I started watching Lucy when I was very young. I used to pretend to be sick so I could stay home and watch it at 9am. I was very excited when it was moved to 11 on FOX because I would be able to go to school and feign illness and still have time to come home and watch it. I'm 24 and started watching it when I was about 7 or 8. Then a couple years later I got my cousin, five years younger, hooked. I own the I Love Lucy Trivia Game and he and I are masters and trade victories.

Ahhh, 7:00 re-runs of Lucy on Channel 11. Is it possible to have seen each episode more than 50 times (and no, not on tapes or DVDs).

Appreciate the break, as I get ready to go to the game, is it a Subway day or InNOut?

Nice story, Jon. Your daughter has good taste.

I'm young enough that I don't remember ever not having Cable TV as a kid. Despite all the other choices, I Love Lucy held up then, so I don't see why it wouldn't now.

1 All right then, who is the first celebrity that Lucy sees in Hollywood (on camera)?

Incidentally, I missed the Dodgers finally winning a game on Friday night because I was at a local watering hole doing impromptu karaoke with Vida Blue and noted Dodger killer J.R. Richard. Interesting experience, to say the least. Vida Blue needs to work on the lyrics to "My Girl," is all I'll say. He looks like he could still step on the mound and shut somebody out, though.

Does anyone remember what I think was the first cable channel in LA, the Z Channel. You had to have this brown box with a row of push down buttons and a long cable running to the TV. Mid 1970s, I think.

6

I remember hearing about it as a little kid, but we never had it.

Didn't it show Dodgers games?

Aybar up with two on and two out. . .

base hit> Aybar has his first two Atl RBIs

6 - We had OnTV.

5 - Wow!

Inside the Dodgers said there will be a move made before 1st pitch.

My original thought process was that Betemit replaced Aybar.

If Nomar is not on the DL than I guess Tomko replaced Baez and Loney was called up when Aybar was traded.

Interesting to see who goes. Betemit gets the start at 3rd today. Loney's at 1st. Izzy's at 2nd..... and Hall's behind the plate (joy).

Still, though, I'm very excited to see Loney and Betemit.

I was never a big fan of I Love Lucy, although I've probably seen every episode several times because it was already in syndication when I was a kid, and it was on all the time (it seemed).

About 24 hours left in my PTIAL (please trade izturis and lofton) campaign, something tells me my campaign is not going to be sucessfull.

6 Sure I do. My first opportunity to catch a glimpse of an R rated movie and all that came with.
But Dodger games were on ON so I was a little bummed to not have that.

I must say I'm a little disgusted to see there's an advertisement promoting a class action lawsuit on this site. Don't people realize it's the greedy trial lawyers who make the millions and millions of dollars and the supposed people who were "done wrong" might get a couple 100 dollars.

14. Umm, not that I get it but I believe it to be a joke.

14 First, I think it's a joke, even if I can't get the humor. Second, my mother just got $8000 much needed dollars in a class action suit that could never have been waged individually. Capitalism is no good, but we have to work within the system, and that requires that experts represent us, even if it means they make a good portion of the money. Or should we just let our employers, creditors, government, whatever do what they want?

It was either Showtime or Sundance channel had this really interesting documentary on the Z Channel called, "Z Channel: The Magnificent Obsession"

Z Channel was one of the first pay cable stations in the US, and its programming chief, Jerry Harvey was sort of a famous kind of guy in the industry because he more or less pushed the edge and got a lot of stuff produced that would have never been produced.

2Drop the gun and pick up the In-N-Out.....

No fans of SelecTV?

So the Yanks are getting Abreu and Lidle from the Phillies, apparently?

And their payroll goes up to, what, 200 million?

And no room there for Ricky Ledee now, I'm guessing?

We had ON, and I can remember how excited I was to see, I think it was like 28 games a year, live from the Stadium, instead of listening to them on the radio.

Given what Cingular Wireless pulled on me, and has since been busted for, I will welcome a class-action law suit everytime.

Or should we just let our employers, creditors, government, whatever do what they want?

As far as creditors go, yes. They should be able to call at 3:00 AM, show up on ones doorstep at whatever hour, and if it becomes evident they're not going to get their money they should result to vandalism. If, say, they are out $3000, they should bust out a couple windshields, dent some fenders, and bust some windows. I firmly believe that.

19 So who's going the other way?

21. Can I borrow $20 bucks? On second thought...

Who's dumb enough to have a book delivered by his favorite internet baseball writer (which is saying a lot) and still not be astute enough to ask for an autograph?

(SB raises his hand)

(long, deep drawn out sigh)

I remember a "Thirtysomething" episode where one of the women said she was going to watch "Lucy" and a guy said, "But you don't watch telelvision."

She replied, "Lucy is not television, Lucy is God."

19 Probably not much since it's basically a salary dump. Melky Cabrera would be my guess. That package certainly isn't worth Phil Hughes.

Too funny. My older son and I have been watching some of the Mets/Atl game (Go Willy!). I left the room for a minute to type that DT comment and see if Soriano had been traded, and I back and he's watching the game. I ask what happened and he says. "Daddy, there were snakes on an airplane!"

To be clear, I'm supposed to be monitoring/editing commercials during sports and that one is totally not appropriate for a 5 year old. But he seems OK.

25 referred to 22, not 19. FWIW...

My parents used to always have I Love Lucy on at 9:00 back when it was on Nick at Nite regularly, and my sister and I would generally watch too. It's pretty good stuff. I also remember watching the Andy Griffith Show a lot, because that was the default programming for Atlanta Braves' rain delays.

Good times.

26 They were showing Raiders of the Lost Ark during a commercial break?

22, 25 According to ESPN, the Phillies get C.J. Henry (the Yanks' #1 pick from 2005), Matt Smith (lefty), and a player to be named later.

29 - No, "Snakes on a Plane."

My mom saw the trailer for that when she saw the new Pirates movie, and she was not happy.

22 Reports are that the Yankees are sending last year's #1 pick, catcher C.J. Henry, and then probably 27 year-old lefty reliever Matt Smith, and one other minor leaguer from a pre-approved list. Not Hughes, I'm sure.

or what
30
said ;-)

The Yankees payroll is ridiculous, and they still may not make the playoffs. Their pitching is questionable and Lidle gives them more depth but won't scare anyone. Abreu could get a second life in NY, or he could just continue his power outage. Then they have a logjam in the OF when the injured players come back. But they don't care about that I suppose...

I was sharing an apartment with a friend back in the 70s and we had Z channel. I remember having some people over and watching some movie. At some point nudity broke out in the movie and one of our friends looked at us and said "What channel is this???"

If the Dodgers do acquire Greg Maddux, btw, I wouldn't be at all unhappy to have him on the team this year - he's a great 2nd half pitcher historically - but like has been said here many times before, only if we don't have to give up a top prospect in return. And what the Cubs were asking for earlier seemed ridiculous. I hope we don't do anything stupid to get him.

33 - I really hope the Don Mattingly curse is not hereditary.

Enders, I was at BTF a couple days ago and the people there say your insights are missed and wanted me to tell you that.

33 - I think the plan is that if and when Sheffield comes back, he'll become the DH while Bernie goes to the bench, where he belongs, along with Bubba and Melky. Not really that much of a logjam.

I'm sure I've seen all the episodes of I Love Lucy that syndicates air, but I think I never loved them because I was forced to watch with my older sister. Older siblings always manage to get the remote control.

CHASE! UTLEY!!! just doubled to center to bring his hit streak up to 30...at the same time that Abreu came up into the dugout and started shaking hands and hugging people...

38 Probably right, although I think Melky should really be starting. It's sort of like matt Kemp - if he's not going to play every day he should go back to AAA. And yeah, Williams should be on the bench, or retired, really.

So here was my day yesterday:

Let me start by saying the Lerners are some of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. I sincerely wish them and the Nats much success.

We got to the suite about 20 mins before game time. There were about 10 people in there, one of which was Jamie McCourt. She talks. . . alot and fast. She is intense. She's a hit and run driver. She meets you, talks AT you, and moves on to the next person. (On the other hand, she wasn't there to see me.) A few minutes later Frank came in. He was very warm and listened more than he talked. He was very nice and spent a lot of time talking with my Mom who knows less about baseball than, say, Bill Plaschke. In contrast to Jamie, when he is speaking with you he has an easy style. I told him I liked the Betemit trade but joked that he had to stop now and preserve the prospects. He gave me a courtesy laugh and told me that was the idea "keep some of the prospect while sprinkling experienced veterans around them." Wait a minute, I didn't say "some"prospects and I didn't say anything about vets. He has been Ned-washed. A few minutes later Frank and Ted were in the corner having a private conversation and I was sure they were dealing Soriano right there. Of course, they didn't even mention it they were just being social. (Told myself I had to dial it back and be a little cooler)

As I mentioned in the other thread, the Dodgers want Soriano and have offered Izzy and some low level minor leaguer. The Nat's actually like Izzy but want more. They want a Major League ready pitcher i.e. Bills. I couldn't actually say aloud "no no no!!!" I got the impression that the Dodgers were saying no to such a deal but the conversations were not over. Bowden was not there. They said he was back at the hotel working the phones which were very busy. Apparently Kasten wants to re-sign Soriano and thinks he can. But the others, Bowden, and Ted and Mark want to move him for ML ready prospects. They really want to reestablish a quality farm system. Although they wouldn't say it out loud, MLB cannibalized the franchise the last few years. Just my opinion, I would not expect Soriano to re-up in DC and would not expect a trade until close to the deadline Monday.

This part was pretty cool. At one point, Kasten came in and quietly took Ted and Mark out into the hallway. It was clear they had an offer that was in play. When Ted came back in I asked whether Soriano would be coming out of the game. He said not yet. Now that its been reported I don't feel bad posting it here, the offer is from Huston. I got the impression it was an offer worth entertaining although it was still "light" as far as the Nats were concerned. Mark Lerner would not specifically say who was involved. While the Lerners will have final say, they will rely on Bowden and Kasden.

Bob, I don't think you will have to concern yourself with your "favorite" manager next season.

Sam, I used your Old Navy Naming rights line. They had not heard it before so, of course, I took full credit. :-) They are apparently in discussions with a Company and I think fairly close to strking a naming deal but the name was not mentioned.

As you might expect, the Lerners being real estate people are much more involved in the development of the new stadium than the personnel moves. They are leaving player decesions to Kasden and Bowden. They were very impressed with the Dodger suites and how clean the stadium is. I guess RFK is pretty run down. They were also suprised how many pricing options there were in terms of seating at DS. They said they will not have nearly as many levels at the new stadium.

Overall it was electric just to be in a room with management approaching the deadline.

I'm sure I have forgotten a few things but in the meantime, anyone want to guess how much a team spends on baseballs over the course of a season?

From the LA Times:

Izturis, a Gold Glove shortstop two years ago, is no closer to returning to his natural position, but at least he can view it from the right side for a while.

"Second is easier than third," he said. "I agreed to play third to help the team win. I just want to play every day. I don't want to sit on the bench."

Maybe that's what the problem with Valentin was last year.

I'm amazed that the Phillies got basically nothing for Abreu. No one will remember the minor leaguers they got. Sure, the Yankees eat the contract, but still!

LAT, I'm very jealous. That sounded like fun.

Wow, that was a TERRIBLE deal for Philadelphia. A twenty year old shortstop and a freakin' reliever, and a PTBNL? For Abreu?

Why do teams always seem to acomodate the Yankees? They have nothing to trade very year, and they still make trades.

Really fascinating, LAT. Sounds like a fun time. Did you watch the game at all? :-)

Nomar to the DL

Why do teams always seem to acomodate the Yankees? They have nothing to trade very year, and they still make trades.

Exactly my thoughts. It is so exasperating to see that their farm system is threadbare, yet they somehow manage to pull off deals like this. They have so much cash to burn.

From Inside the Dodgers

To make room for Betemit, Nomar is heading to the DL, retroactive to July 25. It was everyone's hope that he would be able to play by Tuesday, but while he can swing just fine, he can't run full speed and cut corners just yet. He'll be eligible to come off on Tuesday, Aug. 8 vs. Colorado.

49 - Maybe so they can get away with things like dumping Kevin Brown on them?

I'm sure I have forgotten a few things but in the meantime, anyone want to guess how much a team spends on baseballs over the course of a season?

I couldn't begin to guess, but I'm curious.

Well isnt eating Abreu's contract worth like $45mil? Thats not too shabby. But I do wonder who in this years FA class they'd spend the money on...

As much as i disliked Abreu, that is a terrible, terrible, terrible deal :(

Beltran just hit another Bomb for the Met's, he's hit 4 dingers against the Bravos.

42- $25K?

Andrew, you are off by one zero. $250K. That's a lot of baseballs.

53 The rest of his $13 million this year ($5.5?), $15 million next year, then a $2 million buyout or $16 million contract. So it could be $37 million or so, max, but as low as $22 million. A lot of money, but you would think the Phillies would get something more worthwhile in return.

Phillies didn't exactly do a great job with that Rolen deal to the Cards either: Placido Polanco, Bud Smith, and Mike Timlin.

42 Now that's a great post. Thanks for that.

Here's a trade for you: Furkel for Miguel Tejada. In my own seat of the pants, non-researched way, I think this makes sense.

I'm running to a going away party for some friends (and getting the evil eye just for skimming and typing). Thanks so much for the thoughts LAT. Does sound totally thrilling. More comments later.

Is it common that a team would enter into an extension w/a pure rookie like Zimmerman? I gather the goal is to buy out a couple of arb years -- how many years total would that take?

Talk to you night latish tonight.

Don't know if this has been covered yet: From Ken Rosenthal's column on Fox Sports this morning:

A pitcher with 326 career victories shouldn't need a strong performance to enhance his trade value, but Cubs right-hander Greg Maddux entered Saturday's game against the Cardinals with a 6.03 ERA since May 1. He likely increased his appeal by pitching six innings and allowing only one run.

The Cubs are willing to pay a significant portion of the approximately $3 million remaining on Maddux's contract if they receive a quality player in a trade. One interested club wanted the Cubs to pay all of the money and accept only a mid-level prospect, according to a major-league source. The Dodgers, Maddux's most likely suitor, are exploring other options first.

58 -

22 mil for a year and a couple of months, for a guy who seems to have lost his homer touch definitely limits the number of potential buyers.

This was a salary dump, pure and simple. If they can use the money to sign one or two free agents that will help them next year, they'll be more than happy. Unfortunately they'll be using that money to waive at the same pitchers we'll be going after.

57- How? How much are they paying per ball? Oh, I didn't think about batting practice. Hmm. Are they counting the ones they autograph, too? I'm very suspicious.

It is crazy that the Phils couldn't get Melky, Hughes, Duncan... someone! However, apparently in order for Abreu to ok the deal (he has a no trade rights) they Yanks have to pick up his option, so this is shades of Randy Johnson. The Yanks don't give up too much in prospects but does anyone think that Abreu is worth 36.5 million over the next two years?

64 Yeah, I was wondering what the cost per ball is too. I wonder where the balls are made these days; is it still Haiti? Bob?

Abreu has a bloated contract that will probably look even worse in a few years, what with his declining power and all.

Still, he is a very productive player. He hits for a decent average and walks a ton, and if you value this kind of stuff, he steals a lot of bases.

And Philadelphia essentially got nothing worthwhile for him. A twenty year old shortstop, who I admittedly am unfamiliar with, but is likely to be blocked by Jimmy Rollins. A reliever who I now learn is twenty seven, and is most likely barely replacement level. A PTBNL, which unless it's a steal, is probably going to be some roster filler type player.

I don't claim to be a mind reader, but you could have asked for a better prospect group, (or even single prospect), from another team if your goal was just to unload his contract.

atl must really have liked aybar to immediately stick him in the leadoff spot

Would any other team take on the whole contract?

I wonder where the balls are made these days; is it still Haiti? Bob?

Bob is like on Vacation or something I think.

But why not take on at least part of the contract and get a Duncan or Melky in return? Or wave Lidle in front of Toronto, the ChiSox, etc and maximize the return for both?

Awful deal, Stand Pat is definitely trying to out-horrible the Rolen for nobody and Schilling for nobody deals.

69-

I do doubt that Abreu's value is that low that no other team would trade for him.

64 - There's batting practice, games (all the foul balls, homers), I guess Spring Training too.

Didn't that mastercard commercial say that new baseballs were $8 or $9 back in '98? My guess is they're like $10 apiece now (official balls, you know).

But Dick's Sporting Goods sells them for about $80 a dozen.

Paul LoDuca gets hit right in the cup on a foul tip off the bat of Andruw Jones, what song does Atlanta immediately begin playing? Yup, my intro song, "Suicide is Painless". It might seem a favorable alternative at the moment.

65 -

Are you sure the Yanks have agreed to pick up Abreu's option? I think the option was the reason it took so long to get a deal done and I read somewhere that Abreu agreed to forego that part if he was traded to either of the NY teams or Boston

I believe that MLB baseballs are made in Costa Rica.

A couple others have mentioned this before, but I'm just noticing it for the first time. That is one BAD rug that Ned has.

72 - Bobby Abreu's contract, from MLB4U.com

5 years worth 64M , will make in 2003-8.5M plus 3M signing Bonus, in 2004-10M, in 2005-12.5 and in 2006-13M, in 2007-15M, and in 2008- Team Option worth 16M ;or 2M Buyout- + Salary Can increase 275K the next year for MVP 1st place finish or 150K 2nd place in voting or 100K for 3rd place- + the deal includes Complete NO-TRADE Clause- + BONUSES he has received: 50K in 2004 for Silver Slugger, 50K for 2005 All-Star selection, 75K for 2005 Gold Glove

77 - i also tink he wore the same shirt friday and saturday

77- Could be his real hair, but he just shares a barber with Kim Jong Il. Although, that wouldn't seem practical.

80 If that's the case, somebody's racking up frequent flier miles.

Rosenthal says the Yanks will likely exercise Abreu's 2008 option.

Re: Cost of baseballs. To be fair, it may have included the minor league teams as well. I just know Ted told my father the cost of balls at $250K was one of the most suprising things he saw.

83 - oh yeah, that too. That's a lot of baseballs.

ESPN says Abreu is getting 1.5 million to accept the trade without requiring the Yankees pick up his option. That is crazy, almost like extortion.

Just took a look at the lineup...
What's Grittle's fetish with batting the catcher in the 8-hole?

85 - "If you mention 'extortion' again, I'll have your legs broken."

Had to chime in on reading the multiple comments on the old Rolen trade. I don't know about y'all, but I think the three years of a top 5 second baseman at average price they got out of the deal was more valuable than the two months of Rolen they gave away. They might have screwed up a ton of things in regard to handling Rolen, but Polanco was a very good score.

I agree the Phils got hosed on players, but the Yankees seem to have lost their minds picking up that kind of contract when they've got Damon now, and Sheffield and Matsui coming back eventually. That's four outfielders, not counting Williams and Cabrera, and the DH slot is occupied by Giambi.

This is the return of George. His meek son-in-law wouldn't have done this deal.

By the way, my son has loved "I Love Lucy" since the first time he saw it, way back when he was about four. I appreciate it now much more seeing it through his eyes than I did when I was a kid myself. It took me til I was 40 to realize how great that show was.

When I was a kid, Lucy had her other shows on, like "Here's Lucy," which could have been an ad for the emphysema association. Gale Gordon chasing "Mrs. Carmichael" around from one ditzy predicament to another. I guess it was pretty funny, but far from classic comedy.

This is just more reasons to root against the Yankees and pray they dont make the playoffs with their $200mil payroll. Im shocked that the Yankees have fared so well with their mediocre pitching staff and numerous injuries.

We have a mediocre pitching staff. We have numerous injuries. How come we're not at the top of the wild card? hehe

87. Your'e killing me. I know the quote and can't come up with the movie. I give up, what is it from?

There's a Baez sighting in Atlanta right now...

89- One of them can play first. Andy Phillips doesn't seem to have any much business playing there. I agree with your larger point. Maybe, in addition to a luxury tax, the MLB should do thousands of dollars worth of property damage to Yankee stadium every once in a while.

67 "and if you value this kind of stuff, he steals a lot of bases."

I swear, sometimes you guys just absolutely kill me.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the saber-objection to basestealers is when they fail, right? A player who actually moves from first base to second base successfully, placing himself in what old-timers used to call "scoring position," has some remote connection, I believe, to runs scored, right? Or is that retrograde thinking?

93- He looks good in red.

92 - Animal House

Baez pitching in Atl. Given up a double and a single with no outs. Well at least it was'nt the team or the city. But we knew that didn't we?

95-

I believe that stealing is only worth a try if you can convert at over an 80% rate according to most statistical analysis. I haven't looked at Abreu's numbers so I don't know how his percentage is.

95 - Thanks, dR, for getting to the point. Stats folks are not anti-SB; they're anti-SB when it comes with a bunch of failed attempts, or from a player who doesn't get on base enough to justify playing him in hopes of steals.

To be fair to Baez, the "double" was a pop-up to where a 3B would normally be playing, but because of the shift it landed pretty much on the infield dirt and by the time Aybar got to it Delgado was already at 2nd.

Wow, Baez actually ended the inning unscathed. After the two hits, he got a strikeout and a couple of pop-ups.

"Boy, Dany Baez sure looked good. A bloop double a single and nothing else for the Mets."

The Braves announcers are huge homers, but that is extreme even for them.

2006 Abreu 20/4 SB/CS, so 83.3%

Players who hit for power and steal bases also tend to age better than those who don't do one or either of those, fwiw.

And then Baez got old "friend" Valentin out so that's still okay. And there was that odd-looking "Carlos Delgado doubles (19) on a pop up to third baseman Willy Aybar."

Yeah, there is nothing wrong with stolen bases, but you have to be really good at it, and they tend to be overvalued.

104-

So there you go. Thanks for the stat.

Relaxing too much after taking care of Soriano, perhaps?

Great trade for the Yankees.

103 The box score may not make it look that way, but Baez really did pitch very well. After that fluke double and legitimate single, he worked out of the jam beautifully.

86 *Just took a look at the lineup...
What's Grittle's fetish with batting the catcher in the 8-hole?*

Grady couldn't hit as a catcher so I'm guessing.....

103 I think it's more that their standards are low given the atrocious state of Braves pitching most of this season.

104 - You'd rather have a player with a broad skill set, sure, but isn't speed considered a "young player's" skill? Meaning, he'll age better than a slower player albiet one with more power?
I need to re-read Bill James on this; IIRC, Alvin Davis and Tom Brunansky were his poster boys for poor aging because of their "old players'" skills.

Is that the first Furkle-Izzy double play?

Yeah, there is nothing wrong with stolen bases, but you have to be really good at it, and they tend to be overvalued.

NDR, But I don't agree with that.

Is there a more overrated player than Jeff Francoeur? How can 20 Home Runs be so empty? When you pair them with an ISOpatience of .23 for an OBP of .283.

*116 - ISOpatience of .023 rather.

114 - How did Cesar look on the turn?

How many points has Furcal's slugging jumped in the past two weeks? Seems like he doesnt hit singles anymore.

116-

Unless he improves his walk rate and/or average profoundly, I think Francouer is destined to be the really poor man's Alfonso Soriano for a few years.

115-

Why not?

Is there a more overrated player than Jeff Francoeur?

But Scouts love him!
And they are never wrong.

118 - I'm not the person to ask since I'm watching Gameday, but that's a good question

113- There was a chapter on aging in the BP book Between the Lines. It suggested that players who, both, stole bases and hit for power tended to see their peak production decrease at a slower rate than those who either just hit for power, or just stole lots of bases. It doesn't mean very much in specific cases, but it's a broadly good sign, when acquiring a guy who's getting older.

119 - On June 14, he was "hitting" 248/329/332/651.
Entering today, he's at 278/352/380/732.

This has always bugged me: how do you use a milk carton for a glove?

118- He did well. Furry was a little clumsy with the feed, but Izzy turned it like a pro.

We were OK for awhile but then I think Ned got Trade Fever after a few accolades for Betamit. Taking the whole trade ....Wow Iz just turned a double play even after Furk dropped the ball!... into account, including the fact that we are paying everyone, I'm wondering about those accolades. But at least Abreu's gone, and if we give up a good prospect for anyone, we will look imbecilic in comparison to NY.
Tejada for Furk straight up would make some sense. Balt ain't going to pay his back loaded contract. If we got Tejada w/o losing Furk we would be well on the way to paying 100 mil to try and get offense out of shortstops, the most expensive place to get it. Thats entertaining to watch, but not when your team does it.(Think Yanks.)

118

how do you think a guy with great hands lookes (he looked great)

{125}

having no money??

118-

He didn't look bad. Throw was a little high, but not bad for a first time.

Francouer has an OPS of .734 (!)
Rafeal Furcal has an OPS of .732 coming into this game, just to compare.

129 I understand that, but I just don't see how it works.

Ethier is playing the pitch count game with Ortiz

Nice at bat Eth. I know Martin needs rest, but its tough on the lineup.

McCourt didn't add enough seats. Otherwise he'd still be batting.

133 - I think Grady feels the same way

131

I don't understnad it either but I came from a 3rd world contry too, So I saw it first hand. my dad was able to prvide me with a glove, but I saw it & I understand it.

Talk about pulling the ball

Marc Komine, a posterboy for the "moneyball draft"- 9th rd 2002, 5'9 out of Nebraska, is making his MLB debut today.

Hendrickson doesn't seem to be fooling too many.

130 - It is amazing that with an ISOpower near .200 and 20 home runs (with two months left to play), you can still have a low 700 OPS. Is Francoeur the first one true outcome player?

136- What makes the carton better than just bare-handing the ball? Doesn't it get tricky, getting the ball back out quickly?

he wants to see if Furcal can turn another unassisted triple play?

Why in the world would Little and Lofton consider sacrificing with JD Drew on deck?

It is amazing that with an ISOpower near .200 and 20 home runs

I'm still trying to figure out what that means?? [scratching head & thinking]

140-

Ha, that's a good name for it. Emil Brown with his six home runs, has been more productive this year than Francouer, as has old friend Willy Aybar.

Talking about the game, if we trade for any National outfielders, I hope it's Ryan Church.

the boo birds are out ALREADY

106 I don't think successful base stealers are inappropriately "overvalued." I think the criticism is pointed at managers and players who try to steal in situations when the likelihood of success is not as high as it when Abreu tries it.

What made me laugh, though, was the way the original post sniffed aristocratically at Abreu's skills as a base-stealer. It reminded me of my grandmother talking about rock and roll. You know, it has its charms if you go in for that sort of thing, although it's a bit vulger, n'est-ce pas?

One of the more hilarious balks in history.

wow ... hendricksons a stiff

I was just gonna mentiond how clomsy Hendrickson looked

LOL. I hate to laugh at a Dodger, but that was funny looking.

Yay more unearned runs for Hendrickson.

Wow, Hendrickson is inventing ways to suck.

I hope he's not hurt; I'd feel bad for laughing so hard if he were hurt.

Well, that was a cheap run.
Didnt Hendrickson just drop the ball or something?

Ouch! Poor Hendrickson. I actually feel sorry for him there. As Vin Scully just said, he's like a giant redwood - that just fell.

148 - what'd he do?

no biggy Hendrickson, you're a Dodger. (stays in the family)

For those of you unable to watch, Hendrickson caught his front spike on the bump, and fell over, much like a Redwood. It took about ten minutes for him to fall all the way over. Hilarity ensues.

When will Kuo be ready to come up?

157- Caught his cleats on the wind up. Fell down. Called for the balk.

If he was a cat, he'd be licking himself profusely right now.

As someone who is 6' 5" tall and less than graceful, I feel badly for the guy. I usally trip or fall in front of my family not 50,000 people.

Since he's not hurt, that was one of the funniest things I've seen in awhile.

He caught his spike on the mound and fell down midpitch.

147-

I don't think I expressed any emotion either way about base-stealing. I specifically used the objective "you" there.

Wow, Hendrickson is inventing ways to suck.

LOL'ed!!

What a dope!

Jeez, Ortiz trying to bunt is almost as awkward looking as Hendrickson trying to stay upright.

155 - yes, an "heads up" pitcher would have tossed it in the direction of home to avoid the balk, but that is probably asking a bit much.

Well, hey, Mark made a nice play on that horribly bunted pop up, at least. He can stop licking himself now.

162 Brilliant

163 - as someone who's shorter than Cesar Izturis, I think it's hilarious

It seems to me like you could cut a plastic one-gallon carton in half from the top to the bottom. Then, taking the half with the handle, slide your glove hand in-between the handle and the carton and squeeze the carton like a glove.

Nice play by Betemit there, although he made it look more interesting than it needed to be.

Bediment made that look easy.

the Dodgers doing a nice job hurting Soriano's trade value over the course of this series.

Ok, they're hurting his fantasy owners over the course of his series

that was a nice throw on the run

154 I hope you're not losing your edge now that you've quit smoking. I thought quitting would make one more vindictive, as it did my mother... every single time.

I came back in time for Betemit and Loney's at bats...perfect.

Roger Clemens is the unluckiest man in baseball.

Aybar went 4-6 in his Braves debut.
However, he was caught stealing to end the game.....

BlueBleeder-

I'm trying to find an easy definition online for ISOpower but I can't find one right now.

Now that Lowe finally won a game, when will Hendrickson win his first for Dodgers.

I guess I need to work on the spelling of Betemit's name.

174 That makes sense, I was always thinking cardboard whenever it was brought up.

nice wilson!!!

Hum you Betemit. Nice job.

182 Good for him. Are you happy for him or something?

More importantly Betemit with a leadoff double.

Betimet great day view.

I'm glad Betemit got that hit to head off Vin's discussion of his age.

184 NO.

183 - Slugging Percentage minus batting average. Total Bases - Hits over at bats.

Betemit starts of with a bang.

175, 176 - it's interesting to me. I suspect if Aybar had done the same thing that inning - because of his reputation - the focus would have been on how poorly he guarded the line and allowed a double on a weakly hit ball up the line.

Can Izzy bring a runner home from 3rd with 1 out?

183 Slugging percentage-Batting average.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/ISO

ISOpower explanation.

Here comes Scrappy McBanjo.

196 .. that might be asking a lot

196 - all it takes is a fly ball and Rich Donnelly

196. yeah, right.

LOL. Izturis did almost the only thing that would not score Betemit (other than his also popular K).

At least Izzy drives in runs with his glove.

199. Who do you think is worse? Drew at 11 mill or Izzy at 4 mill?

I'm sure his glove will knock a few in later, though.

but Hendrickson is left-handed, and hall is the only right hander in the lineup!

203 - of all the times not to pull the ball . ..

Does anyone know what the pct of runner scoring from 3rd with less than 2 outs?

I woudn't call this brilliant lineup crafting.

I woudn't call this brilliant lineup crafting.

205. I dont have a problem with Drew.
.280/.400/.500 career player. Excellent defense in RF. He's fine.

how can I guy get a leave off double & not score!! I just don't get it!!

211 You can say that again.

205 Izzy by far. Now I've got a question. Who's worse? DePodesta or Colletti?

209 - 97.814 % runner at thrid, 1 out so far in 2006.

No. We're not going to have the who do you hate more Izzy or Drew argument again today. We had it yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, etc. It's enough. Really. Uncle!

Weren't there supposedly other teams interested in Hendrickson and Hall before we got them. We still have about 23 hours to make them happy.

The REAL Dodgers are back. Nice catch Tobez

206 - errr. sorry - one sec on that. Read the wrong chart. Man on thrid, 1 out - 0.97814 runs score on average. Let me fetch the answer to your question - % of at least 1 run scoring.

215 Instigator

215. Thou shalt not talk poorly of Midas!
After all, everything Midas touches turns to gold. Look no further than the Dodgers' starter today.

205 About equal IMO. One is getting paid >twice as much. And he is worth it(when he plays)

215 Right now DePodesta. But ask that question a year later. It may change.

The preponderance of LOLs on Dodger Thoughts, particularly for things that are not funny, is really starting to bug me. Must be getting grumpy in my old age.

215-

Ouroboros.

Vin has to be such an apologist due to the hijinks of our current battery. First he said is is a wonder that pitchers don't fall like Hendrickson's more often. Now he tells us that Hall did well just to get back and get a glove on the popup. I am not faulting Vin, he is just being a good sport, but wow I dislike our pitcher and catcher today.

is there something brewing with Saito??

228 Is he not in uniform or something?

Ooooh those base on balls.

Ooooh, those base on balls

o.k. so with 2 outs & Hendrickson can't get the 3rd out! come on red wood!

Hendrickson is kind of a byproduct of Odalis Perez. If Odalis Perez pitched like his salary justifies, Neddie doesn't feel the need to get a lefty who posts a sub 4.00 ERA in the AL East.

Will Hendrickson be 4-16 if he loses today?

229

I think he is, but hearing Vinnie say, he won't pitch till tuesday makes you wonder.

The presence of the two headed beast that is Hendrickson and Hall nearly ruins the advents of Betemit and Loney.

130
Just getting to DT and reading through the posts, so this one was posted a while ago. If the point is that Francoeur is almost as bad as Furcal, it is understated; if it is that Furcal is even worse than Francoeur, it is just plain wrong. Furcal is a SS, Francoeur a RF.

Which brings me to a question: is there a chart somewhere with average OPS by position? Seems to me that a, say, .800 OPS needs some positional context to make sense.

yeah, that looked like they were not on the same page.

233-

I think we've by now established the faultiness of the, "but he pitched in the AL East!" argument.

See for reference, Danys Baez.

with 2 outs Hendrickson loads the bases!!

237-

It was meant to show how bad Francouer has been.

Hendrickson IS getting squeezed.

Still, time to get Gio up.

239 Seems like Lance Carter would be the first to come to mind. He was an all-star after all.

Ooooh, those base on balls!

Ooooh, those base on balls!

ERA means nothing without the peripherals backing it up.

I'm going to say one thing in defense of Hendrickson here (watching this on MLB TV) - this ump is giving him nothing. Two of those balls to Church looked like strikes to me and I don't complain about strike zone very often.

239 Still, a sub 4 ERA in the AL is pretty gosh darn good.

Jackson was right on that pitch. (curve please)

wow, counter pitch

Not that time. Whew. Siddown Jackson.

248-

Still, a 4+ ERA in the NL West is pretty bad.

248. Not if its a result of luck

The drunken hire wire walker doesn't fall this inning, will he make through another... stay tuned.

246 ERA means nothing without the peripherals backing it up.

MMMKay.

Got to give it up for Hendrickson. But he seems to be picking up are systen of 65 pitches by the third a bit to well.

242/247 That has been my impression. But it seems the Dodgers have been screwed on the strike zone a lot this year, so I may just have a fan's eyes. But I also wonder if the Dodgers' reputation as being a team of rookies is having a negative impact with respect to respect from the umpires.

Tahoe is the "mmmkay" guy?
Wasnt he banned like 2 or three times last year?

253 248. Not if its a result of luck

So he was lucky for half a season? WOW!!

259 Yes. If you didn't beleive that was true, you wouldn't be complaining about Derek Lowe.

Was Saito injured making 37 pitches last Wednesday in a blow out game? If he was, then Grady should shoulder some of the blame for using him for so long.

Must. Get. Out. As soon as possible.

259 I was banned for 3 days, thank you very much!

Here comes Drew with the bases empty and 2 outs. AND HR!!! I'm sawwy JD!!

Drew!

I'm liking this "J.D. Drew hits a home run" thing.

what!! two dingers by J.D.

DREW!

Drew!

This is a good sign.

(My only complaint is it didn't come when they had one of those guys on base in the previous inning, but, hey, I'll take it.)

261 I find it hard to believe he made 37 pitches in 0.2 innings. But maybe he did. I dunno.

I had to log on real quick to say...

I called it!

Really...

Ethier!

Perhaps Drew will eventually make his way off my fantasy team bench.

Ethier says, "I'm still better than you JD." LOL...

thank god ned made 1 good trade for andre

That one, too...

Back to Back.

If Either dosn't get rook of the year...

he has too keep this pase up though.

We get a "John Lee Hooker"--Boom Boom!

Ethier!!

Woo hoo!

This really could be 4-2 but... (no, I keed, I keed, I'll take it!)

that is JD Drew's veteran leadership at work

If nothing else, Ned traded Bradley for Ethier!

If Wilson goes deep I'll be in Dodger Heaven right now.

my man wilson ... 2 for 2

Ramon Ortiz traditionally gives up alot of home runs. This isnt surprising.

237 You seem to have found a hole in the Sabremetric Enclopedia. Jeff Francoeur is not listed. There must be a mispelling in the database, but I can't find it. I'll pull out my laptop in a sec and see if the 2006 version has the same problem.

Furcal, however, with his career .755 OPS (through 2004) is 0.050 over his position average.

Btw, for anyone who cares, sounds like the Cardinals are acquiring Ron Belliard from the Indians for Hector Luna. Which is kind of an odd trade, but I guess they were over Aaron Miles. Belliard's definitely an upgrade there. But don't they need hitting?

And Betamint gum goes 2 fer 2.

pediction ... loney will single ... izi will ground out ...

Come on James...

Just got home. Nice back to back home runs. Beatrice looked good in his 2nd at bat. How did he look in his 1st at bat?

284 Aybar was 4 for 6 yeasterday.

The bottom of 3rd means NOTHING if Hendy doesn't hold the Nats scoreless in the 4th.

Big Game James.....grounds to 2b.

Beatrice?

291 - actually .. aybar went 4 for 6 TODAY

That gosh forsaken Brad Lidge comes in to face Conor Jackson and immediately gives up a bomb. I swear. Dbacks win.

I'd forgotten how much I loved the home run. I'm really starting to look forward to some August callups like Kemp or LaRoche.

I also thought of something that I'd like to share - plastic makes for bete-mit than cardboard...

Loney's unlucky today, he's hit the ball hard twice for outs.

Loney's unlucky today, he's hit the ball hard twice for outs.

The bottom of 3rd means NOTHING if Hendy doesn't hold the Nats scoreless in the 4th.

exactly. let's see

299 I wouldn't say that.

Pitcher singles. Open the flood gates.

but the Dodgers have been effective against Soriano

Soriano has done nothing this series.

loften sucks!

302

why is Lofton still in there!! I swear man!!!

Pitiful.

Hendrickson gives up a hit to the pitcher... And the clown riding the unicycle accross the wire over niagra falls is off... and he looks wobbly. Oh here is the pitcher coming around to score...

237 Francour (through 2005) is +0.085 OPS over his position (.799 pos. average at RF). Furcal (through 2005) is +0.054 OPS over his possition (.702 pos. average at SS).

No hole in SE, btw - I had in mind the Francoeur started in 2004.

but then I see "in play, run-scoring play" for Felipe Lopez

Imagine that Lofton's throw off line.

How did the pitcher score all the way from 1st on that?

Lofton was not the cause of that run.

Follow-up to Furcal's hitting as of late:
From June 15 through yesterday, he batted 327/391/457/848. That's 162 ABs over 39 games (38 starts). Of his 53 hits, 13 were doubles.

309 - through 2005 is problematic when looking at Francoeur since he came up midway through 2005. His OPS is .150 or so lower in 2006.

312 Probably has something to do with Ortiz being a fast runner and the ball going all the way to the wall in left center.

292, 300
Meaninglessness descends...

with Lofton in there is like giving up extra base hits!!

316 - Frank Robinson has used Ortiz as a pinch runner before

315 I certainly agree. Even if he had a whole season I would not put much into it. I was just responding to the question posed.

316

And there being two outs.

can we score this lead of double please!

Wow, an extra base hit for Izturis. Ortiz must be just about done.

I know it is unrealistic, but I would have hit for Hendrickson in the third,(or whenever he struck out with a couple on base. He is a disaster waiting to happen today, yet I like the guy!

The Tobezter needs to do something for us. Lets do it now.

Izzy with a leadoff double, this is good

The ball must really be travelling well for Izzy to have a homer and a ground rule double in this series.

313. Of course Lofton was not the cause of that run but the fact remains he was again unable to properly hit the cut-off man.

326 almost as good as the leadoff double in the first inning, except the quality of hitters following...

323 - Remember what happened to Odalis Perez when he scored from first

is it just me or dose Toby Hall have an ugly swing?

309

Thanks. So, .702 OPS is average for SS, and .799 for RF. Does the average OPS by position line up lock step with Bill James' defensive spectrum? (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the order of decreasing defensive difficulty was SS, 2B, CF, 3B, LF, RF, 1B).

With a day off tomorrow, I would think about hitting for Hendrickson and using Tomko as long relief, though I doubt that is going to happen.

329 and all the good they did

I think the humidity helps the ball carry better, contrary to popular belief.

Looks like its going to be up to Furcal.

Not pinch hitting for Hendrickson?

How in the name of Sam Hill do you BB Mark Hendrickson?

Wanted no piece of the Mountain Man.

Grabowksi Principle-- walking Hendrickson.

332 not quite, but close. .702 is the average for SS in the NL during the time Furcal has played. .799 is the average for RF in the NL during the time Francoeur played. Both not including time in 2006.

BJ's defensive spectrum is currently: C, SS, 2B, 3B, CF, RF, LF, 1B.

red wood works a walk

Tomko had a 3 up 3 down inning his 1st appearance back but I didn't think he looked that good.

red wood works a walk

Wow, the man is nearly 7 feet tall, how can you not find that strike zone?

It would be most difficult in walking Hendrickson, considering his strike zone might be the largest in baseball.

Toby Hall is right. He should be playing everyday. . . in Vero Beach.

Furcal hit the ball hard. Poop happens.

343

true, the first batter ropped it to right.

Hendrickson needs to give us at least 6 or 7 innings since our bullpen is shorthanded without Saito.

Perhaps lead off doubles is bad luck for this team.

Ohhh, those base on balls.
That strike was a stretch on Furcal!
Furc hit it on the nose--I can't fairly blame that DP on him, only note the importance of D.

332

I don't know the official ranking, but I would think that RF comes before LF due to the position requiring a stronger arm.

Wow, I was late on that one.

Both teams wasting lot of opportunities with LOB.

Hopefully our boy Mark doesnt decide to walk the heart of the nationals order again.

Hendrickson less than impressive.(walking the leadoff batter)

That was insanely stupid by Johnson, even against Lofton's noodle arm

I don't believe what I just saw.

Nucklehead play by the nats

That was miraculous

Geez who was the idiot complainting about Lofton's arm? Oh yea I remember who. . .

Credit where credit's due. Nice throw, Kenny. Of course, trying to go first to third on a groundball up the middle is more telling than anything. In any event, nice job.

Oh Kenny we take back everything bad we ever said about you (until the next play to center).

Quick! Somebody hide me, I just told the Banterers what kind of classic Bobby Abreu un-clutch moments to look forward to!

Vin is awesome.

"The best fastball we've seen in a while was just thrown by Kenny Lofton."

Wow... did Lofton just through someone out at 3rd? Uh oh... the earth is splitting open underneath my feet.

Hah. I love Vin Scully. "Carrara's warming up in the pen, because the best fastball we've seen in awhile was just thrown by Kenny Lofton." God bless him.

253 that's what I have.

I'd love to give Kenny credit and all, but he was picking the ball up just about when Johnson had touched 2nd base. I can see someone like Jose Reyes trying that, but Nick Johnson? Come on now.

*Vin is awesome.

"The best fastball we've seen in a while was just thrown by Kenny Lofton."*

Ouch.

Kenny lulled Johnson into a false sense of security with his first horrible throw and thus trapped him when he got overconfident. Kenny is playing chess out there folks.

Hendrickson close you're ears.

Nice bunt Kenny. Man, that guy's on a roll

Wow, quite the inning for Old Jazz Hands.

great throw & I base hit bunt by Lofton. GREAT!

Kenny is playing chess out there folks.

And bunt single. . .

Now that is the game within the game.

Check mate, Kenny.

Looks like Kenny can't judge a flyball from the infeild either.

Kenny Lofton=Abe Simpson

Lofton should be beched for that.

If I was pitching Mark Hendrickson as a high concept movie, I would go for "Groundhog Day" and "Saw," with a dash of "My Giant"

If you're keeping score, Kenny Lofton Appreciation Day lasted four minutes and thirty-two seconds.

I admit Kenny should have had a base on each fly, but that was a nice bunt.
A hit would have worked wonders.

Looks like Kenny can't judge a flyball from the infeild either.

My couch use to make us run 3 times around the park for bonehead plays like that. (Sandy Koufax league)

[365] Perhaps aquiring Abreu was a sly way to get Yankee fans off A-Rod's back.

That was a strike. Someone is getting squeezed.

How was that second pitch to Soriano not a strike?

As a kid (maybe 10-15 years ago), I never watched I Love Lucy because it was in black and white. I just didn't like the atmosphere. It felt "weird." I didn't have cable though. A least for most of my childhood.

yes squeezed again.

382 I'd go with "The Air Up There" meets "Deliverance".

383 -- I was listening on the radio and just assumed that it was another idiot third base coach letting his slowest runner get hosed at third for no real good purpose. Incorrect?

I think "Groundhog Day" would actually describe the whole Dodgers team's play over the past two weeks up until Friday.

Oooh, those base on balls.

391 -- The scary part comes when you realize he's given up 12 baserunners, and only 3 earned runs, and this is As Good As It Gets.

Mark Hendrickson somehow gets a quality start out of that.

385 That's one tough couch. I suggest you get rid of it and maybe get a recliner or love seat.

392 Dunno if it was Donnelly's fault - I just saw Lofton go a little farther than he should have, past 2nd base bag when he should have stopped there and waited to see what Soriano did. The ball really did seem like it was going over Soriano's head after he lost it but he somehow recovered and snagged it and then used he's really strong arm to get it back to cut off man. But knowing Donnelly it probably was his fault.

But Hall just nailed Soriano at 2nd. Woo.

I was listening on the radio and just assumed that it was another idiot third base coach letting his slowest runner get hosed at third for no real good purpose. Incorrect?

put it this way, my brain wasn't thinking good thoughts about Lofton.

393 "Groundhog day" was an uncanny match for that steak, Iwas amazed.

397

I mean coach, sorry.

382 391

I'd go a bit more fairy tale and combine "Jack and the Beanstalk" with "The Wizard of Oz."

Instead of a movie, I'll travel from village to village as an oral traditionist, singing my mournful tale.

I typo more than just about anyone, but the vision of a couch ordering you to run laps struck me as funny somehow.

Betemit rocks!

Time to pack it in people. Another leadoff double.

The Great White Hype meets 28 days Later. Though I play the blood crazed zombie after watching him pitch for a month.

Um, anyone still doubting Betemit's a pretty good hitter?

Oh, thank the Lord, a leadoff double. That run is as good as scored.

I have a pair of easy going directors chairs.

Speaking of Groundhog Day, I think Loney's had the same AB and hit the ball in the same place each time today...

I hate the sacrifice, but given the line of folks coming to the plate, a squeeze would be good.

or Izzy could - yet again - do about the only thing that will not score the run...

403

well atleast I made you chuckle.

the thing is I type quick but can't spell wirth a nickle.

Nicely done, Izzy. Hail Caesar!

Not.
Deja vu inning continues.

When do we get to trading Izturis for Soriano?

415

Right after we trade LaRoche and Kuo for Maddux.

Beatrice is a stud. Izturis and Hall...not so much.

another double gone to waste.

See Izzy, Hall knew what to do... though he was under the impression there was only one out.

And to think, Loney is thought to be a better hitter than Betemit eventually.(for instance when he is 25). People are amazed at the age of Ethier, Loney, Kemp, Martin, Laroche--perhaps Guz, basically the AFL,Jax five and the careers they may have. I hear it from all my east coast friends who ar Red Sox/Yankee fans. They all are desperate that we lose a few.

Which is more frustrating? Watching Izzy bat with runners in scoring position or a ball hit to Lofton.

I think the fair thing to do is to trade Izturis to Tampa Bay, so they know how it feels.

415 - Seriously, what is the hang up? We will throw in 3/5 our starting rotation if that will speed things up.

421 At least when the ball is hit to Lofton it's exciting, cause you don't know what's gonna happen. When Izzy is batting...

This should be interesting. Tomko got the job done Fri night but the Nats hit the ball hard.

Big Shocker: Benitez blew the save in Pittsburgh!

I hate it when Tracy plays the Giants. No result is ever satisfying.

426 -- !!!!!!

426 Sarcasm I hope. Benitez is one of those many closers who must roam from town to town! Like Baez presumably.

Ohhh,those base on balls.

426

sweet.

At least Kenny didn't run back on that one

426

it's true right??

we gotta score runs already, 3 doubles with nobody out & we don't score is just wrong.

Cruz bats... Why not just let Tomko bat?

If the D's lose, I insist the lineup was doomed from the start. You don't pile Iz and Hall up against the pitcher. I won't go as far as satisfying many here by saying you can't play Iz and Hall at all.

Well, that's a pleasant surprise.

Cruz Jr. :o)

Boosting his trade value. Nice job Cruz.

Well, there is one. :)

Ha... I will say that I reverse called my shot.

Nice to finally see the homeruns coming.

Now, if we could just get a few of them with guys on base.

Boy, whoever was saying that Ortiz gives up a lot of home runs sure wasn't fibbin'.

If I was in Dodger Stadium right now, I'd be so happy that I'd go by a beer right about now.

Hall almost hit a home run in his last at bat. He struck out one of the better change ups I've seen in awhile. I don't think he's that bad, buut maybe Izturis and Hall together is a little much. Or not enough.

I'm sorry to see Cruz hit that HR. Neddie will keep him and Little will keep using him.

This is Izzy's fault. If he had not stranded those runners the Dodgers have a comfortable lead and Cruz would not be able to continue mascarading as a baseball player.

437 Yes indeed. But what efficiency. It must be damn hard to have 3 lead-off doubles and manage to get 3 solo HRs.

Nice to see Repko going the other way with that at bat.

Wow, Repko gave that a nice ride. Just not quite enough.

445 Hall has some pop, but he has no discipline to speak of and his average is dropping. Combine this with average defense and you have a player that has no real value.

This is Izzy's fault. If he had not stranded those runners the Dodgers have a comfortable lead and Cruz would not be able to continue mascarading as a baseball player.

In psychiatry, they call this "co-dependence"

The MLB.com news headline up now kind of creeps me out: "Immortality awaits Sutter"

Sounds like something out of an Anne Rice novel.

437 Yes indeed. But what efficiency. It must be damn hard to have 3 lead-off doubles and manage to get 3 solo HRs.

Don't we have 4 leadoff doubles resulting in 4 goose eggs?

Bruce Sutter was not better than Orel Hershsier or Fernando. Sutter doesn't belong.

Watching Tracy and Alou manage against each other is painful.

Feliz gets on, Alou sacrifices with Linden batting. Then the "by the book" duo each do L/R exchanges, first Alou swaps Sweeney for Alfonzo, then Tracy swaps Marte for Torres, the Alou swaps Greene for Sweeney - each move making things worse for the guy making the move. Since Tracy couldn't change out Marte - he was "stuck" getting the better end of the deal and Greene struck out...

Our 6-9 batters are pretty useless today. Hope they can come thru next inning so that we can win this game.

455 LOL...

456 - Our "9" hitter is responsible for 1/3rd of our runs so far.

455 And were the announcers raving about the exciting chess match between the managers?

Though we are tied thru 7, I'd say this a game we don't deserve to win so far.

HayZeus kreest. C'mon JBrox.

459 - can't tell. Dodgers on TV. SF/Pit on Gameday.

A typical Broxton high fast ball. He needs some MiL starting exp.

460

calling a bunt wouldn't have hurt us.

After todays game, Ben Sheets now has 43 strikeouts and two walks.

I still think this have us up for grabs bur 3 doubles with nobody scoring is just rong.

I actually like that walk DP.

That ball 4 pitch was soooo close. Up steps fatty ward.

Ooooh, those base on balls.

Is it possible to eat enough to make the Pavillion Party Pack worth it? It's pretty difficult to get 30 dollars worth of food without beer.

This ump's strike zone is smaller than a square on a rubik's cube.

The original FTOG is now at the plate.

There are few ex-Dodgers I hate as much as Ward.

Chance for Broxton to show if he can be our closer.

What I said in 471 again.

Alou's sacrifice (stupid in any event) also allowed, btw, Tracy to not pitch to Bonds by making first base "open." He shouldn't pitch to Bonds either way, with the game on the line, but if 1B was not open, Tracy proably would have.

Now, in teh bottom of the 10th, Wilson gets a single and Tracy wastes an out sacrificing him to "scoring posstion." This, in turn, allowed Alou to walk Randa and pitch to Hernandez instead.

The checkers match continues up north ...

If anything, that camara rocks (slomo camera)

Heh. Tracy lucked out and Hernadez gets a hit. Game over. Giants lose.

I like our infield today.

Dodgers advertise their all you can eat special and then Ward hits into a double play. Perfect timing.

Norton! How sweet...it is...

472 You have to love him more now, though right? ;-) (That's what he did all too often when playing with LA a few years ago. Ol' DP Ward.)

475 Isn't pitching to Randa and Hernandez the right course of action there?

Good DP. Now another solo HR (Izzy) to win the game or maybe Betemit to cap off his debut.

477

good for us, now let's win.

I don't dislike Jim Tracy enough to root against him vs. the Giants. So... I'm glad. Hee hee. The Giants swept in Pittsburgh.

482 Yes. I would have walked Bay and pitched to Randa and Hernandez. But the sacrifice after the leadoff single was stupid.

If Betemit gets on, I'd let Izzy bunt or PH.

So is Betemit's nickname Beatrice or Wilber II?

Come on Loney, show us that BA in AAA was worth something.

dinger by Loney would be nice.

Now what do you do with Izzy?

489

happy

Atta boy James. You're certainly not the best prospect, but you are the one that I'm pulling for the most.

Will 3rd time be the charam?

487 If Betemit didn't get at least a double, sacrificing, even with as bad a hitter as Izturis, is a mistake - even if only playing for one run.

With Loney on 2nd, playing for 1 run, but with 1 out - sacrificeing still won't work. If Loney can get to thrid and there is still one out then that can work.

This guy looks like Paul Bunyuns. If he can throw strikes, it could take once thru the lineup to get used to this plane.
Once again I am stupified by the logic of this lineup as Iz and Hall are joined together.

Izzy haters!!??

Finally, Izzy gets lucky.

Martin should PH for Hall.

Izzy barely squeaks that one through

Finally, a hit with RISP.

Or Izturis can get a bad hop double... :)

So does Saito close today?

We'll take that.

A couple doubles off of Paul Bunyan, not bad.

488

I thought Betemint gum was pretty funny. But I'm easily amused.

I swear, Hall has the ugliest swing in the history of swings.

497-

Still here, still hatin'.

I thought Saito won't be available till Tuesday. I hope he's not pitching hurt today.

Why not bring in Brad Penny, to do his all-star game one inning schtick? He offered. He's available. He's warmed up.

Please don't trade Loney, or those in front of him(Laroche,Kemp,Guz and whoever I forget).And what an era we may have.

If Hall wants a good contract next year or be a starter, he should start hitting when it matters.

I'm loving it myself. Of all the teams to beat with a bad-hop double, the one that would seriously consider taking him in a package for Soriano...

504 Just a little something I improvised at the last minute. Was going to refrain from typing it but thought betamit. If it's the best so far, I'm flattered - but we should keep trying. ;-)

Saito!!

Please don't trade Loney, or those in front of him(Laroche,Kemp,Guz and whoever I forget).And what an era we may have.

Sorry for the DP, but I agree w/the emphasis.

I wish that Flanders would bring up Delwyn Young to play over Ledee or Cruz. Young has a great bat, I would much rather see him pinch hitting over Repko, Cruz, Ledee et al.

512

I heard Wilson has a BET-E-MIT than Aybar.

somebody in dodgers.com said it (got to give him props for it)

Please stop using the word or accusing people of hating a certain player.
Those of us who don't care for izturis for example have a legitimate reason.
Plus the whole hating thing reminds me of dodgers.com, something i'd rather forget.

512

Oh, was that you, underdog? I'm not surprised. It amazes me sometimes how much you and I think alike.

If I were you, I'd be scared.

Did you guys see that play by Loney? great presence of mind even though he didn't make the out. (I like it)

Wow, where was that pitch?

516 It is definitely important to get that MLB clock started on as many youngsters as possible. Maybe, like Kemp, we can give them all a few weeks to really make things expensive in the future. If we don't, we'll have a really unfair advantage in about 3 years.

Strike 4!

517 Thanks --if it was me I was contrasting it as a baseball name vs. Ham-you-lack!

520 You mean where he spider-manned it and climbed atop the railing? I liked that too. I thought he was going go into the seats and push a little kid out of the way for that pop up.

Soriano's on my fantasy team. I have mixed feelings about his 0-4 today.

(Well, not really.)

519 Thanks. And yep, I'm properly scared! ;-)

Yeah, did I mention this ump' strike zone is minute?

525 Brings up an interesting question about if it would have been an out if he had caught it while standing on the top of that platform. I would guess that it would not.

Come on, Saito! Showcase those skills for all the GMs who are probably watching!

525

yeah, some players can't do that, you had to see the thing live to appreciated.

This player of the game thing is fixed.

522 I believe I sense a bit of sarcasm here,though I wouldn't worry that everyone here will smoke it immediately. But if we resist the mania for trades. we could really end up savoring that "unfair advantage".

516 - Delwyn Young is older than most of the players we brought up this year, not only that, but I doubt that we will have trouble affording the arbitration years of everyone as they will be replacing spots that would go to free agents. Young profiles as a fourth outfielder or maybe a DH on a poor AL team, not exactly a bank breaker.

528 You can catch the ball anywhere. It's an out.

Izzy and Cruz are the heros today. Maybe, the Nats will trade Soriano for them now.

Sweep!

Izturis and Saito for Soriano! Bowden, we own you! Do it, Flanders!

528 Really? I wondered, too. There must be a specific rule about that in the rule book somewhere.

At any rate. I'll take a sweep, thankyouverymuch. If we can win 4 of 6 on the road I'll be happy.

534. Not true. You can not jump into the stands and wait for the ball to come down.

Saito has one of the broader smiles/grins I've seen on a baseball player outside of a World Series in a long time.

Izturis, Saito, and Hendrickson for Soriano! You would control the eighth-best lefthander in the American League for two more years! You want it, Bowden! Do the deal!

What a marvelous pitcher Saito is. That bad outing proved him human, and he didn't let it effect him at all.

If we can't sign Soriano to an extension, I don't think he will make that much difference this year.

Ah, but he wasn't in the stands. He was on a fence, not unlike the outfielder who climbs, literally, on top of the fence.

In any event, it's not really a point worth arguing. Pals? Pals.

Steve, as an admitted fan of Iz, I still approve your deal. But not Saito.Please.

I don't even want Soriano anymore. Not unless we can sign him to a long term deal.

I really think the Dodgers, when healthy, have enough players to make it competitive this season without giving up any other players. But we'll see....

--
hey, why is Penny going Wednesday now, while Sele is matched up against Bronson Arroyo on Tuesday? Why did they swap?

We don't want Soriano for an extension. We want to trade the Nationals nothing to get Soriano and draft picks.

And maybe have them throw in Gigantor.

The template is what Milwaukee "got" for Carlos Lee

Up north, Milton Bradley plays the hero.

545. Sure, pals! We just swept so were all pals today. =)
So I'll be the first to ask it (and will keep asking until we are hopefully back in first)... is the season still over and are we still "out of it". Or does three games out of the 60 that are left change anything?

547 Can we include Lofton also?

550 Was suppoed to be directed to 544 and the question was to all, not just Greg B.

551 -- If we have to sacrifice to get this deal done, so be it.

550 - The Dodgers are not out of it, not by a long shot. Entering today, BPro gave the team a 1-in-10 chance of reaching the postseason.
But, the Dodgers are NOT close enough, nowhere near, to where trading the farm for big-ticket help would make a significant difference.
So, any trades made should be small, unless you are ab-so-lute-ly hosing the other GM. In the meantime, hope the vets get healthy and the kids stay hot.

549- off BJ Ryan no less. I love how everyone (including people like Steiner and Monday) are acting like the A's got nothing in return. The trade obviously favors us (heavily), but since coming off the DL, Bradley has been one of the best players in baseball.

553 - The real sacrifice would be Broxton or JtD. Which would you prefer?

Bradley is now firmly in 3rd on the A's in VORP, and would be 6th on the Dodgers in home runs, despite missing over two months.

555 Give him time to injure something. Im a Bradley fan (I think Im the only dude wearing a Bradley shirt to games these days) but his inability to stay off the DL is a greater factor than his abilities.

556

I wouldn't mind JtD going out.

556 - JtD can go. Have you seens his updated MLEs? Ick.

Oh, I'd rather keep the Bull over Guzman. I'm probably in the minority, but color me unimpressed with Guzman. Sell high, I say.

550 - I think that the next series is the real test, we are 5 games out in the wild card also. If we win the series then we are at most 4 out going into a series against the lowly Marlins. We aren't in it now, but we could be.

557

he's still an injury risk.IMP.

Neither. But hypothetically, Broxton, since we are going to waste him in the bullpen.

But on a day like this we are all Pals! And I don't think you can count on anything in this wacky div. If we stay the course. we still could win: If we get two mashers, they could go into two month slumps. The only sure thing is--if we have Martin and Ethier, Betemit and Furcal, and continue adding good young players from our system, we will become a superior team.

Bradley, since coming off the DL two weeks ago, is hitting 393/452/571/1.023 - and that's before today's heroics.

558- yea, I was always more worried about Bradley's health than his potential blowups.

561 - Sell high, I say.
The longer JtD puts up indifferent numbers in Las Vegas, his stock has nowhere to go but down.

I've thought it to be kinda funny that many have declared the Bradley trade as lopsided in our favor. When two very young, very talented players are traded, you likely need 3-5 years to judge the trade. We've had half a season so far! I'm happy so far and I love Ethier but Bradley could be very good for a long long time.

566

has he ever played a full season?

569 Or he could just as easily go all Mel Gibson on someone.

568 his stock has nowhere to go but down.

Well then, that would make his current stock high then, wouldn't it? Relatively speaking, of course

569 Sorry to add on but to add on... We HAD to trade Bradley and given that fact, I think we can judge the trade as very positive. But value for value, only time will tell.

540 -- Speaking of smiles, I am the only one who thinks a smiling/squinting Betemit looks like Kanye West?

He needs to come to the plate with "Gold Digger" blasting over the house speakers.

566

dose he have a good aditude? dose he explode when things don't go right for him?

568 - Or he could start hitting again and be the best hitter of all our prospects, like he was projected to be until he hit 297/353/464 in AAA. That is not great, but it isn't a total disaster. Keep the destroyer, I think he is a better risk going foreward than Soriano, who is older, more expensive and has character issues.

BB87,
What are you getting at?
Miltie and reg mentioned that Bradley is hitting well recently. I looked up the numbers and posted them. That's all.

New post to reset the comment counter.

577

I'm sorry I just don't like "#'s" only there's a human alament to everything.JMO. I didn't mean anything by it.

570 Then he has a lot in common with Drew, right? If Player A does Amount X in .75 Season, is he better than Player B who does same amount in full season. If Player A consistently does this, should we consider him better than Player B although he never plays 162 games? Should we expect more out of him and condemn him when he doesn't do it? I don't know anymore, just throwing the questions out there.

576 - No, that line isn't a total disaster. But his MLEs of 247/293/371/664 ain't good.
I'd rather wait on JtD than trade him for Soriano, but Guzman needs to show me something - and soon. For such a hyped prospect, I've seen nothing to make me say, "Wow." And we're running out of time to keep leaning on the "He's young for his league" argument.

Man, on DTV I'm getting this summary of the D's moving to LA years, and I remember much of It. It's amazing. Koufax disMantleing! the Yanks. Sweep in four games.
I could see a dynasty coming that would give time to scrounge up a pair like Koufax and Drysdale. But I know I'm dreaming as Jimi would say!

580 - Win Shares and other stats take the total contribution both in rates and in games played into account. You would rather have 900 OPS over 160 games than 900 over 130, but what about 810 over 160 or 900 over 130, who is playing those other 32 games? It isn't a cut and dry question with a cut and dry answer.

580

like I said I don't mean anything by it (oberservation that's all)

wow, Sandy Koufax was freaking superhuman

As for injury-prone players, I've always believed a team can succeed with one on the roster IF the player is paid to reflect he'll miss time, and a priority is finding him a quality backup.

I think that in some way Guzman is showing progress this year. His K rates are way down:
22.8% in AAA, 28.9% in AA, although his patience is down as well: .55 ISO patience in AAA, 64% in AA. I think he needs more time, and we don't need Soriano.

587 I agree--I don't think some people realize how young Guzman and Loney are.
564 Just so. Broxton either lucks out and becomes an instant closer, or is a middle reliever. Watching his mistakes, he could benefit so much from a bit of experience. I think he might have wonderful stuff.

Koufax was superhuman. The best way to picture it is that he did about what Nolan Ryan did in 1/2 the time. Take stats that are absolute and not time dependent, and thats the truth.