I think the Dodgers will again score a good amount of runs, will again lack power, and will have even better pitching to potentially offset the latter.

so, what are the windmills? a viable alternative energy source or evanescant phantasm?

2 - Can they be both?

i love your ability to see both sides jon, but sometimes i just want you to stake out a position, go out on a limb :)

ps. i spelled evanescent wrong. tsk, tsk.

4 - Okay. Some windmills are a viable alternative energy source. Others are an evverandasdrt phantasm. Windmills, like most things, vary in quality. You have to choose the right ones. Luis Gonzalez and Juan Pierre ... well, you can finish the thought.

I think the biggest thing lack of power contributes to is the inability to come back from a large run deficit as the game goes on. Wasnt our record in games when we were down by 4 or more runs something like 2-30? Anyone know what the average is in those situations? Im sure its not too great, but its got to be a bit higher than less than 10%.

6 - But I'm guessing the Dodgers had fewer big deficits to rally from than most teams last year.

If you're worried about how your baseball team does when trailing by four, you might as well worry about how long your lifespan will be after ingesting polonium 210.

Last thread there was an amazing Bob Gibson statistic.

How about one for Yogi Berra I ran across somewhere lately--

In 1950 Yogi Berra struck out, in 597 AB, 12 times.

Yes, and worrying like that it like tilting at windmills.

The most efficient Dodger windmill from past years:

Billy Ashley

The most efficient Dodger windmill of the future:

Matt Kemp

That's a paranoid thought. How I hope Kemp is the real thing, and he is young enough to progress.

12 -- Paranoid? More like silly.

9 Two stats re strikeouts
Joe Dimaggio 361 HR - 369 SO
Joe Sewell - over 7000 career AB - 114 SO
1925 - over 600 AB - 4 SO
He averaged over .300, no power, only 49 HR in his career.

7 I'm not saying home runs are not important but here are some stats from last year.

The Dodgers were 52-35 when they hit a home run, 36-39 when they don't. The Dodgers were 61-19 when they got they badly named Quality Start, 27-55 when they didn't.

Some other stats to ponder:

Dodgers Score First 60-25
Opponent Scores First 28-49
Lead After 6 Innings 64-10
Trail After 6 Innings 7-54
Lead After 7 Innings 70-6
Lead After 8 Innings 78-2
Tied After 7 Innings 15-11
Tied After 8 Innings 6-8
Trail After 7 Innings 2-57
Trail After 8 Innings 4-64
Scoring 3 or Less 13-44
Scoring 4 or More 75-30
Allowing 3 or Less 61-10
Allowing 4 or More 27-64

One thing of note, after Baez blew the save in San Francisco, they did not blow a game after leading through 8. Now, last year's patchwork bullpen was not like the 2002-2004 versions but they were not as bad as you might think.

The Dodgers were 52-35 when they hit a home run, 36-39 when they don't

I'd be curious to know their average runs scored per game in each case

15 - No one's saying home runs are not important or that we don't want more of them.

16 All I know is that all of the times we were shut out will fall into the "no home runs" case. That oughta skew the means a bit.

18
Yeah. I guess that looking at the importance of HRs is confounded with scoring runs. If you truly want to look at the importance of of HRs per se, you should look at games where they scored the same number of runs, and then look at their record when they hit HRs and games when they didn't hit HRs.

Billy Ashley at age 21 - .252/.283/.427 at Vero Beach

Matt Kemp at age 21 - Around .340/.412/.540 between Jacksonville and Vegas (I just eyeballed the combined stats)

If Kemp is still flailing away in four years, then we can start the Billy Ashley comparisons.

18 The Dodgers were shut out 9 times last year and not all of them occurred during that losing streak after the All-Star Break.

My point wasn't so much that homers are not important, its just that if you can get consistent starting pitching, a solid if not spectacular bullpen and an average offense (not the best offense, at least in every major category outside of HRs, in L.A. Dodger History), this team should be fine in 2007.

Also, without some mini-HR explosions by 3 guys not on the opening day roster, Kemp, Betemit and Anderson, the Dodgers would have been last in NL in HRs.

9 - Check this out: in 6821 ABs, Jolting Joe Dimaggio struck out 369 times, and hit 361 Home Runs. Seven of the Thirteen seasons he played, he had more home runs than strike outs. In 1941 he hit .357/.440/.643 with 30 HR and 13 Ks. He would have retired with more had he not 36 times with only 12 HR his final year. Unbelievable.

14 - Ha I didn't refresh and then copied your Joe D stat.

And of course, we know how those homers tend to be rally killers:o).

For Greg Brock only. No one else click this link. http://tinyurl.com/2nw2rz

I didn't watch four quarters of pro football this season until the Super Bowl, but I found this critique very interesting.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/dr_z/02/08/announcers/index.html

There's an Athlon preview of the Dodgers that's linked to from Jon's article at SI. It's mostly positive, and whoever wrote it is astute enough to recognize Juan Pierre as a step down. There was, however, this bit that made my head asplode:

Colletti has restored order to the front office, rebuilding a scouting department that had previously been ignored.

As with the Daily News Person of the Year thing, Colletti is receiving praise for something he had little or nothing to do with. To be fair, Colletti's not actively going out of his way to take credit for Logan White's successes, but he's not doing anything to avoid the pedestal people are placing him on.

Pardon me for interrupting today's discussion - just stopping by from the Banter with a quick question.

We wonder if this might be the dumbest statement written this off-season:

"Julio Lugo, the incoming shortstop, is a better defender than predecessor Alex Gonzalez..."

http://tinyurl.com/2otok5

But then, did anyone praise the signing of Pierre?

(sorry for the second post if you saw the other one)

25 Sam, I was thinking of that very same subject when the news broke about my special lady friend. Great find!

27 Why should he, from what I have seen, he's pretty humble about it, generally credits his staff but and again I know this is sore spot to some, Ned, from day one, has done a better job with the local media than his predecessor. Its old school schmooze but it still works.

It probably bugs some people but then again, he also didn't directly throw DePo under the bus for the opt-out clause in Drew's contract but he probably is grateful for contracts that DePo gave Lowe and Penny look okay considering how much starters cost today.

26 I saw that MNF game with AZ and Chicago that was mentioned at the end of the piece. It was probably the worst called game I have ever had to sit through. When you have commentators referring to a mid season game as 'the worst loss in franchise history' for Arizona you have a problem. It was also nice to see all these jokers are coming back for next season.

great article, Jon.

when i take students to the library, i often look through old S.I.'s to read their baseball stuff. i few funnies i encountered from the '98-'99 years:

1. angels' g.m. bill bavasi bragging about the mo vaughn signing ["he's the one guy we really wanted"].

2. numerous randy johnson to l.a. rumors, including the trading deadline buzz of r.j. to l.a. for antonio osuna and wilton guerrero.

3. the horrible preview issue after kevin brown signed with us, complete with the quotation: "By the time he's done, he'll be revered."

4. in same preview issue, todd hundley was featured as our clean-up hitter. gulp.

I think my comment was a little harsher toward Colletti than I intended it to be. I was just irritated by the media narrative that he's responsible for the farm system success.

Just got my John Sickels book and I was struck dumb when I saw that some players in the book were actually born after Kirk Gibsons home run. Wonder who will be the 1st person to make the major leagues who was born after our last World Series. No wonder were so cranky, where did the years go, no world championship, not even a sniff of a world series. You youngsters must be chafing at the bit.

Home Runs 2007
1st Nomar - 13
Saenz - 4
Loney - 7
2nd Kent - 19
SS Furcal- 13
3b Betemit - 21
LaRoche - 9
C Martin - 14
Lieberthal - 7
CF BulletHead - 3(ITP)
Kemp - 3
LF LuGo - 7
Kemp - 5
Loney - 5
RF Ethier - 15
Kemp 6

Magic Anderson 3
Repko 3
D Young 5
Bigbie 2

I would hazard a guess that if you took 20 statements about Julio Lugo this offseason and measured them for dumbth, that statement would be 15th. For whatever reason, Julio Lugo is one of those players that people are willing to perjure themselves over.

Anna Nicole Smith has died after being found unconscious in a Florida hotel room.

The article (cnn.com) has it just catalogues such an endless series of disputes and losses. Even though she'd become a somewhat ridiculous figure, it's just very sad.

She has an infant child.

37 - Crazy. There has to be .00001% chance that it was due to natural causes. Very sad.

Well, so much for the "Please Explain: Anna Nicole Smith" feature on the Juice Blog. Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent at this juncture.

A million sad things are happening in world right now and her passing away doesn't make the list. Pretty good odds the infant will be much better off without her.

37 Miss America/Miss USA has a better chance of living a better life than being Playmate of the Year (though only Dorothy Stratton and ANS have unfortunately died before their time)

Anna Nicole Smith dies. Didn't see that one coming. And when I say that, I mean that I saw it coming a mile away.

Dear Committee: Will it qualify as "ironic" if there is a huge legal battle over Ms. Smith's money...?

43- How about the law suit already in the works because someone didn't lose very much weight using Trimspa? Does this strengthen or hurt that lawsuit? On one hand, Anna probably won't pay, on the other hand, how ever she lost weight wasn't all that healthy.

To get off topic a bit and talk about the Dodgers, apparently Loney is now wearing #7.

Matt Kemp is listed as #27, and Laroche as #28.

43 The lawsuit to watch is the one her estate still has in the money that was left in her late millionaire husband's estate dispute.

I am pretty sure her estate would still be able to pursue it (her infant son would have standing).

The class action suit was just a publicity ploy unless she had some type of financial interest in the company. The fact she was being paid to promote the product doesn't make her necessarily liable.

CNN is covering her death like the president just died.

Until the younger guys can break in, I am expecting our offense to be pretty sub par. We had no power last year, but that was fine because we made up for it with getting guys on base. This season we added players that do not help us at all in the power department, but hurt us in the on base department.

It has been talked at over and over here, but Juan Pierre has been steadily regressing in on base percentage (probably because he is so dependent on his bat speed) over the last few seasons. So a lot of his supposed value is tied up to stealing bases and creating havoc on the base paths, but it has been shown that he gets caught so much that his base stealing is more of a detriment to the team.

The other "big" offensive addition was Luis Gonzalez. Gonzalez has also been in a steady decline and if you take away his hot month of July he had a sub .400 slug % in the second half of the season with an on base around .312. Combine all this with the fact that he was playing in a park that is a lot more friendly to hitters than Dodger Stadium and one can see why many of us expect him out of the lineup in a couple of months.

Injury concerns are another factor on why I think our offense will struggle. Nomar seems to be an injury waiting to happen, but at least the team has depth at the position with James Loney. Jeff Kent is the one I worry about. I know he has been working out hard, but he is still an old guy and he has a lot of wear and tear on his body. If we would just put LaRoche at third and move Betemit to second then I think it could actually help our offense, but I just worry we see Betemit at third and Lucille II at second. Thankfully, we have a good back up for Martin in Lieberthal, because Martin did play a ton of games last year.

The wild card for me is Andre Ethier. I think I know what to expect from Betemit. Good home run power, but with a low average and on base percentage. I expect Martin to be better than he was last year, which makes him a potential All-Star player. Ethier on the other hand, I have no real handle on him. He has all the right mechanics to be a very good hitter, but we know he was extremely lucky last season and may have been playing over his head. Then he went into the tank at the end of the season (which may have been due to injury). I worry about the fabled sophomore slump with Andre, but he seems to have all the tools to conquer it.

I apologize now for bad grammar and spelling.

47 - Their job is to find a story, any story, which people want to follow. When I told the people around me at work that ANS died everyone started talking about it excitedly. This is a bombshell because of how unexpected it is (fine, she is crazy, but it isn't like there was any build up). This story will go away and no one will notice, but today, tomorrow, this is a big deal.

Both Smith and Pierce Marshall, the other inheritor of her late billionaire husband, are dead now. So now their heirs, and in Smith's case, the guardians of her heirs, are fighting over the money that is even less theirs. It just makes Warren Buffet donating those billions to charity look that much more admirable.

Things you do after you watch the UCLA vs. USC basketball game.

I was looking at Baseball America's 2005 Prospect Book and out of the Dodgers top 30 prospects, 9 are no longer with the organization (Guzman, Jackson and Tiffany from the top 10). Others included Willy Aybar, Blake Johnson and Joel Hanrahan.

However, to show that the last 2 drafts have not been that bad, there are 9 prospects on the 2007 Top 30 list that were not part of the organization in 2005, while some like Zach Hammes, who was in the system, have advanced enough to now be considered a prospect.

BTW, Only one prospect from last year's top ten (Guzman) is no longer part of the organization.

48 - i'm not majorly worried about jeff kent, except for hoping that he doesn't reach 550 plate appearances. he at least projects to bring above-average production for his position. in terms of defense, i would much prefer if loney were to help him to his left, but with nomar entrenched at 1b, we'll have to hope kent doesn't hurt us too much.

clearly, the outfield is the area of greatest concern (though i have my doubts about the bullpen as well). it's rare to have a [projected] starting outfield without a true impact bat, but that's what we're looking at right now. there are continued rumblings that we are actively shopping for a young, rh power bat (rosenthal just repeated this rumor in today's piece), but to me that makes no sense with kemp in the system and possibly a half-season away.

at this point, i'm hoping for a rock-solid starting rotation with a steady bullpen. i'm also hoping some of our well-discussed depth leads to fresher bats and a more dangerous and varied attack.

14. - Ted Williams also had several seasons of more HRs than strikeouts. I think Johnny Mize did too. It was rare back then and pretty much unheard of now.

The dip in OBP isn't as worrying to me as the clutch hitting trend. Since clutch hitting is fleeting at best and illusory at worst, I don't see us getting clutch hits as often again. I do share the optimism that improved pitching could make up for it though.

53
I agree that Kent's defense is going to be a problem, but I think we are stuck with it. Thankfully, we have pitchers that are not totally dependent on defense like Greg Maddux was.

Lowe is a guy that is dependent on defense, but Schmidt, Penny, Wolf, and Bills/Kuo can all strike guys out at a high clip. Lowe can strike guys out too, but tends to get himself in trouble when he does.

Kent just needs to be passable.

Sorry to be off topic, but does anyone know how I can get online XML feeds of player statistics (NBA, MLB, whatever)? I play fantasy sports, and I'm fooling around with writing my own program to help me analyze my fantasy teams. Thanks.

Wow, I leave this thread for the day and it turns into Man of La Mancha! Or at least was tilting that way for awhile.

Our defense will be worse next year. I think that is a given. Kent is on the decline and is losing a lot of his range. Nomar got worse as the season went on and I have no idea how his lower body will react to another injury. A full season of Betemit will not be as good as Mueller and Izturis were. Drew was a good defensive player and now are outfield has the worst collection of arms in baseball.

Wow, that posting was supposed to appear awhile ago - I forgot to hit "submit". Now we've all gone through one Anna N Smith death and several other non-windmill related topics.

FJM got into the low strike-out total conversation a while back:

DiMaggio wound up hitting .357 in '41. He only hit 30 homers because he missed 15 games with injuries and the leftfield power alley in Yankee Stadium was 415 feet. Guess how many times he struck out in 541 at-bats?

...

How about 13! That's thirteen strikeouts.

This is, of course, amazing. That is a very, very low number of strikeouts. And a very talented hitter such as Joe DiMaggio was effective at the plate with his low strikeout and low walk totals because he had a high average. But should we assume this is the norm because hey, Joe DiMaggio did it that way?

No, we should not. Rarely striking out is no indication of hitter value. It's just not. In fact, it might be a negative indicator these days.

That year that DiMaggio struck out thirteen times, he was only second in the bigs in at bats per strikeout. The man in first was Doc Cramer, who rode that low strikeout rate all the way to a .338 slugging percentage and an OPS+ of 77. The third and fourth place finishers, Rip Radcliff and Lou Finney, also had below-league-average OPS+s. (Cecil Travis, fifth in the majors, had a great year.) The point is, not striking out is no universal salve for hitting woes.

61 Good job, Marty. I was going to quote that very same article. The high point was definitely the FJM guys threatening to sell Bill Conlin's wife into white slavery. Here's the link, everybody!:

http://www.firejoemorgan.com/search/label/bill%20conlin

There was also this, in the comments section of that article (Referring to strikeouts)

As far as worst possible outcomes, there are also triple plays.

And, that dude who died when that grounder hit him in the neck.

I'm not sure what to make of Ethier, either. But I think his swing combined with his first half means he has the potential to be better. Didn't he himself talk about how fatigued he got? (Maybe Martin needed to make him eat the same Wheaties!).

Maybe I should be more worried about Kent's age, but I just think he's got more in him. But, like Piazza, he might best be utilized as the DH now.

I think Betemit will surprise people next year. He's a young guy that was always a utility guy for the Braves. I don't think he's had more than 400 abs in a season. Unless he falters badly, I just can't see Laroche ahead of him (unless he get's traded).

Loney needs to get more at bats. Logan White needs to be GM.

62
A Joe Mays sighting!

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2617

59 Which is scary, since our defense was not all that great last year.

65 Linking around from that article, I found out that when Fidrych had his magical rookie year, he struck out 97 batters in 250 innings pitched.

Dios Mio.

Watch out!!

The first attempt to blow up the World Trade Center led to a prolonged trial that hardly anyone knew about. It was over- shadowed by the O.J. trial, among other things. Just imagine if someone in the FBI had noticed it. We might have avoided 9/11. Now with the cable news channels climaxing over the astronut love scandal and the death of some bimbo, something important could go unnoticed in international politics--or even the Dodgers!

Also, I was fooling around with the Hall of Fame Monitor created by Bill James (stop D4P, I see the joke coming!), and I checked on Bert Blyleven.

Where a score of 100 is a likely HOFer, and 130 is a cinch, anybody wanna guess what Blyleven's score is?

99?

http://tinyurl.com/yw9st5

Perhaps I have a geeky sense of humor but this made me laugh. For anybody who ever took a communications class, isn't this the very definition of news? Actually the first part of the headline IS and the second part ISN'T.

What is the importance of Anna Nicole Smith.
Forgive me for being an ignorant geezer.

70 Bert Blyleven's Jamesian HOF score is 120.5

71 Yes-MAN BITES DOG is journalism 101!

Greg--so he should be a shoo-in.

72. She was famous and beautiful and then she embarrassed herself. Nothing we as a country love more. Oh yeah, lots of money in the story with intrigue and an affair.. Oh, she then got beautiful again and then died in a Hard Rock Hotel room. Frankly this is likely the most important American news story since JFK... or OJ... or that crazy NASA chick in diapers.

76 or that crazy NASA chick in diapers.

Hey, backoff man...

Also, in your outstanding summary of Anna Nicole, you forgot the two most important words..."Ginormous" and "Rack".

77. Sorry, I know your feeling on the subject. But as has been pointed out, "crazy chick in diapers" is not necessarily a negative description.

She also had a part in The Hudsucker Proxy giving me another reason why it's my least favorite Coen Bros. movie.

78 It's like "drunk chick in Icaros' room"

78 People fall in love with murderous diaper-wearing astronuats.

It's just one of those old cliches. You see a gal with a spacesuit, some rubber tubing, a hatchet, and some pepper spray, and you fall in love. It's a tale as old as time.

81 Obscure, but a Simpsons reference is always good after 5.

Burns:
Some men hunt for sport,
Others hunt for food,
The only thing I'm hunting for,
Is an outfit that looks good...

See my vest, see my vest,
Made from real gorilla chest,
Feel this sweater, there's no better,
Than authentic Irish setter.

See this hat, 'twas my cat,
My evening wear - vampire bat,
These white slippers are albino
African endangered rhino.

Grizzly bear underwear,
Turtles' necks, I've got my share,
Beret of poodle, on my noodle
It shall rest,

Try my red robin suit,
It comes one breast or two,
See my vest, see my vest,
See my vest.

Like my loafers? Former gophers -
It was that or skin my chauffeurs,
But a greyhound fur tuxedo
Would be best,

So let's prepare these dogs,

Mrs. Potts: Kill two for matching clogs,

Burns: See my vest, see my vest,
Oh please, won't you see my vest.

I like right after when he says to Smithers, "I really like my vest." and Smithers replies, "I gathered that"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOIyUHxKbMg

82 I love that scene!

Lisa: What's Santa's Little Helper doing to that dog?
Marge: Uh oh...
Bart: It looks he's trying to jump over her, but he can't quite make it. Come on, boy, you can do it!

Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen...This is the end...The end of dog racing.

One of the best episodes.

Notre Dame loses! They didn't even deserve to be ranked in the first place.

Some of us wanted the Dodgers to sell high on Kent after the 2006 season. Instead they gave him an extension. Did that extension have anything to do with Kent endorsing Colletti for the GM job? Hard to know.

I don't like the idea of platooning Betemit. A young hitter with his power needs consistent ABs. Sit him against a stud LHP -- not many of those -- but allow him to face some lefties. He is too young to be dismissed as forever incompetent against LHP. How many ABs does he have LHP? Not many. Further, in addItion to being young, he is a switch-hitter, so he is trying to maintain two swings. Betemit is still too jumpy on breaking balls, but that is another reason to show confidence in him. Let him know that he will be the 3B for the entire first half of the season. Have LaRoche spend a half season in Triple-a. Counting the playoffs, Betemit hit something like 19, 20 HRs in fewer than 400 ABs, right? That's pretty good for guy who is 25 (or 26). On this team, his power could be vital.

Saturday at 3 pm. The Pac-10 game of the year. Arizona State at Oregon State.

Will the Sun Devils go 0-18 during the conference season?

87
Are you already giving the Sun Devils a loss tonight...?

If the Ducks lose tonight at home to ASU, there will be some explaining to do.

Explanation: the Ducks really aren't all that good. They've overachieved thus far. Time to regress to the mean.

Explanation: the Ducks really aren't all that good. They've overachieved thus far. Time to regress to the mean.
Blame Chamberlain Oguchi; he's the Ducks version of Juan Pierre.

But Grant Wahl of SI.com told me that the Ducks were going to the Final Four.

I won't miss much of Thursday night TV since there won't be any good Pac-10 action to watch tonight. FSN is showing Cal at Washington tonight.

Except when he faced UCLA the first time.

Sorry to be off subject - wait, what is the subject? - but I just had to say...

Wade Phillips?

Yawn. I mean, really, is that the best Dallas could do?

He's a nice guy and all, but... really.

Okay, I've got to go play soccer in the rain now, hopefully I won't break anything and will be back online tonight. Cheers.

Another thing on Oregon:
While I do think the Ducks have overachieved, I also believe that they are a top 20 team. Oregon is ranked 18th in RPI, while USC is 48th. Is Washington State better than Oregon? Many also consider them overachievers and their schedule hasn't been as difficult as Oregon's. You can only get lucky so many times. Everyone points to Aaron Brooks for the sole reason of Oregon's success, but Malik Hairston is arguably the best athlete in the Pac 10 and Bryce Taylor is at least on par with Arron Afflalo offensively.

Well, the Lakers are getting their... hats handed to them tonight, with Detroit shutting down Kobe and Walton injured. Making a little push here at the end with the B squad (and Odom) but probably too little too late.

Okay, I'm really going now.

And Brian Cook is having some sort of tantrum tonight. Dunno what that's all about.

ESPN2 is showing a college football skils competition.

Justin Medlock won the kicking competition. So apropos for UCLA's 2006 season.

And the Ducks hold on by 4. The Game of the Year is on for Saturday in Corvallis!

79
Fan of the third Naked Gun movie by chance?

95
Got to give a lot of credit to Porter as well. Hairston has completely underachieved since coming to Eugene. He was the 7th rated prospect in the entire class.

Hairston has completely underachieved since coming to Eugene

Yeah. You wonder if he would have done better on a better team. I don't know.

This was on Anna Nicole Smith's Wiki page (now edited):

On February 8, 2007, Smith was found unresponsive in a room of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. She was rushed to hospital. A witness told local media that paramedics were pumping her chest when they took her out of the hotel. They also stuck bees in her mouth. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS

The internets are an amazing thing.

Watching Cal vs Washington and the commentators mentioned Mark Hendrickson. They then asked if he was still pitching and for what team.

Come on Beavers. Help send Arizona to the NITs.

*NIT

And the Cougars roll on.

And the Cougars roll on

Meanwhile, the Cougars lead the Beavers by 3

108 I think that's a different feline species.

109
Yes, I would never ever make such a mistake.

Nope.

Never.

Got to give a lot of credit to Porter as well. Hairston has completely underachieved since coming to Eugene. He was the 7th rated prospect in the entire class.
Porter is a good outside shooter and gives the Ducks another ball handler to compliment Brooks. He's shooting under 40 % from the field, so I wouldn't give him too much credit. He's a nice player, but I think Hairston has been more valuable to the team.

Hairston is a pretty good player for an underachiever. He's not making the kind of impact that was expect of him coming out of high school, but he's shooting almost 60 % from the field, almost 45 % from behind the 3 point arc, is one of Oregon's best rebounder, and gives them a big body at SG/SF. Hairston really hasn't stepped up and become "the man", but he's a nice player. We'll see how he does next year without Brooks.

He's shooting under 40 % from the field

But over 40% on three-pointers.

Pac-10 standings
1) UCLA
2) Wazzu
3) USC
4) Oregon
5) Arizona
6) Stanford
7) Washington
8) Cal
9) OSU
10) ASU

But over 40% on three
That's true, but I believe his eFG % is still under 50 %

113 Why is it that Oregon does not field a baseball team in the Pac-10 (which is actually a Baseball Pac-9)? Is there a history there?

115
I think I used to know that answer to that question, but I can't remember now. They do have a softball team...

115
Oregon didn't have the funding for baseball back in the 1980s and dropped it. I think Title IX issues had something to do with it also.

I count 9 women's sports at Oregon:
Cross Country
Basketball
Golf
Lacrosse
Soccer
Softball
Tennis
Track & Field
Volleyball

And for men, there are seven:
Basketball
Football
Cross Country
Golf
Tennis
Track & Field
Wrestling

Bob, do you think the PAC-10 can get 6 teams into the NCAA tourney?
vr, Xei

To all of you who helped me regarding my broken laptop screen, a big thank you. I got one off ebay ($335), printed out the replacement instructions from Dell and am now typing this on my new screen. It was much easier than I anticipated and far less expensive than buying on a whole new unit. Thanks again all!

Why aren't the women the Ducks and the men the Drakes?

119
I am not Bob, but I definitely think they can. ESPN today did a mock bracket and the Pac-10 had 4 teams among the 1-4 seeds (UCLA, Washington St, Oregon, and USC). Arizona will get in because they are Arizona. It pretty much comes down to Stanford and I think that the perception that the Pac-10 is the best conference will get the Cardinal in.

Kemp and Broxton will provide the home runs, don't you worry.

121
And you could get a real mess for the Pac-10 if a team like Washington wins the tournament.

117 Thanks. That makes sense, although I wouldn't have thought that baseball was so expensive as all that.

Not too long (I think) before I arrived at UCSB (where I teach) in 1993, the students themselves voted to discontinue football, the most expensive sport, rather than pay for it out of increased fees. That probably ultimately accounts for the subsequent surge in their soccer prowess. They do OK in baseball too.

I suppose it must depend largely on which sports a school is good and bad at, rather than the actual cost, when they decide to drop one for funding reasons.

Let's have a black mass for Vin Scully. It's late, no one will ever know we blasphemed.

125
What do you teach at UCSB?

126 Are you kidding? Scully is on the tubes all the time. He'd know. It's a little known fact that funny guy and comment ninja Steve is actually Vin Scully.

Really.

Vin talks in his sleep. Like, alot.

Speaking of UCSB, they're not doing too shabby in basketball this year, either. Big showdown for first looming vs. Long Beach St on Saturday. Beat Irvine tonight.

(I grew up there so I still root for them, as well as UCLA, rather than the sports powerhouse that is my alma mater, San Francisco State, or my grad school, Ca College of the Arts, the "Fighting Paintbrushes".)

125. I was at UCSB when they resurrected the football program (Div III I believe). I was also there when the Gauchos knocked off UNLV when they were #1. I think the Gauchos beat them twice that year, maybe the Rebels only two regular season losses that year. Gilliam, Padillo, Augmon, they all travelled with their wives/girlfriends + kids. It kind of shocked me that most of them had kids already, but the shock quickly wore off.
vr, Xei

129 And you know this... how? Is there a 24 Vin Channel I'm missing?

131 The Brian Shaw/Carrick DeHart years? Good times. I saw that game, too - on TV!

How many times do you guys think Vin Scully has said "By Golly" and "Gee Whiz" in his life?

I'd put it at fourfty brazillion times.

The last Duck baseball player to make it to the majors (in terms of playing at Oregon) was a guy named Tom Dodd who played in 8 games for the Orioles in 1986. His last season in Eugene was 1979.

The greatest Duck would be Joe Gordon.

Dave Roberts was a #1 pick in the draft for the Padres in 1972.

132
I just imagine him all of the sudden to start motor-mouthing in his sleep. With most people it's just a few nonsense bleets. I'm sure Vin is very articulate about it. He may be the first sleep talker to actually make sense.

127 Music (piano).

135 Wow, Roberts is even more ancient than I thought!

I think "The Greatest Duck" should be the title of my next screenplay.

120- Glad it worked out. To the extent that it did, anyway. I mean, it's not a new laptop. But not too shabby. Plus it's good for your geek cred. If you're into that kind of thing.

137
I took a class on classical music, but that's about as close I get.

133. Yep (don't forget Eric McArthur "Freeze" too), I was even there the last year of the Conner Henry (drafted by the Rockets) dynasty. While Brian Shaw was on the Orlando Magic, I happened to be on the same flight as him commuting from LA to OAK. Nobody recognized him. When we got to Oakland and were waiting for baggage, he was standing by himself. I went over and introduced myself to him and said I went to UCSB the same time as him and remembered all those great UNLV games at the Thunderdome. He was nice and talked to me for a little bit then signed my baggage claim ticket. I was also on SWA flight with Mitch Kupchack on it a long time ago (pre GM). He had been up in the bay area probably scouting Pac-10 games, but I didn't talk to him, he was too tall. vr, Xei

That's neat, Xei! :-) Shaw always struck me as a real nice guy - I followed his career after SB - Boston, Orlando, the Lakers. McArthur was a great college player, I always thought he'd have more of a chance in the NBA than he got. Conner was a 3 pt specialist who had a few good games in the pros, then I think he went to Australia to play at some point? Or is that Scott Fisher I'm thinking of...? Ah, those were the days.

I've been next to Mitch Kupchack as well and I think he's too tall also.

139. Plus it's good for your geek cred.

I'm such a geek poser I would be outed in two seconds. I'm gonna have to go with the "if I can do it anyone can" take.

Years ago I was having lunch at Aunt Kizzy's Back Porch in the Marina. I was sitting at my table looking down at my food when the biggest foot I ever saw appeared. Standing so close I had to move back to get a full view was Shaq. That is a very very big guy up close. And I'm no midget.

I too am not a midget.

I had a similar experience with Shaq in Old Town Pasadena. I was standing on a corner when I noticed I was all of a sudden in a huge shadow. I looked next to me and basically saw a belt buckle. When I looked up I realized it was Shaq. He was waiting for the valet to bring him his customized van.

146
Mr. Samir Naga... Naga... Naga... Not gonna work here anymore, anyway?

About 10 years ago I was working in a restaurant on Maui when a woman came up to me and asked for a private table because her husband was "magic." Totally confused, I pictured David Copperfield or some magician/nerd type. Of course, a few minutes later Magic Johnson showed up. He's pretty tall too.

Any of you guys ever been to a SABR meeting? I'm attending one tomorrow and I'm a little intimidated. Nevertheless, I expect it to be awesome.

150 Paging Bob, paging Bob

Seriously if its in the L.A. area, I'd like to know about it too.

Yeah, I thought Bob would be the guy to talk to about that. Thanks to him I'll go in there knowing the difference between SABR and sabermetrics. Alas, it's not in LA, but NYC.

Years ago, I used to eat at a cafe in Hermosa Beach a lot called The Ocean Diner. One day, I'm in there and we see a black mercedes pull up to the Nail place across the street. Out pops Magic. The woman who ran the nail shop, a pretty asian with obvious breast enhancements ran out and gave him a big hug and a long kiss. This was not long before he made his HIV announcement. I've often wondered how she took that news.

He's got a black Magic woman so I don't know what he was doing with some other lady.

150
Oh, you're going to a New York one. There will be a lot of people there unlike an LA one.

If you feel intimidated by a SABR meeting crowd you're likely more shy than Mr. Peterson was in "The Bob Newhart Show."

154 Mick Fleetwood is making an appearance at the Northridge (Calif.) Costco Tuesday to hawk "Mick Fleetwood Private Cellar" wine. I suppose it would be bad form to ask how his ability to appreciate the bouquet may have been affected by certain rumoured late 70s habits.

I work near the Lakers practice facility. No one sticks out farther from their dark green Bentley convertible than Shaq.

I was at UCLA at the same time as Mark Eaton and passed by him a few times. The was a reason he was called The Wall. He seemed to be twice as tall and twice as wide as me. Of course, I'm a mere shrimp at 5'7", 140, but still.... I'd encountered Wilt a couple times, once at an L.A. Stars game at the Sports Arena when I was about nine, and he was tall and muscular, but Eaton's hugeness was startling.

On the original topic, I thought the article was spot-on. And I liked the concluding imagery of Ned Colletti as Quixote, looking for the Dulcinea inside those past-their-prime Aldonzas.

Luis Aldonza.........

Is it bad that I am already thinking about the amount of money we will have to work with next season? Tomko, Kent, Gonzo (assuming no re-signing, god forbid), Odie Perez, Mueller, and no buyouts. That equals about $33 mil coming off of the payroll.

Since we hopefully will not have to replace Tomko or Gonzo with FAs, that leaves us with all that money to fill not too many spots.

I wonder what we will do with all that money...

Not that you asked, but the Dodgers 2008 payroll will be anywhere from $78,150,000 - $98,800,000.

159 - don't spend kent's money yet. he could still some back. btw, is 550 plate appearances a lot?

161 For a 39-year old second baseman it is. Kent had 473 last season, but > 550 every year from 1997-2005. (League leaders are usually low to mid 700s.)

i can almost see us carrying laroche just so betemit can slide to 2b when kent gets the day off. otherwise, we're left with martinez at 2b and a gaping hole in the cleanup spot.

independent of the plate appearance angle, we have to give kent ample rest this year.

I should add that 550 PAs for Kent would be very roughly 130 games.

162. (League leaders are usually low to mid 700s.)

Unfortunatly we are now carring that guy.

I eat at a little place on Pico a lot called John O' Groats and have become friendly with the owner. Last week I was sitting at the counter having breakfast when some guy sits down next to me. We said hello, made a second of small talk and went back to our respective newspapers. I finshed, said goodbye and left.

A few days later when I was in and the owner told me I was talking to Chase Utley. Oh well, who knew?

I haven't been to John O'Groats in a long time. I like that place.

Apparently Gonzo and Craig Counsel used to eat at O'Groats quite a bit when the D'Backs were in town. Maybe Gonzo will be eating there more often now that he is a Dodger. Him, I would recognize.

166/167 - John O'Groats is crowded enough as it is - let's not start recruiting people over there ...

I can picture Counsel holding his plate above his head.

And wouldn't Counsel rather eat at a place called John O'Grit's?

169 Okay, maybe someone can explain to me why oh why is the Cheesecake Factory in Old Pasadena always crowded? Is there no where else in that area to get large portions of mediorce food?

169. Its not so crowded during the week. On weekends I stay away-its out of control then.

172. Its what people want. Like Outback, people want as much food as they can get for their money. They think it translates to value. No portion is too big and the Cheesecake Factory has suceeded on that fact. I stay away from such places because regardless of how much food you serve me, I will eat it all. Lack of self control combined with Jewish guilt forbids me from wasting food.

172 That is one of the great, unanswered questions. Coincidentally, that is the corner I saw Shaq on that I mentioned in 147

"The one in the back? With the dead arm still living off yesterday's glory? Yeah, that's Luis Gonzalez. No, not the one that played for the Rockies."

172. The same holds for me, only I'm not Jewish, can't eat any place with huge portions.

150

NY-based SABR member chiming in ...

Hey .... don't be intimated! Its a lot of fun. Good panelists .... authors talking about their books. Kick-ass baseball trivia contest (let's put it this way ... in their last 30 question contest, I got 1 right .... and I think I know a bit about baseball).

Relax ... have fun ....mingle ....

(Sadly ... I can't make it ... other engagement going on)

172
You have touched on one of the great mysteries of SoCal. I can name 10 restaurants within 5 blocks that I would rather eat at (Louise's, Wokcano, Red White and Blues, etc.). Yet there is always a 1-2 hour wait on the weekends.

I just don't get it...

There is something to the quantity=value equation. Quantity is not the only thing to consider, of course, but it is one thing.

In specific, I think Le Pain Quotidien is very tasty, but when I finish their sandwiches, I'm still hungry. I hate that, so I don't go there.

The worst offender of the lack of quantity- no value equation is The Water Grill (IMO, the most pretentious restaurant ever). Their prices for the size of portion would be laughable if it weren't so ridiculously expensive. Patina is a close second.

The great mystery of the Cheesecake Factory is that you get such large entrees that you usually have no room for dessert.

If you can't find a better place to eat in Old Pasadena than the Cheesecake Factory, you aren't looking very hard.

I often find myself in the odd position of defending Cheesecake Factory. No doubt that they are far from the best food you can eat but I think they do an admirable job of offering an insane variety of choices and maintaining half decent quality.
I just think there is a giant void in the choices when it comes to better than Olive Garden but cheaper than fancy with enough choices that everyone will get what they are in the mood for.
I know many people think it's just plain bad but I think it's a lot better than that. And the Ultimate Margarita there will get you lit before the entree shows up.

My Cheesecakse Factory problem is that: I am not capable of deciding what to get.

I have trouble figuring out which chapter of the menu to even order from.

Meanwhile, anyone out there remember the old John O'Groats? (Same family, diff location.)

So United 93 is awardworthy in other countries but not ours?

Some entertainment writer who was deeply affected by that film ought to stir up a stink about that.

The Cheesecake Factory sells ad space in its menu.

I find that disturbing for some reason.

Deeply disturbing.

184. I had never been to the old O'Groats but Paul's mother and father are still around and they are always talking about it. Paul's parents owned the old O'Groats and presumably the current one but he runs it now. When it moved to its new location it was one room. Then they acquired the place next door and then the place next to that. Now its three rooms and there is still a wait on Sat and Sun.

BTW, Sam you aren't that old!

187 Well, no, not compared to you anyways. ;)

186 Nothing like that swimsuit ad to make you want to order a piece of cheesecake.

Okay now can I bring up another long lost place of my youth.

La Barbara's Pizzaria - best jalapeno pizza ever.

156

Dave, if you were to `ask Mick 'bout what he used to do, you might not get the answer that you wanted to..."

I'm feeling very neighborhood nostalgic today as my mom has decided to sell the house I lived in for my whole childhood, and the house she has lived in for 40 years.

It's the right thing to do and all, but I can't say I like it one bit.

186 As does Dodger Thoughts.
Fear not of the advertiser. His is the grease that makes capitalist society run. Doesn't hurt if you get a little on you.

191
Sam,
Remember the words of the author Thomas Wolfe in this instance...

"Does this order of steak come with a complimentary piece of cheesecake?"

189 I'm down with that memory! Best pepperoni too!

192
I don't mind the advertisements. I just mind that they have menu big enough that is has enough space on it to sell advertising!

Woah. I haven't seen Scott Pollard in a while. He has, uh, changed.

I have For Your Eyes Only on right now (about to change, trust me). But really, is there anyone who thinks Roger Moore was a good James Bond?

And I realize fashion changes but the puffy blue parka and sriped knit cap he wears for the whole Lynn Holly Johnson phase of the movie just couldn't have been cool, even in into 1980whatever it was that this was released.

Just noticed a weird quirk of the Dodger schedule. Because of a "road trip" that consists entirely of 3 games against the Angels, the Dodgers will sleep in their own beds for 18 consecutive nights in May. I guess that doesn't mean much if you're not on the team but that's a rare thing indeed.

197
I thought Roger Moore was a pretty good James Bond.

But I also liked last night's episode of "The Office."

And I don't like the Cheesecake Factory.

You do the math.

I find Roger Moore not suave, not resourceful, and not dangerous, all of which seem like key Bond attributes to me.

Then again, I was a Timothy Dalton fan.

198 Greg If that is sure and causes that long a home bed streak, I will be very interested in the results. It could go either way, but it might be positive and this will be a good test!

I also liked Roger Moore. "Live and Let Die" is one of my favorites in the series. On the other hand, "Moonraker" was probably my least favorite. But I don't blame that on Roger.

Timothy Dalton gets cred with me because The Living Daylights is one of the few great Bond films. Better than any of the Moore movies. But Moore was okay.

Also, if your child gets sick, please keep them home from school. They spread their little sicknesses everywhere!

I have not seen either of the Dalton films.

Roger Moore had a few good days but mostly bad ones. Especially when compared to Sean Connery. A while back, Occtapussy and Goldfinger were on at the same time. I was switching back and forth and it made Moore look that much worse. It was like a 24 year old Koufax vs. Mark Hendrikson most any day.

Reading Jon's "Colletti and Depo" piece on the sidebar, (Other Writing by Jon on the Web), I noticed this on the page:

2002 Ricardo Rodriguez, RHP
2001 Ben Diggins, RHP

Apparently then highly regarded Dodger prospects. Que pasa?

Not really fair to compare to Goldfinger, quite possibly the best Bond movie of all. Connery made some stinkers too (e.g. Thunderball, Never Say Never Again, You only Live Twice)

190 Oh well.

What if I congratulated him on bagging Stevie back in the day when she was one of our teenage lust objects?

In important sports news, John Smoltz is getting divorced. Glad I didn't miss that one.

197. I have Striptease on right now. Planned to change the channel but Demi Moore just coming out on stage, so I didn't. She was good looking. That movie is bad, very bad. Switched to Caddyshack. Only seen it a couple of hundred times.

191. Sorry to hear it Sam. I know the feeling, last year someone bought the house I grew up in (we had sold it a long time ago) tore most of it down and replaced with a contempory version. Yuck.

Was Chevy Chase ever funny? He is the weak link in Caddyshack.

212 You're kidding, right? Ty Webb dominates that movie.

I was born to love you
I was born to lick your face
I was born to rub you
But you were born to rub me first

Ted Knight dominates the movie. The proof is in the fact he was the President of Bushwood. They wouldn't have elected a knucklhead as President. Ty Web is just being the same character he is in every other Chevey Chase movie.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Harris Interactive teamed up for a public poll of the 150 best works of architecture in America.

While dominated by New York and Washington, D.C., there were a few buildings west of Chicago that made the list. And one of them our friend Bob is familiar with, can you guess the name of that building.

Prospectus did an article on high on base, low slugging hitters. In it, they talked about some of the truly horrendous on base and slugging lines of the past 40 or so years. I particularly liked this one:

.258/.254: Alfredo Griffin, 1990 Dodgers

214 But Chevy Chase hadn't been Chevy Chase in all those other movies yet. He was great in Caddyshack, Fletch, and the first Vacation movie!

215
They have got to be kidding if they included my workplace in the top 150 buildings in the U.S. Have they ever walked inside? Or tried to get around inside the building?

214 But really the guy who makes that movie is Rodney Dangerfield, he basically is doing his act with no attempt to "play" a role.

"Last time I saw a mouth like that, it had a hook in it."

"Oh, this your wife, huh? A lovely lady. Hey baby, you must've been something before electricity."

[to his Asian companion] "I hear this place is restricted, Wang, so don't tell 'em you're Jewish, okay?"

[After breaking wind at dinner] "Hey, did somebody step on a duck?

Just that opening when he goes through the pro shop just tossing out joke after joke, that is a lost art, the ability to go after a laugh one at a time.

217 Good point. Vacation, yes. Fletch, not so much. Actually, Fletch, not at all. I had a girlfriend who loved Fletch but I didn't get it. Apparently I was born without a Chevy Chase funnybone.

216 What year was that---I hope it wasn't all time with the D's. At any rate Griffin brought less to the Dodgers than almost any acquisition.
Talking BB may give me latitude for a movie remark. For action/horror movies, I stop watching if the homicidal maniac is knocked down and then no one bothers to settle his hash. Surprisingly I miss 65% of these conclusions, but in truth I miss nothing.

In 1988 Alfredo Griffin had 27 with 9 of them coming on bases-loaded triples.

222
That was "27 RBI"

Sorry Greg--you spec. 1990. Its getting late back East and I will retire.
I am getting buggy for spring training to start.

223 I forget who used to talk about this all the time on Dodgertalk, maybe it was A Martinez but is it RBI or RBIs?

I am positive this has been discussed here, what do you all think about adding the s to HR, AB, K, BB, etc.

I like RsBI. If I recall correctly, Bob does not like that term.

226
You are quite correct.

When the world is facing imminent destruction and civilization is being saved on a spaceship, I will be allowed on that ship to be the style guide writer for the future.

We can't have a future in outer space without one! I can't live in a society where spelling my alma mater as "U.C.L.A." is acceptable!

227 All the N.Y. Times copy editors will be in same ship with Rosie, Pauly, Tom Arnold and Homer.

227 But that's how they spell it on the 405 when it says "U.C.L.A. next right". If we can't trust CalTrans, who can we trust?

229
CalTrans had a sign on the Via Marisol exit on the 110 Freeway that pointed to "Herman Avenue", which was:
1) actually spelled "Hermon Avenue"
2) had long been renamed as "Via Marisol"

So there was a sign pointing to a misspelled, nonexistent street.

At least we can have some confidence in management's player evaluation skills. From Rotoworld:

"After failing to impress the Dodgers during a Feb. 2 workout, 44-year-old Jeff Fassero has decided to call it a career."

I can't believe Bob dissed his own building. I love that building. I even like wandering around in it.

231
Sheesh, that was one of my recent wave of Griddle postings!

232
You walk through the building Marty. I work in it.

Two different things.

Still Bob, it's a great building. I love the view from the street looking at the front.

The movie talk gives me an opening to boast about what I just finished watching: Battlefield Earth.

Oh yeah. I can feel the envy.

I saw it in the theater, the day it opened, too. Good times. It's not quite as good, to my mind, as the Omega Code. But still very awesome.

234
Bertram Goodhue got higher marks for the Nebraska State Capitol.

But the difference is that building is in Nebraska :)

For Forrest Whittaker's sake, they shouldn't be showing Battlefield Earth around Oscar time.

Foul Play was on tonight, and LAT was killing time on Dodger Thoughts. That's devotion.

238 Academy voter getting ready to vote for Eddie Murphy and then one of thousands of commercials for "Norbet" come on TV.

Oh why couldn't that come out in March.

233 I can't keep up with all your postings, especially when they have cryptic names like "I guess 16 years was enough". 16 years of what? Sand painting? Corn husking? Crappy swingmaning? Clear it up Bob-o!

Daughter wanted to see Norbit so wife took her. They just got home. Even 11 yr old thought it was awful. Wife said it may be the worst movie she ever saw.

Daughter wanted to see Norbit so wife took her

Reason #247 not to have kids

242 I thought the sign of the apocalypse was upon us when earlier in the week Norbit had a 60% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it certified "fresh". Luckily, after the first 3 out of 5 reviews were favorable, only 5 of the next 68 came up roses, leaving it with the much more accurate 10% rating.

243. This week I can recite the first 246 by heart.

Andrew, how much did you get paid to be Eddie Murphy's stunt double?

246- Eddie's a strong believer in non-taxable service exchanges. So, I did his stunt work, and he hooked me up with some friends of his in another industry. I've always thought of myself as open minded, but, in retrospect, I would have been much better off taking cash and paying taxes.

Much better off.

People always say that if you don't have a wife and kids, you don't know what you're missing. I know exactly what I'm missing.

I'm missing Norbit. I WIN.

Among the worst parts of having kids must be the debilitating sense of shame and helplessness that goes along with knowing how badly you're being taken advantage of by The Man when you have to take your kids to movies like Norbit and buy them crap like Jar-Jar Binks lunch boxes.

I don't understand. You did his stunt work, and you worked in "another industry" for him? In this story, Andrew = Ned Colletti and Eddie Murphy = that guy in Tampa Bay whose name isn't even worth remembering, much less picking up the phone and calling him every single day to find out what crap he's willing to trade you.

248
Plus, you're free to spend your Friday nights posting on baseball blogs without being bothered.

250- No, no, no. It was an exchange of services, mine for him and his friends' for me.

The whole transvestite hooker thing? I don't know; I thought it was funny.

The whole transvestite hooker thing? I don't know; I thought it was funny.

And what did we get from that guy whose name I can't remember? OK, then. There you go.

251 See, D4P is a man who gets it...

I can't believe I just wrote that.

We can't have D4P getting it on one hand, and Andrew missing Ryan's strong anti-bouquet move on the other hand. The natural order of things is being upset.

The Baseball Toaster must be broke. It's saying that every new post is from the Griddle. vr, Xei

256
You should have invested in my choices for the baseball players Dead Pool.

RIP, Eddie Feigner

http://tinyurl.com/33u7uv

If there really is a Ch-i, don't you think he'll strike down each and every man claiming to be the father of the famous, recently deceased heiress's child? It'd get me back in to church, if He did. I'm just saying.

Movie talk and family bashing. Which one is worse?
vr, Xei

It'd get me back in to church

Back...? Do tell...

261- I was young, once.

Andrew missing Ryan's strong anti-bouquet move on the other hand

It's probably from all those second hand coffee fumes

258 I remember watching the King and His Court on ABC's Wide World of Sports, along with the Harlem Globetrotters.

Good times.

DT: 265
SJ: 65

Yet, Hank Bauer passes away and nobody cares...

Or even the fact that John Smoltz is getting divorced.

TG: 0

267 The Griddle isn't about the post count. The Griddle is a state of mind.

It is also about timely obituaries.

It is also about timely obituaries

No time is a good time for goodbye...

JW: 332

Here's the headline on ESPN's baseball page:

Best In The Biz
Gary Matthews Jr. had a career year last season for the Rangers. And if he can have another huge campaign in 2007, Matthews could help make the Angels' outfield tops in the majors.

Watching Sarah Silverman's stand up: very funny, totally irreverent. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is off limits.

Oh, new thread at Screen Jam, by the way.

271 - I watched two episodes of her new show and it's funny at times, and I get it, but I think I've probably seen enough.

Speaking of Sarah Silverman? Any Greg the Bunny fans out there...?

272- I only watched the first one, but had the same opinion. I liked Jesus is Magic, and I think she's funny. But the show isn't much. Orders of magnitude better than Lucky Louie, though.

I am also currently watching Jesus is Magic. And Greg the Bunny=Good stuff.

Jesus is magic is what I'm watching. I can't figure out if the fact that she's pretty cute works for or against her.

Greg the Bunny=Good stuff

Tardy, Blah, and Warren died way too young.

Blah was ridiculously funny. Comedy gold. It's still on IFC from time to time.

Is it manly or pathetic to spend your Friday night drinking straight whiskey while watching the World's Strongest Man completion?

280
The prerogative of the childless

The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

"Ah-iggit"! Blah.

280 How about drinking diet coke, reviewing baseball prospect guides and watching a repeat of an American Masters documentary about Judy Garland.

Its a wonder her body didn't burn out by the time she was 30, all those pills, stress and self-doubt and yet she is on the short list of truly iconic performers in all of entertainment history.

282 All right, just wanted an official ruling.

I'm really dissapointed that there's no one
named Magnus competing.

As bad as Joe Morgan is, he's Vin Scully compared to the color guy in the World's Strongest Man Competition.

"Yeah, that stone is really heavy, Steve."

Katie Holmes > Penelope Cruz

I don't get it.

The World's Strongest Man comptetition has been coming up with new and inventive ways to carry, drag, and throw heavy objects for twenty years.

I respect that.

Richard Pryor Live in Concert (1979) is on TV. Every comedian today shoud be required to watch it and pay a % of thier income to Pryor's estate. He made it all possible.

288 I've learned that there are at least four ways to lift a car off the ground tonight.

In a sudden surge of hypocracy, I'm rooting for the English guy who weighs an Eckstein like 234 pounds. Color guy is constantly mentioning how much easier things would be if he were taller.

Eckstein has finished a disappointing last place. Now I don't believe in nothing.

Crazier than a diapered astronaut, more powerful than a 78 year old surviver: http://tinyurl.com/2eqcpp

"After ensuring no women would be traumatized by what I had to do (I had been trailing [Eli] Wiesel for weeks), I stopped the elevator at the sixth floor. I pulled Wiesel out of the elevator. I said I wanted to interview him. He protested, grabbed at his chest as if he was having a heart attack. He then screamed HELP! HELP! at the top of his lungs. This is someone who in his public appearances, speaks so softly, that when he appeared on Oprah, they had to use subtitles throughout. Wiesel had dropped this phony persona and assumed his actual personality, of an insane lunatic."

He managed the Orioles to victory over the Dodgers in the '66 series, spoiling the final week of Sandy Koufax's career. He got 23 hits off Dodger pitching in the Series of '49, '52,'53, '55, and '56. He was a worthy and persistent Dodger adversary. Hank Bauer, RIP.

Gosh, I would have bet money that Earl Weaver was the manager in 1966.

Looks like the Pads/Towers are doing it again. According to media reports, they have on the table a trade of reliever Scott Linebrink for Phillies' center fielder Aaron Rowand. I would much rather have Rowand patroling CF for us than Pierre. I wonder why Ned didn't make a deal for him?

Don't know about the rest of you but I growing weary of the the Pads, who have no minor league talent and never spring for top-level free agents, making trades like this. The Pads shouldn't even be competitive with us. For shame.

I thought the Rowand/Linebrink deal was dead last week?

I would much rather have Rowand patroling CF for us than Pierre.

You bet your sweet bippy.

I don't recall seeing a "RIP Rowand/Linebrink deal" post on The Griddle...

I don't post metaphorical obituaries.

"If it's not on The Griddle, it ain't dead"

It's a shame the Bruins don't get to face Kevin Pittsnogle today. Well, not really, I just like saying "Pittsnogle."

Pittsnogle

I just like saying "Pittsnogle."

And to think: no lady has snatched you up yet

The goofy ex-Vermont head coach on ESPN said that today's game should be a "Walk in the park" for West Virginia. And he was not kidding. UCLA going across country, Collison being out, etc.

Keep in mind that "Walks in the park" are not always easy or successful. Sometimes you have to walk uphill, and you might even step in animal excrement. Not to mention to possibility of getting mugged or physically violated.

According to the media, Towers has put the Linebrink-Rowand deal on the warmer. It is not dead. Supposedly, Towers wants to have a look at Termel Sledge during spring training to see whether he can take over CF. I think we know the answer to that. Look for the Pads to pick up Rowand sometime in March.

The goofy ex-Vermont coach, aka Tom Brennan, is likely still upset about his team getting jobbed in a loss at Pauley.

Why did these West Virginia kids have to learn how to shoot?

Gee, thanks for the Princeton flashback, CBS. They ALWAYS do that when we're on CBS.

UCLA...First team to ever be upset in the Tournament.

Some of these nonconference games in the middle of a conference season can be tough.

Exhibit A for the prosecution: North Dakota State's win over Wisconsin last year.

Exhibit B for the defense: North Carolina's destruction of Arizona this year.

Why aren't the coaches wearing jackets and ties?

And Tim Brando answers me!

Seems like the prosecution and defense can use the same evidence...

When I go back to work, when I'm paired up with someone on the reference desk I will call that person "partner" all the time.

At what point will that drive the other person crazy?

This new Chevrolet almost makes me want John Mellencamp...

Almost.

*new Chevrolet ad

That was brilliant ball movement. I'd like to see more of that, please.

Well, that was a very frustrating first half. Offense just disappears and you watch clank after clank after clank.

Ugh.

Walk in the park.

318 LOL. Thankfully, we tend to play good second half basketball. I'm not exactly waving the white flag.

Am I supposed to know who Danny Gans is?

320 He went to Torrance High, was in Bull Durham, and makes about twenty gazillion dollars a year as the biggest draw in Vegas.

320
Popular comedian in Vegas.

I'm not exactly waving the white flag

Nor will there be such a flag above your door

He must be wonderful.

I am waving a red and white checkered shirt.

Now I've got a bunch of Croatians in my apartment.

We need to introduce Bob to Mirko "Croatian Cop" Filipovic.

MMA superstar and Croatian Parliament member.

I'm all for letting the kids play, but Good Lord.

Did you see the contest between Frank Edgar and Tyson Griffin? That was pretty exciting.

Yeah, that was the best fight of the night.

Walk in the park...

Please sit down, Shipp.

I guess we figured out just how important Darren Collison is.

And Josh Shipp is a disaster. Feel free to regress every year of your career, Josh. Waist of space and talent.

Tom Brennan is on a plane and heading out west to come to Greg Brock's house, knock on the door, say "Hah! Hah!" in a Nelson Muntz voice and then leave.

334 He doesn't need to do that. You're doing an outstanding job.

335
Thank you.

I'm a craftsman.

And I spent my four years at UCLA watching some really dreadful basketball.

We have a Josh Shipp sighting.

Tim Brando and Clark Kellogg have sort of stopped paying attention.

I get the sense that Brando and Kellogg would be really disappointed if UCLA came all the way back. They've been having a love affair with the Mountaineers this game.

339
Hmm...

Gutty underdogs versus the big kids on the block. And the game is in the gutty underdogs gym.

What storyline would you go with?

Speaking of gyms:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIFofh1MEaM

340 I would just announce the basketball game. It's crazy, but it just might work.

Greg Brock is now checking airfares to Connecticut just to be on the safe sides. He may have to fly there to slap around Tom Brennan after all.

He also has a "Manchurian Candidate" like order to eliminate Digger Phelps.

341
Did you just have that saved up?

344
No, but I had just looked for it the other day so I knew how to find it.

This game is making me want to buy coal.

343 I didn't mind that Brennan thought the Mountaineers would win. I figured they had a shot. It was the completely dismissive "Meh, walk in the park for WVU" comment that bothered me. It would bother me if any two teams were playing. I don't know how you can do that when one team is #2 and another team is unranked. It just seemed really dumb.

Josh Shipp likes to dribble into the corner, which is the dumbest thing to do in basketball.

347
You may be reading more sinister motives in to an off-the-cuff comment by Mr. Brennan.

How surprised will everyone be if UCLA wins this game:

1. Not very
2. Hardly
3. Not exactly
4. Barely

Well we aren't, so I would say very surprised.

350 I'll be pretty surprised, actually. Winning these types of non-conference games across the country are tough.

350
At which point am I supposed to make this determination?

Retrospectively to certain times in the game?

Now?

Those nasty free throws.

Winning these types of non-conference games across the country are tough

I've seen evidence in support of that position, and in opposition to it...

At which point am I supposed to make this determination?

At 11:52:01, PT

354
UCLA is actually 10 of 13 from the line today.

Whoops, 11 of 14.

356
I'm not here to talk about the past.

I'm not here to talk about the past

I wondered if any of Greg's students have ever used that line in class when called upon to answer a question...

Darren Collison's absence might have played a role in this outcome. A little bit.

Russell Westbrook did OK.

If you ignore the 1 of 11 shooting and the numerous turnovers and defensive lapses.

It's a testament to Coach Howland that every game we lose ends up with the court being stormed.

Kevin Love cannot come to Westwood soon enough.

364
You're disappointed in a team with three losses?

Are you sure you aren't an alum who graduated in 1971 or something?

363 Just hope that it doesn't happen too many more times this season.

I think going almost 10 minutes without a basket hurts.

Its hard to make a big comeback because you have to play near perfect basketball plus get some breaks and UCLA did and got neither in the last few minutes.

As long as Darren is ready for the AZ games, UCLA should be fine and I doubt they drop more than 2-3 spots especially since Collison was out today.

365
Not disappointed in the team. UCLA just needs a low post presence badly.

This is the first time I've ever said or thought this, but I am rooting like the Dickens for Kentucky tonight.

However, Kevin Love could not have been Darren Collison today. So I don't think the outcome would have been much different.

368
You mean Kentucky at home against the Fighting JoeyP's?

368
Same here.

369
Was just talking in general, not just about today. But Love would have helped a ton for us today. We lost because of them driving and cutting and getting offensive rebounds. Love would have helped in both of those areas.

371
Make do or do without.

Bob is channeling Don Rumsfeld.

373
More like John Smith in the Jamestown colony.

Danny Gans going old school with the cardigan and the flat cap. Very nice.

Yahoo's boxscore listed Radenovic's position for Arizona as "4F".

Bo Ryan is wearing a jacket and tie. He must want people to get cancer.

I think about how much Vijay Singh must despise having to share the course with celebrity duffers...And that makes me very happy.

Today is unfair. U.C.L.A's loss won't be reflected in the updated Pac-10 standings, while Oregon's will...

377
Well, I understand where you're coming from, but at the same time, he chooses to play in that tournament, so he can't despise the duffers that much...

378
So when did you start working for the New York Times?

Are you part of their North Carolina bureau?

379 Vijay Singh plays in every tournament. Because golf is the only thing he has in his miserable little life. I'm positive he hates it.

Way to be positive D4P.

Oguchi wants to stick it to Dodger Thought's Oregon fans.

Even if Arizona State beats Oregon State to tie them in the Pac-10 standings at 1-12, the Sun Devils will still be the #10 seed.

Just so you can prepare your brackets.

I don't understand why so many celebrities, with millions of dollars, have some of the most atrocious golf swings I've ever seen.

Any local club pro could fix these disaster swings.

From a self-interest point only, whom should I root for in the Oregon-Arizona game?

286 Which team is closer to the Bruins? Is it O.R.E.G.O.N.? If so, root for the Wildcats, right?

I always tend to root for Arizona to lose, because of recruiting reasons.

Sarah Jessica Parker and a shaggy haired, knee-brace wearing Bruce Wilis working together on a Hudson Rivery-looking police boat.

Name That Film!

Striking Distance.

Little miss riding hood...

Scary how I remember that.

Striking Distance!

389 It actually took place in Pittsburgh, if I recall.

Why do I recall? No idea.

Not the Hudson, more like one of the Three Rivers I'd Say (as determined by a life preserver on the boat that says "City of Pittsburgh").

392
Great movies set in Pittsburgh

1. Wonder Boys
2-9. Vacant.
10. Striking Distance

SOrry was typing 393 while you al were zooming ahead.

Well done!

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh!

The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh.
Gung Ho

Typing in Gung Ho cost me two seconds to Steve.

The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh?

So, what no one's gonna plump for Flashdance?

Gung Ho was set in Hadleyville.

I stand by my list.

Wasn't the first scene of Groundhog Day set in Pittsburgh?

401 Hadleyville, PA. They were all Pirates and Steelers fans. It was a Steel Mill that closed down.

That's Pittsburgh enough for me. And Hadleyville doesn't really exist.

Hadleyville was far too small to be Pittsburgh.

Yahoo seems to think that UCLA's loss to WV is worse than
"UCLA came up short Saturday as an unranked West Virginia team sent the No. 2 Bruins home with a shocking 70-65 loss."

I don't remember UNC's loss to NC State or Duke's loss to GT being magnified so much.

Brent Musburger is college basketball/football's version of Tim McCarver.

Back to the Dodgers for a moment. Beimel was no match for Kim Ng, so he lost his arbitration case and will make $912,500 this season.

406 UCLA has three losses, on the road, all to top 50 RPI teams. Maybe I'm missing something, but I fail to see what the big deal is here.

Well I'm glad I never spent the $100 or more to see Danny Gans in Vegas.

On movies in Pittsburgh, "Angels in the Outfield" was set in Pittsburgh, the only thing more unbelievable than the Pirates turning their season around was the beautiful and young Janet Leigh falling for a gruff Paul Douglas who could have been her father, Douglas seemed much older than his age, 44, while Leigh plays not much older than her age of 24.

Nonetheless, all of this was better than the remake featuring the LA/California/Anaheim/LA of Anaheim Angels with Danny Glover and Christopher Lloyd.

407 Somehow I feel there will less repercussions of this arbitration than Gagne's but maybe Plaschke will write on how one poor decision in a bar lost Joe a few hundred thousand.

408- of course they'll drop 2-3 spots in the standings, though.

411 Yeah, they will. Fortunately, the selection process has far more to do with RPI than it does the rankings.

Barring a disaster, #1 seed in the West should be a lock.

Bob, did you cover Bryce Taylor in high school?

The ESPN commentator's prediction that WVU would beat UCLA was not goofy but prescient.
Maybe he watched Stanford game.

Steve Lavin just said "Malik Hairston, continuing to improve..."

Um, no Steve.

Malik Hairston and Chase Budinger, 2 enigmas that have not played well against UCLA thus far.

Lavin sure did get his hands around Kapono. He was literally holding him back.

*on

417 He made sure he could shoot with a hand in his face by never running a screen for him.

409 - I think I speak for the entire born-after-1980 set here when I say: Woah woah woah, seriously?? "Angels in the Outfield" was not written about the Disney-owned CA/LA/Anaheim Angels?

And that commenter is right, check out how much picture #2 looks like Steve Finley:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0109127/

http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2005/09/26/loYpHngS.jpg

414 I think you might have missed the specific bone of contention. Nobody thought WVU beating UCLA was a shocker.

I'm going to wait a few years, but the day will come when, after ensuring that no women are traumatized by it, I will pull Steve Lavin out of an elevator and demand the truth from him. I fully expect that he will reveal himself to be an insane lunatic.

"Dominic and Eugene" from 1988 with Tom Hulse, Ray Liotta, Jamie Lee Curtis (and a sleezy child abusing father played by David Strathairn) was supposed to take place in Pittsburgh. I liked it a lot, but wife thinks it's too depressing.

Just got home from Stanky Field at the University of South Alabama after seeing the USA varsity play its "Hall of Fame" all-stars including Juan Pierre, Luis Gonzalez, and Marlon Anderson. Got Juan's authograph after an 0-5 performance (he stole a base and scored after getting to first on an error). Gonzalez, whose number is the only USA player whose number has been retired in addition to Eddie Stanky(coached here after his major league career), hit one line-drive single and a lot of weak fly outs. Marlon didn't play. Is he hurt?

There were only 7 major/minor league all-stars so J.P. got up 5 times in 5 innings, and LG 6.

It was great to go to a game in February.

Oregon needs to go to Leunen and Taylor more. They shoot way too many 3's. Oguchi should be permanently benched.

420 Actually as long as you have Turner Classic Movies, you'll see movies like Angels in the Outfield once in a while...

422 The truth about what, his hair?

Is this casual Saturday, Howland no jacket and dress shirt, Lute no tie, Kent wearing a golf shirt?

An 0-5 performance, reached on an error, stole second and scored?

Is that the Platonic Ideal Juan Pierre game?

426 Coaches vs. Cancer attire.

Oregon doesn't deserve to win.

427- It is, so long as he also let Benji Molina tag up and take third and a fly to shallow center.

In an answer to an earlier question, I never saw Bryce Taylor play in high school.

Lute Olson is a madman

Lute Olson having a stroke, Ernie Kent getting crushed by the officials, Ben Howland coaching from the three point line.

Pacific Ten Basketball...It's Coachtastic!

428 That's cool, I just thought it was unusual when I saw both Kent and Lute in their attire.

I've got the sound off, is the guy grabbing his chest really not having a heart attack?

Did Ernie Kent draw a charge on that play?

ABC doing a fabulous job on their replays.

That was a horrible call

How was that offensive foul. No way was he set.

That was a terrible call. Wow...that is not a great call. No way, no how, no chance.

Shut up, Lavin, it was a bad call.

It was a horrible charge call at the other end a minute ago, though. So, now their even.

Wow, what a call on the road for Lute.

Lute is the modern day Dean Smith.

Nope Brooks dropped his head and went forward first.

Steve Lavin...Dumb announcer, or dumbest announcer?

Dave Libby strikes again.

443
Dean Smith is just three years older than Lute Olson.

Your generations must change quickly.

444 I agree on this respect, why does Brooks try to draw a foul, he needs to dish or shoot.

I'm sure Bob will have the updated standings up right away.

449
Not until the last two games are done today.

Washington and Stanford don't play until tomorrow anyway.

444 Brooks dropped his head to drive the ball up the court before the defender slides out. You can't slide in front of an advancing player like that. So, I respectfully disagree.

But Dave Libby agrees with you, and that's all that matters

A huge day for jewfros and albinism.

Dave Libby and I hang out a lot.

Aaron Brooks poor shot selection killed the Ducks. Taylor barely got any shot attempts in the 2nd half. Leunen didn't get a lot of touches in the 2nd half.

In Dodgers news, Joe Beimel lost his arbitration case.

I hope that Greg Brock has not stayed on ABC to watch the end of the KU-Missoui game and hear Jimmy Dykes talk about the Pac-10.

455 - Duly and succinctly noted in new post above.

456 Yeah, I've heard that. Fortunately, most pundits, the RPI, the rankings, and basic brain functions disagree with him.

That was definitely a charge on Brooks, you can't just bowl over a guy that's retreating. Turned out to be a great win for Arizona, but they shouldn't expect Budinger to drop 30 every game and Brooks to build a brick house.

459- in my view, the defender stepped in front of Brooks while Brooks was in mid stride. Brooks was way too aggressive in that situation. Still, it was a bad call.

Shakur had been retreating the whole way down the court and finally Brooks just made his move and went right at him. Since Shakur was moving backwards he didn't have to establish position, so that's why it was a charge...along with Brooks putting his forearm right in his chest.

http://tinyurl.com/2amycp

Gonzaga's loss, USC/Oregon State's gain?

Turn on ESPN2 if you want to see Bobby Knight go "Lute Olson"