i'm hoping this time Grady is more patient.

i'm 2 for 2 today (woo hoo) i was the first at I.T.D.

Hopefully we start off on the right foot tonight and put up a couple runs early for Bills.

Nah, I'm probably not going to be going up this weekend- kind of busy since school just started. But have fun though!

Maybe they should have used some of the money they put into all those commercials into bolstering their bandwidth.

On a brighter note, the technician is supposed to be here between 8 and 10 am tomorrow, much better than the usual range of time they give.

http://www.getyourwebsitehere.com/jswb/rttest01.html

average of the 5 times was 0.09059999999999999

of course, i cheated though.

There was also a nice open-field tackle of Henry Blanco by Pat Burrell, when the Cubs-SS-who-is-not-Izturis tried to throw the ball through the baserunner...

Career 3 6 5.33 15 14 0 0 0 0 81.0 92 50 48 10 29 49

our chances look good but then again this is baseball.

do one with out cheating.

That won't last more than an hour or so.

wow, a good personality goes a long way. :o)

I'm getting about .22. But I wouldn't call myself athletically gifted or anything like that.

We were also flipping to see the HD broadcast of some preseason NFL game on NBC. I don't know if it's because they've been doing it longer or just have better equipment, but ESPN's broadcast was way better. NBC's picture fuzzed a little bit when the camera moved suddenly, and it just seemed less sharp than ESPN. You'll definitely enjoy tonight's game (assuming the Dodgers win; a loss is even worse in HD than it is on standard tv.)

Lugo:
OBP SLG AVG
LAD .317 .296 .241
TBDR .373 .498 .308

Betemit:

LAD .321 .471 .257
AB .344 .497 .281

When some here spoke of regressing, we can see just who is regressing now that Betemit's playing everyday. And he cannot otherwise hit left-handed pitching, so what happens if the Dodgers face Johnson, Santana or Buehrle in the World Series? Any team can otherwise get a very nearly automatic out or remove Betemit from the game by simply bringing in that left-handed reliever with men on base in the late innings.

And Vin and some others wonder why the Dodger's were so lucky to latch onto the Second Coming. To answer Vin and those others, Betemit was never going to take Chipper's place, he's apparently not better than Marcus Giles nor will he be in the forseeable future, and Furcal left, which left the door wide open for him, but instead, the Braves went out and got Edgar "I made 30 errors playing short for the Bosox last year" Renteria. What does that say? And Betemit had been in the Braves organization his entire career, yes? So if anyone knew the player he was capable of becoming it was the Braves, yes? And they signed him at how old again? Did the Braves know something that Ned & Grady didn't? And for a more complete perspective, Giles is arbitration eligible this year, and the word on the street in Braves country is that the Braves might simply let Giles go and have Aybar take over at second. And that, not because because he can hit righties better than Betemit, as he can't, but he can hit lefties at something better than less than a buck. Oh, sorry, one more. For those who said, well, he .240 against lefties on the Braves this year. Yeah, he did. Now go over to the MLB website and go team by team. Betemit either went 1.000 or 0.000, or very nearly so. It was either feast or famine, and he starved against lefties far more than he ate. I will let someone else determine the ERA of the lefties that he did feast against.

And here's why Lugo, at least if the Dodgers would like to win the Series this year:

Yankees [6 games]:

Tropicana Field .385 .333 .333
Yankee Stadium .385 .273 .273
Totals .385 .304 .304

Chisox [3 games]:

Tropicana .308 .385 .308

Detroit [4 games]:

Comerica .368 .529 .294

Boston [8 games]:

Fenway Park .333 .412 .294
Tropicana .389 .533 .267

And no more American League jokes, since the NL is clearly the inferior league, since, among other items, of all NL teams, only the CR and the SFG have a winning record in interleague play.

So, just when I was hoping that we might put thirty some years of futility behind us, I suppose that I stand corrected. Oh, and I don't count '89, since in addition to anything that anyone else might have done, that team doesn't win without Orel that year, and for that year, there was no Orel-substitute [as it were].

In the meantime, for those who study such things, well, based on some BP/Pecota figures, Lugo is supposed to rate as the 5th best shortstop in baseball. He's riding our bench in favor of a guy who can't hit lefthanders and so will never be an everyday player, at least for a team that considers futility a failure.

And for a final word, never ever take a player's performance against your team as being indicative of anything more or other than how he hits against you:

Dodger Stadium .429 .857 .429
Turner Field 1.000 1.000 1.000

So, in 9 AB's versus the LAD, Betemit went:

.556 .889 .556

Lugo will otherwise, well, there are no other comparable shortstops in this year's free agent market, and so while he won't he get Furcal money [only the Dodgers are that stupid], he will get more than he should, somewhere in the neighborhood of 20-23 million over 4 years. BP says he's worth 17 million over 4 years. So call the extra the "I'm the only decent thing" available premium. And as I remarked a while back, he prefers shortstop, but given his arm strength and tendency to be erratic at times, second base is a much better fit. And, again, that's why some other good teams, the Red Sox, the Mets, etc., all wanted to trade for him this year and have him play second base. The problem they each had was one does not get to talk with the other team's players. If they had been able to do so, well, when Lugo was negotiating with the TBDR, he kept coming back to the matter of whether the TBDR truly wanted to win. So that would have been the hook. You can either play short for a long-term loser like the TBDR, or you can play second for a winner. I was hoping that management here would have the smarts to do so, but as I said, I suppose that I now stand corrected.

For one last word re regression, well, our friends at BP expected Lugo to regress after his 2005 season, which was well above their prediction. Not only did he not regress this year, his .295 BA was up to .308, his .362 OBP was up to .373, and his .403 SLG was up to .498. According to fans of the TBDR, the explanation for the absence of the regression is simply that, like Koufax, Lugo found it, and he found in the latter half of the 2004 season and hasn't been the same player since. I'll will otherwise leave it to the numbers people to notify BP that statistics don't apply so well to human future performance, given that machines and other things mechanical cannot improve themselves on a permament basis while humans can. Well, tell them that, and also that only the fool thinks that human improvement constitutes a "statistical anomaly."

And, hey, if the "we don't know how to build a long-term winner" Dodgers management wants to get bench and then get rid of a guy who was outperforming Betemit in a league with superior pitching, and that with the guy having to face all pitchers while Betemit far more often than not sat against your more sinister pitchers, well, I suppose that it's their money and their tradition, so if they want to waste and trash the same, so be it.

there was a guy that got .156 i don't know if he cheated or not, i got a .170 something.(i had 3 beers when i posted that mark) so i guess go from there.

29
No.

1. I like how the Betemit bashing comes out when he is in his mini-slump. where was all of this when he was hitting well?

2. Even though Betemit is struggling right now, he is still hitting beter as a Dodger then Lugo.

3. Who is likely to improve? a 30 yr old lugo or a 24/26 yr old Betemit?

4. Who is likely to be kept by the Dodgers? Betemit or Lugo?

2-4 are the reasons why Betemit is playing and Lugo is not.

And if we are going to use the "the braves know what they had in Betemit and they gave him away" argument, can't we use the same for the dodgers and Aybar? Dodgers have traded away jackson, tiffany, navarro and others and they are not performing at expectation levels.

"With former Dodgers slugger Gary Sheffield doing his thing for the Braves, L.A.'s offense now centers around Shawn Green. The graceful right fielder has been compared to Joe DiMaggio and the Yankee Clipper would surely applaud the franchise-record 49 homers Green hit last year. As for the Padres, the snap, crackle and pop in their lineup comes from right fielder Ryan Klesko and first baseman Phil Nevin, who showed he's becoming better with age by slamming a career-best 41 homers last year."

I hope you all are doing well. I keep reading even though I don't have time to post. I finished the first of my two Ph.D. qualifying exams this afternoon, which went well, but the next one is on Friday and it's my worst subject. Fortunately, I'm going to take the evening off, have a beer, and watch the Dodgers spank the Padres, so life is good for now.

The new Time Warner regime is not in my good graces. Comcast was wheeling out a massive amount of On Demand content, which was just great. Now instead of 50-100 free random, yet quality movies (Back to School, anyone?) there only seems to be a handful of 'Turner Classic Movies'. Boo.(Unless Im mentally incapable of using the remote, which would make this an Andy Rooney-esque rant)

He will not be back next season, unless Kent or Furcal suffer a catastrophic injury between now and the end of the year. But rent-a-player has its place, and we will get draft picks for losing him. I wouldn't have thought we were buyers on the July market, but if you start from the assumption that Ned was going to make moves, the moves he made were pretty good.

don't feel bad, you have to bring in to consideration your internet speed, mouse quality & so forth.

Tyus Edney. 4.8 seconds. That is all.

I am not in the southern california area and for some reason, San Diego games are blacked out on mlb.tv

my best average was .170 something.

i remember you mentioning curl up and die on here before...you a friend of theirs?

Looks like it's Gameday for me tonight. GRRRR.

by friend, you mean obsessed with that band, then yes we are "friends".

I cried when they broke up last year since ive been following them and their progression as a band since 1999.

the Dodgers didn't know what they had in Pedro.

Comparing NL West third base acquisitions, I'm much happier with Betemit over Shea Hillenbrand or Todd Walker.

The Lugo trade was completely unnecessary, so far. If Nomar or Kent go down with an injury again, we'll be glad to have him. But right now, that trade sucks.

which one? revelation or status?

he was a cool dude when i talked to him at the shows. Although now knowing that he is a giants fan certainly brings him down a level in my book.

Hey, they're a big taxi outside!

wow, that is awesome. My buddy interned at revelation a while ago, summer of 2002 or 2003, can't remember. I really like the direction they were going with in their last/new album (although i can basically listen to all 5 anytime). the artwork and packaging was rad too. Why did it have to end :(

i'm confused.

Why don't you go off and whistle in your own graveyard while you're at it?

If you need to, you can come by and use my graveyard.

Effigy-free since 1995.

I will be watching tonight's game in HD on San Diego 4HD, which carries every Padre home game, as well as most of their west coast games, in HD. It's a nice alternative when I'm not watching the Dodgers.

Ooh, Matt Vasgersian in HD....

Manager shoved the pitcher and got a bloody nose in return.

Apologies to Hillenbrand due?

Which shop, which venue? I live in orange county but i go to school in Tucson.

https://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/482190.html

You can count Gibson out since he currently wears the uniform of the team that would be our most likely opponent.

Hershiser would be good. Tommy would be an obvious choice for most but might make me retch. Maybe Koufax?

Russell Sr. on saxophone for the anthem goes without saying.

I'm hating your old state of residence tonight. I'm in Cedar City this evening and the silly liquor laws are preventing me from having a beer before I crash out tonight!

I curl up in the fetal position.

so thats why they stopped it? because the drummer left the band? I never actually heard the real reason. They couldn't have gotten a new drummer!??! bah.

wow

thats rad! i actually went to the glasshouse this summer for the appleseed cast/russian circles show. Russian Circles stole the show by the way, insanely awesome live.

But I got two comments from people right away, which was unusual.

it's all a matter of time before we get to the Padres pitcher.

It's the San Diego broadcast, and I can tell it's in HD. Although not on my computer screen. Oh well, low-definition Dodgers is better than no Dodgers.

the Padres pitcher wrote the #54 on the mound & Bills scratched it out with his cliets.

the thing is that they felt the band wouldnt be the same without a key piece..i was honestly surprised they made it to the end of the recording.

So then it will probably be "Sony Recording artist and multiplatinum seller [insert name of really lame singer here]."

wow, so the breakup thing was stirring for a long time eh.

cartoonish.

Sorry. I'm at home.

You're in Hawai'i and you're complaining about a blocked baseball game? I'd tell you to get your priorities straight, but it is the Dodgers.

With a bunch of crazy drunk girls...?

Last night's Yanks-Sox game did a number on my sleep cycle.

This is really annoying. And trying to get a human being at the other end of the phone at TW Oceanic Cable is farcical.

No way.

Last time my cable got kicked out and I ended up missing two-and-a-half games.

from what i've seen it's toping out at 94-95.

It wouldn't be so bad if they'd just tell you, "Sorry; blacked out. Why don't you move?" or something.

speaking of beards, i'm sporting a new clean cut beard look and i saw some girls i know that i havent seen in a while and one of them was like, "nate you look really good, different. I think its the beard, you look more rugged."

best. compliment. ever.

Girls lo-o-o-o-o-ove them some Dodger farm talk. Drives. Them. Wild.

nate is a show off when it comes to that.

matter of time buddy.

Yea I know, vast knowledge of the Dodgers top 30 prospects immediately sends girls into a euphoric seizure.

Look at a map in the big blue part between the North America and Asia.

i remember getting a date because i stroke out 16 batters to win our state championship in jalisco.

http://tinyurl.com/ls2n9

Piazza says thank you to his godfather Tommy & we score 2 runs on his passed ball.

i'm all ready at my 7th so no thanks (work tomorrow)

the unpredictability of this game is what makes it interesting.

and besides, if billingsley throws strikes, we are most likely to win anyways so then there would be a reason to be loaded.

cut fastball.

anything with a wrinkle and cameron is helpless.

Congrats to das411 for the Phillies making it to .500! You know what the Phillies need to get the wild card? They need a good right fielder.

once Bills trust his stuff forget about it.

Really not in a great situation right now, play beer pong or watch the rest of the Dodgers game. I have class tomorrow at 11. I'll probably wait until the game is over.

I wish those games hadn't happened though, the Padres might have lost another game or two the way Bard's been playing for them.

*burp*

David Eckstein's OPS+ - 89
Dave Roberts's OPS+ - 90

The - was just for appearance's sake. They don't have negative OPSs.

thanks for confirming my suspicions Bob.

Come on Todd, start sucking.

Children, avert your eyes

Dessens coming in to pitch for Bills, nice move.

hey, its a start!

because was so offline.

oops.

Where is Kenny Lofton on all these balls that keep getting past JD Drew?

sorry nate, have to disagree with you there you position you're self properly then preceed for there.

But, the fact that all we have to show for 6 innings of facing Stauffer is a 2 out bloop single is very disturbing. Let's hope he's run out of adrenaline.

Not that any of the hitters in the lineup tonight except for Kent ever fell under Lawrence's spell.

And Kent has the two RBI!

Then they speculate that he must've "felt a twinge" and that is why he is out.

IMO you have to be like a catcher on plays like that, notice Betemit was of line from the get go, (i hate it i can't by Jon or Bob of plays like this) my spelling blows guys sorry, that's the best I can do.

I dont mind playing the infield back but that was strike 3 and strike 4 to Gonzalez.

Sweet, I get to actually see this "3.5" now!

I saw that too, but i was to Po'ed at Betemit at the time. :o)

Kemps OPS- 967
Loneys OPS- 973

Not that homering off Odalis means a lot, but still.

I think Saenz will make an apperance today.

And here's why the Braves didn't want Betemit, as those watching Gamecast now know: 2005 RISP = 5/42, or .119. And that's with 0 HR's and 20 K's.

Add to that a 15-66 month of August, or a .227 August, and automatic out. And sorry, but his defense, while good, isn't that good.

And please lastly note that they left Embree in just long enough to record the very nearly automatic out.

Can't wait to see it in the playoffs. When it will somebody much better than Mr. Embree.

338 Do you bowl?

don't tell me you're a faer weather fan bro!!?

Well, if you translate the words back from Japanese to English.

Why didn't Grits run Lugo?

There was much debate in San Diego after that regarding his effectiveness and his approach in tie games.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B04220LAN2001.htm

ps theres alot more that he's said & done that make me steam but that's naither here nore there.

Again, though, you have to score more than 2 runs against the Padres.

I don't think it's about respect. It just wasn't a good play.

in all fairness you're probaly right i'm just mad i guess.

ps him saying he wouldn't care about batting 7th really really made me mad. (says alot about his competitveness IMO)

To answer your question, the bullpen can be the best ever, you still put in your best defenders since pitching and defense wins ball games, as was once again shown tonight via that six hitter.

355:

To answer your question: the manager does not know how to use that which was rented.

And alarming numbers of the night:

Kent:

2006 away - .211 .301 OBP, with 3 homers and 16 RBI.

At one point tonight, August:

10-43, .233.

Nice those two hits, but not nice that inning and game ending GIDP.

I also think what did was in tonight was hacking away at everything. The Padres were pretty patient all night and it paid off.

Drew is right handed (bats left) to many brewskies today bro??

You pinch hit Lugo. Late in the game, Saenz is a defensive liability, so you don't want him at 3rd if at all possible. Lugo hits and stays in at 3rd. And speaking of liabilities, Saenz is also a liability on the bases. The faster runner otherwise puts pressure on the defense, and though one can not prove it in the scientific sense, nevertheless, we're pretty sure that pressure on the defense results in poor choices and other errors. And so we'd need to run for Saenz as well. So why not simply let someone other than Saenz hit, and since Lugo hit later, you have him hit for Betemit, he stays in the game, and next time the pitcher comes up, Saenz pinch hits.

Oh, and to respond to something you said a while back, a week or so ago, in response to my comments on Drew having left 7 on base in that one game. Yes, not Drew's fault that some got on base before him, but he's paid big money to drive them in. Now, if he had gone 5 for 5 with no RBI's, fine, at least if the explanation for the no RBI's is that he either lead off the inning or no one was on base when he came up to hit. That is the only sense in which we can say that he has some excuse for not producing the RBIs that he's being paid big money to produce. And, yes, in that game, he got the 1 RBI, but left 7 more. He's not a bad ballplayer, matter of fact, despite the decline in power, he's still one of the better players on this team, and he's better than some other making the big bucks and who is otherwise living large on reputation and the fact that he plays well at home.

Sorry, let me correct myself, he's not only making the big bucks, he's being paid the big bucks as well. Of course, as anyone with any sense knows, rental cost is not determinative, but rental value. I've already posted the rental values for August. And so I share just the one more insight with you tonight, at least Lugo can say that for him, it's the first time that he's facing most of these pitchers, and as we all know, while reports and films are nice, it is much more important that he's seen the others pitch than it is that for the others to have seen him bat [i.e., the films are much more helpful for the pitcher than they are for the batter when it comes to this first time mano v. mano encounter].

And by the way, it is that fact, and that fact alone, that makes the 2 month rental trade for Lugo an absurdity. But not just Lugo, but any and all American League players who have not otherwise seen and hit National League pitching on a regular basis. Which explains why I expected Lugo to have lower numbers to start, and since that's when the claimed need was, the question became, if it's only two weeks, why an American Leaguer unfamiliar with National League pitching? Which is not to devalue Lugo or any other American Leaguer, since 2 weeks against rather unfamiliar pitching is hardly a valid test. A true asssessment could only be made when we start getting the returns for the recount, or the second and third times round.