My DC polling place was a grievous mess as well this morning.

A comparison could be made with Padre newcomer, Adrian Gonzalez, though Gonzalez did show more HR power in his last 2 stops in the PCL, he too is a 6'2"+ LH 1B, Gonzalez is almost exactly 2 years older than Loney and has been one of the Padres more consistent players.

I think Loney could have a similar year, he is only 22 and his awareness of the strikezone is already good. Also, he hit well against LHs in AAA, which could be more of an indictment of LH pitching in AAA (maybe by that time, all the really good LHs are in the majors) but at least he does not have bad splits.

(This doesn't apply to Sam.)

Here's one excerpt.

Slugging percentage in 2006: Garciaparra .509, Loney .506, Kent .473

EQA in 2006: Garciaparra .297, Loney .284, Kent .280

Unsure how a rainout a today would affect the rotation, my guess is that they will wait a while since the Cubs have probably sold out the series, though it is very likely they could play a two games tomorrow.

Odd Ghetto Shrug
Doth Host Grudge

Good article in the Times this morning...
http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-dodgers12sep12,1,7147195.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-mlb-dodger

(don't know how to do 'tinyurl', sorry)

Rainouts wouldn't throw off the rotation for the San Diego series - Little could still do what he wants - perhaps even more so. If there were makeup games needed at the end of the season, that would be noteworthy.

For the record, the Griddle is nonpartisan about Baltimore. I just find the Orioles boring to write about.

But they did DFA Danny Ardoin!

As for a double header. Ugg. That could throw the rotation off. Either Stults/Sele would have to make a start or Derek "Rubber Arm" Lowe go on three days rest.

That's outrageously high? That means for a game with 40,000 people in attendance, a little under 14,000 of them came on the bus.

The MTA would be rolling in dough.

Even the 1% who say they always take public transportation says high. That is still 4-5,000 people per game.

Then there is this:
How would you rate the entertainment options aside from the game?
• Nonexistent: 15%
• So many games/promotions and scoreboard highlights that the game is lost in the background: 5%
• Typical mascot antics/scoreboard quizzes and fun music: 19%
• Some unique promotions/antics, but it sometimes distracts from the game: 12%
• A nice balance that draws your attention when the game is stopped but doesn't distract from the action on the field: 45%

45% of the respondents directly contradicted 15% of the respondents. You can't have "none" and then "a nice balance."

http://www.oldpasadena.com/

I think most of those listings in the Sports Illustrated park poll are skewed towards teams that have cheap tickets on average, cheap food and nobody going to the games so you can leave faster.

And the MTA doesn't run them. The MTA can't even bother to run an extra Blue Line train after the end of events at Staples and instead make you stand outside to wait for the next train. That's a lot a fun in the winter. Especially when it's raining.

"Just think: Shea Stadium is the same age as the Dodgers' home and it's a lot easier to get to; anyone want to go there instead?"

Actually, I find it a pretty OK place to see a game (admittedly in a Loser's Dividend sort of way). It's super easy to get to either driving or on the metro, or even walking, and the unsafely-steep upper deck means the cheap seats are pulled in pretty close to the field (unless you're deep in the outfield.

G AB OBP SLG AVG
Home 36 99 .385 .758 .273
Away 40 111 .339 .468 .261

I was also surprised at how few ABs he's had with this level of production. Only 210 total, and only 99 at home.

So, he's better than he showed as a Dodger, but he's not as good as looks now (or at least, we can't trust that he's this good).

55. I don't think that is too bad in terms of ballpark prices, unless they don't have dollar dog days like Comiskey.

Lugo at 3B, Ethier in left, Kemp in center

It's just like the guy in the LA Times once who suggested that the MTA run "Express" trains on the Gold Line despite the fact that there is only one track each way and you can't skip past stations and overtake a "local."

There are Gold Line "express" trains, but they just skip a few stops on the way and run in between "locals". It's not like a New York subway express which gets its own track.

15 Year Deal? That is insane!

I didn't know that Magic Johnson signed a 25 year deal. That one really blew up in the Lakers' face.

I need to know if suburbanization has affected the development of the Los Angeles area?

Should I have answered "No"?

You'd think they would have learned something with one failed ten year contract.

In San Diego, I rode a tram from Imperial Beach to the stadium.

This person needed to compare and contrast Los Angeles and Maywood.

I would really like to see the final report on that one. Maywood is 1.2 square miles and has a population around 20-25,000.

81 - Myself and others have been the target of an imposter.

The high-price/short-term contract is neither innovative nor necessarily smart in a sport that lacks salary caps. The time-value of money is important here. Paying a guy now instead of later is more expensive, which is precisely why a player would jump at such a deal - he can cash out sooner, and if his ability holds up, get another deal sooner. Running a contract over more years does NOT obligate you to keep the guy on the roster.

A small market team can't afford a Furcal-type deal -- one guy would eat too much of the budget. A big market team CAN afford a long contract that pays a guy after he's worth it, so there's no obvious benefit to the front-loaded deal. The only difference I see is psychological - that the deal is seen to be short term and expensive, basically locking in the guy's tenure with the team (the job is his for the duration, but not longer).

I'm not arguing that this deal was necessarily a bad one in the case of Furcal, just against the notion that this sort of deal is a smart way to go in general.

I gotta say, Shea is usually easy to get into and out of via mass transit. After Saturday's game there were lines for the subway, but they moved pretty quickly, and we were on a (packed) train within minutes of making it up to the platform.

By car it can sometimes be problematic, mostly depending on what direction you're coming from, and how late you've left it. They've also started digging up a good-sized chunk of the main parking lot for the new stadium. Plus the US Open was going on next door on Saturday, so we figured the train was the way to go. It's nice to have the option.