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
All the best ...
Update: I exchanged mailed birthday greetings to Ross Porter, who reminded me that Chick Hearn would have been 90 on Monday.
My grandmother and I listened to all of this one:
http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B08230MON1989.htm
And I wasn't even around for much of that day. So how influential could it have been?
I have partied at his house. He had Piazza posters all over his walls. It would be his dream to play for us. He also had Karros posters on his wall, but don't hold that against him.
Seems like a bit of an anachronism. Mike Lieberthal graduated high school in 1990. Mike Piazza won the ROY in 1993.
Minor league posters?
Doesn't seem web accessible.
It's a real pain to deal with.
Let's get to the bottom of this, one way or another.
http://tinyurl.com/yjxlal
Drew's deal with the BoSox won't be completed until next week (we'd heard that) and will be for 5 yrs, $70M. So yeah, I'd say he made the right choice.
and
BoSox are asking for a package from the Padres that includes Peavy and Adrian Gonzales. If that's true, it's a better deal that Billz/Brox and Loney. Basically, two proven versions of we'd be offering.
I say fine, if the Padres agree to that. Let's see Manny pitch.
Or
Wolf,Nomar,Pierre for 5/70...
Which would you rather have?
Congrats Jon!
Now ... why do the BoSox think it OK to deal Manny because they are about to sign Drew. The '06 Sox were at least 1 solid bat short in their lineup (does anyone in their lineup besides Ortiz and Manny scare you?). With these deals, I believe they would STILL be one bat short. Keep Manny, play Drew in RF.
"Boras, insisting Rodriguez does not want to leave the New York Yankees, wants to subtly remind clubs it's foolish for any to even consider trading for Rodriguez. Rodriguez can opt out after each of the next three years. He can be an unrestricted free agent after 2007. If he does not get a $5 million raise for the 2009 and 2010 seasons, he can leave any preceding year.
"I'm sure (Rangers owner) Tom Hicks would like to see that happen," Boras says, "but teams don't realize the cost involved trading for (Rodriguez). The reality is ... he doesn't want to go anywhere."
Link to Boras story follows. Sidebar, "A-Rod deal can get sweeter," appears at left under the picture of the person baseball GMs and owners reportedly believe to be the Anit-Christ.
http://tinyurl.com/ygnobt
The Red Sox payment to the Seibu Corporation will be done at night with Walter Sobchak throwing a suitcase out a speeding car.
But little does Seibu know that he's just throwing out a suitcase full of his dirty undies.
I too, was at the game (and I believe Jon was too) so I am guessing that many of the comments were made by those of us that don't actually live in the L.A. area.
Frankly, I think the amount of comments about the Juan Pierre signing was more telling of the influence that DT has on the L.A. sports scene.
I was at the thrilling UCLA-UA game that day.
Hard to believe UCLA won by a bigger margin that day than USC did.
I'm off today, but tomorrow I'm going to go work on Maggie's farm.
https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/522658.html
Otherwise known as:
5 2 4 9
The market does not value James Loney and Jonathan Broxton the way we do, for the reason that either one of them at this point could come up far short of what's hoped for from them. Whereas Manny is the only rival to Albert Pujols for hitting prowess, and he's proven it consistently.
The Padres are offering a Cy Young pitcher and a guy who was really impressive last season, Adrian Gonzalez. The holes opened by losing Loney and Broxton won't be easy to fill, but our depth in prospects makes me believe we'd more than survive it. And if the Sox want our prospects instead of the Padres' stars, we should be eager to accomodate them. You really, really don't want Manny in the NL West for the next four seasons unless he's with LA. (The Pads can afford to lose Peavey now that they have Chris Young, but they desperately need power. I think Manny can overcome the Petco effect.)
You're aware that Ramirez in the last three years OPS'd 1.009, .982, 1.058. And he didn't do that by playing 120 games every year. Like many players, he's had injuries, but here are his game totals for the past five years:
2002 -- 120
2003 -- 154
2004 -- 152
2005 -- 152
2006 -- 130 (sore knee)
Avg: 142
He turns 35 next season. To get him, we'd probably have to pick up the two options, so it's a four-year deal. Let's assume he can only play an average of 135 games in each of the next four years. With an OPS around 1.0, he's still worth having.
If James Loney is putting up those kinds of numbers in four years, we can always get him back. His asking price in 2011 would be about $30 million, whether he's playing for LA or not.
So, add by subtracting the guys whose roster spots the newcomers will take. Wolf means, what, no Hendrickson? Maybe no Kuo, but I doubt it. Pierre takes Drew's spot (yuck). Nomar might take Loney's (probably will). Or Loney goes to RF, and Nomar can be seen as having taken Lofton's spot.
I'm just picking nits. I agree with the spirit of your comment.
Around 1994/95 cause it was right after I graduated College.
(Also, any change in the Pods lineup would have to be good for the Dodgers cause they can't do any worse against the Pods than they did in '06)
Broxton, I like him a starter. But he's not. So as a reliever, he's good but not irreplaceable. His effect on the game isnt that great pitching 70ip a year.
If Ned got Manny for Brox/Loney, I'd consider that a very good deal.
I think the Dodgers should look into acquiring Scott Rolen from the Cards. He's got an ok contract, and would be a substantial upgrade too. Cards minor league system is pretty barren, and Rolen/Larussa got into it at the end of the season. He'd be a player I'd like the Dodgers to acquire.
LaRoche/Elbert for Rolen? I'd pull the trigger on that deal.
BTW - Stay away from this weeks TV Guide if you want to be surprised about what is coming up on Heroes, while it is pretty cool, I think if you are a fan, you'll want to wait and see what happens.
Maybe this is old but I love this headline:
Bundy to manage Las Vegas 51s
http://tinyurl.com/ymcccd
http://tinyurl.com/y4vumg
Maybe it could still happen assuming good health, and assuming the alleged Boras-ban is b.s.?
I do worry that our lineup is already too right-hander heavy, and any trade for Manny or Burrell wouldn't do anything to help that problem. (Of course, neither would trading Loney or Ethier.)
If the Padres are really willing to trade Peavy, and the Sox are willing to trade Manny, and the Red Sox would rather have L.A.'s players than the Padres' players, then do this:
Let the Sox make the Manny-for-Peavy & Gonzalez deal, then trade Broxton and Ethier to Boston for Peavy. The Sox would thus fill holes at 1B, OF, and closer, all with young players. The Padres get a head case who can hit. And the Dodgers get Peavy, the most valuable commodity in the whole deal. (Who, by the way, is less than a year older than Ethier.)
it makes Ned's going ballistic over Drew's opting out a bit more understandable...
I'm not blaming Colletti for having expected Drew to stay, but I do think his blowup afterwards was pretty unprofessional.
1 Furcal SS
2 Pierre CF
3 Garciaparra 1B
4 Kent 2B
5 Loney RF
6 Burrell LF
7 Martin C
8 Betemit/LaRoche 3B
SP Lowe
SP Schmidt
SP Billingsley
SP Wolf
SP Kuo/Tomko/Hendrickson/maybe Maddux
RP Saito
RP Beimel
plus 4 of the following: Gagne, Miller, Brazoban, Tomko, Hendrickson, Meloan, Dessens
Bench
Hall or other random backup
Lucille II
Saenz
Anderson
Repko
Werth or D.Young
Alexander Graham Bell
Carlo Ponzi
James Doohan
Jessica Biel
Of course, one could say that he should never have been so naïve in a situation where Boras was involved.
The list of people I share a birthday with is fairly lame:
Antonio Vivaldi
Shemp Howard
plus a who's who of Dodger legends...
Dazzy Vance
Lefty O'Doul
Hiram Bocachica
Giovanni Carrara
Bruce Aven
But if we were to keep Manny:
Furcal
Martin
Nomar
Manny
Kent
Ethier
Betemit
Pierre
Penny, Lowe, Kuo, Wolf, Billingsley
Furcal
Martin
Nomar
Manny
Burrell
Kent
Betemit
Pierre
That'd be one sweet lineup if everyone was healthy, and Pierre in the 8th hole.
But even if the public hissy fit ended up not affecting the outcome on Drew, it still was a dumb thing to do. And, as Sheehan said, responding to the Colletti-assisted impossibility of re-signing Drew by overpaying in years and $$ for Nomar and Lugo added injury to insult.
If he re-signs Lugo, however, I promise never to mention JD Drew again.
With another one-sided option to go after two years?
If the Cubs gave Soriano a 2yr out, do you really think they'd be bummed if he used it?
The only time a club is hurt by a free agent signing, is if that player does not perform while under contract.
The Red Sox would probably insist on giving Drew that option. It'd be better business for them, if the gave them 2 really good years, and they didnt have to see the final 3yrs of that deal.
If I were long terming players, I'd always let them opt out mid way.
Henry Kravis
Sun Myung Moon
Lou Holtz
I need to change birthdays
I guess Marty is like my father. We were on a trans-Atlantic flight and they were showing Mr. Bean. My dad didn't like it. But he wasn't a big comedy guy anyway. And he certainly wasn't going to like comedy where nobody said anything.
I heard the tail end and it was really pretty cool just to hear Vin Scully weave stories about life and even golf.
Huh? Anyone know about this?
BTW -- my birthday mates include:
Horatio Alger
Robert Stack
Gwen Verdon
Charles Nelson Reilly
Jay McInerney
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Patrick Dempsey
Orlando Bloom
and Wayne Coyne, the lead singer for the Flaming Lips.
A more illustrious group of people died on my birthday: James Joyce, Ernie Kovacs, Donny Hathaway, Joe McCarthy (the baseball manager), Hubert Humphrey and Stephen Foster.
The long-term part can also be the upside to the team. The Twins will get Santana's services for $12M next year- that's Millwood money now. You think they would just shrug it off if Santana opted out today?
I suppose the opt-out can give the player extra motivation like a walk-year, but when the team is taking on the downside of a fat contract they deserve to reap the spoils when a guy breaks out.
Here's a tip: Don't drive on Beverly Glen on your birthday.
Winston Churchill (100 years to the day before me!)
Mark Twain
Dick Clark
Bo Jackson
George W. Bush
50 Cent
Frida Kahlo
Sylvester Stallone
Nancy Reagan
The Dalai Lama
Ho Chi Minh
Malcolm X
Pol Pot
Jim Lehrer
Pete Townshend
Andre the Giant
Joey Ramone
Bill Laimbeer
Kevin Garnett
Brandon Inge
And Ogden Nash died the very day I was born...
i think you mean 570, not 710. i listened to the whole vin interview and it was great. i just love listening to the guy tell stories. it's still available on podcast. he's like the grandfather i never had.
actually, i do have one grandfather, but he's an alcoholic, chainsmoking curmudgeon. i much prefer vin and his golf stories.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_13
Not until Ethier's scout mentions him to Flanders
I might finally catch up on some reading this weekend. But who's to say?
Events
68 - Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide, imploring his secretary Epaphroditus to slit his throat to evade a Senate-imposed death by flogging.
1934 - Donald Duck debuts in The Wise Little Hen.
1973 - Secretariat wins the Triple Crown.
Births
1891 - Cole Porter, American composer and lyricist (d. 1964)
1893 - Irish Meusel, American baseball player (d. 1963)
1915 - Les Paul, influential American guitarist
1931 - Jackie Mason, American comedian
1931 - Bill Virdon, Major league baseball player and manager
1939 - Dick Vitale, American sportscaster
1951 - Dave Parker, Major league baseball player
1961 - Michael J. Fox, Canadian-born actor
1961 - Aaron Sorkin, American writer
On the SAME exact day and year: Johnny Depp, American actor
1973 - Tedy Bruschi, American football player
1980 - Mike Fontenot, professional baseball player
Deaths
1981 - Allen Ludden, TV Game Show Host
2004 - Rosey Brown, American football player (b. 1932)
Flava Flav
Todd McFarlane
Alan Tudyk
Gore Verbinski
Abraham Nunez
Oh, and a man named Hee Seop Choi.
I'm referring to the video of the press conference by the way.
1960 - Ari Fleischer, Former White House Press Secretary
1961 - Doc Rivers, basketball player and coach
1962 - Jerry Rice, American football star
1969 - Nancy Kerrigan
1971 - Sacha Baron Cohen
1977 - Paul Pierce
1978 - Jermaine O'Neal
1980 - Ashanti
Reese Witherspoon
Elvis Stojko
Matthew Modine
Lena Olin
Bob Costas
Andrew Lloyd Webber
George Benson
William Shatner
Steven Sondheim
Marcel Marceau
and my grandpa. Baseball birthdays include Ramon Martinez, Cory Lidle, Jason Phillips, Glenallen Hill, and Rich Monteleone. Also Eddie Bane.
I also missed Kaiser Wilhelm I.
(I was just wondering if there was a published story on the Schmidt negotiations that I'd missed. Of course, if there was one, I'd probably find some reason to discount it.)
There was a Schmidt to the Cubs rumor the other day, but nothing definitive out there.
http://tinyurl.com/yhra7a
But I checked your date, and you've got P.T. Barnum, Warren Oates, Robbie Robertson, Rich Gossage, Edie Falco and Dolly the cloned sheep. That's an awesome list.
ozzy
joseph conrad
katarina witt
julianne moore
brendan fraser
daryl hannah
paul byrd
clay dalrymple
that's about it.
my brother has sinatra, sheila e., ed koch, and bob barker, while my sister has rafael palmeiro, hubie brooks, hank williams 3 and kevin sorbo.
Sounds like you're happy to be stuck with him
Which Bundy? Ted? Al?
No, Lorenzo.
http://tinyurl.com/ymcccd
i enjoyed this caption regarding the cleveland browns' uniforms:
"The fall colors shout 'pigskin' while the helmet is a minimalist masterpiece that conveys the team's name".
aren't their helmets orange?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and English Rapper "Tricky"
104. Ted Bundy is on my B-Day list.
Plus:
Willa Cather
Louis Prima
Eli Wallach
Ellyn Burstin
Tino Martinez
T.O.
Chasey Lain (for Icaros)
Cicero, Rube Goldberg, and Darby Crash died.
Then she founded The Go-Gos, and it was during that time she dated Dodgers OF Mike Marshall.
Journalist, quarterback, daredevil, movie star, a sweathog and of course a psuedo porn star.
Gary Cooper
Johnny Unitas
Tim Russert
Robbie Knievil
Traci Lords
Robert Hegyes (Epstein from Welcome Back Kotter)
I would have two broken wrists after punching holes into walls.
And great mainstream actress.
I was in the field-level during batting practice once and Marshall was hitting. Some guy next to me yells out "Hey Marshall, how's that Go-Go bitch!"
http://tinyurl.com/yx8vq6
The most notable death on my birthday is that of the Beatles (1970).
Meanwhile, since all the cool kids are doing it:
My bday (Jan. 1 believe it or not) is shared with the following very random people:
DJ Shadow
Paul Revere and Betsy Ross (heh)
Barry Goldwater
Morris Chestnut
Don Novello (aka Father Guido Sarducci)
Country Joe McDonald
Verne Troyer (aka Mini Me)
Sophie Okonedo
J Edgar Hoover (heh)
JD Salinger
Joe Orton playwright ]
James McAvoy
Xavier Cugat
Saffron Burrows
Whee!
Robed in their blooming garb of spring, the lads will look like the fulfillment of a dismal prophecy.
The good:
1920 John Paul Stevens
1923 Tito Puente
1940 George Takei, aka Sulu
1949 Jessica Lange (57, wow she's still hot)
National Pot Smoker's Day
The bad (a short but substantial list):
1889 Adolf Hitler
1999 Columbine High School shooting
with the Waco explosions and the Oklahoma City bombing coming just the day before.
Now, how exactly should I celebrate this jumble of contradictions?
Abner Doubleday
Colonel Tom Parker
Babe Didrikson
Mick Jones of The Clash
Greg Lemond
Derek Jeter
Michael Vick
Gina Waggoner (the girl who sat behind me from 2nd through 12th grade)
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/sports/061003/simpson.shtml
Oh, I think you know.
Alexander the Great
Ernest Hemingway
Don Knotts
Janet Reno
Ken Starr
Cat Stevens
Al Hrabosky
Robin Williams
Jon Lovitz
C.C. Sabithia
Quite the cast of characters.
Obi Wan is on my list. He is my favorite JEDI.
Sir Alec Guinness
Marvin Gaye
Dr. Demento
Don Sutton
Reggie Smith
Emmylou Harris
Pete Incaviglia
Rodney King
Bill Romanowski
I've always loved sharing it with Don Knotts and Ernest Hemingway.
Didn't know about Janet Reno and Ken Starr...but I like it.
Dana Carvey
Emmylou Harris
Sir Alec Guinness
Brent Spiner
Jack Webb
Christopher Meloni
Horshack
Bill Romanowski
Buddy Ebsen
We have the same birthday!
I think herein lies the problem.
I share birthday wishes with
Herbert Hoover
Rosanna Arquette
Antonio Banderas
Riddick Bowe
Angie Harmon
along with. ...
Rocky Colavito and Sal Fasano.
Charles Manson and his family killed the LoBiancas, and David Berkowitz was arrested as the "Son of Sam" on my birthday, eight years apart. Keep me away from sharp objects!
AND
Charles Manson and his family killed the LoBiancas, and David Berkowitz was arrested as the "Son of Sam" on my birthday, eight years apart. Keep me away from sharp objects!
That's an unfortunate juxtaposition. But once you do go on that killing spree, we now know your M.O.
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/
Nice buddy, let's hit opening day together!!It always falls around our birthday!!
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and English Rapper "Tricky"
No, only one.
Maybe we open on the road vs the hated ones!!
Angelina Jolie (same year too)
Socrates
Dr. Ruth
Horatio Sanz (so sad)
Gorilla Monsoon
Michelle Phillips
Parker Stevenson
El DeBarge
Some interesting things happened on my birthday (via Wikipedia):
The Cleveland Indians attempt an ill-advised ten cent beer promotion for a game against the Texas Rangers at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Cleveland forfeits 9-0 after alcohol-fueled mayhem and violence spreads from the stands onto the field.
An express train called the Transcontinental Express arrives in San Francisco, California, via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after having left New York City.
The Tiananmen Square protests are violently suppressed in Beijing and are covered live on television.
That would be excellent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_paradox
I tried this with my class of exactly 23 this year, and was disappointed that no one had the same birthday.
I share birthdays with:
John Stuart Mill
Jimmy Stewart
Sadaharu Oh
Busta Rhymes
Jayson Werth and Wilson Valdez
isiah berlin
eli broad
bjorn borg
gov. george deukmejian
colin quinn
steve vai
the lead singer of slayer
the genesee river killer
and a lot of mediocre current baseball players:
mark ellis
brooks kieshnik
tony graffanino
jeremy affeldt
emiliano fruto
matt belisle
robert kennedy died on my birthday. and so did a lot of americans and germans in france.
Thurgood Marshall
Imelda Marcos
Richard Petty
Vicente Fox
Larry David
Jose Canseco
Lindsay Lohan
1937 - Amelia Earhart disappears
1947 - UFO crashes in Roswell, NM
1962 - First Wal-Mart opens
It's a conspiracy!
Midwest Blue wins!
I suspect they'll either have to pay a nice sum to whoever's holding it hostage, or find a new site name.
\m/
This happened to my own site the other day, too. It's no fun.
"My personal philosophy is spending a lot of money on middle relief is always something to be avoided if possible," said Epstein. "There's a tremendous amount of volatility in year to year performance of non-closing relievers. So it's important, if possible, not to fall into the trap of buying high when there's so much volatility. It's much better to buy low or to have less at risk in an investment whether it's a one year deal rather than a two or three year deal. Whether it's a solution from your own minor league system or someone who is looking to bounce back from injury or poor performance. It's much better that way than getting locked into significant commitment with someone who might not maintain that level of performance... it may not the best use of our particular resources.
http://tinyurl.com/bb7pb
Walter Cronkite
Art Carney
Gig Young
Bob Considine (sportswriter and ghostwriter)
Jimmy Piersall
Dick Groat
Carlos Baerga
Loretta Swit (HotLips!)
Ralph Macchio
Orlando Pace
Markie Post
I'll remember my 45th for a long time; Israel's Rabin was assassinated that day.
walter cronkite is cool too, but not in the same way.
"I'll pull for either one, but I'm leaning more towards the Clippers."
I knew there was something I'd like about Juan.
As much as I love that place, Primates sometimes can take themselves so seriously.
Will Rogers
Walter Cronkite
Laura Bush
Eric Karros
Art Carney
"Diddy" Combs
Robert Mapplethorpe
Loretta Swit
Tito Francona
Dick Groat
Deaths:
Felix Mendelssohn
Grover Cleveland Alexander
Cy Young
Yitzhak Rubin
But a 1970 event raises questions:
Genie, a 13 year old feral child was found in Los Angeles, California having been locked in her bedroom for most of her life.
I vaguely remember it as news item. Whatever happened to her?
Tony Perez
Dennis Martinez
Pat Borders
Brian Lawrence
Non-baseball notables include
George Lucas
Raphael Saadiq
Kate Blanchett
Sofia Coppola
Death
Frank Sinatra
I don't know what ultimately happened to Genie, but one of my professors at UCLA made her way to fame in the linguistics world by studying the way she acquired language.
It was really interesting to read about how someone learns language when they are cut off from language during the time when most people acquire it.
Well, at least I thought it was.
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=genie
176
Juan Pierre is a bandwagon fan, another reason not to like him.
http://www.feralchildren.com
It appears to be a legitimate site.
Well most Heat fans are fairweather or bandwagon fans and if I moved anywhere I would not change teams I liked.
Somewhere in suburban Toronto, Uncle Miltie is stalking Dan Shulman. His obsession with him is Ahab-like.
Eh, thought I'd join in the fun, I share my b-day with:
baseball:
Stephen Drew
Hee Seop Choi
Curtis Granderson
Abraham Nunez
Brandon League
Quinton McCraken
Non Baseball:
Erik Estrada
James Madison
Jerry Lewis
Wild Child the French film based off Victor is a good film and he had a lot of similar traits to Genie.
I say it because they had a lot of problems selling tickets until they got Shaq.
Offer him all the SCTV and Degrassi Junior High he wants.
Numbers and scouts agree; it sucks.
$2.1 million is the new nickel.
Not trying to be disagreeable, are you sure the defensive statistics show that Manny "sucks?" Again, I don't know. All I have to go on is this year's edition of The Fielding Bible. The author, Dewan isn't flattering, but he also describes Manny as "very cagey" and capable of making big plays. He also describes Ramirez's arm as "quite good."
I am not a fan of Rate2 but would appreciate any other statistical insights into Manny's defense.
I thought someone put up a stat a few days ago, maybe it was Rate2 that said he was bad.
Maybe it is, but giving that much dough to Seanez entering 2006 was plain dumb. Much wiser of his previous employer to give him 550k.
But he doesn't, so he isn't.
Wow. On the road, no less.
Heesy in paradise:
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/11/29/Rays/Rays_hope_to_play_ser.shtml
(Way down toward the bottom of the article)
203. I think D-Ray fan Rocc mentioned this as a possibility on DT===
http://www.draysbay.com/story/2006/11/28/143218/57
Um, if HSC is now a D-Ray, does this mean Ned will trade for him?
I know. Don't go there. Sorry.
Blog also says that with Choi and Jae Seo (that name sounds familiar) the D-Rays now will be of more interest in Korea. Probably. And to fans of Korean ex-Dodgers.
One of the comments says Choi holds his own in comparison with Ortiz in minor league stats....
you had me thinking i was des ja vu-ing for a good half minute.
You should have been MVP because you had a better season Albert, that is the argument to make.
If I remember correctly.
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