Depressing numbers, but just as the offensive hot streak earlier in the season was bound to cool off, this cold streak is bound to change, too. I do think some blame for a team-wide slump can also be blamed on pressing - whether it's trying to swing too much, too hard, for the fences, in futility, as you suggest, or just pressing in general because they know how much the fans are irked, how nervous management is, and how much the players as competitors with egos want to win. It spreads quickly like a psychological virus until everyone is collectively pressing and morale is low.

Then all it takes is one big inning or a couple of good games and just like that a team appears "cured" (only to have it potentially return again at some other point in the season). There's no vaccine! Sorry, this turned into a Michael Crichton novel here. But you get the point.

Looking at the remaining schedule for the Dodgers, there is good potential for the team to recover from this awful stretch. The only series that stands out is four games vs. the Mets.

[Also having a healthy Jeff Kent wouldn't hurt, either, as well as a JD Drew playing up to his potential, having Repko back, not having Bill Mueller lost for the season - and other excuses.]

If the Dodgers swept the Pads, then they would likely be back in the thick of it in the NL West. They probably won't, but I think the example of the DBacks is something to take to heart.

I have never seen a group of players swing at so many 1st pitch breaking balls.

Vin mentions the fist pitch thing a lot, but one thing is sit on 1st pitch fastball and another thing to make a feeble attempt at a 1st pitch breaking ball.

That stands out to me.

A scout mentioned to Rick Monday as he relayed the other night, that the Dodgers are not a good breaking ball hitting team (I'm not sure if there is such a team) but they are a very good fastball hitting team.

I think what has happened over the past few weeks is that they have faced some pitchers who have been able to get their breaking balls over for strikes and so they have been struggling.

I disagree to this extent with Jon, I think that due to the lack of power, pitchers are not afraid to keep throwing breaking balls and if they walk its okay, they would rather throw breaking balls instead of fastballs.

Good or bad, ESPN reporting that the White Sox are pursuing Alfonso Soriano, the key piece being Brandon McCarthey.

I think you guys are right about the breaking ball thing (which is why I think adding Matt Kemp back to the roster right now wouldn't help very much, until he learns to hit that better, too). Scouts have the book on the team and they have yet to make any adjustments. It's tempting but too simple minded I suppose to blame Eddie Murray or the rest of the coaching staff but it seems after a week+ of this futility that they might figure out that... they've been figured out!

So if they have to take a ton of walks to get opposing pitchers to stop the pattern, so be it.

6-It occurs to me that there are a lot of available splits in statistics like what count it is or how many outs there are, if there is a runner in scoring position, etc. But is anyone keeping any stats on pitch selection? What does a player or team hit (BA, OPB, OPS) when the pitch on the ball in play was a fastball, offspeed, or breaking pitch? You'd think someone would be keeping track of that.

I posted this too late on the 'Sandy' thread so I'm pasting it in here:

On the off-chance that anyone is interested in baseball.... It would seem to me that it would be an almost seamless transition to third base for someone who has played shortstop all his life. Much easier than learning first base although the athletic requirements for first are much lower. I call to mind Steve Bilko et al. We were late entrants in trying to sign Nomar. His main problem with signing with the other teams was their insistence that he play third or the outfield, be a utility player. Maybe money was a factor too. Here we had a lot of difficulty signing him because we wanted him to play somewhere other than shortstop. Since Mueller was a lock at third, he, and we, settled on first base with 'maybe' a trial in left field. I think he is now very settled playing first because it is easier than short or third and he doesn't want to move. Superstition may be a factor too. The announcers on one of the televised games this year clearly laid out all his batting mannerisms and his little dance routine coming up the dugout steps. Silly to most of us but I'd bet that they're very big in his mind. Moving to third base would be a traumatic thing to him and I'd bet there is no way he'd do it unless not getting a contract was the alternative. Right now, and if we give him a contract extension, he's blocking a top prospect, Loney. If we give him an extension tied to his moving to third, then he's blocking LaRoche. We're not going anywhere this year; considering any difference in hits or RBIs between him and Loney is insignificant to our finish. Getting a power hitter for him now (only if we sign him for next year) or some high level prospects seems like a much better use of resources than simply keeping him around with his 'feel good numbers' to go down the tube with us.

I'm really glad that Repko is returning and I hope he plays pretty much every day, be it CF or RF. I just hope too much isn't being made of Repko kick-starting the team. I'd hate to see him show up feeling like he's carrying the weight of the team on his shoulders. I'm a fan of Repko, and he got off to a nice start this season. I think our lineup will be improved with him in it, but he isn't our savior.

It certainly looks as though the Dodgers are poor at hitting the breaking ball, but is there any real evidence to suggest this? Perhaps a good number of their hits/walks are coming off breaking pitches, but it is simply easier to notice the swing and a miss on a curve?

1

I think there pressing also, you can just tell from watching them.

Found this piece on the Dodgers by Jim Alexander, on Scripps News:
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/10086

Good words about the Dodgers "Should we trade or not" dilemmas.

12 Maybe so, I just know from watching them a few times over the past week - from what I saw they were swinging and missing at curves a lot nore than at fastballs. I didn't see a ton of pitchers blow them away with heat, but quite a few times struck out being fooled on offspeed stuff. Don't know how many (rare) hits have come on offspeed vs. speed, though.

I think it has been a combination of things, but by far the loss of Kent combined by Nomar's slump has just made it pretty hard for this team to score, I believe in the first half, Kent and Nomar hit over .400 with RISP.

As Baseball Prospectus 2006 showed in its analysis of the 2005 White Sox, luck can last the entire year. Luck turning doesn't seem to follow a neat time schedule.

14 I think the key thing aside from killing the bad breaking balls, is to get into good hitting counts, and right now they are not doing that.

Baseball players are strange unpredicdable beings; a player doing well here may go to a different club and be in a slump for the rest of the year, and a player doing poorly somewhere else may come here and hit like crazy. We desperately need power. I read somewhere that Burnitz in Chicago is not doing well and the Cubs would give him up for for a popcycle. I know he's not very popular here but I have a popcycle named Ledee that I would give for him. Or maybe Cruz, the salary is more equal. Three or four homers from him in the next two months would be more than we can expect from either of our popcycles.

mlb.com lists McCarthy as 6-7 & 195.

!!!!

Actually Burnitz is on the Pirates now.

Wow, so the Sox are close to acquiring both Soriano and reliever Mike MacDougal. Giving up McCarthy would be big though, he's their best prospect, for possibly a couple of months of Soriano... But it sure would make them more formidable this year.

I want Brandon McCarthy :(

For shame, Ozzie. http://tinyurl.com/r8te7

Some juxtaposition: "'I was upset also because Garland ... missed it. I expect him to do a better job.' Garland pitched 8 1/3 shutout innings . . . ."

Gee, I wonder what was under that first ellipses?

22 Well, it may turn out to be a three-way deal that flips McCarthy to LA for some All-Star middle relief.

Despite myself, I just haven't been able to help remembering all the reasons that Jason repko scares me. The hype to performance ratio has stayed constant, which means that his status seesaws from merely insufferable to extremely dangerous.

I am about to be banned from DT. I will be a Nats fan this Sat. afternoon. To do otherwise, would be very ungracious of me.

Sam, other then the obvious "So whaccha gonna do with Alfonso?" question. What do I need to know? How was Friday's JFK revival received?

I'm a huge McCarthy fan. This would be another nice trade for Bowden. McCarthy has great control and has already proven that he can be a pretty effective pitcher in the majors.

26

I know thee not!

There is an interview with Colletti up on Blue Notes.

Sounds rather sensible to me.

On another note, I'll be at the game tomorrow night. Let's hope the Dodgers can get some momentum going against the Pads.

27 - It would also leave the ChiSox woefully thin in the starting rotation. The 2005 playoffs seem like a looooong time ago, looking at the Sox current rotation.

Contreras has struggled recently, and all 4 of the other starters have had forgettable seasons to date.

30 - Mark Buerhle is averaging less than 4 strike-outs per 9 innings. That's Carlos Silva territory.

If that deal happens, then Bowden and the Nationals would be having an excellent July. Two young players for relief, a very nice young pitcher (and maybe prospects) for a pending FA they wouldn't resign, and hiring Mike Rizzo on top of those deals.

From Jon Heyman's new SI article:

• The Blue Jays are canvassing the market for shortstops. They're looking at bringing Cesar Izturis back to the organization where he started. Julio Lugo is another possibility.

26 I'll collect a few thoughts. ot answer your immediate question, the RFK Grand Re-Opening was hugely well-received. My friends and neighbors, and all the Nats blogs, felt it was very well-done and was a nice gesture to the fans. In particular, folks liked:

1. Meeting players/managers/owners at the gate coming in.

2. Giant Presidents' race -- considered very funny and well done.

3. Maragaritas!

4. General clean up and effort to squeeze in more concessions.

People also -- for whatever reason -- really seemed to like that the owners plunked down for a huge new plasma tv and some better furniture for the players' clubhouse.

It was a very good start for the Lerners (made better of course by the sweep).

More thoughts to come.

-------

Also -- to close the loop on something I mentioned earlier, the Nationals have hired former DBacks scouting director Mike Rizzo as Ass't GM. http://tinyurl.com/m6hy7

33 Yeah, I've heard more Lugo to the Jays buzz lately than anything about Izturis. I think Lugo's the guy they're really hot on and as we know, the Devil Rays are always up for a deal. Maybe Izturis is their backup plan? Sure, we'll take Vernon Wells. No, okay, Eric Hinske? Um, Cattalanotto? Er, would you believe, Geoff Zaun and two bat boys?

35
Or how about Ja(y)son Phillips to replace Alomar...?

36 I thought about typing that too but just the thought of it made me break out into hives and my fingers started shaking uncontrollably.

36 But we already have Nomar at first base!

FOX Sports writes that Donald Trump just maybe, theoretically, possibly could be interested in buying the Cubs if the Tribune Company just maybe, theoretically, possibly wants to sell them.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5811464?FSO1&ATT=HMA

I expect the Tribune Company to sell the team in the near future. They've been actively divesting large chunks of their business not core to the sale of newspapers and classified ad space. Internet is becoming a much more important space in their industry and they're putting more attention and capital there as well. I also wouldn't be shocked if any sale of the Cubs went toward financing the acquisition of major Web sites.

Reports out of Chicago say the MacDougal deal is official, with Kansas City acquiring two prospects. I have no idea whether the reports are credible, or whether this will actually lead to the Soriano deal, as the White Sox were actively looking for relief for awhile.

39 - I just noticed that the "Rumors" link on Foxsports redirects to local "favorite" Ben Maller's website.

Maller has been a local radio host in recent times, but I believe has been confined to his little corner of the internet, pimping made-up rumors and heresay.

Someone connect to Fox makes up news and rumors?? I'm shocked, shocked!

Tribune has been saying for a long time now they don't want to sell the team mainly because of a huge tax hit they would take. It's almost pure profit. If they could work out a tax dodge, I'm sure they'd consider it.

"connected" not "connect."

----
Hey, speaking of the Royals, we can have our pick of old friend Mark Grudz and Reggie Sanders. Woot woot!

MacDougal to the White Sox for Tyler Lumsden and Daniel Cortes. Seems like Kansas City got some nice prospects, at least they're better than the prospects the Cubs got for Williamson.

Also, there's an article on scout.com about Houlton. Apparently he's adopted a new delivery, which has led to consecutive decent outings. Anyone know anything about his? The article is subscriber only (which I'm not), so I don't really have any specifics.

39 - That same section also says the Cubs are trading Jacque Jones and Aramis Ramirez for Alex Rodriguez.

"I'm not retired. I'm young and happy," Sosa told a radio station interviewer in Santo Domingo. "I wanted a break, but I'm getting ready to come back for the right offer."

Ned, step away from that phone!

Reports out of Chicago say the MacDougal deal is official

Good for my fantasy team.
Now Burgos can go back to closer.

For anyone that cares, high school senior-to-be and national #2-ranked basketball prospect Kevin Love may commit to UCLA as early as tomorrow.

Sammy Sosa eh? That would be interesting... if the Dodgers thought he had anything left they might inquire, but my guess is they (and a lot of scouts) don't think that.

Still, for at least thirty seconds I was intrigued by that.

47 Sounds like you don't have to worry:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14006125/

20 I stand corrected, egg dripping from my face...

52
And Burnitz is even worse as a Pirate than he was as a Cub....

At Saturday's game, a fan behind me yelled at Lofton, "Thanks for giving him to us Cleveland!"

Lofton played for SIX different teams after leaving Cleveland and joining the Dodgers.

Lofton's hitting well enough, we just have to keep him off the field. I think Ledee's place on the bench would fit him well...

53 Maybe he thought Milton Bradley still played center for the Dodgers?

54 - Houston and Boston could find decent playing time for Lofton.

Does Houston still envision themselves in the playoff hunt?

Watching Lofton patrol CF in Houston would be really entertaining.

56 - Houston and the Dodgers have the same record.

58 You report, we decide . . .

59
We do the math...

The guy who was yelling about Lofton had consumed many, many, many, many beers.

Strangely, he was wearing a replica Cardinals jersey, but rooting for the Dodgers.

Maybe, considering the first paragraphy, it wasn't so strange.

58 - If LA had Clemens/Pettitte/Oswalt right now, I'd be feeling better about that record as it pertained to the rest of the season.

Paragraphy. Sort of like Jabberwocky.

Once the Dodgers are given up for dead, do any of you pick another team to root for?

I'm hoping the Marlins can sneak into the WC. Its a long shot, but I think it'd be pretty cool to see a team with that low of payroll make the playoffs.

Once the Dodgers are given up for dead, do any of you pick another team to root for?

See: 61

Paragraphy is the science of studying paragraphs.

64 - If the Braves' solution to a closer wasn't Bob Wickman, I'd go with Atlanta. Of course, if Kyle Davies gets healthy, they might have a legitimate chance at a later run, especially with the Joneses in the lineup.

64 - I have trouble conveying how happy it would make me should the Twins bump the White Sox out of the Wild Card.

Is "Paragraphy" pronounced

1. PAIR - uh - graf - ee, with the accent on the first syllable, or
2. pair - AW - gruh - fee, with the accent on the second syllable?

If the Twins make the playoffs, I'd probably pick them to win the World Series.

Hard to beat a team with 2 dominant Aces.

64 I won't give up the Dodgers for dead until they are officially out of the race, or have another streak like the one they just had.

Or until the bring 'em out on carts. "Bring out your dead... bring out your dead."
"I'm not dead. I feel happy!" {{konk!}}

Don't have another team to root for, except my dad's a Yankees fan so for his sake I also root for the Yankees, even though it's sort of hard, as one who roots for the underdog and all.

69

The first way.

Paragramancy is the effort to make sense out of Plaschke.

I am sort of a closet twins fan, since I was born in Minny. My dad and his side of the family are obsessive twins fans.

70 - With Nathan in the pen too. If they could get one more hitter...

Liriano/Santana>>>RJ/Schilling

Yes or no?

Much to my surprise, the OED says "paragraphy" is a real word!

The writing of newspaper paragraphs; newspaper paragraphs collectively or as a genre. See PARAGRAPH n. 1c.

The pronunciation won't print here, but the accent is on the first syllable.

Tommy John surgery for Jose Guillen. http://tinyurl.com/fm5kn

Guillen turned down a big extension offer before this season too. Man, that must be supremely frustrating.

Drew's batting second, Izzy 8th, and Repko 7th.

76 - Statistically, it's probably a draw. Considering that Schill and RJ were battle-tested at ages 35 and 38 respectively in 2001, I'd think it would be tough to assume Liriano and Santana would be as dominant through the postseason. Liriano's career high in IP was last year's 190.

I'll take Liriano and Santana circa 2006 over RJ/Schill circa 2001 when starting a franchise though.

Ethier batting clean-up, too.

God I hope Lowe's got the sinker sinking and not stinking tonight.

66 - Paragraphology, perhaps?

78 The extension he turned down was around 4 years/$30 million.

grrr... i should really step away from DT to cram for this 6pm final, but i want to know whether this soriano deal is going down.

i REALLY hope ned doesn't try and rent a vet for a pointless stretch run.

84 Go study. I seriously doubt anything is going to happen today. Too much fun for Bowden to stretch this out a while. And surely he's got to see if Minn or Detroit will re-raise to keep him from going to CWS.

I tried playing poker on the HBO site against Al Swearingen.

I always got shot.

Did anyone notice, by the way, that over the weekend, Bill Plaschke seemed to accuse everyone with an oblique injury of having used steroids? I don't think he literally means to, but ... well, see for yourself.

"With players no longer allowed to use steroids, they are spending even more time in the gym, building up their main core muscles while ignoring the side muscles like the oblique.

"When the giant muscles are used in the twisting motion of pitching or hitting, sometimes the oblique muscles can't keep up."

Among other things, he also seems to think that steroid use meant you went to the gym less. I thought the point of steroids was to facilitate increased workouts.

And I'll plead ignorance on this, but I'm not following how the absence of steroid use would encourage you to ignore different parts of your body to a greater extent.

But mostly, I'm taken by how casually he made the steroids-oblique link.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke23jul23,1,448587,full.column?coll=la-utilities-sports

Wonder when the Dodgers will give Delwyn Young a chance - September, I guess. He's been hot in the minors, but that of course doesn't necessarily immediately translate to the bigs. Still, wonder why they don't speak of him much. Seems like he should be next in line, next to Kemp, of outfielders, and maybe even in general.

I root for no other teams in the national league except the Dodgers even when they stink, as they appear to do now. I kind of enjoy when the Angels are good and can root for them in playoffs/WS if necessary. I useta kinda rooted for Pittsburgh as a second-choice NL team since that is where my father is from, but that's out nowadays.

85

makes sense. i think the w-hills heat (aka the center of the sun) has depleted my will to take this stupid thing, anyway.

Here's hoping the pookah shells can get us a much needed W tonight.

87
I'm surprised that you read the article that closely. I skipped it after two grafs as it looked very boring.

I hurt my obliques quite frequently. I have the unfortunate habit of trying to turn my body around to grab things out of the backseat of my car in a way that nature did not intend.

87 I just noticed there were a couple friendly quotes from Ned, where I don't remember seeing quotes from, um, other GMs in his past articles.

88 - A .335 OBP and an .803 OPS at Las Vegas isn't much of a push. Guzman, who everyone is down on now, is at .787. Aybar's was .921; LaRoche .953, Loney .983, etc. I understand the desire to get a fresh name in the mix, but I don't see Young being next in line for anything this year. Maybe next year.

91 - USER!

94
Hey, that's my line!

D4P looked at a picture of me and said he could tell that I was juicing.

93 One thing I have noticed recently is Guzman stealing some bases, maybe I am reading to much into it but he does appear to be playing a little bit better, maybe all the talk of trades has got him going.

I wonder how much the trade deadline talk impacts those guys in AAA, they probably notice the increased number of scouts.

BTW one thing I am sure of thus far, Stoneman traded the best prospect in Callapso to Arizona for a pitching prospect that is nowhere to be found.

By the way, the best piece of writing I have ever seen about steroid use was in the recent "Hundred Dollar Baby" episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." It was very depraved but very clever.

Guillen is going to be one of those really cheap mid-season pickups next year.

Jon, I read that article and couldn't believe you could write something that stupid and get published. I think too many people were just laughing at him to take his accusation seriously, though.

The D's are far from dead given the division they are in. If they return to their averages they stand a chance. I they get a streak of good to match the bad they are golden.

By the way, I think it is pair-og-graf^-fee, w/the accent on the third sylable.

98 - I liked the South Park episode where Jimmy uses steroids in the special olympics.

98 Jon, I read your entry regarding that great game on 9/11/83, wow a Jack Fimple sighting. It captured that feeling I had leaving the Stadium that day. I'm not sure if it was greatest game ever in Stadium history but it certainly is one that remains in my memory bank even if I the only clear thing I remember is watching the runner take off and seeing Reynolds bunt that ball.

Great, great job Jon, and yes, I have my copy of Best of Dodger Thoughts, go get yours, it makes good reading by candlelight during the rolling blackouts.

87 (raises hand way up high)

I noticed! I noticed!

The sentence, like many Plaschke has written, doesn't make a lot of sense. He was a lot more interesting to me when DePo was here and Steve would fisk him. Now, as Bob said, he's just boring.

Hey, question for anybody who scores games -- how do y'all notate a fouled bunt for the 3rd strike/out?

104 I've always just gone with K in that situation.

65

The Dodgers' slump isn't fatal, yet. We are closer to the top of our division than Atlanta is to theirs, than Chicago or Minnesota is to theirs, and than Toronto is to theirs, or than Cincinnati is to theirs -- and all of those teams think they're still in the hunt. It would be stupid to give up now.

The question is, what kind of team is best suited for the remainder of the pennant race? Young or old? "Proven" or unproven?

I think Colletti is in a great position heading into the July 31st deadline if his goal is to bring in an impact player who will help the Dodgers win the division in 2006. Only the Angels are in a better strategic situation.

The question for both teams is: What's it worth to you? Can they look their fans and media in the eye and say, we had a shot, but we let it pass because we believe the future matters more? How confident are they that the prospects will really come through as hoped?

Even Colletti-bashers have to admit, this is a genuine dilemma, a gamble either way.

Once the Dodgers are out of it, in the NL I usually root for the Cubs then Cards, whoever has a shot. Marlins would be an interesting choice this year given the low payroll the kids play under. In the AL, I do root for the Angels, Socal's AL representative and anybody that can keep the Yanks out of the WS. If my worst case scenario ever came true and the WS would be Giants v. Yankees, I would look for signs of the Apocalypse and plan a trip to Maui so I wouldn't have to watch it!! Cardinals might have done the Dodgers a favor, showing them how far we need to go to compete with them and the Mets for NL bragging rights. We have a lot of work to go, our flaws were really exposed, especially our hitting with RISP that really came back to earth in the last 10 days.

Can someone say here comes Soriano to the White Sox. They have paved the way to get rid of McCarthey.

The White Sox acquired pitching help on Monday, trading a pair of minor leaguers for Kansas City closer Mike MacDougal.

MacDougal, a former All-Star who was activated earlier this month after missing most of the season with a shoulder injury, he has thrown only four innings for Kansas City this season, with one save and no runs allowed.

The White Sox gave up two young pitchers in the deal. Left-hander Tyler Lumsden is 9-4 with a 2.69 ERA at Class AA Birmingham and right-hander Dan Cortes is 3-9 with a 4.01 ERA for Class A Kannapolis.

Baseball America ranked Lumsden, a supplemental first-round pick out of Clemson in 2004, as Chicago's 18th-best prospect in its preseason publication and had Cortes at No. 22. Cortes was a seventh-round pick out of Pomona (HS), Calif., in 2005.

104 - K sub b is how I do it, but I will defer to Bob's better judgment.

108 They haven't really paved the way to get rid of McCarthey by getting MacDougal. MacDougal is a reliever. In fact, he's been KC's closer.

(Also, according to that sad story linked to yesterday, MacDougal is the only first round draft choice the Royals made in the past 10 years that hasn't flamed out.)

What that trade has done is take the White Sox out of the Baez sweepstakes, darn it.

106 - Like you said, what is it worth to the Dodgers, rent a superstar that may or may not get us into the postseason only to be swept out in the first round again or gear up in the offseason with a strong attempt on finding a legit #1 or #2 type starter to go with Penny and Bills so Lowe can be our #4. I opt for the latter, I wish we had sent Baez and Lofton with Alomar to CWS and received someone like Brandon McCarthy in return.

107 Coming back to earth is one thing, going off the cliff is another, my guess is that they hit under .100 (in over 25 at bats for sure) this weekend against the Cards and the worse average in baseball is .236 for Oakland. Sure there are highs and lows but that is really bad.

109
Steve and I are in accord on this issue.

do a lot of people here keep their own scorecards? i've been thinking about learning how, but probably only as another self-validation moment for splurging on my Palm. does it make the game more enjoyable for you?

114
I have not gone to a baseball game that I have not kept score at since 1996.

And that was because I got to that game very late because I was covering a prep football game that took 3 1/2 hours to play. And the Daily News stringers were all at dinner at the time.

Then again, I'm a freak.

93 Yeah, maybe strike the "even in general" part of my query about Young. I was thinking he could be next in line among OFers after Guzman - assuming Guzman is an OFer, and Loney isn't, and... well, it's hard to keep track of who's playing where in Vegas these days. Also, I now recall that Young, too, was converted from the infield to the outfield, right? So he might still be learning defense there. Anyway, next year makes more sense, though a September call-up seems fair 'nuf.

Interesting case Steve Phillips makes for trading ARod:

I think ARod is arguably the best player in the game. But I don't think he can be the best player in the game the way the NY fans are treating him. The difference between perspection and reality with ARod is dramatically different. People think he doesn't hit in the clutch but he is hitting over .300 with RISP and .320 with RISP and 2 outs.

He admits he's the best player in the game, his failures are wildly overblown and easily refuted by simple stats, but NY needs to trade him because the fans say so.

anyone starting to think maybe we got the crappy brother again with regards to the izturises?

116 "after Guzman... and Kemp" that is.

Never mind.

I won't say that Ned would not trade him if he was bowled over but since he has already paid him for almost 2/3 season, I don't think the Dodgers are in the selling mode for Baez.

First, he probably is going to be worth 2 first round picks if he leaves (Baez fell into that class at the end of last year and despite what some think, his comparables to other relievers this year is not going to be that bad, again aside from a handful, this has been a bad year for relievers)

Second, because he is free agent at the end of the year, I don't think teams are going give up much for him because he is not someone by himself that is going to be the missing piece for a playoff run unless you have no options at closer.

117

There's a discussion of Phillips and A-Rod over here at:
https://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/441858.html

Woops! I didn't see that trade with KC, that scraps my McCarthy wish for the Blue!
That doesn't mean we shouldn't look for help in the #1 or #2 starter. I think the Tigers, White Sox will be in a better position to go after Soriano than the Dodgers right now unless Soriano somehow gives assurances he will stay beyond September.

117 This is why Steve Phillips no longer has a job. Any G.M. or owner that lets the fans have any say in personell moves needs to be canned immediately.

For the record most Yankees fans I know think it's dumb to be thinking of trading Rodriguez (though my Dad was ranting about his fielding this weekend)... small sample size, but still..

117 maybe you can put some of it on mob mentality, but it would be a huge mistake to trade him.

115 wow, that's some dedication, bob. i think my girlfriend would resent me if i was too busy keeping score to go for a garlic fries run. i guess i'll just stick to punching those beach balls around for alternative ballpark fun.

123

Unless Ned Colletti listens to us!

126 I know that's sarcasm, but if Ned Colletti listened to me this off season, the Dodgers would be much worse than they are now.

118 how do you figure? he isn't exactly setting the AL west aflame with his .757 ops.

118 If you say that a Gold Glove multi-year regular playing shortstop until his injury is worse than a utility infielder who is having a nice run (similar to his step brother year in 2004), than maybe.

I will say that the BP thought he was a nice throw in in the Guillen deal and maybe if they had not spent multiple millions on Cabera and played him while they waited for their other prospects we would know for sure.

Arod's having a pretty crummy year, defensively, at least statistically. I was surprised, but it's nearly Furry bad. Is he in line for another position change, or is it just an off year?

Clayton Kershaw made the latest BA prospect Hot Sheet (at #10), just out today...

125

Once my girlfriend decided my scorekeeping was innocuous and I still talked to her during a game, she had no trouble with it.

It also helps that she rarely wants to eat or drink anything at a game.

I started keeping score at baseball games in 1972 when I was 6 because two of my brothers did it and I wanted to be like them.

My parents would have to buy a bunch of programs when ever we attended a game.

I went with my nephew to a game in St. Louis (St. Louis! My God! How did I survive?) last year and I only kept score for the first six innings because the Cardinals were getting blown out and I had to keep Dan amused.

I filled in the rest of the scorecard later.

If I were taking kids to a game all the time, I wouldn't keep score.

130 Buster Olney had an interesting story on his blog comparing A-Rod's problems to Chuck Knoblaugh's and how it got so bad for Knoblaugh that when he made an error, no one in dugout would say anything.

An aside, I believe Keith Olberman's mother once got hit by Knoblaugh throw at the Stadium.

133 In the nose.

134 - While Olberman hosted the studio show for Fox, who was televising the game.

134-135, I hope you guys are not Olberman stalkers.

Lineup posted:

Furcal, SS
Drew, RF
Nomar, 1B
Ethier, LF
Martin, C
Aybar, 2B
Repko, CF
Izzy, 3B
Lowe, P

I feel obligated to point out that it's Olbermann.

Sorry reflexes.

And, if you are heading out to the stadium and have been inside your refrigerator all day, I will give you this Downtown L.A. weather report.

IT'S FREAKIN' HOT!!!

Very dry.

124-Plus the fact A-Rod has a no-trade clause where he can veto a trade-he already said he would veto one trade proposal that had him going to Philly. I know it is fun to fantasize and conjecture about A-Rod, but being realistic, A-Rod is out of the Dodger league as McCourt doesn't have the resources the Yanks have to afford him for the long haul even with Texas paying a portion of the salary.

136 - It was so funny in real time, and Olbermann has such a dead-pan delivery, that you couldn't believe that actually had just happened. I never heard anything else to the contrary, and several people have backed the story. Either it's true, or one heckuva urban legend.

140 - Youtube, anybody?

Meanwhile COLE HAMELS has seven strikeouts through three innings. Just lettin' youse know...

Knoblauch means "garlic" in German.

I once spent an entire vacation in Germany refusing to avoid anything with "Knoblauch" on the menu because I wasn't sure what it was.

And I love garlic!

141
And the Phillies are behind too!

139 Talk about urban legends, the McCourts don't need my defense but I do think that there has been a supposed fact regarding how high a payroll the Dodgers can have under their ownership. And while you can hypothesize about some moves they have made, not once has there ever been an issue regarding whether or not they have the resources to pay their players.

Feel free to criticize their management style, communication foul ups and their over sensitiveness to the media.

But until there is demonstrated incident (and no, I am not counting the supposed Vlad Guerrero signing) as opposed to unidentified sources saying that the Dodgers are going to carry a payroll of 80 million, we really should be careful about making statements like someone doesn't have the resources to pay somebody.

140. It's true.

137. Wow. That's the best lineup I can imagine with the current crew. Lofton has been such a liability that I'm all for giving Repko another shot (though I'll be surprised if he ends up anywhere near his anomalous April). And Izzy is finally in the #8 slot, with Martinez on the bench where he belongs.

137 Boy that lineup says it all. Drew in the bat-control slot. Ethier, who I doubt Colletti figured on calling up this season, hitting cleanup. Aybar hitting sixth.

The Three Fates are writing the Dodger lineups these days.

141 - Good idea, but no such luck.

Has anybody seen the "Chad Vader" masterpiece on YouTube?

KJW is doing his best OJW impression.

146

I think Atropos is getting ready.

144- I am going on the past behavior of the current Dodger management and what I see as to why I made that statement. I just don't see this management committing that many resources, both in players and in salary to one player. They have a few holes still to fill including the pitching. I don't get the feeling they want to put all their eggs in the A-Rod basket, when he may veto anyway.

128/129: oh, it's early to say definitively, but maicer can at least hit a home run or two. and even though maicer's not setting the AL on fire, cesar's .668 OPS and total lack of power or discipline is the offensive equivalent of an icy sinkhole.

cole hamels is turning into a three true outcomes pitcher.

he's struck out the side 3 times in 4 innings, wow.

146 will they be trading for Melvin Moirae soon?

154 Is that multiple Melvin Moras? If so, I'm all for it! Double the OPS!

118 - I say it's time to reverse the whole crappy brother discussion.

We got the right Piazza brother. We got the right brother among the Pasadena Robinsons. Did Koufax have a brother? If so, we got the right one.

I mean, just because their brothers didn't make the bigs, should that disqualify them from being the good brothers??!!

I mean, just because their brothers didn't make the bigs, should that disqualify them from being the good brothers

well, yeah! if the other brother didn't play pro baseball too, how can you tell he wasn't better? maybe he would've been, had he been interested in baseball. who's to say :)

155 Well, you can't very well have one without the other two. That would be a crime against nature!

147 Yes I have, pretty funny stuff.

"You have failed me for the last time!"
"That's what you said last time"

157 - Hiram Bocachica? Best of the Bocachicas?

Did Vin Scully have a brother?

Did Nancy Bea have a brother? Or a sister? We should celebrate whenever we don't get the crappy sibling, male or female.

105, 109, 113

Thanks for the tips.

114

I began learning in earnest this past off-season and have been loving it. I compiled some links to good learning resources a while back:

http://www.celsius1414.com/baseball_scorekeeping

I score any game I attend, and occasionally the ones I watch on TV as practice.

Old Friend Jae Seo is having one of his typical outings: 5 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 4 BB, 1 K.

I haven't scored every game I've attended, but I've scored a lot of them. The first game I can recall scoring was the Drysdale-Bouton game in the '63 Series, on a hand drawn scorecard. I was 10. Unfortunately, I didn't keep it. I did keep the card I scored at a Yankees-Orioles game in August '67 that featured three HoF'ers on the field an one more in the dugout.

http://tinyurl.com/ero6e
http://tinyurl.com/s7yop

I think Icaros already went through every possible meaning of "For those of you scoring at home..."

Steve Case said he was sorry about the AOL-Time Warner merger.

It takes a big man to admit failure in the face of a $200 billion loss.

166 It takes a blind man to not figure out that AOL was bound to go in the crapper any minute. People aren't as afraid of the internet as they were back in the mid-to-late 90's when AOL ruled the world.

Ummm, I mean 165

165 I think that qualifies for Blazingly Obvious Statement of the Day

Looks like Soriano to the White Sox isn't so imminent after all. Kenny Williams came out and said they have absolutely no interest in trading McCarthy.

and the wheels come off for mr. hamels. so good, yet so bad.

We got the right LaRoche brother!

Delwyn Young ties up the game at Vegas. Young has been one of the biggest disappointments on the farm this year. I really thought that he was going to tear up Vegas. He's always been a very good hitter. It would be a shame if the Dodgers gave up on after this year.

I heard Tony Jackson interviewed today and he said that the Dodgers have soured on Guzman and LaRoche. I'm guessing he mixed up LaRoche with someone else or he's just full of bull. Jackson also blamed this year's failures on Depodesta and said that Grits and Ned shouldn't be held accountable.

Amazing. The Puerto Rican Assassin does it again.