorite game was Strat-o-Matic.

My favorite was All-Star Baseball, trying to gauge how hard to spin that dial was always fun.

Strat-O-Matic taught me about Sliding Billy Hamilton.

Backgammon is something that comes along in your life and then leaves like acne. Well at least in acne's case I hope so.

34 I have to agree with Mr. Baker there. Where did Chicago rank in offense for all their "smartball"? They had great pitching, with which you can win without great hitting.

Jon, you have a typo in the last paragraph before the Kovacevic chat stuff: "...the Dodgers have found away around their power shortage."

The Dodgers have had good luck with the A-E disc this year.

40. More to the point, they hit a ton of HRs. Smallball not only was not the reason they won, it was also not the way they played. Oh sure, Ozzie would have them run around and give up outs just to keep the games competitive, but the rest is a myth.

39. I still find Internet Backgammon a reasonably fun way to pass the time when I'm on hold. Or "talking" to my mother, which is pretty much the same thing in terms of the number of words coming from my end.

40 - thanks

43
Wait a second...are you my long-lost brother?

For all you fathers out there, the best place to teach a kid card games, is on plane rides. They are captive and bored and welcome any entertainmetn at that point. That where I tought my daughter poker, gin and blackjack. Of course, after that they make you play ALL THE TIME. (200+ hands of poker on the way home from Australia)

5

DL? vr, Xei

what dose that mean?

DL = Disabled List

48

vr, Xei I mean.

vr, Xei = Very respectfully, Xei

Lofton is playing tonight, so I guess he's healthy. Cruz gets the night off

A very common closing to a letter or a memo in the military. That is why I assumed Xei was in the Navy.

50

that's a new one to me. Where do you come up with those words?

50

you were in the navy? how many push ups could you do in your "hay day"?

50

you were in the navy? how many push ups could you do in your "hay day"?

Hornblower and possibly Aubrey think whist is the best card game for its parts from Bridge, hearts and canasta, without feeling as exclusive as Bridge.

Quick fantasy question for 'yall: I need to sit one of the following two players in my lineup tonight: Jonny Gomes vs. Roy Halladay, or JD Drew vs. Jason Jennings. Which would you choose? How's Drew been swingin' the bat lately?

56 You can't mention whist and NOT mention Phileas Fogg as well. If only someone made a great "80 Days" movie.... though David Niven was an excellent casting decision.

I would sit down Drew. He seems a bit lost right now.

59

atleast he threw out, the Colorado runner.

He is hitting .286 with an .851 OPS over the last week. He's certainly not horrible.

61 Yes, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think it was a tough question. Gomes is a total stud this year, but so is Halladay. So does Halladay reduce Gomes to being less than Drew vs. an average pitcher?

57 - when it doubt, go to stats:
Drew vs. Jennings 4/11 all singles.
Gomes vs. Halladay 3/11, 1 HR with 6 Ks.

Halladay certainly has pitched better but Drew does seem to swinging and missing at a lot of offspeed stuff, outside his PH homer.

55 67 in 2 minutes. No need to do more, since that is what's required to max out that portion of the PRT (physical readiness test). Ran the 1-1/2 mile in 8:24, but still not fast enough to max out the score. Never could max out the curl ups (known as situps in the civilian world) neither. I pump out 70 in the first minute, then struggle to get 10 more in the next minute. I guess to much fast twitch fibers in my abs.

Well, it's decided now, I went with Bob's suggestion and put Gomes in the lineup.

Breaking news: Old (or recent) friend Cody Ross has just been activated from the DL by the Reds. You can adjust your fantasy rosters accordingly.

64

that's pretty good. now that you mention 67 in 2 minutes I gotta time my self.

(31) Trivia Question:

What well known Dodger from the past was a World Class Bridge Player?

65

Gomes is a real good ball player, good choise, He (as you probably know) played in the Mexican leugue for one year.(to work on his swing or something) his parents are from Portugal I think?

My late friend Alan (who was as big a Giants fan as I was a Dodgers fan) and I used to play dice baseball which I found in a book entitled "The Second Fireside Book of Baseball" edited by Charles Einstein (c. 1958 by Simon & Shuster). The there were both a simple and a more complicated version of the game described in the book, which can be found on pp. 260-261. Though it was obviously not stat oriented, or sophisticated by today's standards, it was free and lots of fun. You could play nine innnings in about 20 minutes. We spent many happy hours letting the dice determine the fate of our bitter rivals during our late childhood and early adolescence in the late 50s and early 60s.

68 My guess would be Wes Parker.

Jimmy Rollins should learn bridge.

57-

As the three time champion of my keeper league (for whatever that's worth) I'd sit Gomes. Halladay is just too dominant, and Drew isn't hitting all that great right now but there's always at least a good chance he can draw a walk or two against Jennings.

While Gomes is dominating....I wouldn't trust him against Halladay...he's just too good.

If JD Drew hits three home runs tonight, Ken is going to come after with some weird Swedish weapon.

74-

I can loan him my leather Viking mask.

My dad taught us a dice baseball game that was quite clever for the time. He created it in the early 60's and he taught me how to use a sliderule at the age of 7 so I could create the %'s since calculaters didn't exist at the time. I had 4 brothers and if we weren't playing baseball we were playing that game and using real baseball cards for the lineups. Needless to say our Willie May's, Hank Aaron's, and yes Bob even Frank Robinson cards become worthless with use but I think we had more fun with them then the kids who put them in plastic collecting sheets.

Angels' first two batters:

Single
RBI Double, out trying to advance to third

Back to important things, if you ever get a copy of the New Baseball Reader, edited by Charles Einstein, which is similar to the Fireside books mentioned in 70, check out a chapter from the Ultimate Baseball Association, (you can find the novel by the same name), great read and again illustrates how well even a made up game, just reads so well and can have as much drama as one of the following chapters that has the Koufax perfect game transcript of Vin Scully's radio broadcast.

77- Vlad homer, radio guys says Figgy was out per the replay.

Vladimir Guerrero has now gotten a hit in all 41 games he has played against Texas.

He has homered in the first inning. The Angels are leading 2-0.

77 - I saw this at least twice today where Scioscia said the only thing they are doing well is running the bases...I guess Orlando didn't see that comment.

Third batter: Guerrero HR

Angel guys making a big deal about 6 players making his major league debut this season, let's see off the top of the noggin, Saito, Loney, Martin, Ethier make 4 for the Dodgers, am I missing anyone.

I think the Rangers are learning why Phillies fans were so frustrated with Vicente Padilla, the Nicaraguan Ismael Valdez.

74

Wow Bob, this is the first time I ever see you make a typo. what's the world coming too!

Gary Matthews Jr. has 17 doubles?

Who'd he play for, Bob? Granada Hills High? I know I covered some of his games.

85
I make lots of typos. I also leave out words frequently.

86
The Baseball Cube lists Gary Matthews Jr. as going to Granada Hills. His father went to San Fernando.

87

The short time I've been here I've never seen a typo from you.

74 Gomes is already 0-for-3. Expect the Swedish doomsday weapon any minute now. 73 gave his advice an hour too late.

Steve Trachsel can go ahead and retire now.

If anyone's watching the NYY-Boston game, did that really happen the way it looks on the Game Tracker? (Arod reaches on 3rd strike passed ball. Takes second on passed ball. Third on FC. Scores on passed ball.)

Kendry Fever has begun.

rex hudler just called a Kendry Morales homerun ... and was right

Add to 91 - Isn't that what they brought Mirabelli back for?

"what's the world coming too [sic] ! [sic]

Thrice ironic! Well played!

Kendry Morales has a single and a double in his first two major league ABs. The League of Small Samples declares that the Angels do have rookies that can play well.

92 Kendritis?

93

Huddy is a psycic (sp?)

Time for Nats notes.

Just now, tied in the top of the seventh, Jose Vidro led off with a double and Robinson promptly had (best hitter on the team but recently struggling) Nick Johnson bunt him over to third so that (struggling all year, first night back off the DL) Jose Guillen and (promising but erratic rookie) Ryan Zimmerman could bring him home. It worked, in the sense that Guillen sac flied and the run scored. But of course that's all they got; we'll see if it holds. Last night, the Astros scored 10 off the Nationals.

2. Oh, as I'm typing OF PH Daryle Ward and Alfonso Soriano b2b homers to extend the lead to 4-1.

3. Last night, Gigantor pitched an ining and a bit then came off the field and threw up due to food poisoning. Bowden quoted in the paper the next day as saying the play on the field made him want to vomit. If there's a single thing that bugs me the most about that guy, it's the way he incessantly rips his own players to the press.

4. Smallest Nationals crowd ever at RFK last night (18,302 plus me).

Time for Nats notes.

Just now, tied in the top of the seventh, Jose Vidro led off with a double and Robinson promptly had (best hitter on the team but recently struggling) Nick Johnson bunt him over to third so that (struggling all year, first night back off the DL) Jose Guillen and (promising but erratic rookie) Ryan Zimmerman could bring him home. It worked, in the sense that Guillen sac flied and the run scored. But of course that's all they got; we'll see if it holds. Last night, the Astros scored 10 off the Nationals.

2. Oh, as I'm typing OF PH Daryle Ward and Alfonso Soriano b2b homers to extend the lead to 4-1.

3. Last night, Gigantor pitched an ining and a bit then came off the field and threw up due to food poisoning. Bowden quoted in the paper the next day as saying the play on the field made him want to vomit. If there's a single thing that bugs me the most about that guy, it's the way he incessantly rips his own players to the press.

4. Smallest Nationals crowd ever at RFK last night (18,302 plus me).

Morales now has a career OPS 3.500

97 - Kendruff?

The Swede attack appears to be over. It is now safe to go back to listening to ABBA.

I, I, I have no idea what just happened, with that awfully long comment no less.

Sam, have you heard anything about the Nats having a potential firesale? I read on mlbtraderumors.com that Soriano, Johnson, and Livan were among the guys that COULD be on the block....

A-Rod hits a 3 run homer with the Yankees leading 4-1, once again proving to all A-Rod haters that he only hits them in meaningless situations.

Jon - do you know if anyone has ever tried to challenge that statement?

Derek Jeter would have hit an unselfish groundout in that situation.

(71) Wes Parker is correct. Allegedly.

105 All those names have been mentioned in the papers, with Livan suggested for the Mets and Soriano all over, including the Cubs and most often the Yankees. Vidro has been often cited as possible trade to the Yankees. But it's all basically speculation based on (i) the new owner's repeated statements that they want to rebuild over time through the farm and (ii) the team's general awfulness this year. No one is ever sourced for these things.

The Post sometime recently said it is very unlikely any deals get made until July -- after the draft and after new owners have a chance to get settled.

Jon - do you know if anyone has ever tried to challenge that statement?

I'm not Jon, nor do I play him on a message board. But one way of challenging (or, rather, explaining it if it's "true") would be to hypothesize that A-Rod gets better pitches to hit during "meaningless" situations than during meaningful ones. I don't know whether that's true or not, but it sounds good.

109-

I figure Soriano is almost a definite to go. If some team is able to land Nick Johnson they're gonna be real lucky. Great ballplayer.

As for Livan...they might as well get what they can for him and not have to pay him 7 mill next year.

Since Manny just hit a 3-run homer, suddenly A-Rod's hit becomes meaningful. Shows how silly the "meaningless" discussion is.

Jonny Gomes is 0 for 3 against Roy Halladay today...

Børk börk børk!

Hmm...Bob...have something caught in your throat?

My computer has been taken over by forces sympathetic to the Detroit Red Wings.

Børk börk børk!

109 "No one is ever sourced for these things."

Well, of course not! It's the WaPo, isn't it?

At this stage I'd be afraid to talk to any reporter on the record about anything, even my opinion of the Nats, what with the AG intimating he'd prosecute reporters to get their sources and all.

113, 115 Maybe Bob attended Eurovision? Although I think it was a Finnish band called "Lordi" which won this year, not the lady in the swan suit.

Jonny Gomes got a single in the ninth!

Børk börk børk!

Halladay gets pulled after giving up a single in the ninth, leading 4-1, with two outs.

Shoot -- and here I was all eager to pick up a CG on my fantasy team.

And he knocked out Halladay, damm Defensive indifference, can't we just give people a stolen base...some could argue that the Dodgers had basically a defensive indifference on every stolen base against them this year.

118 And thus ends the curse...until JD Drew hits a homer or something...

119-

you gotta get rid of CG as a category in your fantasy league...one of the most pointless stats out there.

I believe it was two years ago Livan Hernandez led the majors in CG...and like half of them were losses.

122 I didn't pick the categories... just want to get numbers in all of 'em that count. :)

For Pittsburg:
- McLouth doubles to left.
- Wilson sacrifices him to third.
- He scores on Sanchez' groundout to short. (At this point I'm sure Tracy is thrilled about his in-game management)
- Bay homers to left.

123
Sounds like Tracy put Bay in a position to succeed. Had there been pesky runners on base, he probably wouldn't have gotten such a good pitch to hit.

Why? Why?! Why would you bring Floyd out to pitch the sixth?! Why? Good Lord. Are there any managers who shouldn't be driving a cab instead? Any?

Now that I think about it, the answer might be "Maybe ours"

I think Felipe Alou is too old to safely drive a cab in San Francisco. I think the traffic would be too hard for him to handle.

On the road Jason Jennings is 1-3 with an era of 6.46 in 4 starts. He has allowed 4 homeruns and has struck out 12 and walked 10.

128

he's pitching in Dodger Stadium though, I think he'll do alot better here. should be interesting.

I want every Dodger, except J.D. Drew, to hit Jennings hard.

130

why?

131

There are forces at play here more powerful than you could ever hope to understand.

I understand ;)

Hey Jon -- just got around to looking at my print SI. Congrats on the pointer to your Pujols piece. Pretty cool.

All of the dumb in the known universe is centered in the state of Pennsylvania. It's frightening.

Blew it by him

Blew it by him

Blew it by him

Blew it by him

Blew it by him

mini woo-hoo.

23 homers for Pujols now. 3-0 Redbirds.

136-140 Bluebleeder87, you are the light of my every evening.

142 But we want the Giants to score some runs--- don't forget my $10!

So when am I going to give in and start to like Lofton?

Wow. Ken must have been really angry about that triple.

My life is ruined. Wherever I go now, a Swede is going to be hissing at me.

This can only end badly. Does Ken even realize that Bob has the darkly secret forces of Opus Dei at his beck and call? Now begins a cycle of violence between the Swedes and the Catholics the likes of which the world has never seen!

Of course, maybe the two groups have been getting along too well. Afterall, the happy pairing of Swede Levov (rhymes with The Love) and a Catholic girl, didn't end well for anybody.

I think I'll go ahead and root for Pittsburgh tonight, as vain a hope as that might be.

I don't think either of those triples (Drew and Lofton) would've been triples in the old pre-renovation Dodger Stadium. Both of those hits just ran down the seating line and died in the corner, instead of being funneled back towards the outfielder.

Just a little park-effects observation.

Gagne will rejoin the Dodgers and be ready for action on June 1, according to Vin

149 - Does this sound familar, a catcher is playing 1B, makes an error, a few pitches later, boom 5-2 Arizona.

Aaahhh- I've got Vin tonight. I bet I enjoy this more no matter what the result.

I think we will see Odalis today; Penny with 73 pitchers in what, 3 innings...

Come on Russ.

Oh wait, NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Maybe Carter also...

he,he

Vin has some sort of man crush on Martin. I've noticed everytime he talks about Martin it's about how much better at this or that he is than the other catchers. His stats show it, but Vin seems to love this guy. Hopefully the love he feels for Martin will bring the type of player Koufax was, but at catcher.

Beaut. we lead off the next inning without the pitchers spot, hence wearing down a pitcher. The D's are doing the little thing that make for unsuccessful opposing pitchers.
These are known to be BBs, causing extra pitches, getting to your lead-off, and other subtle things.

Penny doesn't look great; who could give us three above ave. innings?

Bob can get an extra half-hour's worth of sleep a week now. Bonds On Bonds has been cancelled.

Nationals.com notes column quotes "a baseball source" says that the Yankees have expressed interest in acquiring twice-demoted Ryan Church for prospects.

Wouldn't that pre-suppose that the Yankees have prospects?

I HATE THE YANKEES... incase anyone was wondering.

the yankee's farm system isnt as decrepit as it was a year or two ago, they should be able to snatch Church from Bowden-induced purgatory, thank god

I've noticed Kent turns the double better than the average second baseman. It must be partly experience, because I don't think he was an above average fielding 2nd baseman when young.

Which reminds me, yesterday's poll asked who would you most like to sweep. 20% said the Angels. The Angels? Really? I mean, I like sweeping the Angels and all, but, the Angels?

Maybe we can convince the yanks they can't win it all without Ledee and Odalis Perez. I'm affraid Ledee will upset the outfield when he gets back. I want Repko back, and to settle in with those 5, less Ledee.

From the same notes column, "According to general manager Jim Bowden, Triple-A New Orleans have been told to prepare right-hander Shawn Hill to pitch against the Dodgers on Saturday. Bowden has not ruled out making a trade before that time...."

Has Bowden ever ruled out making a trade?

Some info on Hill: http://tinyurl.com/hjw5d

166 - What were the other choices?

164

we should acquire church instead of promote kemp or guzman.

I think the Halos droped another one guys! YIKES!

169 -- The Giants and the Yankees. I would be tempted to say the Yankees, simply because we don't get as many chances.

We can get Church for nothing, given the depth of our system, and given that Bowden misses Endy Chavez. Who's the little guy at Jacksonville who steals all the bases?

171 - the angels came back to win tonight.

170. I agree, at the very least he's nice insurance in case Drew finds himself on the DL again. I wonder if Bowden could be jipped into wanting Ramon Martinez or Lance Carter. Church seems like a poor man's Brad Wilkerson.

172

todd donovan. hes not with the Dodgers org anymore.

we can probably give him a couple middle reliever prospects for church.

The pair of eyes belonging to the dodger at the plate on the 4 foot high, 300 foot wide video screen wrapping around the bottom edge of the loge level is creeping me out.

Frankie R. really wants a, um, a, um, backup, um, catcher (Alomar, cough).

SCOUTING REPORT ON NOMAR!

"todd donovan"

He stole like 65 bases for the blue last year! (AA JAX)

Do you think the Ron Cey bobble head will bobble funny, sort of like how he ran funny?

Baez for Church. Done. Ned can invite me to his Executive of the Year banquet.

I guess to get Church you're not battling against Bowden's wits but Cashman's offer, which could possibly raise the price.

I have been wondering if the Dodgers stay in it come July what Colletti would offer Kasten/Bowden for Soriano.

Scary.

I would prefer the Dodgers sweep the Giants, but the Angels in the past three or four years have become a distant second.

How many innings has Dodger pitching gone without giving up an ER?

Wow already 104 pitches for Penny.

Nice 105-pitch effort by Penny.

180

They should have the legs bobble no?

184 Penny's not getting very far into games at all this year. I'm waiting for his season-ending injury.

A sweep of the Angels is just as satisfying for me as a sweep of the Giants.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I rooted for the Angels in the 2002 World Series (well, they were playing the Giants). That organization and their fans have become absolutely insufferable since then.

The Mets need to put the Phillies out of their misery. There is no way you can simply gift over that many charity runs and then win the game.

Bork bork!

182

where would soriano play. OF?, We have a log jam as it is.

Looks like Penny's more of an all-you-can-eater than an innings-eater.

Its hard to throw 105 pitches, in 5ip, and only walk 1. And allow 0 runs.

Tonight might be the most boring game of the season.

I've had two shots of Presidente, or else I would agree with you.

If Odalis isn't coming in here, I'm going to start really thinking there's a trade in the works.

I think Odalis is getting traded, what do you guys think?

Considering we have most of twenty million bucks a year at SS, aquiring Soriano would make a grand total of nearly forty million dollars worth of middle infielders. Coming up on fifty if you count Nomar (hitting his bonuses), Martinez, and Robles. Scrappy!

prototipical left hander pitching now.

i think little forgot that Perez is still on the roster

Hey, petty grudges and favoritism. I remember these.

What could Perez have possibly done that would make Grittle want to inflict Hamulack on us again?

Hamulack/Carter are in a duel to see whom gets demoted when Gagne is activated. Its "too close to call" at this point.

But not this year. I forgot how back loaded Furry's contract is. Plus, that's not how you spell acquire. So, if we could all just ignore 197, please. . .

just keep throwing that curveball, beimel

My moneys on DFAing Perez at this point.

191 Well, the guy has 16 HR and an irresistible 10 SB. So, I guess my thought Colletti would want to bring him in so they weren't relying so much on a possibly overperforming rookie in left.

sigh I'm just tracking this on GameDay - so is Penny hurt again or what? Why are we being Hamulacked?

And the misery marches on to 14 at Shea.

I doubt Odalis gets traded, unless they are planning on calling up Billingsley. There's just no way you can let him go and count on Sele for the rest of the season.

207 -- Penny started every batter in the first five innings off with a full count.

If I'm Brad Hawpe, and I have the Bobbsey Twins hitting behind me, I just go ahead and ditch that Oakland thing for the time being, but that's just me.

Ah yes - I just noticed he'd hit 104 pitches. Yeesh.

Penny isn't hurt 207, he just threw a ton of pitches early. Lots of full counts, and I can recall one Helton AB that was roughly 8 or so pitches or more.

202 JoeyP! "Whom gets demoted..."? C'mon, man!

(Gonzales, Carroll, Ojeda, Pitcher, Sullivan)--The Blake Street Banjoes.

Someday I'll clear this blog of bad grammar and hypercorrection!

I think the line is +120 Lance Carter

The night before the Bradley trade went down in all its glory, the rumor was that we were getting Kirk Saarloos. Let us pray.

it seems ethier was a bit better return then Saarloos.

In Carter's 1 inning of work since being recalled, do we know if Martin was catching for him?

I'd like to apply the overly used but statistically unsubstantiated metric of catcher's influence on ERA Jon wrote of last week and hope that Martin can "fix" carters problems if he comes in to a close game.

And Carters sits down. As Vin would say, "and that's that."

Looks like its Baez warming up for the 7th

Baez (from what I saw on fox/prime ticket) is gonna throw the 7th.

The Padres have two runs on two hits tonight. Both are singles.

And they lead 2-1. The Braves only run came on a homer by the pitcher, Jorge Sosa.

Børk börk børk!

Baez retired the banjos last week in Colorado. Baez owns Gonzales, Ojeda, and Carroll.

Actually its banjo Barmes in place of banjo Carroll.

I love the fact that our Proven Closer™ has been relegated to pitching in 7th inning non-Save Situations®.

Wow, bottom of the 15th in that crazy Phillies-Mets game. I think Willie Randolph is grabbing a bat in the on-deck circle.

I'm wondering how Colorado got to be 25-20 with Gonzales, Barmes, Ojeda, Pitcher, Sullivan every nite?

Lots of 1 run wins?
Luck?

227 Except that the three run lead means that it is a Save Situation®.

227 Except that the three run lead means that it is a Save Situation®.

227 Little is obviously a sabermetric manager, bringing his "closer" in to shut down the opposition in the 7th (and 8th), rather than waiting until the 9th, by which time the lead may already be gone.

224- Imagine how much worse it would have gotten if Drew had stolen second successfully.

228 ...and Ryan Madson's pitched 7(!) shutout(!) innings of relief. Yowza.

Woo-hoo! The coveted Double Post, the post so good you want to read it twice!

Wasn't Barmes a really good hitter last year? What happened? Not recovered from his injury? Oh well, I'll take Baez's 1-2-3 inning, even if it was against the struggling bottom of the Rockies' lineup.

does Lofton have a HR this season?

It's a hold! It's a hold! Stop the presses!

Way to run it out Lofton

Whoa, Hawpe drawped that one.

Where I come from, we call that a Burnitz.

Jenning's thrown 107 pitches, and Hurdle leaves him out there to pitch the Dodgers 2-3-4... Very interrrresting.

Didnt Hurdle leave Jennings in last week to lose the game with Nomar at bat?

Its good Hurdle remains in relative obscurity managing in Colorado.

234 - Hmm, and yet Corey Lidle is still in our rotation...

Wow, awesome chants of "BULL$#&%" at Shea after Chase! Utley! takes one in the stomach from Darren Oliver in the top 16th! This game RULES!!

Nomar once again, sending a thank you note for leaving Jennings in the game.

Is this deja-vu?

Burnitzing the cat?

can someone please explain the following.

K. Lofton safe at first on right fielder B. Hawpe's fielding error, K. Lofton to second

Thank you.

Barmes just happen to have the best couple weeks of his life, then got injured before he could start regressing to the mean. You know, kinda like Repko.

Rico Carty is on Vin's "Dead to Me" list.

246
Just weird programming.

Hawpe dropped the fly ball and Lofton went to second.

Wait for it ...

Hürdy gürdy smürdy!

243 -- Followed by Mr. Heart and Soul mowing Utley down at second.

You know, I share a birthday with Alfred Nobel.

Hürdy gürdy smürdy!

First place is likely going to have to wait at least until Pittsburgh is finally done in Arizona.

249- Thanks, that makes sense now.

Glad to see I checked in on Swede night Bob, being a square-head myself...I even have umlauts in my last name

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grrrr, BELTRAN strikes in the bottom 16th!

Bad Aybar!

255 -- The Baseball Gods decreeth that there was no way in hell the Phillies were going to win that game.

Sorry Das.

The Phils were just Beltran'd.

I guess they left Madson in relief a little too long - 7 innings was his limit.

Baez owns the banjos.
Its the other guys that cause problems.

Baez owns Helton I guess too.

Furcal always has to look for the ball in the bag, he calls a glove.

Dear Mr. Colletti,

Can you please sign Sal Fasano to be the Dodgers' back up catcher next year?

Sincerly,

Dodger Fans of NAMBLA

Kennedy 3, El Camino Real 2 in the City Baseball semifinals.

My Cougars advance to the championship game Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium and will be big underdogs to #1 Chatsworth.

Both teams have won the City championship six times and the winner will be the first team to have seven postseason championships.

Kennedy won in 1981, 1985, 1989, 1995, 1996, and 2000.
Chatsworth won in 1983, 1990, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2004.

Mörk smørk börk!

Giants rallying? Bases loaded, down 8-4.

265- I would have preferred if you'd said. Cardinals in danger of blowing a four run lead.

It is officially Perez time. If Perez does not pitch the ninth tonight, I will have serious doubts that he will ever throw another pitch in a Dodger uniform.

I think its safe to say the Dodgers are playing better now than they have since the 12-2 start to 2005.

No worries. Game over, Cards win 8-5. Whew.

The last five batters for the Mariners were all born in different countries:

Everett - USA
Beltre - Dominican Republic
Johjima - Japan
Petagine - Venezuela
Betancourt - Cuba

Ichiro is on deck to break the string.

Sadly, Alex Lindstrom, the last big leaguer born in Sweden, was not available to play.

Skål, tomtegubbar!

If Milton Bradley said the things that Cesar Izturis said on Dodgers.com tonight about sticking with his position, people would go nuts.

Todd Greene and Kevin Frandsen are not going to get it done.

The Rockies' bullpen has been in a state of implosion this whole series. It's a nice change of pace. I'm actually going to... (dare I?) {{shudder}} turn the game off and do a little writing. Is it safe?

Do you think Nomar has added hearing the song "Low Rider" to his list of batter's box OCD compulsions? (along with fiddling with his gloves, etc.)?

267 - I think that Grady has been saving Odalis for an early inning knockout of a Dodger starter, that just hasn't come.

This is Carter time.

Umm ... Saito? Wha?

I think I can best sum it up this way:

Skål, tomtegubbar!

Lance Carter could have done that

The Dodgers have a seven run lead.

This should be Broxton time.

If my calculations are correct, the Dodgers for the evening of an OBP of .447 and a slugging % of .629 and a batting average of .400. Not bad at all.

It's the year of the footnote! Eric Enders with footnote No. 7!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2438825

280 - You should have been calculating Friday, when they went 25 for 47.

This is nowhere near normal-but it's a good sign.
We win again!!!

dodgers win, bork bork bork!

275 You could be right about Grady holding Perez back for an inevitable long-relief situation, but Perez hasn't pitched in nine days (eight games). No other pitcher in our pen has more than four days/four games since their last outing. Conventional wisdom says that pitchers need to go every so often to keep from being rusty. Whether conventional wisdom is right or not, Perez is clearly not being allowed to "get the rust off".

276 - Like you, I have no idea what Grittle has been doing with his bullpen of late. The best defense I can raise is, at least everyone (save OP) is getting regular work.

The Dodgers take over the #5 slot in the NL.

I, I, I Vilma! Ve love our Vilma!

285 - Hence my question in Monday's DT post about having two janitors.

Odalis:

could it be that in those bullpen sessions, perez is showing no improvement. the more they expose him, the greater the chance that he becomes untradeable, and giving us another carlos perez sitaution.

287 - And we retain the MLB Heavyweight Championship.

Seattle needs some help.

on grady and bullpen use:

aside from giving the guys regular apperances, maybe he's also getting the bullpen ready for gagne's return.

287

fool moon today, or something.

Justin Orenduff had his second consecutive dominant outing today, showing that his elbow soreness he was suffering from earlier in the season is nothing serious.

7IP 2H 1ER 1bb 6k

on the season he is:
44.1IP
3.25era
7.11 h/9ip
3.45 w/9ip
10.16 k/9ip
.81 hr/9ip

The walks are a little high, but lately they have been down. Homeruns could go down as well but looks solid so far.

Hey Nate, did you see Salitalian's awesome sliding catch in....oh geez, somewhere between the 8th and the 14th or so?

Jayson Stark is gonna have a field day with this one, David Bell managed to drive in five runs and also leave 6 on base. And so it begins...

Steve, will you be watching King Cole (pssh, who was that other kid in the AL that we were calling King last season?) tomorrow night?

Who was the better pitcher last year at AA?
Marlins LHP prospect: Josh Johnson
Dodgers RHP prospect: Chad Billingsley

Johnson is already in the Marlins rotation and has looked fairly good his first few starts. His HR/9 is insanely low.

295

yea I saw that. Probably made the members of nambla super proud :)

I was all set for that awesome Towers/Fossum tilt, but I can probably be talked into Hamels/Soler. If Charlie Manuel gets lost on the way to the stadium.

45 runs in 5 games makes for a kicking home stand:)

I understand when they signed Furcal, nobody knew what the situation would be with me, and I didn't know either," said Izturis. "Now I know. My arm feels great. Now I'm ready to play my position. I came to Spring Training preparing to play shortstop. Physically, it's the best place for me to play. I don't think with an injury you should lose your position."

Cesar, what if they sign someone better than you?

296

Billingsley was vastly superior to Josh Johnson when they were in the Southern League last year.

Johnson's stats:
139.2IP
3.87 ERA
8.56 h/9ip
3.22 w/9ip
7.28 k/9ip
.26 hr/9ip

billingsleys stats:
146 IP
3.51 era
7.15 h/9ip
3.08 w/9ip
9.99 k/9ip
.74 hr/9ip

the only thing Johnson did better was allow less homeruns. Every other catagorey Billingsley was superior.

i think saito pitched the 9th because he had been warming up already when baez got in trouble. though i don't think the game was particularly close at that point either.

Dodger Fans of NAMBLA
LOL, that was a great south park episode

should we give bowden props for his soriano for wilkerson trade?

Man, I love the smell of Dodgers scores in the morning these days! (And again, I will gripe that I can't believe the one weekend all year that they are out here -- and when they are playing great -- I have visiting family.)

-------

From Bronx Banter comments:

5. joejoejoe
. . .

Six Degrees of Scott Erickson

As a rookie, Scott Erickson was teammates with Jim Dwyer (1), who as a rookie was a teammate of Joe Torre (2), who as a rookie was a teammate of Warren Spahn (3), who as a rookie was a teammate of Paul Waner (4), who as a rookie was a teammate of Babe Adams (5), who as a rookie was a teammate of Jack Beckley (6), who was a rookie in 1888.

Can anyone make a chain from a current Yankee player (or any current player) all the way back to 1876 (first year of organized baseball) in six steps of teammates? I used rookie years above but you can use any year players were teammates if you think it will help. I don't know if it can be done but linking Harold Baines to Minnie Minoso seems promising.

On Wilkerson/Soriano -- Soriano is playing better than Wilkerson, who had an awful April but a much better May (last 30 days -- 6 HR and .979 OPS). But (i) the deal was an extraordinary gamble that almost exploded -- no pass from me for taking that sort of risk w/o doing reasonable due diligence, even if it worked out. (Kind of like Bunting Nick Johnson in a a tie game w/no outs and a runner on second last night -- "worked" in that you got the one run but banking on the Nationals bullpen to hold a one run lead for two innings against Houston is not the right play.) (ii) you gave up two years of Wilkerson at a lower salary for one year of Soriano at a much higher Salary -- could that extra $ have been used for some pitching? Right now, the Nationals have declined to release some flailing vets and call up some younger players because they don't want to eat the contracts (Bowden has acknowledged this). SO the money's not meaningless. And (iii) Also gave up two other players, though Termel Sledge has cratered and the other guy is still a low-level prospect so who knows.

It's a complex deal to evaluate -- certainly not a bust and many would say a huge success. I do think that if they can now flip Soriano for a couple top shelf prospects, it makes it much harder to argue that the deal was not a total success.

I know I've exploited my time zone advantage and filled up the tail of this thread with long comments, but I can't resist this one, linking a rather startling post from Capitol Punishment about the brain typing expert Jim Bowden has retained to advise him in the draft. Double yikes.

Here's a sample: "'Mr. Niednagel has identified 16 basic brain types and says Mr. Bowden's is similar to that of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Teddy Roosevelt and computer entrepreneurs Bill Gates and Paul Allen.'"

www.tinyurl.com/jbljg

I can believe Mozart and Roosevelt, because they're dead.

[307] if that's true, it goes to show that brain type means little when brain power is lacking.