As far as surprises, I'm a little surprised at how well Nomah! has been doing, real surprised that Lofton as been as good as he has (major defensive flaws not withstading), and I'm happy we got what little we could out of the back three of the rotation. So are we going after James Sheilds or anyone else?

If anyone is interested, Jayson Stark has a pretty good rundown on who may be available to help - and who may not be - in the coming month.

http://tinyurl.com/m3hg7

Morris and Kershaw will go to Ogden and Mattingly will start off in the GCL

Jeff Weaver, Rodrigo Lopez, Bruce Chen, John Thomson, Jason Johnson, Kyle Lohse, Victor Santos, Kip Wells, Oliver Perez, Odalis Perez, Glendon Rusch, Ramon Ortiz, Jeremy Affeldt, Elmer Dessens, Roberto Hernandez, Salomon Torres, Damaso Marte, Chris Reitsma, Rudy Seanez, Joe Borowski.

Greg Maddux isn't on the list, but Stark's story discusses him. I do think that's one name worthy of consideration.

I'm not sure if this can be considered bad luck however, since Tomko has given up 14HRs in 77.7 IP. He's just a really bad pitcher. The only thing he does well is not walk people. But the K rate/HR's allowed are terrible. Not just this year, but for his entire career. Really really useless bad signing.

Lo how the mighty have fallen.

At least we're paying less for two years of Tomko than we would've for one year of Weaver.

On a more pracical level, I just realized we won't get any D's games the whole weekend in the east. Damn.

DT primer was pretty good with the pleasant exceptioon of Saito(and possibly Martinez).

The question is, I suppose, what do we give up for him? Izturis, perhaps?

WWSH

#1. He has 4.82ERA and 1.33 WHIP. His numbers are on a decline over the last 3 seasons. I dont think his numbers would be better at DS. Wrigley Field isnt a problem for Greg Maddux. He has a 2.82 ERA at home. ON the road is where he's gotten shelled.

Cant we just go with a young guy rather than a veteran retread? Maddux is a hall of famer no question, but he's not very good anymore.

you're right, but there isn't exactly much out there either. I wouldn't mind taking a shot at Oliver Perez....but at least you know what you're getting with Maddux and it probably wouldn't take much to get him...

Sure, it's always better to go with a young guy with upside, but when the young guy with upside is DJ Houlton, I think I'll take Maddux over that.

WWSH

I can't tell if that is sarcasm or not.

The Cardinals might need an OF'er and may also be growing tired of Mulder. Mulder is an expiring contract, so he might be a nice pick up. You could offer him arbitration at the end of the season, and collect some very nice draft picks for him. Maybe Cruz,Ethier,Guzman for Mulder. With the year Mulder has had, and the liklihood he wont resign with the Cards, he might be a possibility.

I'm assuming he will. After all, Dodger fans boo Shawn Green, who really doesn't deserve the scorn he gets. And Dodger fans boo Steve Finley and that was when he was on the Angels.

Btw, Aaron Afflalo is officially coming back to UCLA next year.

I'd love to stay and chat more, but I'm about to leave for the game.

All the teams in the AL that I thought would be easy targets for the Dodgers are playing well now: Oakland, Minnesota, and Seattle.

At least we'll have the Angels.

48 Cruel.

Anybody want to handicap Italy vs. Czech Republic? The whole thing ends when the U.S. gets eliminated, right? No more commercials with Bono? No more time for soccer sucked out of the local news sports segments?

They have a higher tolerance for corruption in international soccer.

I've noticed that Dodger Thoughts lone Uruguayan has shown up yet to defend his countryman!

Of course, it's more amazing that we actually have a resident Uruguayan!

Right now, the oddsmakers have the US-Ghana match as 9/4 for Ghana, 2/1 for the US and 5/2 for a draw. Italy is 11/8 to win, the Czechs are 11/4 and a draw is 7/2.

For comparison purposes, Brazil is 1/4 to win tomorrow and Australia is getting 16/1 to win.

This same book has the A's at 23/20 tonight and the Dodgers at 5/4.

Odds are provided for entertainment purposes only.

Then why is Furcal still at SS?
Lucille at 3rd kinda sucks. If they want his defense in there, put him at SS where not only is it a more premium defensive position that 3rd, but also Furcal's been struggling both with the bat and in the field.

Benchin Aybar is insane. At least put him at DH.

I have a strong feeling that even most players dislike the guy. I don't think Barrett would have slugged anyone else...but since it was AJ he probably couldn't hold back.

And the plural of "timeout" is "timeouts."

I will accept no further dissent on these matters.

My head hurts. If Italy-Czech Republic tie nil-nil, what happens to the Group?

Somebody in the neighborhood is spraying malathion or its equivalent around. If I slump over the keyboard mid-game, send an EMS vehicle.

yeah, it's pretty confusing. The easiest way to look at it is this: we win and czechs lose we're in.

On a side note, I used to play on a club soccer team when I was a teenager as a goalie. Our coaches were former Argentina national players and you guys wouldn't believe how hard they can kick a ball...and they do it so smoothly too. They don't look like they're trying to kill it with their foot, it just jumps off and comes at you like a bat out of hell....I had numerous bruises to say the least...

If Ghana were to win, Ghana would win the group with Italy second.

If the US were to win, it would likely be Italy and the Czechs advancing unless the US scored a LOT.

The final matches are played simultaneously to avoid shenanigans.

Nate, super-prospect Scott Mathieson is also making his MLB debut in this game, just FYI.

71 You and I, Bob, here agree. My tastes are strange, but right is right.

JD Drew is already there. Drew has to be hurting. This is what, three games in a row he hasn't played the field?

And that relationship lasted how long? In my experience, pedantry and friendship don't mix.

Gutierrez just gunned Weeks at the plate. He is showing off the five tools.

basically we HAVE to win and hopefully by a large margin...and the Czechs have to lose.

No, not at all. I would say the US odds of advancing are about 33-40%

The US chances of advancing PAST the second round are similar to the chances of the Royals making a late surge to catch the White Sox and Tigers.

1. Italy defeats the Czech Republic.

2. Italy ties the Czech Republic 0-0 or 1-1 AND the United States beats Ghana by at least four goals.

3. Italy ties the Czech Republic 2-2 or with a higher score AND the United States beats Ghana by five or more goals.

4. Italy ties the Czech Republic 2-2 or with a higher score AND the United States beats Ghana by four goals AND the U.S. team scores at least three goals more than the Czechs do in their tie.

5. The Czech Republic beats Italy AND the total combined margin of victory for the Americans and Czechs is six or more.

6. The Czech Republic beats Italy AND the total combined margin of victory for the Americans and Czechs is five AND the U.S. team scores at least three goals more than the Italians do in their loss.

7. The Czech Republic beats Italy AND the total combined margin of victory for the Americans and Czechs is five AND the U.S. team scores exactly two more goals than the Italians do in their loss AND the Americans win a drawing of lots by FIFA.

Check out the Australia-Brazil thread tomorrow, he'll pop up there. Australia knocked out Uruguay and I think he's vowed vengeance against the Aussies until the end of time.

Speaking of toast:

Biscuit image creator:
http://bokstavskex.framtid.nu/agi.asp

This is pretty ridiculous that Aybar isn't playing against Saarloos. Let's hope that this is temporary (only because Lowe is pitching) because if Lucille becomes the starting 3B we are screwed and that would make Grits no better than Jimbo.

And remarkably, that is easier to understand than the tiebreakers that were used at the World Baseball Classic.

Such as the one where Mexico could only advance in a 1-0 game that went into extra innings.

And to get in on the ground floor, the site of the next USA match will lead to a flurry of headlines that will say things like

"Team USA faces judgment at Nuremberg"

yeah I think that's really our only shot. I just don't see us scoring a gagillion goals against Ghana. So, I'll be an Italy fan come game time....I just find all the flopping eerily similar to that of the NBA...play the game, don't fall down.

I would think that the Holocaust would be tough to explain to someone that young. I don't know when I first learned about it.

true, but when you're getting yellow and red cards for that stuff it becomes ridiculous.

That's why I can't watch the NBA anymore...guys blatantly flop in front of hte refs and they still call it. I mean, NBA refs ruin literally EVERY game. It's just not fun to watch...not to mention their bad calls completely give the benefitting team all the momentum.

I took an entire course in college just on the Holocaust...to say it was depressing would be an understatement.

If there any lawyers here, my sister-in-law teaches ethics and civil procedure. And she says civil procedure is fun!

Read an interesting article in my film theory class about comparing Schindler's List to Shoah and how the director of Shoah criticized Spielberg.

I have a history degree as well...at CSULB one of my areas of emphasis was modern europe and I felt I had to take that class. Really insightful, great class...just a downer. Had a few survivors come in and speak...when we talk about stuff like the Holocaust it just seems like another world. So to have a survivor, someone who actually had to endure that stand in front of you is just mind boggling.

And the plural of Bigfoot is Bigfeet, right?

Or African studies and Rwandan survivors, or...

http://tinyurl.com/g5t2d

Overhead around 3 pm at the neighborhood pool: "Yeah, we just came from RFK. Damon hit a grand slam and we took off - it was already 9 [non-DT appropriate word] 2."

1IP 1h 0er 1bb 2k 22pitches- 12strikes

fb 94-95

D'alessio is representing himself and right now he says its 50-50 he stays or signs the contract. The contract has already been mailed to him. We'll see what happens. I think he is worth more then 10th round money.

Why is Laroche out of the lineup for a second day in a row? Is he hurt?

guzman left the game witha HBP on the wrist/hand

laroche injured his shoulder diving for a ground ball a couple of games ago.

A's lineup isnt anything special without Kotsay, Frank Thomas, and Bradley.

line drive in the left center gap to the wall.

Story in spring had Koufax working with him and telling him every pitch needed to look the same coming out of his hand. Duh. Or maybe he thought all his pitches looked alike and Koufax picked up that they didn't....anyhow, what does he need to do?

Does the guy have a Dodger future? Couple items last year said he had good poise. Unfortunately, no stats for poise...but his 51s stats aren't real strong, even considering pitching there....

I think that's the first time this year.

how many ABs has kent had in june?

Explanations?

But his ERA is almost a full run lower now due almost entirely to not giving up as many homers.

Old friend Bryan Corey pitching now for Texas.

Raises hand.

Kendall has suddenly turned into Yadier Molina this year with his arm though.

WWSH

Never seen that before on Gameday.

LaRoche has a tear in shoulder and right now they aren't sure whether he'll need surgery.

Better than the typos my posts are plagued with.

Also in the Notes referenced by 187 is a non-update regarding Werth, who may go under the knife again. What a sad story--he seemed to have such promise, once upon a time.

LaRoche's tear isn't the same thing that ended Green's days as a premiere slugger, is it?

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Just thought that since Jon's been talking about predictions, that old one should be brought up.

It's sad how Green now gets boos when he visits. A great hitter once, and a genuinely nice guy. I still support the trade, but it stinks to see a great player get old all of a sudden. Good for LAT's daughter to stick by him.

Same thing that happened with Nomo. I still remember seeing Nomo booed at Dodger Stadium when he get rocked by the Yanks his last season--my worst moment as a Dodger fan--seeing my favorite Dodger booed by the home team, while wearing his jersey.

WWSH

Thomas is on the DL again, right? Maybe Oakland will make a move for Choi? I'd still like to see Hee Seop get a fair chance someplace.

WWSH

Zito had some complimentary comments on Kemp. It's kind of funny, because Kemp's weren't as complimentary in return. He's got the confidence to be a big leaguer, that's for sure.

WWSH

170 - That was AWESOME, but the anthem being sung by the crowd was even cooler!

What was that one franchise in sports history that had come back from down 3-1 to win a series before the 2004 BoSox?

And how many millions of times will we hear about them before Game 7?

Give him a chance to adjust. Not everyone can be Kemp with regards to that. Besides, it's not as if Ethier's playing everyday now. I've been a big defender of Lofton's playing time around here, but I think Ethier still deserves to stay.

Kuo is the one who should go down for Izzy in my view. He still needs to work on his control.

WWSH

Ethier GIDP on the second pitch I think.

WWSH

I think the soccer game today had more excitement than tonite's baseball game.

Nice to hear that. Only his 6th, though. I hope he's stopped the batting gloves thing. A nice gesture when he was a premiere slugger, but kind of lame now for a washed up veteran IMO. Or maybe he should keep it up--a reminder of better days.

WWSH

"O, Canada"

No h please.

"Hey, what's the tall shiny thing?"
"It's the Stanley Cup?"
"What the heck is that?"
"You get it for winning the NHL."
"The what?"
"It's that thing on the ice."
"Does State play it?"
"No."
"Then forget it. I'm going off for a smoke."

Did you see him pitch at Arizona?

I can see keeping Furcal in, although he is beginning to wear my trust. I'm a firm believer in keeping the same ss/2b combo as much as possible. I'm very surprised that Furcal hasn't turned it around by now.

I think there are more pitchers available that what Stark mentions.

I've been able to see alot of baseball local, some good Sounds games, man Koonce is killing the ball for a geezer (I'm guessing LASIK). He's the only guy to hit a HR off the Guitar since I've been going to sounds games--sure it happens more just only time I've seen it. Runelvys Hernandez was Flat Nasty. It was hard to tell from where I was but it looked like he had a new/diff sinker.

Last night my 4 year old had two SMOKING hits, tonight he had to hit two off the Tee, welcome to baseball! he's getting the hang of it and it's fun to watch them having fun.

Way to go Ta-Tonka!

(Yes, I am still bitter about the Whalers leaving. Why do you ask?)

So bitter, I'm misspelling...

I'd probably rather have Lowe face Crosby than anyone in our pen.

Thank you, thank you-- I'm really good with the obvious.

Don't forget to tip your toasters.

Actually, I meant it was unexpected to tie the game off of Huston Street.

Fun game!

That's like retiring Ted Williams in 1941!

I love when teams fail after they sac bunt. It just reinforces what a dumb strategy it is.

Beane should have kept him fired last year. I'm not sure why promoting Wash is such a prob, but Macha is terrible.

The Dodgers have to win this game now for the world to be right again. Teams that make those typs of mental errors that the A's just made in the last half inning, do not deserve to win.

i smell walkoff.

Balance is restored. Although, Furcal is a little better than Scutaro.

Tyler Houston?

Broxton: Skip, I much prefer coming out of the pen

Little: Shut up rookie. If I want you're opinion, I'll give it to you

Broxton: You got it Skip

Please, let their be a big rain storm so neither team can win this game.

Can their be a large rain storm blanket the stadium so neither team can win?

If this game were stopped by rain, there would be a tie, but then both teams would have to play a doubleheader tomorrow to make up the game.

I'm assuming the A's arent being managed from the upper levels anymore.

Some of this stuff is just asinine.

1. Lofton's triple
2. Ednonton's 4-0 victory to tie up the series
3. U.S. and Italy's 1-1 tie with red cards galore

Lefty wins

I'm thinking Ogilvey or Harrington if Phil chokes.

How long before he implodes?

Not a Rich Beem fan?

And he's high.

Me (idiot): Coach, why do you double steal so much?
Coach: Can't throw us both out, dummy.
Me (idiot): Makes sense to me
Coach: Go run poles for questioning me.
Me (idiot): Yes sir!

Now, I'm wondering when I'm going to go to bed since I need to get up early for that Japan-Croatia match. Gotta root on the Fighting Tablecloths!

Ever tried quietly lurking?

Fear the Tablecloth!

WWSH

WWSH

His probably drained the battery in his camera anyway. He should have enough photos and game story to fill about 30 posts.

This is probably our last chance to win it. It would be kind of funny if Perez came in the game to close. I don't trust the best left handed reliever in baseball.

The Naval Academy has been hosting an orientation of sorts for High School students applying to USNA. I had some extra time in the "class" allotted to me, so I let them watch some World Cup. I was quite impressed by how many were really into it. I wonder if soccer might be finally getting more of an audience in the states. I'm not a huge amount older, and hardly any of my friends follow soccer. None, in fact. I just don't have the time or desire to learn the game, but current high schoolers and younger might be different.

WWSH

I estimate the US chances at around 33-40%, but reading my brother's stuff from Germany and Mark's stuff on Bad Altitude, they think it's less than that.

Too bad Furry sucks.

So Nomar can get IBB'ed for the 30th time?!

So does little tell Sele tomorrow, "Aaron, you're going the distance!"

The off day on Monday should help things out.

For me, it also had the hit located behind homeplate. The stringer may be getting tired him/herself.

WWSH

You gotta figure Lofton will get the day off too.

Seriously, I wish Martin was out right now and given the rest of the weekend off.

Hamulack got sent to Las Vegas.

And let us never speak of him again.

I don't think Kuo can pitch two days in a row. I think Odalis will be coming in.

WWSH

I still think we play to win. Losing games like this are a killer--you burn out your pen, wear out your personnel, and get nothing for it. Martin's already banged up--saving him an inning or two isn't worth all that much. He's still got the better bat than Alomar.

WWSH

Nor is swinging at every possible first pitch against garbage scow pitchers like Halsey and Karsay.

Well, let the other guy end it by losing. They're worse off pitching-wise, at least Lowe got deep into the game.

WWSH

The Dodgers have Alomar and Cruz as position players left.

The A's have Bradley and Kotsay (both injured), Jeremy Brown, and Mike Rouse.

Probably Cruz, who's won a gold glove in RF.

WWSH

I'm so ashamed.

I hear the sound of the roller coaster as it comes to the crest of that first, big drop, when we all scream "O-dallll-iissss"

I love these kind of games, but the DH takes a lot of the fun out of them.

Yeah, but I don't want him injuring himself trying to pitch.

If it comes to that.

Considering how bad both sides look, who knows...

WWSH

I smell a sacrifice.

WWSH

ARGGHHHHH--it's 0200 out here on the east coast. I've spent this much time--I want to see it through!

WWSH

WWSH

Aybar, 2B
Martinez, SS
Garciaparra, DH
Drew, RF
Saenz, 3B
Kemp, LF
Alomar, C
Cruz, CF
Penny, 1B
Sele, P

WWSH

WWSH

He ain't gonna bat!

Forgot who was batting behind him.

Man, the Oakland lineup looks feeble. Not to say we're doing very well in this series with the bats.

WWSH

Mark me as opposed to ordering the Korean Jeff Weaver to load the bases.

I bleed for Russell Martin. That guy is scrappy.

3-1 now?

WWSH

anyone else read the same thing on grady little's lips that i just did?

WWSH

Can you repeat it on this site, without running afoul of Jon's family-friendly philosophy?

WWSH

The A's really didnt deserve to win this game. Saarloos was extremely lucky, Lowe pitched great, Macha was extremely stupid, and yet Grits showed some of his own stupidity with bunting Aybar and Lofton in extra innings.

Hats off to Russ Martin though.

not too thrilled with seo, obviously.

Ned's career highlights include getting taken advantage of by Omar Minaya and the Devil Rays GM. That's pretty difficult to do.

I guess it might be Seo being sent down then for Izzy then.

Hindsight's 20/20, but now I wish we kept Duaner and tried converting him back to starting.

WWSH

I think this should seal the deal on getting a pitcher before 7/31. Enuf with the Soriano talk.

Seo was very sucessful last year and I think he probably is going through something here but the team can't wait for him to fix it and unlike last year, they don't have the oppurtunity to send him down to the minors without risk of a $25,000 waiver claim.

If they had their druthers, they probably would like to keep Seo and get rid of Perez but I think they have lost patience with Seo.

Anyone know?

WWSH

At this point, I think we'd get Seo through waivers, though.

WWSH

Pickings look awful thin, though, and we gotta protect the farm. Why not wait until Zito's a free agent in the winter?

It's a fun team to watch with the kids, but without Gagne and maybe three good starters (assuming a successful trade), we're still not really WS contenders.

WWSH

Lofton, Kemp, Drew, Martin.

Not many people liked the Ethier for Bradley and Perez, Perez can't beat out a Mendoza line second baseman and Milton is going through his normal injury filled season.

I like the give and take of this site but for the life of me cannot figure out why the Baez deal gets all the grief it does.

Does the Met's deal look bad, yes it does, and the Dodgers may soon have nothing to show for it. But if you told Ned that not only Gagne would be down but Yhency would get hurt too, he might not have done that deal.

Cruz vs RHP is a bad matchup. So is playing Saenz vs a RHP. But Furcal, Lofton, Kent probably all need a day off.