Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
The Dodgers hold on the wildcard spot is tenuous as the Reds are just 1/2 game back and they've laid waste to the Houston pitching staff this weekend.
Oswalt is pitching for Houston today.
In Atlanta, Miguel Batista is facing Jorge Sosa.
For all the talk about the rookies, we should give credit to some reserve veterans that have done a great job at the plate:
Lucille II: .305 eqa
Olmedo Saenz: .299 eqa
Sandy Alomar: .272 eqa
Jose Cruz: .277 eqa
And I would bet on them to win.
Strange but good times.
Does anyone know why the Reds are playing so well?
The Reds are playing well because their pitching is not as bad as people suspected it would be. Bronson Arroyo has been surprisingly good.
Someone has to bat second or else people will keep getting called out for batting out of order.
They've also done well to replace the Joe Randa/ whoever the hell played second base for them last year duo on the infield with Edwin Encarnacion at third and Brandon Phillips at second. Each is playing very well offensively.
Meanwhile Arizona has gone ahead 5-1 in the 6th in Atlanta.
Lofton, CF
Aybar, 2B
Drew, RF
Kemp, LF
Saenz, 1B
Guzman, 3B
Martin, C
Martinez, SS
Sele, P
I too was thinking Aybar 2, Lucille 8.
Although, like Eric Byrnes, I'm not sure they can keep up this torrid pace an entire season.
ESPN is working perfectly fine for me.
At any rate, maybe Grittle is playing the odds instead of going with the knee-jerk. I think he deserves credit for that.
If you're on a Mac especially, it can present problems. Give Firefox a try, perhaps.
We are not going to get full seasons of .300/.380/.500 from four or five different rookies. Nearly everyone on the team is currently over-performing (sans Furcal, Drew, and Kent). Is Nomar really going to hit .380 the entire year? I certainly hope so, and with Pujols' injury he could even be the all-star starter, but it's not very likely... like how it would be nice for all our insane rookies to continue to surpass their minor league production at the major league level - lovely to think about but obviously not something we should count on.
The good news is that even if we got a little less than the production we're currently getting, it's still probably good enough to win the division. But if we want to keep winning at the rate we're winning, we need to increase the intrinsic talent on the team. I'm hoping for a 2004 DePo-like move to bring in another quality arm down the stretch, hopefully someone who gives us more than one start.
P.S. I'm not saying none of the rookies will post better-than-their-minor-league-career numbers, just that not all of them will.
you were right about the article.
http://www.geocities.com/uclacpa/espn_bug.jpg
It happens at home and work so I don't think it's on my end.
Only when it serves his agenda.
Plaschke has a rep at the LAT for being a good feature writer but a lousy columnist. In my eyes, the former doesn't mitigate the latter.
1. Don't throw a knuckleball
2. Don't wind up
3. Keep the pitch down and in
your gonna throw out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium!!?
Kemp batting 3rd?! Thats the most suprising thing ive seen this season.
More surprising than Guzman at clean up?
Do something illegal, like spit on the ball or rub it with sandpaper/emory board.
Bingo. When I read that I knew plaske had gone too far. twice he used that in the article and I think he made that entirely up himself. it wasn't needed but plaske can't help himself.
what happened to my h's? oh well.
just let it fly!
LOL!!!
1) I'm going from the stretch (In college, I was a relief pitcher, and I got really comfortable with throwing from the stretch.)
2) Go with the 4-seam fastball. The last thing I want to do is injure the catcher.... I don't throw especially hard, but I had a 82-84 mph fastball in my playing days with a high 70's slider. I'm requesting Russ Martin to catch me, but any Dodger player will do.
3) I haven't figured out exactly what I'm going to wear, but I'm leaning towards a Dodgers cap, Dodgers windbreaker-type jacket, khakis, and turf shoes. Ideally, I'd like to be in full uniform, but that's just over the top. I'm sure I could fool the average Dodger fan into thinking I'm another call-up or that perhaps Chan Ho Park has returned to the Dodgers
I think beimel, saito, kuo can each go 2 innings but what happens during those innings might not be what you want. your point is valid though. sele needs to stay hot.
usually you will throw from in front of the mound not on the mound so you should be ok. especially if you have multiple throwers.
whatever you do, do not leave it short.
I'm sure you could request Russell Martin, but you'll probably end up with Ramon Martinez
so your going with the fourseamer, Dude if Martin catches you that would be freaking awesome!
Too rich for my taste.
NC State plays the Fighting Weismans later today.
yeah that's bonafied (sp?) goose bump pitch.
you couldn't resist could you Bob. ;)
Wayyyy too rich. I don't care about Dioner, but I don't want Bills involved in any trade talks.
"Momma says he's bona fide!"
"Yeah, bona fide!"
Neither would I. The whole idea is just ridiculous. I don't get why so many teams are enamored with Willis when he simply isn't that good.
He wouldn't trade Chad Billingsley straight up for Dontrelle Willis...and neither would I.
I had assumed 81 was a "Different Strokes" allusion...
So I'm watching the college softball world series and I've come to the conclusion that Ichiro must've watched a lot of women's softball or else he's inspired a hitting style that's taken over the sport.
the Giants bullpen makes me forget abount the dodgers bullpen troubles.
but come on were talking a dominate proven ML pitcher for a prospect who hasn't pitched a single ML inning.
uhh...who's dominant? It sure isn't Willis....4.72 ERA, 1.45 Whip..that's not dominant. He had ONE good year, and we're gonna give up the farm for him? No thanks...
A good pitcher going in to his prime.
He looks like he might throw a lot of pitches today, but we've made that unlkely.
A pitching machine?
I'm pretty sure the Gameday application is about a batter or two ahead of MLB.tv.
Just what I was thinking.
that's cold!
UCLA was eliminated by Missouri 2-1.
why would you trade arguably the best pitching prospect in the game for an average pitcher?
Lucille II, batting 2nd, grounds into 2 double-plays.
sigh Pretty anemic today so far but it's impossible to be too hard on the guys.
If there's anybody else out there, it's on what I think they call "Game 3".
It is not only okay: it is mandatory.
That said, I knew for several days that this was the day we were going to be challenged by an unsolvable pitcher(and I'm not very observant of these things.) I think Sele's done OK, but shouldn't this Sunday afternoon be our very best line-up.
Whatever that is?
BTW is that the proper use of period and parenthesis?
I live in north San Diego so I can actually pick up Channel 9 digital using my hd antenna, so luckily I can watch all the games that are televised.
Extra Innings is a great thing to have if you love baseball.
Or Groundrule Double
hear ya
142 Yes, if my comment above makes sense, too.
but I hope your wrong.
I didn't like the Lofton signing but he's come through.
seriously, what is your problem?
Especially when he's only making $700,000, a mere fraction of what players like Fur-kel are pulling in.
*not an actual RBI; see Futility Infielder for more information.
atleast we tide it up. Brand new ball game.
tied.
and now we're down again.
The way he's been playing, you definitely miss him when he sits, but every game we sit him helps keep him fresh and healthy. Sitting him every so often will pay off over the course of the season, I think.
Why hasn't Danny Baez been repatriated?
He probably needed a day off.
I thought he was a citizen of Costa Rica.
your right.
Temporary amnesty I say!
You wouldn't be able to watch NFL games without paying for them on an indivudual or package basis.
Vinny has said repeatedly Baez is from Cuba.
They have yet to play the Cubs, Nationals, or Marlins. Their schedule in Sept is a cakewalk.
Thats brutally bad managing.
And who's the pinch-hitter for Lofton?
My answers: Yes, with Furcal; Nomar.
Chase Utley with a sweet open-field tackle of Russ Martin though!
I guess even the best LH reliever in the NL sometimes will have bad days.
The last team the Dodgers will face for the first time will be Florida on August 4.
I'll update the whole NCAA thing later tonight after all the dust has cleared.
The Fighting Weismans lead the Wolf Pack 5-4 and if they hold on, they move on to the Super-regionals.
The bad news is that he's only gathered 20ABs against them.
it got toasted for a munite there.
But seeing Utley throw both elbows into Martins head when he was surely safe ticked me off. Granted Martin was standing on the plate asking for it, but it was a bit excessive. Seeing incompetence out of the bullpen compromise a guy like Martin still gets to me.
Vengeance is a dish best served when the score won't change.
2nd place 2.5 back.
That means the Dodgers would be the home team if they both win their divisions and tie with the same record!
we had the hitters on the bench and the pitchers in the bullpen to win. It is uncomfortable.
Olmedo Saenz is a DH playing in the field. Too bad our backup first baseman can't play defense.
Guzman has been very unimpressive. He's not ready to be up here.
Lucille has been a huge surprise. He's having a career year at 35(?)
Why isn't JD Drew walking much anymore? Maybe he's getting too much rest.
That aint good.
Slowly, I've begun to have the paranoid thought that 2 out of 3 of the last games Grady has calmly brought in pitchers
who many of us feared would blow the game. And they did.What better way to get them off the roster and out of his hair.Maybe he's pretty smart.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2470705
http://tinyurl.com/qmrob
The Dodgers are 1-10, in games in which Sandy Alomar has batted at least twice.
Alomar's CERA is 6.04.
Navarro's CERA is 3.88.
Martin's CERA is 3.14.
If Navarro is optioned to AAA and Alomar stays in LA, it will be an extremely poor move.
RC/G refers to Runs Created Per Game, which Runs Created divided by the number of outs made by the batter, times 27.
Nomar continues to lead the Dodgers with a 11.8 amoung regular players.
Lofton - 7.3
JD Drew has fallen to 6.8
For all the dribble written about Lofton here I'm sure most of you are shocked to find him outproducing JD at 1/3 the price.
Sandy Alomar has a 9.5 which means about as much as the previous post since he's played so few games.
Well, it's drivel, but yes, I'm shocked. Even once you take away a few runs for Lofton's horrible defense, it's still shocking.
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