Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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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
Hey, it's February! Did you hear me? February! Pitchers and catchers ... and infielders and outfielders, they're all going to be, you know, reporting!!
Man, it feels like it's been forever, but believe it or not, we're just about ready to get to it.
So around this time every year, I preview Spring Training, with the caution that while it's fun to see bats and balls back in action again, Spring Training battles are overrated. Drawn to conflict like shepherds to pie, people spend a month agonizing over who will win the position of least significant player on the 25-man roster. Strangely compelling, I know, but sometimes it's easy to get carried away.
In any case, I take the time to point out the players that are going to Spring Training just for show and should quickly be dismissed, and what inevitably happens is that at least one of those players ends up playing a noteworthy role.
Previewing 2004, it was Yhency Brazoban.
Yhency Brazoban, RHP: Acquired from the Yankees in the Kevin Brown trade. With a 2.83 ERA in 28 2/3 innings for Class A Tampa, he's the best player in the world named "Yhency."In 2005:
Oscar Robles, IF: Almost 29, he had some nice Mexican League numbers in 2004. Listed at 5-foot-11, 155 pounds, he is that rare player thinner than me.Last year was a humdinger, though at least I saw something in a player who would be called The Bison:D.J. Houlton, RHP: Rule 5 draftee needs to make the team out of Spring Training or be sent back whence he came: odds strongly against it.
Check Back in a Year or TwoNot that I didn't get a lot of the others right, but still, it's sort of amazing to me that you can enter the exhibition season with a group of players you think will make the team, and then a tier beneath that of alternates, and then still have a tier beneath that capable of surprising you. Fun with fallibility!
Matt Kemp, OF: A true outfield prospect, it's not impossible that the 21-year-old Kemp could be the first of the 2005 Vero Beach Dodgers to make the bigs.Fodder
Joe Beimel, P: ERAs below 4.00 last year with Durham and Tampa Bay. He's been assigned uniform No. 97 - not for sentimental reasons as far as I know. (Note: Actually, it turned out that it was.)Eric Stults, P: Some kind of wonderful? Jacksonville 2005, 3.38 ERA; Las Vegas 2005, 6.58 ERA.
Takashi Saito, P: This year's Norihiro Nakamura, pitching side. A 36-year-old (on Valentine's Day) pitcher with a 3.82 ERA in Japan last season doesn't excite.
Ramon Martinez, IF: Do we really need to force the Dodgers' original Ramon Martinez to compete in the team encyclopedia with a 33-year-old infielder who OPSed .639 last year?
Fodder's Fodder
Aaron Sele, P: The Ghost of Scott Erickson. The 35-year-old hasn't had a major-league ERA below 5.00 since 2002, and he barely strikes out a batter every three innings.
So on we go to this year's Spring Training Preview, with an eye on which invitees will make the 25-man Opening Day roster ...
Locks (18)
Only a disabling injury or a trade can stop these guys from making the Opening Day roster:
Starting Pitchers: Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, Jason Schmidt, Randy Wolf
Bullpen: Takashi Saito, Jonathan Broxton, Brett Tomko, Mark Hendrickson
Catchers: Russell Martin, Mike Lieberthal
Infielders: Nomar Garciaparra, Jeff Kent, Rafael Furcal, Wilson Betemit, Olmedo Saenz
Outfielders: Luis Gonzalez, Juan Pierre, Marlon Anderson
Most Likely to Succeed (7)
Andre Ethier, OF: The biggest non-lock lock, I'm only hedging my bets in the slightest in the event that his September slump continues in March, and the Dodgers start to wonder. It's not as if Dodger manager Grady Little isn't capable of deciding Ethier shouldn't start, and if that happens, Little may recommend a month in AAA to kickstart Ethier's season. Many consider Kemp and James Loney to have a higher ceiling than Ethier, and it's not impossible that they could be climbing the ladder while Ethier stumbles.
Hong-Chih Kuo, P: In contrast to Ethier, the question here is whether Kuo can build upon a hot end to the season. He pitched better as a starter than as a reliever, so perhaps it's rotation or bust, but these things can change in a moment. It seems likely that they'll find a spot for him, rather than see him waste healthy innings with that exciting arm in the minors.
Chad Billingsley, P: Has every right to believe he should be in the 2007 rotation, but plenty of reason to expect he'll start the season in the bullpen. Working against him making the first five in April is the notion that he might be able to fill a bullpen role better than Kuo (to me, evidence is still circumstantial) and that like any young pitcher, softening his innings at the start of the season could have long-term benefits. Working against him even making the Opening Day bullpen is that at times last year, he did a tightrope walk to keep his ERA down, escaping a lot of jams.
If Randy Wolf looks shaky in March, maybe he'll be the one to get the bullpen slot for a while, with the excuse being that he just needs a little more time in his comeback from Tommy John surgery. Think about it, then forget it.
Joe Beimel, P: Last year's fodder is this year's lefty specialist - probably. Hendrickson is guaranteed more money and has the potential of doing the same job while serving as a backup starting pitcher, and there are just too many alternatives to the arbitration-eligible Beimel for him to be a sure thing. But he'll probably be there.
Ramon Martinez, IF: The acquisition of Julio Lugo last summer buried Martinez: He reached base four times after August 1, including his game-winning 16th-inning home run August 29. Lugo's gone, but Anderson isn't, and he can play some infield. There's no doubt the Dodgers want to keep Martinez around - they just resigned him in the offseason, after all - but if you're not hoping that enough players develop to push him off the roster, something's wrong.
James Loney, 1B: Here's where the fun (or agony) begins. Poised to enter the lineup the moment Garciaparra or Gonzalez land on the disabled list, Loney could also start in right field. He could also end up in AAA to keep his bat fresh, though after he led the minors in batting average, few want to see that (even if leading the minors in batting average does not preclude you from improving.) A 12-man pitching staff would likely push Loney off the roster if no position player began the season injured - but how likely is complete Dodger health? There's no reason for the Dodgers not to carry five outfielders, and little reason one shouldn't be Loney, especially when he can also give Garciaparra a breather.
Jason Repko, OF: With Pierre signed to start every game in center field, and with the Dodgers boasting four potential righties off the bench in Lieberthal, Saenz, Martinez and Andy LaRoche, Repko is the 25th man - and that might be his peak. In fact, I originally put LaRoche ahead of Repko, but changed my mind at the last minute on the theory that Betemit would get a chance to be a full-time third baseman, and the Dodgers would want to see LaRoche dominate AAA first. Plus, justified or not, Repko just has that late-inning Gonzalez defensive replacement feel. Another thing that would boost Repko's Opening Day roster chances immeasurably is if the Dodgers were brave enough to let Garciaparra play some third base (but don't count on it).
Next in Line (6)
Andy LaRoche, 3B: With Betemit perhaps begging for a platoon partner, the promising LaRoche has an outstanding shot at making his major league debut ASAP. I'm not impressed that people say LaRoche has fully recovered from his labrum surgery - we've been led astray before - but he can still be considered a strong candidate to make the team.
Matt Kemp, OF: Could the Dodgers be rooting against Kemp having a big spring and complicating their outfield plans? Doubtful, but he could really create havoc if he hits like he did last July. The thing is, there's little reason for the Dodgers not to set their decision about Kemp in stone now: Spring Training stats are meaningless, so a power binge by Kemp in Vero Beach shouldn't make a difference. On the other hand, if he gets in some good licks against some legitimate major league offspeed stuff, it will be hard for the homer-starved Dodgers to look away. Basically, expect Kemp to start out tearing up Las Vegas and threaten to make Gonzalez or Ethier a reserve or trade bait by Flag Day.
Elmer Dessens, P: All kinds of scenarios put Dessens on the team, except the most likely one, because there are still at least 11 pitchers ahead of him. Kansas City is paying his 2007 salary as a result of the complicated Odalis Perez trade, so Dessens is like a free lift ticket on a stormy day at Mammoth - you can force yourself to make use of it, or you can forget it and keep cozy and warm. The funny thing is, he's not a hopeless reliever, and it might make the most sense for the Dodgers to trade Tomko to a team that needs starting pitching, pick up a prospect and let Dessens be the middle-inning righty behind Broxton and Saito. (That might also make Tomko happier.)
Chin-hui Tsao, P: A former top prospect with Colorado who hasn't pitched competitively in almost two years, Tsao is exactly the kind of low-risk gamble that can add zest to your bullpen stew and make demoted starters like Tomko even more expendable. But whether Tsao is major-league ready remains to be seen.
Jonathan Meloan, P: A fifth-round draft pick in 2005, Meloan is rocketing upward. In his 91-inning minor-league career, he is averaging 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings against exactly nine baserunners. Though he has only 10 2/3 innings of experience above A ball, fans in the know are salivating at the prospect of having two Big Bad Jons in the bullpen.
Fernando Tatis, 3B: Here's what I wrote about Olmedo Saenz in 2004 ...
Getting no publicity right now as a roster candidate, the 33-year-old Saenz had a 113 OPS+ in 2002 before missing much of 2003. Doesn't hit the home runs that (Jose) Hernandez does, but sort of resembles Jolbert Cabrera - some doubles, some walks and a disproportionate number of HBP (42 in 1,076 career plate appearances). My official dark horse.Tatis, despite slugging .500 in 56 at bats for Baltimore last year, does not inspire the same optimism, but with his two grand-slam name a couple good spring at-bats and a general manager disinclined to give rookies key roles in April, Tatis could steal a roster spot.
See You Mid-Season? (13)
Yhency Brazoban, P: For one stretch during my 2-year-old son's lifetime, Brazoban was the Dodgers' top reliever when Eric Gagne wasn't available. Still a mere 25, Brazoban will begin the year in the minors or on the disabled list as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, but by summertime he may be one of the best relievers available to add to a major-league roster.
Larry Bigbie, OF: The lefty outfielder had a 120 OPS+ with the 2003 Orioles, but has had little to show since. Whie he could surprise, the most likely outcome for Bigbie is a Larry Barnes-like cup of coffee in 2007.
Eric Stults, P: Stults pitched admirably in two starts in September, most notably at Shea Stadium, but the development of the Dodger rotation has buried him. One question on Stults' mind might be whether the Dodgers would turn to him for a spot start before Hendrickson.
Greg Miller, P: Yes, it was Miller who, with Edwin Jackson, was the high hope for the Dodger rotation three years ago. Miller was coming off a year in which he sizzleaned the Florida State and Southern leagues with a 2.21 ERA as an 18-year-old. Health problems followed, but he may be on the way back. Based on how often the Dodgers rotated players in and out of their bullpen last year, there's no reason to think Miller couldn't get a turn.
Tim Hamulack, P: Driftwood. He struck out a batter an inning with the Dodgers in 2006, but allowed two baserunners per frame in the process. He is the only participant in the ninth/10th-inning collapse at San Diego April 30 yet to be exorcised by the team.
Eric Hull, P: Pitching mainly in relief, Hull kept his ERA with Las Vegas down to 4.19, struck out more than a batter an inning, but had almost as many walks allowed as hits. In 2005, he had a 3.38 with AA Jacksonville as a swingman.
Delwyn Young, OF: The 24-year-old regressed in 2006 (.783 OPS in AAA Las Vegas) and finds a real uphill battle ahead of him. Converted from second base to the outfield, he is now blocked. Though he hit 18 homers with the 51s, don't look for much out of him until at least 2008.
D.J. Houlton, P: The sometimes 2005 No. 5 starter spent 2006 in Las Vegas and posted a 5.60 ERA, striking out 7.3 batters per inning. If you look at his month-by-month record, a poor May killed his chances of coming to the Dodgers' rescue when Odalis Perez melted down, but he showed some improvement as the year went on. Like Stults, he is now buried, but like Stults, he could come up and hold a team to three runs in five innings on a given day - meaning that he's another guy to have in the AAA rotation as insurance.
Damian Jackson, UT: OPSed .666 as a reserve with Washington last year. Just one of those guys looking wistfully at Ramon Martinez the other.
A.J. Ellis, C: At the catcher position, you have your starters, your veteran backups, and then your young players aspiring to be veteran backups. Ellis, 26 the day of the home opener, is in the latter group. He OPSed .677 in Jacksonville, which puts him in position to be a butt-splinter reserve should Martin or Lieberthal get hurt. At the very least, he could be the No. 3 catcher when rosters expand.
Ken Huckaby, C: Huckaby, a 22nd-round draft pick by the Dodgers in '91, spent seven years in the organization without ever playing a regular season game for the team. He racked up close to 300 of his 450 career major-league plate appearances with Toronto in 2002. He will probably compete with Ellis to be the first catcher called up.
Dario Veras, P: Anyone remember the great Quilvio Veras kerfuffle of 2003? A former starting second baseman with San Diego, Veras batted .294 in Spring Training with the Dodgers that year, causing some of the exhibition enrapturable to fret about the Dodgers letting him go. (It turned out to be the last major league baseball ever saw of him.) Dario, a pitcher listed at 6-1, 155, was originally a Dodger signee from the Dominican Republic and enjoyed a nice 29 innings with the Padres of '96. Baseball Cube has nothing on him after 2001, but he was described as an "ace closer" for a Taiwan team last season and threw some decent innings in winter ball.
Rudy Seanez, P: Seanez threw his first professional pitch more than 20 years ago and has appeared in 760 games when he hasn't been taking advantage of that timeshare he bought at DL Boca Vista. Retirement appears to be beckoning - it's not as if he can't knock out the occasional 1-2-3 inning, but if he makes the team, Dodger Spring Training will have taken some hairpin turns.
Check Back in a Year or Two (5)
Scott Elbert, P: Sandwiched between Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw in the "Let's get excited" line of starting pitchers, Elbert has struck out 346 in 310 2/3 minor-league innings. Sure to start the season in the minors, Elbert very possibly will finish it there to keep his service clock at zero. That's not to say he couldn't outpitch some guys that will make the team, but at the same time, with five walks per nine innings in the minors, it's not as if he has nothing to work on. He turns 22 in August.
Tony Abreu, IF: The Baseball Cube hasn't yet figured out that he's the same guy as Etanislao Abreu. Progressing gently up the ranks.
Zach Hammes, P: Wild but effective enough in Vero Beach in 2006, then raised some eyebrows with a 1.23 ERA in winter ball, Hawaiian-style. Only three inches shorter than Hendrickson.
Mike Megrew, P: Pitched in Vero Beach in 2004 (3.41 ERA in 22 starts), missed most of 2005, then returned to Dodgertown in 2006 (3.52 ERA in 53 2/3 innings.) Turned 23 in January.
Chin-lung Hu, SS: Long considered a defensive whiz, playing in the Southern League predictably depressed his stats. Moving up to Vegas should help remedy that, but his bat is still a huge question. Perhaps within a couple of years, we'll learn how many runs he can drive in with his glove. He turned 23 Saturday.
Luke Hochevar, P: Just kidding.
Fodder (3)
Wilson Valdez, IF: Only a few people know why Valdez was added to the 40-man roster, and they've been mum up to now. He has no bat and a terrible stolen-base rate, and Hu is the guy with the defensive rep.
Matt White, P: Revised by commenter Benaiah: "The good: he is left handed, in his peak productivity years and doesn't give up many home runs (.85 for his career in the minors). The bad: he doesn't strike out many (6.61/9 in the minors), walks plenty (3.71/9), and has 4.16 ERA in the minors, plus he has gotten rocked in brief appearances with Seattle, Boston and Washington. He was solid, with so-so peripherals in AAA last year, at 29 years old. He is the longest of long shots to make the team."
Jeremy Hill, P: The Dodgers signed the 29-year-old Hill, who threw 10 1/3 innings with the 2002-03 Kansas City Royals, on Friday. He had a 3.62 ERA with Newark last season.
Fodder's Fodder (2)
Sandy Martinez, C: Hey, he's only 34 - way younger than Pat Borders. On the other hand, he has four major-league hits this century. This is what a vintage AAA backup looks like.
Travis Smith, P: The righty reliever has bounced around for 11 professional seasons. His 111 2/3 innings in the bigs are his bragging point; his 6.53 ERA in the process will still charm his grandkids.
I think Repko will be the fourth outfielder and Martinez will be the utility player so for me that leaves 2 position players left and only one if the Dodgers go with 12 pitchers to start April.
I will stick my neck out and say Loney and Ethier will make the April team as well.
Haven't had time to read much yet, but thanks already for that.
It's a bacon substitute.
In France they can do both simultaneously.
So which player do we nickname Sizzlean?
1b Loney
2b Dewitt
3b LaRoche
ss Abreu
lf Ethier
cf Kemp
Rotation;
Bills, Kuo, Elbert, Maloan, Miller
Looks like another year with many different endings possible, depending on how the story plays. Performance or injuries could change the OF, 3B, and many other positions. The bullpen especially looks like a rough draft. If we start with a bullpen of 7, I'd bet at least four spots will be different by the end of the year, likely even 5.
I can't wait for the season to start! And whoever is pushed onto the 51's roster, I'll see them in the opening series against the Bees.
As my students might say, "DAAAAYYYAAAAMNNN! This #@$% is goooooood!!" (actual quote from student after watching Kurosowa's "Throne of Blood.")
10 I know I go to far in this respect, but,if you add Furcal to your lineup(moving Abreu to second, and I would enjoy watching this lineup in Dodger Stadium in April. I'm tired of Vets even though they have their points.
Locks:
Pitchers (10): Schmidt, Lowe, Penny, Wolf, Hendrickson, Tomko, Beimel, Dessens, Broxton, Saito
Catchers (2): Martin, Lieberthal
Infielders (6): Garciaparra, Kent, Furcal, Betemit, Martinez, Saenz
Outfielders (4): Gonzalez, Pierre, Ethier, Anderson
Battle for remaining pitching spot and probable 5th starter is between Kuo and Billingsley.
Repko probably gets the 5th OF spot while Kemp gets to spend some more time in Vegas.
Loney has the advantage of being LH on a team with only 1 other LH bat on the bench and he can play both 1B and OF so I think he will get the last spot.
And while it may be hard to believe, would not surprise me if the Dodgers get some feelers for Hendrickson or Tomko (in Tomko's case, the Dodgers would have to pay part of his salary) since starters are always in demand.
I particularly like your analysis of the Billingsley vs. Kuo competition for the 5th starter job / roster spots.
Looking at the organizational depth chart, I wonder if we might see Abreu before the end of the season. Who else can fill in for Kent if he goes down for awhile? I think Abreu and Hu are getting the spring training invites in order to see if one or the other could be a midseason fill-in (Hu less so, since Furcal is more likely to be healthy than Kent)
There's still el Serie del Caribe! Noon Pacific time will see Venezuela vs. Mexico. Then, at four, Republica Dominicana faces off against the home team, Puerto Rico. En vivo, Fox Sports en Espanol! Also available by gameday, here:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/cs/2007.jsp
21 - I plan to, but this stuff takes time.
BizBall: Can you recall one Useless Info entry that stood out more than others?
Stark: The factoid that I think got the most oohs and aahs on ever was one I came up with in 2004 on Barry Bonds. Barry walked so much that year that even if he'd gotten ZERO hits all season, he still would have had a higher on-base percentage than the guy who LED THE LEAGUE IN HITS (Juan Pierre). I still can't believe that happened myself. Now THAT'S the epitome of useless information.
Don
If Eddie Murphy didn't want to win the Oscar for Dreamgirls, having Norbit released right now is a brilliant move.
http://www.linkmeister.com/blog/archives/002250.html
For those of you looking to go to Vero, careful of the Red Sox game. It WILL sell out and it will be more Sox fans than Dodger fans. Not a reason not to go but a reason to get your tix ASAP.
My glass is half full of baseball and I shall take a tasty if ultimately unsatisfying sip from it.
[rimshot]
You're executive producer of NFL Today...Debbie Downer.
I made an assumption that Dewitt was on the 40 man roster and that he was a player Ned and Grady wanted to see this spring since they sent him to Arizona with Martin et al. to have his body worked on.
Me! I likely won't start watching until 5:30 or so.
Talk to you folks later!
Autographed
;-)
;-)
When did we get Larry Bigbie?
I'm glad I didn't take Marty up on 48. Actually, I couldn't have, since I'm not talking to him till he formally retracts his calumny against San Dimas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oApywnGqLrw&NR
Have you managed to quit smoking...?
I was going to comment that maybe you should expand your circle of friends so as not to be stuck with the same dip.
But you had to go ruin it by linking to a recipe...
https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/318082.html
UOP Stadium, Glendale AZ
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Bay, Fla.
Solphin Stadium, Miami, Fla.
Last Super Bowl in California, 2003 in San Diego.
Last Super Bowl in Los Angeles area, 1993 at the Rose Bowl.
And yes Andrew, that is pretty much exactly what cataracts look like.
It was pretty sad that the Bears offense was so bad that Indy felt they could squib kick every time, give them possession at the 35 or 40, and not care.
Bob, this was definitely Tivo-able.
The Colts have now played in three Super Bowls and committed 15 turnovers in them.
Five against the Jets in a loss.
Seven against the Cowboys in a win.
Three against the Bears in a win.
It's all on you now, A-Rod.
"I don't know about you, but by halftime it felt to me and to those I was watching the game with that the Colts were up by at least two touchdowns and were going to win going away.
Grossman's two interceptions at the end were the worst two passes I've seen a pro quarterback throw in years. They looked like volleyball bump hits."
I forgot to respond to your question earlier: no. But it was folly to think I could get through the holidays without my filthy crutch. I think, though, that taking four months off (give or take) rested my lungs up to handle the winter falling-off-the-wagon. I haven't decided for sure, but I think I'll take up quitting, again, once baseball season starts. When I return to the warm, glowing, warming glow of my cocoon.
OK, but don't expect too much from my philanthropies. They don't compare well to those of the USC song girls.
When I return to the warm, glowing, warming glow of my cocoon
What, pray tell, is your "cocoon"...?
I was much more excited by the Broncos-Packers super bowl highlights I watched on ESPN earlier this week.
(Oh, and back on topic - excellent write-up Jon - makes me excited for spring training and seems like the Dodgers will have some good options in a lot of the roster spot battles.)
There he goes again, grabbing all the multiples of 7.
And while I can see a person having a hard time avoiding politics and feelings, are you really subject to clown exposure on a regular basis...?
This isn't about us, Andrew, it's about you.
Who here would do a Stults + Loney for Delmon Young deal?
Without offering arbitration...!
Repent or Burn will make you pay for that.
I don't have a problem comparing Loney to Sean Casey as players. Their skill sets are very similar. I do have a problem with projecting Loney to follow a Sean Casey "career track," simply because Casey's career track has been too bizarre for one to project anybody else to duplicate it, except by fluke. Casey has had three seasons with an OPS over .900 -- with a good number of years between the second and third of those seasons -- and has been very disappointing the rest of the time. I think Loney will be consistently closer to the good Casey than the bad one.
Is Casey's defense good? BP is down on it.
1. I predicted a 30-28 Indy victory. I was a Bears TD away from a very accurate prediction.
2. Half-time show was awful, probably one f the all time worst. The pre-game entertainment show was better.
3. Indy out-coached Chicago. ie - No huddle offense and Bears abandoning the run too early in the game.
4. Cheryl Crow commercial was the worst.
5. In general the commercials were clever, none great but not too many bad ones.
6. The Bill Walsh piece was the best pre-game story.
7. Dan Marino always flips heads. Indy cost themselves 7 points by not knowing this.
vr, Xei
1. Grammy Awards - February 11th
2. NBA All-Star Weekend February 17th-18th
3. Academy Awards - February 25th
4. March Madness begins - March 15th
Opening Day is 8 weeks away, Sunday April 1st.
The worst was the Snickers commercial. Maybe its homophobia on my part (although I'd like to think not) but I didn't see the point of the commercial at all?
What market research braintrust concluded that an NFL audience, much of which is made up of midwesterner middle aged men, wanted to see two redneck guys kiss at the end of a Snickers bar and then relieve their ackwardness by doing something as stupid as tearing out their chesthair. It wasn't funny and seemed like a strange place to put that commercial.
Meanwhile, who else thinks Bob is responsible for this: http://tinyurl.com/3d33ce?
You can't really blame Rex since obviously he's not used to playing football in Florida.
Went to Grasshopper on Saturday night. Jeff (the bartender) made me a "Bodhi Tree," and Lauren (the waitress) brought me the Four Dragon Flying Beef dish.
Everything was great. My only complaint is that my clothes always end up smelling like the food after I get home.
Just as long as we don't end up with Rex Grossman.
Hey, I've got mine!
And I too couldn't help but think about Joe Middle America watching Prince in his hairnet followed by guys kissing over a Snickers. Even if they bet the Colts, they couldn't have been happy.
What are the components in the flying beef dish? Anise and carrots, with the bone in and broth? Watercress and Tomatoes, over dry noodles? I am wondering if it is a rose by a different name.
The Masters is April 5th-9th...a week earlier than normal it seems. I have to watch that before I fully concentrate on baseball.
Larry Bigbie? I totally missed that signing.
My only bold prediction of spring training 2007: Saito will pitch poorly enough so that Broxton will be the closer for 2007.
My wife and I couldn't help noticing Lauren's low cut shirt when she would bend over to talk to us.
Don't know all the components in the flying beef. In addition to the fried beef, lots of veggies (peppers, string beans, maybe some broccoli), over "crispy noodle" and a side of rice.
She may not be buxom, but the shirt revealed her brassiere and a large portion of that which it was containing.
We didn't make a qualitative judgment either way, just noted the revelation.
Is it possible to care about something less than I care about Cheryl Crowe's roots six weeks into a the epitome of a sellout tour (one named after a song that doubles as an ad jingle)? Without that affair with Lance Armstrong, would C.C be mercifully out of our lives? Questions I pondered during that commercial.
I'm with Marty on this one, best half time show ever. Prince is a rock star, a guy who can captivate 75,000 people just by playing a guitar (all the lights and fireworks helped too).
I really loved the coke adds this year. I had seen the first one (Grand Theft Auto parody) in a movie theater last week and thought it was totally brilliant. I also liked the way they handled the black history month add (with the different coke bottles). It does, of course, make me a little sick that Coke is branding themselves as a "do-gooder" company, but it's better than them branding themselves as an exploitative dumb company I guess.
I say the following with zero prejudice. My own tastes often slant steriotypically/historically "gay". But this was an incredibly "gay" superbowl. And I'm not talking about an ill-concieved, homophobic Snikers add. I'm talking about the cirque du soliel pregame and Prince in a hairnet. I wished I could hear what the majority of football fans had to say about it all. I actually wondered if the thought was-- we know all the football guys are gonna watch, how do we get everyone else to watch?
While I agree that it didn't ultimately work - tearing out chest hair is a nonsensical way to define manliness - I thought the initial idea of parodying Lady and the Tramp was clever. The commercial sticks in your mind, which is all that Snickers wants.
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/W/Matt-White.shtml
This is the one LA signed:
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/W/matt-white-1.shtml
Much ado about nothing most likely, since neither figure to do much.
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=425665
It seems that the Super Bowl is sort of like a PBS Pledge Week for big corporations.
"If you buy $200 worth of Doritos, we'll get you back to our showing of the Super Bowl, but first let's look at some other premiums."
LA signed a different Matt White.
The Importance of Being Matt
So you're discarding the Doppelganger theory as being without merit?
My kids also universally panned the halftime show. They didn't like the music at all. Neither did I, but then I was never a big Prince fan in the 80s. About the only part they thought was cool was the marching band with glow-in-the-dark stripes on their uniforms.
My favorite part was explaining the telecast to my 7-year-old daughter. She wanted to know where all the cameras were mounted, how they could zoom in, how they chose which shot to use, how they put the animated graphics onto the TV, how they showed the blue and yellow lines for the scrimmage and first down markers, etc.
I did not watch the Super Bowl with your kids.
BTW: that Etienne sure is a curious little thing
[White, Matt]: American dramatist. Born in Ocean City, N.J., 1911. Educated at Columbia University. Started on a commercial career but turned to playwriting. Author of The Little Nymph, The Lady Who Loved Lightning (in collaboration with Vivian Darkbloom), Dark Age, The strange Mushroom, Fatherly Love, and others. His many plays for children are notable. Little Nymph (1940) traveled 14,000 miles and played 280 performances on the road during the winter before ending in New York. Hobbies: fast cars, photography, pets.
Diamonds in the rough
Mets GM Minaya part of Major League Baseball contingent bringing game to Ghana's youth
http://tinyurl.com/2844xu
Today, The Statesman of Ghana ran the same article, with this headline:
A RACIST JOURNALIST ON GHANA
http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/section.php?section=3
"Now I'm irate. Why is it MLB allows these exxecutives to search all around the world for Major League talent when we have millions of US children play 360 days a year with the hopes of one day playing in the major leagues. If MLB is trying to play to the international community, start an international leaugue. Is it correct to say if MLB continues to go this route we can no longer call it americas game? This is in no way intended to be a racist comment, i just feel for those who raise kids to be the best they can be, help them one day acheive their goals only to be snubbed because MLB went to Ghana and found 3 ballplayers and for publicity reasons, put them on a roster and not a comparitable US born player. This whole scenario is a major turn-off."
Am I alone in my hope that Ned will deal Tomko and Hendrickson and replace them with Meloan and Miller? It would do wonders for the budget. Let's give the M&M boys a shot.
http://tinyurl.com/yqum9o
Thanks
Yeah. Point-zero-eight is enough.
They make too much for their roles on the team and would seem easily tradeable considering the need for pitching across the league.
Any comments?
The school with the longest current tenure in the WAC is Hawai'i.
Dessens should be traded since he costs no money, so he could get something decent in return. If we don't, he'll probably be DFAed by mid season.
Trade Hendrickson the first time anyone offers anything for him. I would recommend calling Wayne Krivski.
Wow. That's gotta be a record.
Sounds like the Dodger organization has some serious catching problems, though.
My left-field prediction is that Garciaparra will be moved to third base, and that Loney will play the whole season at first base. I don't think Nomar's a lock to play first. I say this based somewhat on the answers he gave in an interview on Dodger Talk last night on KFWB after the SB broadcast. If Nomar plays third, Betemit will be his backup and spell him sometimes when the matchups favor it. I think LaRoche has another minor league season to look forward to.
Kemp's only shot in '07 is injury or rapid decline by Ethier or Gonzalez, and even then I think that Colletti would try to fill that hole with a trade for a veteran with some home run power.
Although I have not been drunk, I will give my experiences of blacking out from a seizure.
Most commonly, the situation is like this. I would be sitting on my couch watching TV. Then the next thing I know, I'm on the floor in the bathroom puking into the toilet wondering to myself "Why am I puking in the toilet? I was watching TV most recently wasn't I?"
Then I find a small cut on my head and everything starts to come together although it takes a while as my brain isn't able to stitch together all the events. And some I have no memory of. Such as the lapsing into unconsciousness part.
I don't recommend this for people. But while I was out, I had absolutely no recollection of what was going on as my brain was busy doing other things. Such as telling my body to shake uncontrollably.
Stupid brain.
I think the SC kicker experienced a total loss of motor control. Either that, or the alcohol put him in a coma so when he fell, he wasn't conscious. That's a lot of booze.
If suicide is understood as a reaction to severe depression, I suppose I might be slightly more willing to accept that outcome as a form of pain cessation if I were his parent. But an accident like this? I'd never get over it.
I hate when that happens.
Jon, I think if healthy, Rudy Seanez can be a solid contributor to this team. I really believe that he has something left in the tank, even at 38. If healthy (again), I think he'd be more worthy of a roster spot than Elmer Dessens, despite not being able to pitch multiple innings. Isn't that what we have BJ for?
Did you enjoy thinking of and then typing that...?
I just don't get it.
You left out simony! Simony! That topic is gold!
And tariffs! People love to write about tariff disputes!
Pretty exciting, I know.
If I could, I'd take another math class instead of history.
For a good history teacher, memorizing factual information would make up a small fraction of what you should know.
Who cares about a date an event happened as long as you can just place it in the correct context?
Is it important to know the dates that the American and French Revolutions started or is it more important to know in which order they occurred, what other events in the world were happening at the time, and how one influenced the other?
Context is most important. What event followed what. Such and such is a reaction to this event. History is a story, not a multiplication table to be memorized.
I ignored them, and lecture a ton. I talk to my kids. I don't give a lot of homework. I do a lot of role playing exercises. I tell stories. My kids smoked every other teacher's benchmark scores.
It is also possible to say "Smoot" without actually having to study the Act...
But if you can say "Smoot" in context, then you can also relate your knowledge of the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
Did you know that treaty outlawed war?
Don't know much about history. Or biology, for that matter.
I'm a treaty nerd and will often go out of my way to stop in cities where famous treaties were signed.
Man, did I like Portsmouth! I still haven't made it to Dayton. But Utrecht was great. I felt like I had the whole Spanish Succession thing settled and effectively ended religious wars on the European Continent.
Oddly enough, I missed out on Ghent when I went to Belgium. I was debating whether or not to go to Ostend and issue a Manifesto.
Weren't there any famous treaties signed in Oregon? Like, maybe the kind where the White Man said he'd stop killing the Natives and taking their land in exchange for the Natives agreeing to live on a small reservation and not bother the White Man...?
This treaty:
http://www.critfc.org/text/wstreaty.html
was signed near the modern day The Dalles. It was between the U.S. Government and the Wasco Nation.
It's from SI.com
"Gators a unanimous No. 1, Ohio St. at No. 3"
I, for one, pretty much never think the Ducks are better than they actually are. I always expect them to choke.
Meanwhile, 2-2 Puerto Rico/Mexico in the 7th.
And they had cheerleaders during the seventh inning stretch.
Todd Bozeman coached at Cal. He had some issues with things like ... rules...
I'm sure Lou Campanelli will speak well of him.
I don't think these people have listened to the Captain Jacks in some time.
Like this line, for example:
"You've got everything, but nothing's cool
They've just found your father in the swimming pool
And you guess you won't be going back to school
Anymore..."
It's a long story.
Dicky V then brings up the Cameron Crazies. What the heck?
Now I'm convinced that Andrew deals Bioweapons.
I believe Vitale went from Josh Carter to the Cameron Crazies and then he veered out into a discussion of Aaron Brooks.
Then he kept yelling at Dan Schulman "You have no fear of failure!"
I've heard him mention Coach K's name tonight almost as many times as Durant's.
It's been 26 years since Vitale has been to College Station. I wonder how long it's been since he's been to any Pac-10 arena outside of McKale and Pauley?
Dicky V in Cameron Indoor = a kid in the Willy Wonka factory
I feel sorry for Dan Shulman, he always gets partnered up with Dicky V. I think we should bail him out of his ESPN job. I propose a trade; Charley Steiner for Dan Shulman.
Steiner and Vitale together...what a duo they'd make.
Keith Jackson didn't even like making trips to Pullman and he went to school there.
http://tinyurl.com/ypfset
And that's why I now only have one tie.
Of course, he does have to work with Rex Hudler so maybe he has been punished enough.
Grabowski:Bartholomew::Zappala:Peter
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