Hudler crazily brings up that when he was a Yankee, he used to sometimes go watch what they did to these guys. Maybe I'm crazy, but did he just imply that he used to get a kick out of watching police brutality?

stay tuned for that, i'm sure you know that Jon. :o)

ps come on bro! feed me with you're Dodger Thoughts.

NO! i needs Jon's point of view to fuel me! PERIOD!!

Divine Right is good enough.

i know you have you're opinions Jon, post them!

when somebody has a thought, you can't wait to share it!!, atleast that's my point of view.

Ditto if that's how you think.

"I'll be your huckaberry" Tombstone quote

"I think that the immediacy of web publishing makes some people lazy. They type faster than they think; or they believe that a reaction is the same thing as an argument."

Gladwell has a good point. You should be quite thankful that Jon isn't in the habit of just spewing the first thing that comes to his head.

i think nate will be with us soon.

Great stuff too -- cream, the band, old genesis, old floyd, beatles, captain fantastic, king crimson, queen, the who. And the kids (we were with another family) just went crazy looking at the artwork and wanting to take them home.

1 thoughts are the purist! (please don't think i'm be a jerk) i'm real & i love that about me/hate that about me.

i swear i posted my thought before reading yours (look at the time of both)

Nationals take the lead on 8th inning homers by Zimmerman and Austin Kearns. Good to see that Bob Melvin too has mastered the art of leaving Livan Herenandez in too long.

Then we're halfway down the block and my wife turns around, runs back, and grabs five more.

And we don't have a working turntable!

great saturday.

I'm still trying to rehab my Pioneer PL-50A witht the beautiful wooden base.

i hate that, you wake up & look around & say what?? Adrew Shimmin knows what i'm talking about.

Matt Kemp is in the line up!! (my eagle eye will be in affect tonight)

I guess I was wrong; you aren't really that edgy. for shame, for shame.

twin towers in downtown L.A. for me, 24 hours. quote from a cop
"sober up kid"

ps i wow'ed everybody in there doing 60 push ups that's right i'm confident about my athlethtic skills.

Anyone our age should never not have a turntable.

i'm representing the blue color peaple today 57 Jon rocks so i'll be sible.

old school bud light Nate, i'm blue color thrue & thrue.

well since i forgot to put the fat tire in my fridge i think the decision will be easier now.

Penny needs to snap out of his funk and he has owned the rockies in the past.

http://tinyurl.com/fm2wk

we have Penny pitching tonight (his attitude alone can move a mountain) i'm looking for a good game, no matter what i'm proud of my Dodgers.

cool, hey Jon don't worry about me today, you invite me to you're thread & i'll be a good soldier sometimes i get overbored beacuse i'm a freaking micro guy....

Wait, let me get this straight, Pellam is questioning my edge? Pff.

i feel you brotha don't even explain.

Kemp, CF

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Nomar, 1B

Ethier, LF

Betemit, 3B

Martin, C

Penny, P

i'll be eagle eye today (Kemp) something tells me he hasn't changed but made adjustments i'm kind of like him my hips are trigger happy as well.

Free site

The gist is that the 24 year old 3.5 is having an historical year for a 24 year old LHH.

Hips are a great indigater of one's greatness, if you adjust look out i'm sure you know what i'm talking about

82 - Balderdash. Even your slumps are edgy, Andrew.

UCLA 31-10 Final
Ben Olson 3TDs 312 YDs passing
UCLA 14-10 at the half

most of the year. i go to school in tucson.

93 - The Dodgers have the Bearded Jesus, the Bruins have Southpaw Jesus (one can only hope). Additionally, there were several passes Olson threw that really should have been caught but were dropped. He looks shockingly sharp for his first significant PT in, what, 5 years?

And look at the subtitle on that article: "Club performs unique feat for second time in team history"

Uniqueness, like nostalgia, ain't what it used to be.

my best friend lives out there, i gave him a lecture about him moving out there... again my writing skills

my favorite player is always the inderdog.

i know my 1 of my best friends i know he's running away... smart people please apply.

Good day my patootie.

i would never pur mit my arm to have a bad game (ego/hard to explaim)

Sorry Jon (bad spelling)

i don't know football at all but i bet his D sucked.

111 - That's sort of the issue with that style of statement, isn't it? I think, though, that at the end of the day I'd rather see USC lose every game than see them win all but the UCLA game. It's a winning sort of mentality - if the Bruins go undefeated, it doesn't matter if the Trojans do well or not, because UCLA's still going to look good at the end of the year. Additionally, the worse off USC looks, the better off UCLA does in recruiting (as it's a zero-sum game with USC and UCLA being by far the two biggest southern California football schools), which can effect years and years of seasons down the road.

Billingsley, high A & Double A combined:

134.1 IP, 100 H's, 7 HR's, 71 BB's, 158 K's, 2.55 ERA

Elbert, high A & Double A combined:

146.0 IP, 97 H's, 15 HR's, 85 BB's, 173 K's, 2.90 ERA

Lots of K's and lots of walks, though not an obscene amount of walks. Elbert gave up hits at a lower rate (though both were hard to hit). Elbert surrendered home runs at a worse rate, but his home run problems did not really exist at all till he moved up to Double A. Billingsley's performance has to be considered much more impressive because he did it a year younger than Elbert. Billingsley was in his first full season out of high school, Elbert in his second. But Elbert gets some bonus points for being a southpaw, and he throws a change-up, which Billingsley does not have at all, or at least Billingsley does not have a change-up he wants to throw in a game situation.

Aren't we all.

for a small guy 5'7 1/2 i was blesed witha great arm, & i'm not a stupid guy i know i have a great arm so i keep it in shape. (60 push ups in less than a munite) shake my hand. PERIOD.

124 - I never "appreciated" The Juice nor did I understand its place at the Toaster. Again, just one person's worthless opinion.

ps bat speed like Kemps is priceless.

my baseball resumy is realy good Nate, i can prove it with facts winning our Jalisco champioship & me strinking out 16 batters, throwing 2 no hitters.... pent up anger works wonders for a guy.

when did i ever question your baseball background?

And even better, I got home just in time to see Nomar's dinger. So far, the day's been pretty good!

Too bad Cal laid an egg today, but I guess you can't win 'em all.

Now I know why Jon's been holed up lately. The end of the world is nigh.

:o)

That's what the Mets said in '88, Mr. Nonbeliever.

which bar in chelsea? my brother went to ucla and lives in nyc and always complains that he never has anyone to watch ucla games with.

That's pretty good!

"you told me 4 dollars" scratching head

Notre Dame is winning in typical annoying Notre Dame fashion. Notre Dame is the Scott Podsednik of college football.

"i cut my self shaving" saturday night fever" quote

I personally think that if Liriano comes back healthy, Minnesota might ride him and Santana all the way.

Of course, I'll be rooting for the Blue the whole way.

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When the God of Gameday wants you to know, you will.

Jake's Saloon on 23rd St. at 7th Ave. The place was taken over by Bruins fans, at least 70-80 of them came out tonight. Good bar, nice HD tv's, but the food and drinks are a little pricey ($6.50 for a pint of beer, which is expensive even for Manhattan.) I believe the UCLA Alumni Association gathers there for every football game.

The Washington State fans had a much smaller contingent show up at Jake's for the Auburn game. They didn't make much noise.

I agree with both of you (sort of). I'd like to see Kuo start in Hendrickson's place. Sele is the right choice to sub for Billingsley this time.

That's my favorite line from "It's a Wonderful Life."

That makes for some cool owl pellets.

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Shows you how much I know about baseball....

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So, when the Padres come to town, I think it's pretty safe to just chalk that one up as a loss. That would be a good game to start someone like Sele or Hendrickson or Kuo.

Fair enough--I'm biased when it comes to Kuo. =) I feel so conflicted that the first potential Taiwanese star in the bigs is a Yankee. Ouch....

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Which makes his cratering here so odd...

I've never heard of a good explanation of what happened to him in the states.

Penny's got runs to work with, but he still needs to settle down. It'd be nice to give the pen a break today.

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i wonder if any of my thoughts will make, best of Dodger thoughts? Jon?? be honest.

i coulnd't, really bad habit of mine.

I will be watching the GLBs playing in South Bend on 10/21. I don't anticipate a favorable outcome, but I'm sure my brother and I will have a fun time nonetheless.

i'll be honest.

probably not.

my mind thinks maybe, with an explation next to it, Nate you're cruel!!

Well, with a seven run lead into the sixth, Penny needs to be able to protect it, bad call or not.

Who's warming in the pen?

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but Dessens restores order. Dodgers to bat.

Penny is so NOT an ace. Still a no. 2, and I think he'll eventually right the ship, but that was pretty disappointing.

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it always helps the runner, it realy helps the defender.

Depends on who you ask.

Icaros, I choose you!

At this point, I'd take a healthy Bills over Penny.

I really would like to see what Kuo might be able to do.

Baseball gawds willing, my playoff rotation would be, at this point:

Lowe
Maddux
Penny
Bills

I can't ignore Penny's postseason record, unless he continues to tank.

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I assume a high strand rate could also come from a good K rate. Penny's never really been a strikeout machine. He only had 2 today for example.

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I can't even begin to think about knowing how to answer that question.

i choose a guy with the back ground of Valenzuela/Russell Martin.

Honestly, I'm so intoxicated by the performance of Southpaw Jesus at the Rose Bowl, a Dodger win is a plus.

Yeah, but it's measurable in things like K rate in my view. That's something pitchers can control, so presumably a pitcher who doesn't tighten up from anxiety and stress would be more successful at King opponents with men on base than someone's who's mechanics fall apart at the first sign of trouble.

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Just out of curiosity, do lefty QBs have any advantage over righties in football?

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It could just be butterfiles, and him trying too hard to impress.

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That's one of my favorite movies ever. I'm glad someone noticed.

I believe that nickname was embroidered out of whole cloth or stemmed from the fact that Ben Olson took two years off to go on a Mormon mission.

I think he was just fired up because he was told that the Beehive Boot was at stake.

Rays turn triple play against Mariners
Club performs unique feat for second time in team history

Luckily, Southpaw Jesus is Southpaw Jesus. The receivers will get used to it. Plus, God is guiding the football.

Yes, I'm kidding.

If he went on mission, he may not be a big fan of the nickname, which the religious might see as sacrilegious.

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Todd Helton. Helton saw Manning play QB and quickly decided his own future lay in baseball. Good career move for both, as it turned out...

Then again, I've never met a Catholic who really minded references to the "Touchdown Jesus" statue at Notre Dame.

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I like Life Aquatic, but Tenenbaums is my favorite, with Rushmore an extremely close second.

I love movies that have the ability to make me laugh like a hyena and cry like a Royals fan all at once.

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Let me introduce myself.

I thought I knew you, Bob Timmermann.

I sit deeply abashed....

Great hit by Nomar.

Now, why do fans not have the ability to control themselves when a ball is in play near them? That fan almost interfered with Nomar's double.

Well, I spoke too soon, didn't I....

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Well, if I knew Nomah was going to bust the game open, I wouldn't have questioned the move. I guess I was just paranoid about a Colorado rally, and I wanted Kent's bat still in the game.

With Lugo staying in to play 2B, and Lofton still on the bench, I suppose using Repko as the pinch runner makes sense.

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And yes I agree with 275

I'm happy with my fantasy draft tonight and with the Dodgers. Now if I could only get my g/f to turn this atrocious Sci-Fi channel movie off.

Too bad SD might win its game also.

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Nobody believes me.

I didn't think the Sci-Fi Channel had females in its target demographic.

Next you're going to tell me she's TIVOing a program on Spike.

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Eventually, someone came back with an order of garlic fries to create a much better smell.

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isnt too bad although im probably going to need to get someone to replace rod davis.

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Delwyn went 2-4 and Laroche hit a homer. Jamie Hoffman, making his first AAA start, went 1-2 with a BB, HBP, and a SB.

Looks like Hendrickson is warming up in the pen...

At least not tonight.

We may pop in my Galaxy Quest dvd soon though because this movie is just bad.

But then we were momentarily distracted by a giant spider that had invaded the living room, and briefly reenacted a scene from Annie Hall. (I came back into the room mimicking Woody Allen, "That's a really big spider - got a spider the size of a Buick" and looked for a tennis racquet.)

Wait, are the Dodgers still playing? ;-)

Some dude named Mark Alexander has been a beast in Jacksonville this year.

What about The Ultimate Fighter?

I counted during a game. My brother once wrote a story for the Daily News when he was on the USC beat where he gave averages for each song per game. He got a lot of hate mail from USC fans about it.

But the kicker on the story is that at my mom's funeral there were three big floral sprays in the church:
1) one from my brothers and I
2) one from my cousins
3) one from the USC Athletics Department

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So I take it Hendrickson's not starting on Tuesday after all? Maybe that will be Kuo's night.

And no, my g/f doesn't like the Ultimate Fighter any more than I do. She likes Iron Chef, though.

SciFi original programming really does equal terrible 100% of the time, it's guaranteed!

and James Loney.

I didn't; it's not like I've never been Johnny-come-lately myself. I didn't understand your comment about the Griddle; I checked there and didn't see anything related to the comment.

263

Like the Colorado pitching staff? Oh wait, that's just bashed...

I called his beard during the post-game handshakes last night.

Check out chapter 1, section 2 in Baseball Prospectus' new book, "Baseball Between The Numbers."

Conclusion: Clutch hitting is 70% general hitting ability ("the best clutch hitters are the best hitters, period"), 28% luck and 2% clutch hitting skill.

By the way, the best clutch hitter of the last 25 years, according to their study, was Mark Grace.

I'm loving this book more than any baseball book I've read since the 2nd edition of the Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract.

It might be his bullpen day, so I'm not so sure. I do hope that's the case, though.

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360 - I saw Tulo when he was with Long Beach State, and he wasn't this bad. Butterflies.

Its hard to believe that Ben Olson is older than Chad, Broxton, Kemp and Loney, Russ is just a few weeks older.

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when i try to load it, it gets stuck saying "please wait installing java" i thought i already had java. but then it stays on that for a really long time. i'm getting pretty frustrated

Oh wait, I can read it. You said savvy.

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That is, if each follow suit tomorrow.

Can't blame him/her.

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90-94.

Okay, my g/f finally can't take this SciFi channel movie and we can watch either Confederate States of America or another DVD and the Dodger game appears about over so I'm gonna call it a night. Thanks for getting me through the tough times, guys!

Thanks... I really do wish they'd start him over Hendrickson Tuesday.

WWSH

or something like that.

Preaching to the choir.

Hard to complain about tonights game, except:

Matt Kemp failing to hit any ball hard, or even out of the infield-what's up with that?

And Brad Penny, what's up with him? Did he even K anyone tonight? Why has he stunk since the break?

yes it did.

almost makes me forget about cal football. almost.

That was a disappointment. And when Ayoob was up to his old tricks again I just decided to take a nap.

it has a name Kou

Two answers:

First, they had a list of the 25 best (and 25 worst) clutch hitters since 1972; Murray was not on the list.

Second, they had another list, compiled before the numbers were run, of 25 players generally reputed to be good clutch hitters. Murray was on this list, and actually finished 6th of the 25. Since his numbers were there, I can compare them to the top 25 list, and I see that he doesn't miss that list by much. The 25 best range from Mark Grace (13.68 extra wins due to clutch hitting) in first place, down to Von Hayes (7.85 extra wins) in 25th place. Murray's total was 7.12 wins, so I'm sure he'd be in the top 50 somewhere.

If you prefer a rate stat to an aggregate, the top 25 go from Matt Lawton (1.42 extra wins per 650 PA) in first place down to Carlos Delgado (0.67 extra wins) in 25th place. Murray, because his extra wins were spread out over so many career PA, scored 0.36 extra wins per 650 PA.

By the way, none of you are surprised to know that the worst player, both in aggregate and per 650 PA, is Royce Clayton.

canuck was referring to the situation. "It" was in reference to the situation not to degrade kuo.

Colletti likes to overfill at each position for just that reason. That's why we have 19 shortstops on the club.

i know you're style of jokes nate so zzzzzz

His name was Robert Paulson! His name was Robert Paulson! His name was Robert Paulson!

okay you got me. i will now go in the shower in my underwear and wash my bald head while crying over my life's failings.

why will he re-sign with the cubs?

On the other hand, would Ned Colletti go for a relatively quiet offseason where his only major move would be to re-sign Greg Maddux, and possibly Nomar or Gagne, or even both, while letting the big name free agents pass by?

Or will he say he put together a good team, and now all that chemistry will pay off?

I don't know what will happen.

after a year, i finally understand Nate's weird humor.

Im not trading lowe unless i get ALOT back. I mean, if the yanks are calling for lowe, i ask for phill hughes and tyler clippard.

425

Im sorry, i have no clue what you are talking about. I sincerely did not try to degrade kuo and my reponse in 418 was just in good fun pertaining to a popular tv character that most people in this community enjoy.

If we do have a compulsive need to spend money, trade Ethier for a stud starter if possible, and drop a ton of money on Carlos Lee.

But especially after he switched agents to Scott Boras, I see Zito as a Yankee next year.

I just dont have much confidence in Derek Lowe. I'm very surprised he's pitched as well as he has this season, and feel trading him now while his value is highest, would be better than watching him turn into Jeff Weaver the next two seasons.

Anywhere else, minimum $9 million next year.

Is Zito worth that much more than Schmidt?

Gagne - see 436
Nomar - 3 years, 32 mil
Zito - 5 years, 90 mil, Yankees
Schmidt - 3 years, 33 mil
Maddux - 1 yr, 8 mil, option for 2008 at 8 mil or 500k buyout

You just don't like him because he's a Giant.

Penny, Zito, Schmidt, Billingsley, Kuo and then deal Derek Lowe back to the Yankees/Red Sox. If there's ever been a season to sell high on Derek Lowe, its now. He's not this good, at least I dont think he is.

9mils for Greg Maddux?

I don't think he's good enough to make him Kevin Brown (who wasn't good enough himself).

the question was what do you think these players will get. not what you think the dodgers SHOULD offer these players.

i wouldnt pay him 9 mil but i think thats what he will get.

I think you could reasonably expect to get that package back from the Yankees if Lowe keeps his season up. If the Yankees also happen to NOT win the world series, and lets say Lowe pitches really well in the post season (if the Dodgers make it), I could definitely see them trading this package.

I just dont see Zito going to the east coast. He's been in California his whole life.

Two words: Scott Boras.

Yes, I know. But 5 years/$90?

He's not even close to being worth that.

And I would rather my team face Zito in a big game over Schmidt any day of the week.

I don't relish the idea of overpaying Zito for the length of contract Boras would demand. Since Schmidt would probably sign for three years, I would pursue Schmidt. If Schmidt signs elsewhere, then go with Kuo. I think we are going to resign Maddux unless he completely tanks in September.

That's about all I have to contribute. If I can hold an even keel (doubtful), I'll try to hang in here.

I like that plan, and I think it's the most likely.

I'm not sure if Colletti dealt with Boras much when he worked under Sabean. I'd be really surprised to see him try to win the bidding war Zito is going to be.

The key to the Schmidt possibility could be the former teammateship Colletti and Schmidt share. Ned has already brought in quite a few former players.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Dodgers offer Schmidt $35 to even 40 million for three years, a la the Furcal deal.

Good times to be had at the stadium: Nomar getting well, Loney pimpin the power stroke, and Kuo knocking 'em down. Before today, when asked how the Dodgers were doing in passing conversation it was with temerity that I responded in the affirmative, afraid my recognition of their good fortune would lead to a sudden and unpalatable decline. Today they looked good, and when things went South, they looked even better. So it is with reckless abandonment that I am now enjoying their success.

Where can I get me one of those Yellow jerseys?

ML Win leaders:
16 Garland
16 Halladay
16 Santana
16 Wang
15 Johnson
15 Penny
15 Rogers
15 Zito

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Who around here would make that deal?

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to take up the=for

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1. Mets 100.0%
2. Yankees 99.7%
3. Tigers 98.4%
4. Dodgers 93.3%
5. A's 92.8%
6. Cardinals 89.3%

that's why i'm glad i'm not a GM, that one there is a tuffy, i'm thinking Ned wouldn't touch A-Rod's rediculous contract.JMO

See:

http://www.celsius1414.com/node/871

Furcal, SS
Lofton, CF
Lugo, 2B
Drew, RF
Ethier, LF
Betemit, 3B
Loney, 1B
Hall, C
Sele, P

Lugo has magical powers over Grady no doubt.

1) He's under contract until 2010, so Boras won't matter that much anyway.

2) The Texas Rangers are still paying a ton of his salary.

you're point 2 makes me think the Rangers didn't want A-Rod anymore. He's a great player but i'm not a huge A-Rod fan.

So far he's been declared the winner, but one would expect further fully hammed proceedings.

You have to demonstrate greater respect for your hometown team. The Lerners are putting out a quality product for you. The DC City government has sold their soul to MLB. Look at what they've given and what do you give back? Frankly, I'm appalled!

Midas knew.

"How in the world did the Dodgers get Wilson Betemit for Danny Baez?"
-Vin Scully

Casey Fossum is being shut down for the rest of the season by Tampa Bay.

If he was still in a Dodgers uniform, he wouldn't have come back until August 2008.

Then he lead off the next inning with a weak pop up the likes of which have been rather common at RFK this year.

Thomas Boswell would be proud of you.

wow that guy is sick

The Grid=The Griddle when it becomes a disco after 10 p.m.

"This state of affairs is pathetic. And, for a city that endured 33 seasons without baseball, close to infuriating, too. Grand plans for the future from the team's owners and executives are all very nice. But words are inexpensive -- just like the Nats' payroll. When a city is building a $611 million ballpark, then giving it to the team for free, a better product on the field is an absolutely minimal requirement. Without pitching, a baseball team is a joke, not an entertainment.

In the past 50 years, few clubs in baseball have had such an inept starting rotation and middle relief corps. On the rare occasions that the Nats reach the eighth inning with a lead, 6-foot-11 Jon Rauch (3.22) and Chad Cordero (3.24) can usually finish the job adequately. But the current custodians of the first seven innings are a standing reproach to general manager Jim ("Pitching, Pitching, Pitching") Bowden and his two seasons of hollow words."

http://tinyurl.com/o9adg

He's hit 8 in only 105 ABs for LA.

so what do you make of those numbers?

Not sure. Small sample size in LA, of course, but it's possible that this current spike is the product of getting to finally play every day.

i'll go with you're thought Icaros

I was going to credit Lofton and his Kelories but i guess your explanation works too.

i don't have any mlb packages so you're updates are as good as gold Sam, thanks.

I think Lofton's Kelories have had more of an impact in the aggregate, helping to birth an organization-wide cloud of winning mist which has engulfed the city of Los Angeles.

I don't see the Kelories helping individual player stats as much. As we know, J.D. Drew was Kenny's main project this season and Drew's having anything but a career year.

Someone earlier mentioned Drew and a good prospect (maybe Laroche) for A-Rod. I, for one, wouldn't be at all surprised to see that go down. Yanks could start next year with Matsui, Drew and Abreu in the outfield. We could have an infield of A-Rod, Furcal, Kent and Nomar/Loney.

Johnny Damon will not like your proposed outfield for the Yankees since he is not in it.

523 -
I doubt that Sheffield will be a Yankee next year