That was a great throw by Ethier to get Durham, but did anyone else think that was the worst slide in history? From the angle I saw it looked like Durham could have been safe if he just extended his arm, but instead he tried to move around the tag that wasn't there yet and in the process got tagged out. Of course, no tears shed for the Giants, but it definitely seemed like a combination of a great throw and some poor baserunning.

it seemed to me that Bonds got the benefit of his reputation as a great seer of the strike zone last night on two at-bats, which also worked against Hendrickson, who has recently walked alot of batters...

1 - I saw the same thing. Durham had the throw beat with a normal head-first slide.

Besides the great throws, I think the Dodgers have had only two games where they allowed more than 3 runs. That's helped alot and may be due to the teams they are facing.

I'm more impressed with 3.5's dad than I am with any of our players at the moment. How can anyone teach themselves to throw with their opposite hand? I swear, even if I practiced for years I still wouldn't be able to hit Rosie O'Donnell in the tush from 20 paces.

Well, the Dodgers won the one game when the Giants had the big pitching matchup advantage. This series appears very sweepable. Anything less would be a dissappointment.

BTW, I at first look, I thought Durham was safe. I should look at some replays...

Durham looked safe on the first angle, but the replay confirmed he was out. And it was a horrible slide. I thought Hendrickson got squjeezed with Bonds too. I'm also noticing that it seems like a lot of 3-0 pitches are called strikes almost no matter where they are thrown.

5 I'm with you, although the image you use to illustrate ineptitude is disturbing. Couldn't you have just used the proverbial barn door? ;)

I am a little concerned about predicting sweeps and being disappointed...I'd be happy if we have a run of series wins similar to a couple of years ago...

I can't imagine learning to throw right-handed. Of course, I can barely throw left-handed nowadays either...

Upping the ante: I can't imagine having a kid.

Wilson Betemit as a Dodger - .941 OPS, 45 PA's, 6 XBH's (including 3 HR's).

Willy Aybar as a Brave - .579 OPS, 48 PA's, 0 (zero) XBH's.

9 I'm with you. You can never expect a sweep; just be happy if it happens. If the Dodgers win 3 out of 5 until the end of the season, they should be in good shape to make the playoffs.

13 yes, if we win 3 of every 5 here on out...that leaves us with 88 wins...should be enough to win the division...and maybe even have a better record than the Cards...

Nice touch introducing Broxton last night to the Jimmy Dean song "Big Bad John."

Yankees up 5-1 over the Angels. Damon just went deep.

12 So what?

Throwing with your off-hand is tough. I had to play a couple of softball games off-handed after I broke a glove. I could get the ball to the target, but it must have looked awful.

All of this makes Billy Wagner more impressive. He's a top Major League reliever throwing with his off (left) hand! He injured his right shoulder playing football in high school and learned to throw lefty. The rest is history.

17 - That trade really sparked us and got us back on track.

Lugo's in for Kent this afternoon. Hopefully Julio can continue with the late inning heroics which he's displayed the previous two nights.

Loney gets the nod for Nomar.

Same with Gagne. He's lefthanded but throws right.

16. You know, as much as I hate the Giants, I hate the Yankees more. They are the Evil Empire. Maybe it's those World Series wins over the Dodgers in the late 1970s (ooh, I hated those guys), maybe it's Steinbrenner's constant attempts to buy a championship. Maybe it's ESPN's obsession. I dunno. But I'd take a Giants championship with much more equanimity than another Yankees one.

To quote the greatest philosopher of our age (Eric Cartman):

"Words cannot express how much I hate [those] gazz. I hate [them] so verrah, verrah much."

I now return you to your regular programming. Any complaints may be directed to Marty for setting me off.

Throwing with your off-hand is "throwing like a girl" or the way to experience. When you see someone throwing that way, it's because they are throwing with their wrist coming up close to their head instead of being much further outside. I'm not describing it well.

Sasha Cohen, the ice skater, threw out the first pitch Thursday night she somewhat "threw like a girl", but she opted to lob the ball up to the plate, so it didn't look too bad.

There's just no reason for Lugo to be batting 3rd. None.

19. Or, it was a complete coincidence. In the postgame interview with Lugo a couple nights ago, he seemed to realize that he was just lucky to join the team just as it got hot.

Look, I think Betemit has been a nice addition too (save for that moronic rundown gaffe), but coincidence does not imply causality, especially when the posited causal mechanism is a "spark."

[18] i've also taught myself over the past year or so to throw with my left. left-handed, i probably have 80-85% of the accuracy and velocity that i do right-handed. what really helped me get better was to throw a tennis ball against a wall, hard, without worrying about accuracy. then once i got the basic throwing form right, i could work on placing the ball where i wanted it.

from what i understand, barry zito is also a natural righty. to win a cy young with your off hand... or to throw 100 mph (like wagner was able to, at least a couple years ago)... amazing.

12-

Small sample size, yadda, yadda, yadda.

21-

I can't stand the Yankees either. What angers me mostly about them is not just the huge financial advantage they have over the other teams, nor even the obvious media bias in their favor, but the way so many teams seem to give them players for nothing every time a trade comes up.

It's really a combination of factors now that I think about it. Not that I like the Angels much better.

[22] "throwing like a girl" is pushing the ball outward instead of using your elbow like a lever.

I hate them like cancer too. Even though I was not around to experience it, reading about how the Yankees used to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers every year made them public enemy #1. The losses in the 70's cemented it. That made 1981 even sweeter. I feel the same way about the Boston Celtics. Finally beating them in 1985 after all those losses in the 60s was great.

21
If you go by Bronx Banter, you will learn that Yankee fans feel about Chone Figgins coming up to bat, the same way Dodger fans feel when Brad Hawpe is up.

27

Yes, that's it. Described in logical form and in coherent English!

22 Actually, Bob, you do describe it well. I just tried to mimic my off-hand throwing motion, and the "hand too close to head" is absolutely correct.

[21] i despise the yankees, don't get me wrong, but at this point, a 27th championship wouldn't really be much of a big deal in marginal terms. sure, i love that they haven't won since 2000, even with all the money they're spending, and it would be really annoying to see them get yet another one, but the giants' 0-for-san francisco streak is a great point of satisfaction for me, and i would hate to see that disappear.

28 Absolutely. I can trace my Yankees-hatred back all the way to 1941, nine years before I was born.

12 Weren't you mocking people for using small sample sizes two days ago?

Billy Wagner's a righty as well.

I also think an element of "throwing like a girl" is uncoordinated footwork and lower body action. It's kinda like trying to shoot off-handed layups: it's awkward to jump off the correct foot.

I was amazed to see at numerous baseball games in Japan that when a woman is asked to throw out the first pitch or a girl or woman participates in some promotion that involves throwing a ball, that nearly no Japanese woman "throws like a girl."

Girls in Japan must be taught more sports and games that involve throwing than they do in the U.S.

Jered Wright looks like he has a bowling ball in his cheek.

I love Nomar to death but I want to go with Loney next season and spend the money on pitching.

I'm glad to see Loney in the lineup today. In 25 AB's since he was recalled on 7/31, Loney has 18 total bases in limited playing time. To put this into perspective, Choi only had 15 total bases the entire 2 months he was a Dodger when he came aboard on basically the same date in 2004.

37 They should change the phrase "throwing like a girl" to "throwing like a European". Those people, male and female, have no clue how to throw anything.

I suppose in retaliation, they'll start using the phrase "kick like an American".

What's it called when, instead of putting your thumb on the scale, in addition to whatever it is you're purporting to weigh, you just ignore the thing entirely, and put your face on the scale, instead? There should be a word for that.

39

The only reason you are bringing up choi from 2004 is to bait. Seriously, you need to stop this.

And we used to talk about "soccer-style" kickers and now we just call them "kickers." Eventually, American football coaches realized that kicking a ball straight on was an incredibly bad way to do it.

It only took American football about 80 years to realize this.

When my nephew arrived in the U.S. from Guatemala last year, I gave him an American football, which he immediately tried to punt. And if we placed it on the ground for him, he would kick it the correct way.

40 or how about "head-butt like a terrorist"

Did we ever get a final ruling on what the guy said?

I've attempted many times to correct my left-handed throwing motion without actually having anything in my hand. For whatever reason, my shoulder doesn't seem to rotate the right way; does it simply take extensive repetition to fix this?

I don't think we'll ever know for sure what he said, but the consensus was a graphic insult about Zidane's sister.

I'm curious to see what the Dodgers are going to do when Dessens comes off the DL. A 12 man staff isn't necessary and I don't think you want to risk losing Sele or Carrara. Maybe Dessens can 'rehab' for about 10 days and it won't matter because 9/1 will have arrived.

If we make the postseason I'm assuming we'll go with that 11 man staff. I think I'd take Carrara over Sele though in the playoffs. But if I had to lose 1 now it'd be Carrara.

Odalis pitched very well today. 6 innings of 2 hit, 2 run ball. But he stands to take the loss.

47

I thought it was about Zidane's mother being terrorist double-u, h....ore

Materazzi called Zidane "Odalis" and that set him off.

[47] The consensus is that it doesn't matter and Zidane is an idiot.

49 That's what the lip-readers thought he said. Materazzi and Zidane both denied that.

Haha anyone watching the high school all star game? Reggie Jackson on high school kids these days: "Man I don't know if I had the power of these - well I guess I did cause I hit 500 home runs, but man they have some power." (paraphrased)

Aren't the high school kids using aluminum bats?

I think for this "showcase" type game they are using wood bats.

But normally yes.

I summoned up the energy to change the channel and see the players using wood bats.

The pitcher they talked about as the number one pitching prospect in his class threw over 50 pitchers in the first inning.

pitches*

Is the game on TV today?

The Dodger game? It's on FOX in the bay area..

I can't find it listed here in L.A.

For those of you in Southern California, the game is on KCOP Channel 13.

For whatever reason it's on KCOP down here.

The Angels-Yankees are on KTTV Channel 11.

Sheesh, put down the computer for a day and your three posts, 400 comments behind. I'm gonna be offline for ten days starting weds, so I think that'll all have to be wit and wisdom under the bridge.

Am I correct in understanding that Grittle's quotes in the last post represent original reporting by our fearless (fearful?) host? Pretty cool. I can't help but liking Grittle; he just seems vastly more down to earth and not-full-of-himself than so many of these guys.

Meanwhile, read my 5 year old a story about Jackie Robinson last night (from a nice kids book with short stories on Ruth, Dimaggio, Robinson, Clemente, Aaron). He was quiet when it ended for a while then said, "It's a good thing there was Jackie Robinson because without Jackie Robinson the Nationals wouldn't have Alfonso Soriano."

Then this morning he was still thinking about it, because he came down for breakfast and said "Daddy, is Jackie Robinson a hero?" I really don't know where exactly that came from, but I'm a happy dad today.

you're

Rumor out of NY has the Mets interested in Shawn Green.

If the Mets were to do something that stupid, our chances of going to the World Series if we make the playoffs would triple.

The rumor is that the Mets were interested in Shawn Green. But they aren't now.

And it could have been that Arizona was interested in the Mets acquiring Green. Just like the Dodgers were interested in the Mets acquiring Odalis Perez or Cleveland was interested in the Dodgers acquiring Aaron Boone.

69 That makes more sense.

Giants going with the 120+ year old infield.

Err, outfield.

Broke up the no-hitter

Was there a report in yesterday's thread of how the commenter Benaiah's buddy did at the WSOP?

This is one interesting lineup.

but minimum batters faced now still in play!

Lugo nearly got caught between taking it to the bag himself and flipping the ball to Furcal.

72 That makes more sense.

74
I didn't see a report, but I think he finished 6th and won over $2.3 million.

I believe the Giants infield is checking in at a combined 139 years old.

71 - But that's still accurate.

And that super-slo-mo replay taught us what now?

66
sam, i once said a similar thing to my dad, but it was along the lines of "do you mean there was a time when dusty baker wouldn't have been allowed to play in the majors?"

Thom Brennaman, President of the Kenny Lofton Marching and Chowder Society

83
My mom grew up in a city with Jim Crow laws, so I wasn't as surprised when I read about Jackie Robinson.

Thanks Barry!

I have the infield at 140, the outfield at 123, and the battery at 48. If they decided to play Stanton and Greene, their battery would increase to 74.

Lofton looked glacial running the bases there.

A good left fielder could have had a play on Lofton at third base.

Anyone else listening to the ESPN Radio broadcast on XM Radio? Dave Campbell just said the Dodgers "mortgaged their future" at the trade deadline.

90

It was an adjustable Ray-te mortgage.

Lofton and Lugo paying dividends early. Let's get our big boy a couple more runs and cruise to another W.

Gameday is telling me that Lugo's line drive double fell about half way between the shortstop and left fielder...

Dave Campbell just said the Dodgers "mortgaged their future" at the trade deadline.

lol.

90 If Guzman turns into a perennial all star, and Pimental and Johnson become solid starters, and none of the other Dodger prospects develop, that might be true. Seems like a stretch.

93

Lugo's double rolled a long way. Bonds misjudged its speed. Or lack of speed. So it rolled to the wall.

If Campbell is including Izturis in that argument, it'd be hard to get me to stop laughing.

16 game hit streak!

Slowest...outfield...ever

mankatododger,

Can I assume that you are the sole Dodger fan in the bustling metropolis of Mankato, MN?

95

pretty big stretch.

I wonder if Either faced Cain in the Texas league (was Cain in that league?)

The Giants outfield defense is embarassing.

Campbell didn't name a single specific player. He just said they gave away several top prospects. I was hoping to get the Dodger radio broadcast since I can't get the game on tv, but instead I get this junk.

JD heating up. I was more impressed with JD's lineout prior to the at bat where he came through with a critical double yesterday.

Tough luck on that one, Betemit smoked it

Giants' defensive efficiency of .706 is good for seventh in the majors, and fourth in the NL.
Just FYI.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=11529

JD heating up. I was more impressed with JD's lineout prior to the at bat where he came through with a critical double yesterday.

I had a student who was also a Dodger fan. I told him he could have an A if he wore his Dodger hat to class all the time.

Ethier

We don't need no stinking Kent and Nomar.

I'm glad I'm not a Giants fan

We don't need no stinking Kent and Nomar

Like many of us said: shoulda traded them at the deadline

102 Cain was not in that league, but they might have seen each other in 2004 when both were in the California League.

108
Don't take offense, but in college, I kidded my then girlfriend (who was from Minneapolis) that her English lit Ph.D. would get her a job teaching at Mankato State.

She showed me. She's teaching at Nebraska Wesleyan!

Didn't see yesterday's game. So far so good today. Even the outs that Betemit makes are hard hit balls.

I'm getting really far ahead of myself here, but what the hay.....

If we hold on and Ian Snell and the Pirates take care of business against Jeff Weaver and the Cards, which on paper seems more than reasonable, we find ourselves 1.5 back of the Cards and a #2 seed.

We're not Mankato State anymore. We are Minnesota State University, Mankato or if the administration has its way Minnesota State Mankato. They think the word university is bad for business.

We need Kent and Nomar.

strike four

Every time Bonds swings and misses, an angel gets its wings.

117

Thanks. Didn't know that. When I was in the Oakland area a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that Cal State Hayward had become Cal State East Bay.

And SW Missouri State is just Missouri State, but SE Missouri State had to keep the direction.

That last pitch to Bonds was beautiful

The 120 year old outfield is not paying dividends right now for the Giants.

J-lo with the belly flop.

Sabean rules.

Loney is turning into a triples machine. He is so slow, but he's a good baserunner.

lol at Durham

While I'm glad the Dodgers scored a run there, I did feel a bit sorry for Ray Durham because that must be a horrible feeling to just have a ball go straight up and then have no idea where it's coming down.

132 Nor is the 134 year-old infield...

Nice sunglasses on the top of the head. Uber useful;
I'm reminded of the saying about mammaries on a Broxton

The Giants are currently an embarrassment to the league.

anyone think Furcal can surpass the 800 OPS mark this year?

That 2nd baseman could use a batting helment.

James Loney is a MACHINE

The Orioles have Bruce Chen pitching the bottom of the 10th in a tie game. I'm assuming that the Red Sox will win the game in a few minutes.

lol now they almost ran into each other. This is amazing.

For those of you who are watching: is the Giant defense looking as bad as it sounds on the radio?

136

of course.

136

It's probably worse. The Giants are having a lot of trouble with the sun.

129- it's very difficult for some players to play the infield while wearing sunglasses. It's harder to pick up groundballs. A lot of infielders, especially middle infielders, don't wear sunglasses. I know that Kent and Izturis do.

OK, the Red Sox won.
It took three batters.

I was told when I was learning to play golf not to wear sunglasses when I played because it would be hard to read the greens with sunglasses on.

Then I realized that I had much bigger problems with the game then reading greens.

Then I realized that I had much bigger problems with the game then reading greens.

tee shots? iron game? wedge shots? putting?

121 Yeah, I lived in San Leandro (neighboring Hayward, for those unfamiliar) for a couple years and Hayward has a reputation that is supposedly bad for business....still, never really realized just how bad till after I left.

142

Keep going... If there was a problem, I could have it.

Except sand shots. I was OK at those.

I got lots of practice.

I shot an 85 yesterday. Best round ever except for one hole. par 4, drove it 290 off the tee and about 80 yards away, took me about 4 wedge shots to get it on the green. shades of my childhood.

Penny is sitting at 94-96 with his fastball.

Any reason why Lugo is still hitting 3rd? Am I missing something? Has Grady given any explanation? Just curious..

Penny is throwing rocks tonight.

When I played golf and teed off, the infield fly rule would usually be in effect. Sometimes I thought I could just run the 50 yards down the fairway and catch the ball before it hit the ground.

Being tall though, I could smash a drive a long way every now and then. My 310 drive was stunning (and it was on flat ground). I just kept walking up the fairway wondering if I had lost my ball.

So far this season, the Dodgers have hit 40 triples.
They haven't had that many since 1970 (67), and this marks only the fourth time in Dodger Stadium history the 40-triple mark has been reached.
Still, DS seems to be playing to its historical norm as a bad park for three-baggers; only 16 of the team's triples have come at home.

Nate, did you buy new clubs yet?

At least they are making Cain throw some pitches. He can't last long at this rate.

151

not yet, still looking. I know what I want I think but I'm just trying to find the right (cheaper) price. Im actually using a buddy's set- orlimar cavity backs, cleveland wedges, TM R540 driver and my cleveland Halo 2i. The irons work pretty well actually since they have the right flex for me (stiff).

Penny is really bringing the heat today. Consistently at 96-97. I don't remember seeing hime throw this hard besides the all star game. Let's see how long he can keep it up.

150 I knew something weird was going on with that. I can't remember the last time I've seen the Dodgers hit this many triples.

Although I'm surprised that Dodger Stadium is still supressing the triples. I thought the new seating section down the line was helping balls die in the corners, which was causing the increase in 3-baggers.

Penny's wheels are wobbling.

154 I wish I could see Penny throw. It a typical Dodgerless Saturday in most of the country,(thanks to FOX). Gameday is making his control look quite good.

157

You might not want to be watching this inning.

150 Yeah, it did seem the club has been hitting more. Seems Lofton and Furcal have been the prime suspects but I imagine Lugo will hit a couple (?) before the year's out too. I think Kemp hit one or two as well.

159 - Combining for 19 are Lofton (9), Furcal and Ethier (5 each). Loney in limited action, has 4.
None for Kemp.

Betemit's double play and Drew's pop-up with the bases loaded are looming very large now. I hate those wasted opportunities.

Just when you think Penny's on the verge of becoming an ace he pulls a stunt like this.

I swear. Ridiculous. Time for Joe Beimel to bail him out again.

Perhaps it is just as well I can't see this inning!

Betemit hit it hard I understand. It happens.
Drew's pop up makes me pukish.

Betemit's double play

Aybar would have grounded into a triple play...

162.

Are you implying that he's giving up runs on purpose?

LOL... Aybar is pretty bad, but not that bad.

So who's Penny going to blame for this inning?

a) Little
b) Honeycutt
c) trainer Stan Johnston

I swear. Ridiculous. Time for Joe Beimel to bail him out again.
Are you serious?

Fundamental ball. I like it.

Loney just missed his first major league hr :(

Almost a Loney Bomb.

Triples are very tricky, but in large numbers they almost certainly spell the intersection of speed and power.

166 I don't know where you got that from.

168 No. But if it were the 5th or 6th inning, yes, I'd be dead serious.

how high on the wall did that hit? i missed it.

162 It's not like he started walking everyone, he gave up a few hits, it happens.

Loney's coming up huge today.

James Loney continues to prove he's the real deal. I think James Loney was the reason Neddie didn't option Choi to AAA. He knew what he had in Loney and he didn't want him in AA anymore.

Hit almost the top of the wall.

I think James Loney was the reason Neddie didn't option Choi to AAA. He knew what he had in Loney and he didn't want him in AA anymore.

doubt it.

It's not like he started walking everyone, he gave up a few hits, it happens.

You're right. But with your ace on the mound in a 3 run lead, as fan you think I've got this one in my back pocket. That's the frustrating part.

I think Loneys percieved lack of power was mostly connected to being stuck in the minors. Typing players that young is dangerous, though we did it to Guzman, and if I was involved in that, I would be nervous.

Bob, have you noticed that they seem to be carrying over stats for players traded across leagues more now? I'm not complaining, but it seemed in the past that they didn't do that nearly as much.

I assume officially nothing has changed, but I like being able to see entire season stats instead of some skewed numbers from a limited number of games.

I feel much better now. Let's tack on a few more and get Bradford his league leading 13th.

160 Wow, Loney 4? Impressive. Didn't realize Ethier had so many. They're exciting plays. Did anyone see Grady Sizemore ended the Indians game with a bases-loaded triple last night? 5th since 1968 or something. Joe Torre in '71, Dave Collins for Cincy (?) in 1980, Manny Mota in '71, and Juan Beniquez for the OC Team in '87. Interesting.

Cain's up over the 20 Pitches/Inning mark. He's not long for this game.

If this were back in the Dusty Baker Era, however...

Make Cain throw some pitches..

So does anyone think Lofton will hit the .800 OPS mark at some point in the season?

186

if they can keep protecting him against lefties then maybe.

I saw a "sayanora" bases-loaded triple in a game in Japan:
http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2005/07/would_you_like.php

186 It's not impossible. He's had some timely hits the last few games, that's for sure. He still rubs me the wrong way, but I'm not about to ship him out on the next flight.

186- he already did. If he takes more walks he might be able to get up there.

I think when Lofton was brought aboard the intentions were that he would rarely face lefties.

188 I hadn't read that. Pretty good stuff. That stadium is cool as heck, too. All that money, and they still go astroturf, though. Blech.

Shut up Brennemann, Penny already said he'd give up 31 if Maddux wanted it, which he didn't.

191 Goes without saying, if you look at his splits. There aren't that many left starters left in the NL West, though.

Pfsht, Finley was still out there.

Can Thom Brennaman just shut his trap? He is such a drama king.

What a brain fart by Penny there not backing up home.

We're fortunate that the insufferable Joe Buck isn't calling the game.

196 - That's why I hate watching Dback feeds. Thom and Grace are HORRIBLE

Finley was out..

Now Ethier makes a terrible throw

And then that happened!

my cable provider (local) desided to play I love Lucy instead of the Dodgers (I swear I'm not kidding) great time warner.

197 - With a throw that wild, it may not have mattered where Penny stood.

202 Try KCOP 13.

Lugo's error leads to a run. I guess Giants fans and the likes are happy this thing is tied.

Is Beimel loose?

202- You're looking at channel 13, not 11, right? The game's on 13 today.

188 Wow, I was at that game. j/k. Thanks for sharing that Bob.

The Astros will not be picking up Preston Wilson's bizarre 3 year option. He was DFA'd to make room for Hirsh.

207

And you didn't come by to say hello! Sheesh! I was the tall white guy sitting way back in the RF bleachers.

Longest ... game ... ever ...

Cruz SR. is the Astros 1b coach. You'd think they might have taken a chance with his boy.

207 Ahhhh...I see. Interesting the games are so long. Does the J-League have a television deal comparable to MLB? Are all the games televised?

Lugo belongs in the same metaphysical nonexistent dimension as TJ Simers

I'm wondering if Drew and Ethier should be flip flopped.

204

thanks, why in the world would time warner do that?? I don't get it

Mashed that one.

Wilber II!

Betemit Bomb!

my god Betemit is a BEAST.

Betemit!! woo!!

And boom goes the Betemit.

You're a pitch too late, Felipe.

150 Hey, I had noticed the same thing. I would suspect that the foul territory configuration has a lot to do with it. The 1962 configuration was pretty smooth around the outfield corners, but it's gradually become more of a compound curve, hence more freaky carroms.

Thank goodness we have lugo to eat up all of Betemit's extra playing time.

Thank goodness we have lugo to eat up all of Betemit's extra playing time.

Thank goodness Ned's brilliant mind traded Stone hands Willy for Betemit.

Betemit's HR swing looks effertless,sweet.

Wilson Betemit=Carlos Delgado

Comparison
http://tinyurl.com/qkuov
http://tinyurl.com/r2h6f

Which part of him traded for Hendrickson and Hall?

Now let's see if Penny can hold the lead. Third time's the charm!

211
The four hour plus game wasn't televised I believe. The game just had a lot of baserunners and a lot of pitching changes and a lot of full counts and a lot of foul balls and a lot of pickoff throws.

Ned is stoopid.

I think Bluetahoe took an oath to Ned Colletti to become defender of Midas.

227 - The brilliant part that's seen the Dodgers go 3-0 in Hendy's last 3 starts for a couple of spare parts.

227 His duodenom

Whenever I see the guinness' commercials I always think of bluetaho. "Brilliant!"

How was Martin out there?

The Yankees had a guy steal second today and then get called out for oversliding too.

227.
I guess the same part that signed Bill Mueller

223 Or something in that vicinity.

235

See 236

Nice one, Martin.

Ned is stoopid.

He had enough sense to get rid of Hee Seop Choi and Milton Bradley.

But of course that's baiting. Criticizing former Dodgers is baiting.

Constant criticism of current Dodger players and management isn't.

Right on. That makes sense.

the slomo on Russell's atempted steal looked kind of funny.

That last comment makes more sense if it were to refer to 233

239- I thought that his foot was touching the bag. I guess not.

Melky Cabrera was the Yankee who was caught stealing when he overslid. And Cabrera slid feet first.

Well I never. James Loney, making an out? Just who does he think he is?

I think the Toaster should open up a separate forum for comments of the steel-cage-GM-debate-grudge-match variety. My personal DT experience would be greatly enhanced were this to occur.

244

he busted a tipee toe but it did not work.

247

I think that forum should be hosted on a server that is on a garbage scow floating around in international waters just to be safe.

I think that forum should be hosted on a server that is on a garbage scow floating around in international waters just to be safe.

That's where Julio Lugo is going to sign his next contract.

They're playing music over Penny's throwing?

Of was that just a Fox thing? Weird, anyway.

They're playing music over Penny's throwing?

he didn't look to good at the begining? (I just got home.)

Steve Lyons: unaware of the difference between Italian and French.

I bet it killed some people that Lugo scored the game winning run Thursday and drove home the game winner Friday. Then doubled home the Dodgers 1st run today.

255

It didn't. Your persistence on bringing this up is not productive. I would ask you to stop it.

bluetahoe-you've made your points. I think you're upsetting some people.

255

I bet it kills you that Brad Penny was the starter for the all star game.

254 - But he is a Talmudic scholar. Ask Shawn Green.

254 - Steve Lyons - unaware that starting your slide a step earlier may delay your arrival to the base.

256 Why don't you warn other posters of beating a dead horse with current Dodgers?

I was talking about one person.

I bet it kills you that Brad Penny was the starter for the all star game.

It bothered me his pitching in the all star game pushed him back to Sunday.

220 Classic, although I might have been the only one to get the reference.

For those who don't understand the reference, you have to watch this http://youtube.com/watch?v=DhLHLVd6J-E

255- do you only cheer for guys that Ned picked up? Are you a Dodgers fan or a Ned fan?

Bluetahoe is a Ned-Head.

Irony makes a stirring comeback? No, clearly not.

Ryan Freel has an imaginary friend. What's strange is that for some reason, the fact that it's Ryan Freel makes it scarier than if it was anyone else.

I guess I should have apologized if I offended anybody but it boils my blood when a poster comes out of the blue and attacks a player for no good reason than proceeds to call our GM stoopid....

At the risk of throwing gas on the fire...
I've noticed more and more outbursts of emotion when players, former and present, are mentioned. It's as if you like a player and he is knocked, that's a direct insult. Same with hearing praise for a player you don't like.
A couple of Sundays ago, following a Dodger game, I was posting on DT while watching Oakland via MLB.tv. A former Dodger player (you can guess who) hit a walk-off bomb. I mentioned it here - factually, with no more passion than if Marco Scutaro had hit the homer. Ooh, boy, did that prompt a snippy reply. A few days later, there was a discussion over how that Oakland player was hitting. Because I think facts add to a discussion, I looked up the player's stats. He was hitting well. I posted the stats - and no prize for figuring out what tone of response came back.
So, everyone around here seems far too defensive and touchy. I suggest that we knock it off.

There are people on both sides of this "debate" who are flirting with danger of suspension or banishment. It's not my decision and I don't get a vote.

Baseball Toaster assumes people will act like rational, well-behaved people.

This isn't about who's right and who's wrong. It's about who's respectful.

If irony were a dead horse, it would be tender enough to eat at this point.

I'm guessing Jon is at the game.

JD's very unclutch today

Edwin Bellorin may have just lost his Septmeber call up, as Einar Diaz was acquired (purchased the contract from Buffalo) and assigned to Vegas. Diaz has his veteran-ness over Bellorin, although there's no reason to believe he's actually any better than bellorin.

Einar Diaz will keep Olmedo Saenz informed on what's going in Panama too.

268

I made bad comments about Bradly, I'm guilty of it, but I've been like that about Bradly since my Dodger.com days (sorry it's just how I feel about the guy)

Gio pitches with his guts according to Lyons. So did Odalis.

263 Thanks for the reference. Man, that was brutal! I guess this is why men who aren't old enough to shave generally haven't become sportscasters yet.

267 I wouldn't take it personally. I often find your comments insightful and interesting. The problem comes in the debate itself, and the fact that it simply cannot be resolved, and therefore cannot be won.

I'm not personally singling out particular commenters, I just find the subject illogical and uninteresting. Especailly when it devolves in verbal assault.

273- Einar Diaz is one of the most worthless players around. He can't field, hit, or run. I guess he has great intangibles. He must do things that don't show up in the box score (gives his teammates Gatorade or towels, high fives players after homeruns, etc)

275 We all have our Nemesis.

Carrara time. Sweet!

Odalis was Classic Odalis today. No hits allowed until the fifth. Then walks a batter in the fifth and then gives up a home run and he left trailing. The Royals tied the game in the 9th, but the Indians won in the bottom of the 9th.

Diaz has the immortal Clyde Kluttz on his comparables list

277 Glad you got to watch it. My favorite two moments are the audible sigh at 00:47, and the "look off camera and mouth 'I'm so sorry'". Of course, "He passes it to the man" is pretty great at well.

It's gold, Jerry. Pure gold.

263 That was painful to watch.

I enjoy the fact that the Dodgers continue to win, without regard to my irritation level.

Now, why not tag on that fly ball? He would've easily made third.

279 He was once traded for Travis Hafner, he's gotta be good.

Einar Diaz? First name sounds like a Viking or something....or maybe Lothar...of the Hill People....I thought that guy had hung them up...I guess not.

284 I also enjoy the end where the other newscasters wrap it up and thank the guy for his sportscast and all he can muster is a bamboozled "yeah".

Einar is the kind of name you would get when the hospital admin filling out the birth certificate has been drinking too much.

Gio is a mopup man, nothing more.

291 Maybe his father's name is Ranie?

Yes, he should be mopping up the locker room after the real players leave.

Einar: The boy's name Einar is pronounced EYE-nar. It is of Scandinavian and Old Norse origin, and its meaning is "one warrior; battle leader." Refers to the heroes of Valhalla, in the Old Norse legends.

- thinkbabynames.com

I think Boom Goes The Dynamite Guy was on Letterman doing the Top 10 list after that came out.

Beimel is nothing without the beard

I see there was another boom goes the dynamite video with a different sportscaster. Are these fake?

Well assuming Jon's at the game, he's got an entertaining one; the sort that even my mom might have stopped knitting to watch as was her custom when she took us as kids.

Well assuming Jon's at the game, he's got an entertaining one; the sort that even my mom might have stopped knitting to watch as was her custom when she took us as kids.

Phew, nice play there by Furkie.

Really good play by Furcal

Thursday night was "Pitch n' Stich" Night and there was a whole section in the Reserved for people to do knitting.

I am listening to the game on ESPN radio. Dan Shulman is an excellent play by play radio broadcaster. Wish I could hear him broadcasting Dodger baseball throughout the year.

Stan from Tacoma

298 Anything besides this one is probably a knock-off

298 I don't know about the other guy, but this kid was a student at Ball St., and it's real. Letterman caught wind of it because he's a fellow Ball St. alum, and had him on.

Yeah, kid's life hasn't been so smooth since.

Rafael Furkel, RIP. Long live Rafael Furcal.

Is it safe to say Bonds ain't what he used to be?

303 Wow, I didn't know that. How long ago was that?

309

It was Thursday's game against the Rockies.

304- is it XM radio? Shulman is one of my favorites.

Apparently they've done the pitch n' stitch at a few other stadiums too, sponsored by some knitting organization. Josh Rawitch explained the whole thing on KROQ's morning show the day of the game.

I've never seen Brian Wilson look so good. Oh, different guy.

307 Nice to see you finally come around Steve, I think you've made real progress here. Now let's hear about your childhood...

Dodged a bullet there. Even though we gave up a run we got Bonds out of the way. Broxton in the 8th. Saito in 9th. Hopefully a another checkmark in the W column.

It's no secret I'm a huge Beimel fan, but guys like him are fun to root for.

Steve and Bluetahoe, please take a week off from the site. Thanks.

XM Radio is using the ESPN broadcast. While Shulman is doing fine, Dave Campbell is as bad as he was as a Padres announcer years ago.

What are the odds that Cowboy Bob Davidson calls the game on Lip Gloss Night?

Giving away something that's relatively aerodynamic and useless to 85% of the fans seems like a bad idea.

310 Ah....well, my mom would stop just long enough to look up if a big cheer went up and ask what happened.....not having the vaguest idea how the game was played.....

307 cracked me up. Nice to see Steve can admit he was wrong. Kind of like when Flanders traded CMC.

311, I am listening on XM. Sometimes the Saturday broadcast is on KJR in Seattle, but KJR is doing a Husky football special today. Might be on a local ESPN radio station in So. Cal.

Stan from Tacoma

It's Cowboy Joe West. Bob Davidson I prefer to think of as Appealling Bob.

322 Really? I've always called both of them "Cowboy". Heck, it seems applicable to most umpires. Cowboy Angel Hernandez, Cowboy Doug Eddings, etc.

317- Shulman is like a young Vin, he can make any color commentary guy sound bearable.

jumping in late here...

Penny pitched well..always good to see.
Betemit smoked that pitch..again, good to see.

Only complaint is that I would have liked to see either Kent or Nomar in the lineup, but it's also nice to see Loney get playing time.

Broxton's up, six outs to go fellas.....

This game is annoying me, for some reason. It feels like the Dodgers should have a 5-run lead or something.

323 Doug Eddings has a different nickname.

Don't ask

But Joe West sings country-western songs and Vin calls him "Cowboy."

Bob Davidson is a "Cowboy" in the British sense. In other words, he's not very good at his job.

Turns of phrase I have learned from watching "Fawlty Towers"

328
Great show.

Would Brennaman really give a damn about Ethier if he wasn't from Arizona?

HEAT!

Taht would be so weird if Pedro Feliz took a pitch.

That would be so weird if Pedro Feliz took a pitch.

317, I would prefer that Shulman do the broadcast solo. Actually, Campbell does not bother me as much as some of the ex-players who are in the broadcast booth these days. Shulman and the late Don Drysdale would have made an excellent broadcasting team. I liked Don as a pitcher and a broadcaster.

328 I knew there was some reason the words cowboy and Bob Davidson were joined together in my mind.

332 I agree completely
333 I couldn't disagree more.

I hope Alou doesn't come up to bat anymore so that I don't have to hear Lyons say he's going to hit a HR every at bat.

323,328 We use a similar variation in the construction industry, in referring to a person who isn't particularly skilled or intellegent, but insists on doing things his own way. Usually without asking.

I've always imagined this to be the correct usage when referring Joe West, et al.

336 Despite the fact that my sexual preference will probably come into question, I must say that you're on fire today.

336-

Are you saying you don't care for proper spelling?

337-

Agreed. I thought my head was going to explode when he wouldn't shut up about Loney's mic falling out. He literally talked about it for almost half an inning.

336 That joke was ready to go, but I decided to agree with the one that wasn't spelled properly, lest I appear to be a spelling Nazi.

Either way, that joke was locked and loaded.

338 - Mr Customer - When you want to refer back to a previous post, if you surround the post # with brackets [ ] instead of underscores you will create a clickable link back to that post instead of just underlining it. Then morons like me will no longer be clicking on the numbers for nothing. ;^)

Come on Sammy, lock it up!

343 better?

This is one of the OED's meanings for "cowboy"

e. A person without qualifications who competes against established traders or operators, providing shoddy goods or services usu. at low (or inflated) prices; one who is recklessly unscrupulous in business. Freq. attrib. slang.

The Brits tend to use it to refer to contractors who do poor work.

For a team which hasn't had too many one-run games this year, we're sure trying to make up for lost time, wouldn't you say?

343 Thanks for the tip.

Anyone else really nervous about the bottom of the 9th?

345 You da man!

346 Apparently, they're not the only ones.

I'll have to disagree with whoever thought Duaner was better than Saito in a thread yesterday. There isn't one category that Sanchez has an advantage in, especially taxi cab success rate.

Jason Repko replacing Lofton in center field? Is that really a defensive upgrade?

Gameday just announced--Defensive replacement, Jason Repko replaces Garciaparra in center field, batting 9th.
What has been going on!

Gameday just announced--Defensive replacement, Jason Repko replaces Garciaparra in center field, batting 9th.
What has been going on!

353
Double switch.

The Toaster gremlins are putting in overtime today.

Wilson Betemit wanted to help the Dodgers record in 1-run games so he messed up the rundown on Wednesday.

Not the best 0-2 pitch you'll ever see

(exhale)

Hum you Repko.

And Repko just had to run into the wall for no reason...

That would have been a triple if Lofton was playing CF

"THAT'S WHY THEY BRING REPKO IN THE GAME!"

"As good a center fielder as there is in the game."

It's amazing how that flowed perfectly from the DT conversation.

381

And some other centerfielders who have just camped under it and caught it easily.

Wow, I got the number wrong and used incomprehensible grammar to boot there!

Time for a nap.

Sweet.

They just showed Betemit standing right next to Furcal...Is Wilson really that big or is Furcal really that small?

We Win!

I love winning...It's like, you know, better than losing.

Even on Gameday, I think we won.BooYahhhh!

Nice win.

Awesome.

This is a somewhat odd request, but can anyone find a picture of Rick Monday playing outfield where you can see his face?

Brennaman would have had a heart attack if Finley had hit it out

Phew. Now I can go over to TBS and watch the Braves play the Brewers. 2-0 Brewers after 1/2 an inning.

3 wins in a row by one run... Well done boys! I hate to reverse my earlier positions, aw who I am I kidding, I love being wrong about this. I thought we were done two weeks ago, but now... We could play with anyone in the NL, though the Cards seemingly have our number.

370
Do you have access to any historical newspaper subscriptions through ProQuest? You might be able to find one that way. It won't be a great photo however.

The Reds are already down 2-0 in the first in Philly.

371 I would have had to change my underwear if Finley had hit it out.

374 Not from here. Since it's not that important, let's try this:

Has anyone ever seen Rick Monday play outfield in a day game while not wearing sunglasses. (I'm sure the answer to this is yes, but I just want to make sure).

370 Does it have to be him in the field? Here's a good autographed pic of him with bat:

http://autographedpc.home.att.net/TTM/athletics/athletics.html

377

Since he played for the Cubs for several season, I would have to assume that he went without sunglasses sometimes and lost balls in the sun.

Maddux looks quite confused in his Gameday photo on the frontpage of Dodgers.com.

Tomorrow's game should be very interesting.

377 Oh, I see. Was Monday ragging on Durham for not using shades on that popup in the first couple of innings? The Giants guys were really puzzled about him not catching it and still not putting the glasses on afterwards.

(All I had was the Giants KNBR feed in the car.)

378 Nope, needs to be in the field.

379 Ah, so you know what I'm looking for.

381 Yep. The quote was "if you're not going to wear glasses, you should go out to the field."

The last time I shaved was Wednesday night. Coincidence?

Does Vin do the radio broadcast when the game is on TV on Saturday afternoon?

Stan from Tacoma

so im lurking variois braves message boards and blogs and it seems like the dagger deepens after every Wilson homerun for them.... and padres fans.

385

Vin does not attend or watch games that he doesn't work.

Regairfield, where can I find your email? I have an article to send you.

386- please post some of them. I need to make myself feel better at the expense of others.

Watching the Atlanta game...

Can we have a Bill Hall? I really want one.

388 andrew@dodgermath.com

389 I've built my life around that.

391
OK, it's not a photo. But it's a pdf from the Chicago Tribune in 1973.

And tomorrow, they go for the sweep.

Either the LA Times or the AP needs a better proofreader:

Penny, Looney Help L.A. Stay on Winning Track

Thanks Bob. I gather from your answer Vin does not do any radio work other than the first 3 inning tv simulcast. I am sure it won't happen, but I would like for Vin's last broadcast to be a radio broadcast only. Talk about a retro day, everyone could bring their transitors/ walkman's to Dodger Stadium to listen to Vin on the radio for one last time.

Stan from Tacoma

393 Thanks, Bob.

396

The only time Vin would do the majority of a game on radio would be if the Dodgers made the playoffs. I believe Vin worked 6 of the 9 innings during the 2004 Division Series games.

397

No problem. I like a challenge like that. There's no way Monday could have played his whole career without losing a ball in the sun. The story doesn't say if Monday wasn't wearing sunglasses, but Rico Carty wasn't.

I also didn't know that Rico Carty ever played for the Cubs.

Bob, how am I supposed to read that article?

As a fan, it's always fun to think about how to best build a winning team. What are the key features? I've come to believe that depth/options are as important as anything. I've liked this team from day one because it seems that it was built on this theory: We have veterans at many positions who are maybe good for between one half and two years more and we have rookies who are ready somewhere between now-2 years. It was quickly apparent that more of the rookies than expected were ready to contribute right away. And some of the vets panned out nicely at the same time. This meant we had depth/options. I bring this up because some people seem to think that having Izturis or Lugo on the team is not very important when there is no obvious place for them to play. But the only thing that is predictable in a baseball season is unpredictability. Lugo (And Izzy before him) make it so if/when there is a key injury (or several nagging ones) we don't tank. If they're not needed, well then it looks like they were a waste. But as a fan, I feel great about the fact that we are ready for the unpredictable, no matter what it might be. The fact that we have won with and without Nomar and Kent underscores this point. To me, the depth is not just a bonus, it is the key to winning.

Whoops, missed the attachment. Carry on.

Does Drew get a rest tomorrow? I mean, while 1 for 4 with an RBI might not be so bad, the 7 LOB is, well, Betemit, Ethier, and Lugo each left two runners on, so they're tied for a distant second to that 7 LOB. Sorry, but I was reviewing the box score again and that 7 LOB was rather "glaring." Think I need those sunglasses that were the subject of conversation earlier in the day (at least before I review that box score again, or maybe it's simply, pity that the blind spot in my retina just has to be filled in by my brain, else I could "center" that spot over the 7 LOB and review the box again at my leisure). But we've won the series, so they can have steak and potatoes tonight, with a healthy serving of greens and some choice fruits, and if they run up the broom tomorrow, then comes the ice cream [or at least that would be my "general audience" rated "tradition"]. Tomorrow I will otherwise be testing alternative hypothesis 304(b)(1)(C), to wit, this whole season was just so Maddux could pitch for the World Series champion Dodgers. Such would otherwise make a good story, hence my suspicion that it might be true [and that on the a priori assumption that God likes a good read as much as I and you do].

401 I've got no problem with depth, but that depth shouldn't come at the expense of Joel Guzman.

I get to attend tomorrow night. So I hope they aren't satisfied with winning the series.

I'm sure this has been excessively noted already, but what clod of a schedule-maker has the Giants' last 2006 visit to LA in early August?

Gio is a mopup man, nothing more.

Gio is a mopup guy that brings happy toughts to our mind because he was in the '04 team.

404. I understand that sentiment. If he goes on to be an All-Star and we don't get to the World Series, it will have been a bad move. But it seems clear that he was not fitting into the D's plans. So I am only refuting the thought that trading him for Lugo was a waste.

403

1. That's an awful lot of information for one comment. Well played.

2. My preference is for a team that hits well enough to have some runners stranded, rather than one that puts few on base and hits better w/ RISP. I know there's more than one way to do things, but I feel more comfortable knowing that hits will eventually come sequentially, rather than spaced out across 9 innings.

3. God does seem to enjoy a good story, but He would seem to enjoy a good punchline better. So far, I'm cautiously optimistic, but it's probably too soon to tell.

Sorry, re "running up the broom":

"In a BBS post on October 29, 2001, Ron "Warshot" Smith responded to an inquiring post about the practice of certain WWII submarine skippers who mounted an upside-down broom high in the periscope shears upon return to port. The practice signified that the boat had made a clean sweep during their patrol."

See: http://tinyurl.com/grou2
See also: http://tinyurl.com/jarxb

Over the years i've learned how to calculate to and learned to appreciate the importance of new baseball statistic such as WHIP, holds, OBP+Slugging etc. but this week, i've been hearing about a new statistic and i can't understand its importance.

Unearned runs charged to a pitcher. (Yes, i know that this is an oxymoron(*) but read on)

This is a part of the recap from today's game on ESPN.com:
-------
"Finley hit a two-out grounder to second baseman Julio Lugo, who bobbled the ball for an instant. That's all it took for Finley to beat the throw and stick Lugo with an error. He stole second and scored on a single by Vizquel that extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

It was the first unearned run allowed this season by Penny, who gave up only two in 29 starts last year."
--------
Also, I believe it was Thursday, in one of the BoSox disasters in KC, it was reported that Curt Schilling now has "BROKEN HIS OWN MLB RECORD OF
54 INNINGS WITHOUT ALLOWING AN UNEARNED RUN"

Now, in all of my years of following baseball, I have never heard of such a statistic(not even in a Bill James book!). The whole purpose of deciding whether a run is unearned or not, obviously, is to determine whether the pitcher is responsable for the run. Could someone who understands the subtleties of the game better than myself please explain why this record is important?
Obviously the fact this data is even mentioned means that pitchers have a certain responsability for the unearned runs that are scored on them. i imagine that a strikeout pitcher would allow fewer unearned runs than a ground ball pitcher. Of course, this is an honor to be shared with one's infield…(have I answered my own question or is there more to this ???)

Thank so Much

(*) a moron that attended Occidental College

Mr. Customer:

I agree with everything you said, and so I didn't gripe about the 6 left on by the other three [even though they were our 3, 5, and 6 hitters]. But 7? That's the bases loaded twice, plus one guy on base the third time you come up. And, yes, not fair to judge Drew's worth on one game, and I'm not, but I wonder what goes through one's mind after one reads the box score and is reminded that one left 7 on that day. Does he press too much tomorrow? Which brings me to alternative hypothesis 192(a), to wit, a batter has an extraordinarily bad day, presses the day following and so does not do so well, and on the premise that like success, failure too feeds on itself, next we know, our man Drew is a long slump. Can't say that I know the man well enough to make that call, but I am wondering what effect the 7 LOB will do to the confidence of one who was not immediately prior "tearing up" the opposing pitcher[s]. I suppose we'll see tomorrow, one way or the other.

410 It means that after an error is commited, the pitcher makes sure it isn't cashed in. For instance, today, Penny gave up a hit to Vizquel after the error. The hit is charged to him. The run is partly his fault.

411 To be fair, he did have an RBI single. And it's not like he controlls how many runners are on base when he comes up.

Yes, there is a school of thought a good pitcher won't give up an unearned run because he won't be intimidated or scared by an error. But I think that such a streak meant that Schilling got some good fielding behind him.

Schilling gave up nine doubles and a homer in that game.

gaime over?

http://tinyurl.com/odr3x

From a quick check of the leaders in runs allowed in the majors, I think Kelvim Escobar of the Angels leads in unearned runs allowed: 16. He does seem like a somewhat logical pitcher since he's both pretty good and has a pretty bad defense behind him. So he gets to pitch enough to give them up.

Among Dodger pitchers, Lowe and Maddux have seven unearned runs allowed. All of Maddux's were with the Cubs. Hendrickson has allowed eight unearned runs between his stays in Tampa Bay and L.A.

Any chance that Mets reliever Pedro Feliciano is related to Jose?

And I almost resisted making a joke along the "hope he has better vision" lines, but failed.

416 Lowe always give up a lot of unearned runs. He doesn't strike many batters out which means there are more chances for errors and most of his balls in play are groundballs which are more commonly errored. Plus, he lets bad situations build on themselves, though he;s been better about that this year.

Schilling is a power pitcher, so that means fewer chances. And he's a flyball pitcher which means a higher fielding percentage behind him.

After scratching back to within two runs in the 8th inning, the Braves bring in old "friend" Baez who promptly gives up one run to put the Brewers back up by three.

I wonder what such consistent failure does to a guy when it's spread out over an entire season.

417 At risk of being politically incorrect, I'll say it.
Someone must have been at one of the Ballparks where Jose Feleciano sang the national anthem(which did happen), and after the first line "Ohh say(Jose)can you see" whispered "no I can't you fools"
Sorry.

Bill Dana used to do a José Jiménez routine where he'd talk about how polite everyone was in America because he'd been to a ball park and everyone sang "José can you see."

411 Hmmm. To answer your original question - no, I don't think JD will sit out tomorrow. It might not be a bad idea, for the reasons you state, as well as the fact that Schmidt owns him.

The options don't look a heck of a lot better though. You've got Repko and Lugo, who are both righties, or Loney, a rookie who would then be playing out-of-position.

I'm going to follow that completely statistical point with a hackneyed barstool-psychoanalytical one. Drew doesn't strike me as the likely type to "Press". If you look at his 2006 splits with RISP, he's .270/.376/.417 this year. His baseline numbers are .277/.371/.449. There's a power drop-off, but not massive.

What I'm inferring, from this and his reputation for being a soft-spoken and generally bland individual, is that he seems to play baseball from the neck up.

I guess I'm describing him as the other end of the emotional spectrum from Derek Jeter, whose play improves as pressure increases (or A-Rod, for that matter, whose performance declines).

One could look at his second half numbers and say that he was "Pressing" at the plate because the team was slumping. I would guess that the drop-off would have more to do with what's going on, internally, in JD world than on the ballfield.

This is, of course, pure rubbish. I'm probably totally wrong, but that's how it looks from where I sit.

Bill Dana used to crack me up, but if he were living in these times he'd be out of work.

Things are getting interesting in Cincy. Phils down 9-7, two on, two out, Howard at bat.

424 Sorry, Phils are home, of course.

421 thanks for the memory of Bill Dana, it is pleasant.
442 It is hard to figure anything about JD. for me. I admit I attack him often, but he has a superb set of tools. I am currently thinking that his fragile nature is equivalent to accelerated aging. This may not be fair but I think he should be treated as the equivalent of somebody 35.

Fire Joe Morgan did a piece on Schilling's streak. Basically, an amazingly low number of errors were committed for Schilling (7 in 54 starts, three by Schilling), and most of them came with two outs.

Of course that should be 422.
Any mention of Joe Morgan makes me inflamed.

422 Good points. Funny thing about Jeter. In one sense, he has become the poster child for sample size. Early in his career, one reason for his deification (or at least canonization) was that his playoff numbers were (even) better than his regular season numbers. He "turned in on when it counted most." Well, with the Yankees in the playoffs every year, his number of playoff PAs increased and increased, and the quality of those PAs reverted to his mean. Last I checked, his postseason and regular season numbers were statistically indistinguishable. Still good - I'm not saying he's not good - but the myth of Mr. October Jr. succumbed to the harsh mistress of sample size.

Now, as for his "close and late" numbers...I'll leave that exercise to the reader.

I kind of like Joe Beimel after reading his comments about pitching to Bonds today, in Tom Singer's column tonight:
http://tinyurl.com/ok7lr

-- "What was the big deal?" Beimel thought.

"I didn't want to give Durham too much to hit. I knew Bonds was on deck," he said. "He's hitting around .240. I'd rather take a chance with him than let Durham beat me."

At that juncture, Bonds was actually hitting .250. He also had 1,902 RBIs -- one shy of tying Willie Mays on the all-time list and 1,170 more than Durham.

"He's just another hitter. Face it, he's not having a great year. So, when it came down to it, I'd rather take a chance with him," Beimel insisted.

That was experience talking: In eight prior confrontations, Beimel had given Bonds only one hit, a double. --

430

Beimel is my hero

ps me & my chick saw him in the elevator (DS) a while back.

Kuo had a very nice game tonight:
7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 0 HR, 13.4 P/IP
And just for the hell of it, he blasted a grand slam. Kuo has made steady progress as a starter, and it's very reassuring. Here's how he's done:
5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR, 13.8 P/IP
5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR, 14.2 P/IP
4.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 0 HR, 17 P/IP
2.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 HR, 22.1 P/IP
2.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 20.6 P/IP

The Dodgers streak is now at 3. Time to pull out the streak superstition. For this winning streak I am proud to announce that the superstition will require you to watch the opposing team bat with the sound muted if watching by TV. If not watching by TV, then don't worry you have no positvie or negative effect on the strength of the superstition. This streak doesn't seem to have the superstitoinal strength that the previous streak had. I think we are looking at 4-5 games in a row at most.
vr, Xei

7IP, 0 walks. You sure? Who is this guy and what did he do with Kuo?

BTW, was the start in Vegas?

The start was in Fresno, which has been a pitcher's park this year.

Gameday now says Eric Hull pitched the 7th, which would make Kuo's line this:
6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 0 HR, 14.3 P/IP
Not nearly as impressive, but still an improvement. I think this is officially what he did, although he did bat in the top of the 7th for some reason (maybe Royster thought he he was going to hit his second homer of the game?).

437 - yep, and Kuo threw 58 strikes and 27 balls.

As for Kuo batting in the 7th, I wouldn't pinch hit for a guy who hit a grand slam earlier, would you?

Other players of interest
Kemp: 2-4, 3B, R
Laroche: 1-3, BB
Young: 1-4, R

Also, after 96 AB, Kemp has 17 K, but 14 BB, which is rather encouraging. I think someone else pointed out earlier that he's not trying to hit the long ball right now, just clean up what needed work from LA. He's also got 9/1 SB/CS. Also encouraging: no errors.

436 - The start was in Fresno, which has been a pitcher's park this year.

Unless it has similar mound factors to Dodger Stadium, I don't think that affects getting 5 K and 0 BB, though Fresno's team (49-72) does. The 51s have a losing record too, but they have Hamulack and Carter in the bullpen. If anything, it makes his grand slam look even better.

Even though he's 6-for-18 with a homer in his last five starts, Jose Castillo was on the bench for a second straight game on Saturday.
Castillo also sat Wednesday, so he's started just one of the last four games. "I don't know why I am not playing," he said. "Everything is OK. I feel good. I don't know what happened." Part of what's happened was the move to make Chris Duffy a regular, even though Duffy did little to justify the assignment. That's meant Jose Bautista has to get playing time at third, and Freddy Sanchez isn't going to head to the bench. Castillo will probably resume playing regularly soon enough, but fantasy leaguers could have better short-term options.

Jimbo loves to ruin good young players

The Pirates must be so pleased that they have Tracy instead of Leyland or Macha, both of whom wanted the job.

I watched most of the A's and Tampa tonight. A's have been on a tear, they're getting great pitching. Dioner didn't look very good tonight. Milton has been a standout of late and had three walks tonight.

James Loney has yet to hit a home run, but he has only has 3 strikeouts in his first 76 plate appearances and that is almost unprecedented in baseball history.

Speaking of Kuo (great to hear he's doing so much better) and Kemp, and Loney (that's tres impressive!), when September rolls around and rosters expand, do the Dodgers have to use the remaining players on the 40 man roster as their call-ups, or can they call up other players instead? Since 4 of the players on their 40 man roster are out for the season, are they allowed to replace them with other players when rosters expand?

We know Kuo and Kemp will be among those brought back up. Looks like Einar Diaz was added to the 40 man as catcher, so, as someone pointed out here earlier, he'll be the extra catcher brought up over Bellorin (sorry man!).

Interesting that Greg Miller is on the 40 man - would be curious to see how he'll do - but Lance Carter is not. Delwyn Young will finally get to make a major league appearance ( will be nice to have a little more outfield depth) and maybe we'll see old friend Oscar Robles again...

442 Obligatory sample-size argument not withstanding, that's DiMaggio like.

443

The alternative would be to put players on the 60-day DL to open up spots, but I think there is a time when you can't do that.

Just because you're on the 40-man roster doesn't mean you'll be coming up after 9/1. Most teams don't call up more than 5-6 players.

Jumbo Diaz is probably the only player who has no chance whatsoever of being a September call-up. Einar Diaz was acquired to be September's third catcher, but after that, I wouldn't try to predict too much. The recent moves opened up some roster spots, one of which went to Diaz, and two more (and possibly a third if Gagne is 60-day DL'd) could be open for some guys (Alexander? Hull? Ruan?), but I doubt we'll be calling up more than 6 or 7 guys.

who would have the easier adjustment to 2b? Betemit or Laroche?

447

I've been wondering the same thing.

Because we are keeping both. No Ifs, ands, buts about it. both stay, screw you tampa bay.

I'd much prefer Betemit at second, but that's only because my little brain has only ever thought of LaRoche as a third baseman.

LaRoche-Furcal-Betemit-Loney would be a nice infield.

I'd move Betemit to 2B since he has some experience there. If LaRoche switched positions, he'd have to spend at least another year in the minors. Besides, Betemit has a better chance to make the all star game as a 2B :)

*of making

2008 Lineup:

Furcal-SS
Drew-RF
Kemp-CF
Ethier-LF
LaRoche-3B
Betemit-2B
Martin-C
Loney-1B

Rotation:

Penny
Elbert
Billingsley
Kuo
Lowe

Kershaw and Morris ready to take over for departed free-agents Penny and Lowe in 2009.

454 Can't argue with that, as long as Kuo is Chinese for "Barry Zito or Roy Oswalt"

Nice article in the California section on Bob's library. The focus is on one of the security officers and how he manages to keep order among the patrons.

[456] i'm heading to china in a week; i'll get back to you :)

if betemit's D is so great at 3rd, why not move laroche? he has a labrum issue anyway, so why not put him at 2nd, where the throwing is a lot easier?

speaking of the labrum, how's laroche's power been lately?

457

The officer profiled in the paper is a true gentleman and one of the best ones in the building.

He sounds like it. Were any of the anonymous quotes from you?

Nope. I didn't even know the piece was going to run.

Is Aybar really hurt, or are the Braves playing games with their roster?

Looks like he's been playing with a broken bone in his hand the last two weeks.

http://tinyurl.com/hu42e

Okay then, here's my predicted Sept call-ups for the Dodgers:

Definites:
Kemp
Kuo
E Diaz

Likely:
D Young
LaRoche
Hamulack or Carter (sorry. They've definitely been better in AAA, for whatever that's worth.)
Robles

Less likely but possible:
Greg Miller
Alexander

Sheesh, poor Aybar. A broken bone? Or more specifically, "a non-displaced chip fracture of a sprained left middle finger." Well, they get the ol' wood Chipper back.