Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Jon's other site:
Screen Jam
TV and more ...
1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
Mark Hendrickson's next start is being pushed back a day so that Brad Penny can take his turn Monday on four days' rest, according to Bill Plunkett of the Register. An off day followed Penny's last start Wednesday.
Another off day arrives for the Dodgers this coming Thursday, which will give Derek Lowe an extra day to recover from being hit at the base of the left thumb. Lowe had been on his way to giving the Dodger bullpen a nice rest before getting hit in the fourth inning of last night's game - instead, the Dodger bullpen has thrown 36 2/3 innings in its past nine games, Plunkett said.
The good news Saturday, alongside the fact that Jeff Kent's ninth-inning home run gave the team one more run than it had allowed that evening, was that Jonathan Broxton got the victory by throwing only one pitch. That was efficient.
Broxton had thrown 32 pitches in one inning the night before (infield single, walk, wild pitch, intentional walk, pop out, fielder's choice, strikeout), which partially explains why Dodger manager Grady Little removed him after that single pitch to allow Takashi Saito to get the save. Still, with the bullpen stretched out, I'm a little surprised Little didn't leave Broxton in. Saito, who threw 25 pitches while allowing an 11th-inning unearned run Friday, closed out the Diamondbacks on nine pitches Saturday.
* * *
With the choice to recall Tim Hamulack as a replacement for Giovanni Carrara came the clear sentiment that the Dodgers want Hong-Chih Kuo to remain a starting pitcher. That gives us one more thing to look forward to in Spring Training 2007.
Carrara will probably return to the Dodgers shortly after rosters expand. Even if another team were to show interest - a dubious possibility, considering that he has allowed 10 runs in 9 1/3 August innings - Carrara probably would rather be in Los Angeles - mop-up man or not.
Remember when Carrara got that save? It was less than two weeks ago.
* * *
Ramon Martinez is 1 for 10 with no walks since July 29. The arrival of Julio Lugo seemed to render both players irrelevant.
Lugo's agent, Dan Lozano, told the Times that the Dodgers should trade Lugo if they aren't going to start him. Who asks for a trade on August 26?
People have seen what Lugo can do playing every day for a loser for years. Yeah, I guess it doesn't look good for a potential free agent if he can't beat out Wilson Betemit for a starting job - but it's not like third base is Lugo's true position. Anyway, at this point, Lugo's got a good chance of impressing if he makes just a few contributions to a winner in September or October. Plus, he's only one injury to the vulnerable Dodger infield away from starting.
* * *
Jason Repko, meanwhile, is 6 for 37 with a double and a walk (.451 OPS) since his return from the disabled list. Look for Repko to OPS 1.000 against the Dodgers while leading off in center field for Arizona in 2011.
* * *
John Wooden visits the Angel and Yankee clubhouses. Even if you normally skip T.J. Simers, this is worth a read.
We're at Angel Stadium, and John Wooden is eating a hot dog — "relish only, please," and talking about the sport he loves the most.
"Baseball," he says. "The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers could be playing for the championship, and I'd rather be here watching the Angels and Yankees." Then Wooden pulls out his wallet, removing a newspaper clipping he must treasure — carefully packaged along with a picture of his wife, Nellie, who was 15 at the time.
"Now it can be told," the old clipping begins, Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Joe Brown confirming that while at a dinner in Los Angeles years ago, Brown asked the UCLA basketball coach if he would like to manage the Pirates.
Wooden said no, but according to the newspaper story, when Brown was asked what if Wooden had said yes, Brown replied, "I would have hired him. He could handle any job."
Wooden shakes his head and laughs. "I keep it in my wallet because it's so ridiculous. It would be flattering if it made sense. But it's like I told Brown, 'Who do you think would be fired first if I was hired? You — for hiring me.' "
* * *
And Repko really does seem to have that Counsell-Ward-Ross quality of middling play while with the Dodgers, only to light it up once he leaves the team.
I see a reference to "kids 4-14" on the website, which implies that the answer to my question is "4," but it doesn't say so explicitly. I'd hate for the kid to have to walk all the way back to the Westside.
The Padres infield will be Gonzalez at first, Walker at second, Alexander at shortstop, and Branyan at third.
Fortunately for the Padres, Peavy is starting so he should strike out enough guys to obviate the need for infielders.
I fully concur with your idea.
Ba-doom-BANG!
Yeah, terminating my gene pool here probably is a good idea.
I take Benadryl before international flights.
Or if I have a cold.
The former is for sleeping. The latter is to prevent my ears causing me excruciating pain.
Two words: "Game" "Day"
Of course. My training at Milford has prepared me for Army.
So you're not much of a fan, then are you?
I have my bill of indictments against you, D4P, that I'm sending to The Hague.
1. Khmer Rouge member
2. Gameday watcher
Some boys from the UN will be knocking on your door soon.
I wouldn't be too worried.
I'm not just a member: I'm the president
Just get in the black helicopter.
nyquil works good as well.
http://tinyurl.com/k9kh9
That's an abomination.
Is it JP?
Have you no sense of decency, MLB?
it was a pretty good read.
They've become what buttonless tops and elastic waistbands were in the 70s-80s.
That's a little thing I like to call a "Treble-double." I'm thinking of using it in basketball too to refer to a player who gets ten or more points, rebounds, and assists in a game.
the reds uni's were pretty cool in the 80's.
i can picture him motoring in to 2nd.
If anybody didn't see it, Ken had a pretty funny piece on Gibbons, here: https://catfishstew.baseballtoaster.com/archives/485163.html
Thanks
Usual suspects elsewhere.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease
I don't know, those uniforms always looked like they were missing the accompanying teddy bear, blanket, and alarm clock to me.
I can picture Jason Phillips orbiting about the bases.
it lights a fire in there bellie, i really hope Tommy has one of his trademark talks with Repko.
Have a stomach pump handy.
hey Andrew still going strong with out smoking?
Buster Olney in his ESPN.com Insider blog says that Harrelson is misunderstood and actually knows a lot about baseball.
There's so many things about Buster Olney that want to drive me to do violent things that I have to go in a quiet place and relax.
Give an inch, it will take a mile
The golf coverage is taped.
well i suck.
It's my favorite look of all time.
already tried that. Dodger prospects doesnt get the chicks.
The Mets now have LoDuca, Sanchez (DL), Green, Pedro (DL?), Mota, and Valentin (that may have been just his lookalike in Blue last year). Had Ledee. Had Lima (zikes!)
So should they be called the Dodgmets?
And George Vescey in the New York Times advocated that the Mets call their new stadium "Jackie Robinson Stadium."
Despite the fact that Jackie Robinson didn't play for the Mets. And apparently hated Casey Stengel and the Mets when they started playing.
It stinks just walking outside of it.
I'm not sure if joining someone else's club is edgy enough for Andrew
In 1960s Disney movies, maybe.
The only norm nowadays is to dress marginally better than the students. In other words, don't bare your midriff or wear flip-flops, make sure you wear pants that don't require the use of a hand to hold up, and wear your baseball cap the way God intended - with the visor in front.
the Dodgers seem to be doing there part so far.
GoBears - Are there any non-sock-requiring shoes that are appropriate for faculty...? I hate socks with a passion...
And they're winning anyway, because they also have Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Reyes, Glavine, and so on.
Man, do I wish Valentin had been healthy last year. Wouldn't have made a huge difference, given all the rest of the devastation, but it would have shut a lot of people up. Aw, who am I kidding?
Looks I just don't want to see your toes, OK? Beyond that, it's don't ask, don't tell.
thru Sat. for Mets...4IP, 1 hit, 0 BB, 6 SO, ERA 0.00.
IF he keeps anything close to that up, he'd have made a fine Dodger retread....as may have been mentioned here before
I'm guessing we didn't go to the same school.
"their"
It was a pitcher who had been signed by the White Sox and had played indy ball. He was working as a parole officer. He played baseball at Kentucky. His name was Jon Hooker.
There are lots of ways to accomplish that without endangering your health. Take up the bagpipes, for example.
Or join a Nudist Colony.
And/or start wearing a kilt
A friend of mine form Texas (of course) got me started on chewing tobacco about 10 years back. I feel like a real big-leaguer, until I get mouth cancer.
A few years ago, I was forced to spend a morning visiting one. (I remained clothed as did, disappointingly, the cute PR gal.) Know what I saw there? Old, wrinkly Europeans.
(He just got a hit in Colorado!)
i also think his pitch count is good.
It just reinforced why his PR situation had become so dire.
Its usually around September that Vin starts giving the updates of other games, no matter where the Dodgers may fall.
By the way why did we get Betemit and Lugo?
I'll have to get back to you on Lugo.
It's a private activity. I don't do it around others, unless I'm out at the softball field.
My Texas friend was a pusher. He gave me the stuff while we were fishing on a private lake at his family ranch. You can't get much more tempting and sneaky than that.
it seems like every opposing announcer has a huge mancrush on Russell Martin.
i'll stick with big league chew.
So do I, for that matter.
No, they don't have as much money as Cheney's buddies. I didn't see any Republicans when I was there, in fact the guys were basically Austin radical-types.
i should of said the bite of his curve looks really good.
that i agree with him. hes getting good drop on it.
yep.
I think he makes guest appearances from time to time.
i think he's pretty good.
"Julio" is Spanish for "Ja(y)son"
Does Betemit play good defense?
Or last nite, either.
give credit to chad, hes had good control so far.
i'd give them a nice tip though.
Like Hee Seop Choi or Antonio Perez, one's opinion of Betemit's defense appears to be mostly based on one's opinion of him as a hitter.
by hit hard, you mean little dribbling singles and only one double?
Yeah, thats what Billingsley is getting today.
Two warning track balls.
And 3 other line drives.
The Giants use Lon Simmons the same way. I think we can all hope the Dodgers work out something like that with Scully after 2008.
I think that when Vin retires, he's gone for good. His shadow would be too big for anyone after him.
nope, I'm completely oblivious to loud outs.
He hasn't gotten much better.
dreading the thought.
I think the Scully/Garagiola pairing didn't serve Garagiola well. He seemed unable to contribute much in that pair.
Scully and Madden were an interesting pair for NFL games.
'88
I wonder if that has ever worked.
No, Ethier would have been a dead duck.
They can't handle success.
There was a guy in the pre-registration days of Baseball Primer who despised Vin Scully. "Anaheim Andy" was his handle. He did not return when they required you to register.
Eric might have remembered him.
for some reason i think our '88 team had a ton of triples.
Perhaps the entire 2009 season should be played without any TV announcer at all. Just the pictures and graphics. That way, his successor won't have to follow Scully. Every month or so Frank McCourt could visit the announcer's booth and interview himself.
The other idea I had was a "Bring Your Own Scullyism" promotion/contest at Dodger Stadium. Like, say, a celery stalk attached to a clock set at midnight. Or a Tarzan outfit with deuces attached to it.
Where's Jim Tracy when we need him?
do you know how many we have this year?
:o)
Hang tough, Billz.
I don't think of it as "worrying" about Scully leaving. It's more like savoring the last of the best bottle of wine you ever had.
Scully has been on the air continuously longer than anyone in broadcasting. #2 is Bob Barker.
That's a long time to go without taking a leak.
We could all just ride over from Griffith Park stables.
Yea I think it was a cutter too. Gonzo was ready for it apparently.
for some reason i thought Alfredo Griffin lead in that catagory.
Alfredo Griffin had 3 bases-loaded triples in 1988, which tied a major league record.
Alfredo didn't do much else at bat.
I think Kent is hurting,perhaps more than he's letting on. There have been several games like this fairly recently.(5 lob--not Kent nos.)
I always wondered about those little bits in the sixth inning though. Sometimes it's a live shot with the game going on in the background, and sometimes it's a tape with BP going on in the background. How do they decide when to go live and when to roll tape?
When other teams cover Dodger games, they will show Vin in the booth.
eh? :)
Then, ticked off, he kicked one.
He didn't rip off his DBacks jersey though.
Both of them were homers.
What is going on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev3m2O4XmFM
Love the sound effect.
Martin, Chad, and Furcal make out, Raffy is stopped by a nice play by Jackson to rob a double.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/stats/player.php?id=503415
Steve was making fun of lugo wanting playing time because betemit hit the homerun
a little bit. A lot better fastball command this start for him.
Of course, double play grounders are always welcome. :)
Hendrickson Demands Trade: "What Has Billingsley Ever Done?"
How about Aubrey Huff in Houston?
They were on the railing and Byrnes leaned on the rail in a vain attempt to catch the ball.
I still rank Bull Durham first. Eight Men Out second. The Natural, Major League, Pride of the Yankees up there, too.
I'm Gameday-ing here, but if Byrnes had jumped maybe he could have been in the pool and gotten a more effective bath.
I'm always annoyed at the Dodger stadium "attendants" who ask me to take my bag of peanuts off the outfield railing. It's not like Drew could get swarmed by peanuts and break up a play...
Oh wait, that was last night.
for Bills that's good.
You don't need a quadrophonic blaupunkt. You need a curveball!
But then again, I hate Florida, so I'm biased.
Kent would approve of your description
Has anyone seen the Giants commercials? They focus on everything, but baseball, whether it's the park, the wine and cheese, or the garlic fries.
Everything comes back to smoking
Eight Men Wore a Yellow Ribbon
It Happens Every Noon
Damn Searchers
The Bull-Bow Incident
Major River
i liked 8 men out alot as well.
Maicer Izturis reaches on a fielder's choice out, third baseman Alex Rodriguez unassisted. Mike Napoli out at 3rd. Chone Figgins to 2nd.
Napoli was on third when the play started.
353 Don't forget The Natural and Mrs. Miller.
Wow, first walk for Billingsley.
Boy I love hearing Thom Brenneman go off on a rant when it's about the DBacks.
Because God rested on the 7th day
Sheesh, that DBacks mascot (what is that, a coyote?) dumped a huge bag of popcorn on a Dodgers fan. That's just knee-slappingly funny.
True. What sort of national anthem worthy of its name ends in a quesiton mark?
It's also possible that Grady will try and rest Chad for a turn and start Sele during that weekend and have Chad's next start be on the road trip.
If you want to come to a Communist Party meeting, you can come to a meeting of the union I'm in.
I went to one meeting.
It was pretty scary.
I was heading for nine weeks of boot camp in San Diego.
3 walks in the last 19IP for chad.
393 It's true... It's actually kind of more like a pop quiz than a song.
So.... we play the Reds at home now, after the Reds lost 3 of 4 to the Giants and got pummeled today. We'll find out whether they're due/overdue, slumping and cruising for more bruisings, or what...
-mosquitoes
-humidity
-the poor public school system
-the crime rate (in Miami)
-the worst drivers in the US
-the snowbirds
i'm gonna have to barrow that one.
The tap water tastes funny too.
he's only 21
Besides there hasn't been a movie yet titled "Bobcats on a Plane".
Florida has a lot in common with North Carolina
http://underdog.typepad.com
you kind of discrived california, #3 made my heart pump a little faster because it's so true.
Shawn
I've been through three earthquakes and three hurricanes - quakes are far easier on the soul because there isn't a week of hype leading up to one.
Kemps OPS- 950
Laroches OPS- 950
Loneys OPS- 967
429 Nate, I assume LaRoche is coming up in a week, too, yah? Be good to see all three of them.
Other reasons to hate Florida:
The morality laws are either puritanically uptight (can't buy liquor in a grocery store?) or stunningly lax (Tampa seems to have a strip club on every corner - I'm as much of a perv as the next red-blooded American male but even for me the sleaze was too much).
Corrupt politics.
Zero planning for growth.
yea, he hasnt taken the transition that well.
yea most likely. hopefully we clinch the division towards the end of september so we can see a sweet awesome lineup of
ss furcal
lf ethier
rf drew
cf kemp
3b laroche
2b betemit
1b loney
c martin
sp billingsley
442 -- Isn't that the lineup for Game 1 of the NLDS?
He may still start one more time but I would expect to see him over the weekend at Dodger Stadium.
home- 32.1IP 5.85 era 9hr allowed
road- 26IP 1.04era 2hr allowed
65 IP 51 H 5 HR 12 BB 82 K 2.49
Another feather in Ned's cap…
Where are you Saito...?
struck Hudson out and the game is over.
Woo. Whew.
As for Arizona, five games back of the division lead with five weeks remaining.
http://tinyurl.com/ktdqj
Or am I whistling by a graveyard?
Me too, but for a different reason. I need to make myself feel better for drinking all of that hard A last night. I also haven't worked out since Friday morning.
Kato--Kato? I take back the standing order I gave you. Do you hear me?
473 - The Dodgers are a game behind St. Louis with 32 to play. I'd say there's a chance.
"After loading the bases, Perez (5-6) allowed a grand slam to Toronto catcher Bengie Molina to turn the 3-1 lead into a 5-3 deficit.
"It was a cutter, and it stayed right there at the middle of the plate," Perez said. "It was a tough day. I'll come back next time around and do it better."
The game was Perez's worst since being traded from the Dodgers on July 25. He finished the game with six runs on seven hits in four-plus innings, and said control was his main problem.
"If you keep the ball down, nothing is going to happen," he said. "If you keep the ball up, they're going to hit it." (Comment: well,duhhh.....)
Panic move?
Also, looking at Andre Ethier's hit chart @ dodger stadium, I found something very odd:
All his ground outs were ethier pulled, or up the middle.
And all his fly outs were eithier to left, or center field.
And it held true again today, with Ethier flying out to left. Can anyone explain this?
He could've just been a crazy old man, but he was telling me about Repko owning a condo in Las Vegas, which does make logistical sense.
And really, if you're going to claim relations to a pro athlete, why pick the worst player on the team?
351/415/553 is really good, PCL or not.
yes. maybe. should be.
out of kemp, laroche, loney, Kemp has the best chance of being on the opening day big league roster in 2007. I think all 3 should be but who knows.
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.