Unfortunately, also work today. I'll be in meetings until 2 p.m. Enjoy the ballgame, and the discussion everbody, and go Dodgers!

Rule change for 2007: Note at end of Rule 2.00 "Any reference in these Official Baseball Rules to "he", "him", or "his" shall be deemed to be a reference to "she", "her" or "hers" as the case may be, when the person is female."

I am not making this up.

also, this seems like a good time to say something positive about grady little. in spite of whatever questionable moves our gm makes, little has shown a very practical sense of playing the guys who give us the best chance of winning.

we will no doubt have cause to question many of his moves this year, but overall i think he sees the game the right way and will do everything in his power to put the best team on the field day in and day out.

5 You're right, Toy - I thought that was for the month, d'oh. (I'm sick, don't have my glasses on, the sun got in my eyes, etc.) I'm gonna subscribe right now.

Now, can you pay extra for a Rick Monday-free version?

GO BLUE!

I believe your comment sums up the general mood of the Dodger Thoughts community.

I tried to get to one of the games that is supposed to be available today (Cardinals/Mets) and can't get to that either, nor any way to log in either. It may just be that my subscription has not been processed yet, I guess, although I did get an immediate email receipt. No "Welcome: here's how to log in" though.

I've been waiting over 30 minutes to get through by phone, no surprise there.

Is anyone else here subscribe? How is it supposed to work?

See "Job, Book of"

I just tried subscribing to Gameday Audio too... no luck. The website craps out and gives me a phone number to call, and the message on the phone line is that they're too busy to deal with me and to try again later.

I need to remind myself that these games really don't count. Winning is fun tho.

GOB does.

So if y'all could just do your Charlie Steiner impressions here that would be great.

That seemed to do the trick.

Where are we at now? Thanks in advance.

You probably won't ever get very detailed play by play here. We tend to focus on smart-alec comments and inside jokery.

Rejected slogans for Dodger Thoughts:

"We tend to focus on smart-alec comments and inside jokery."

Tatis fly out to CF.

Furcal up.

I should probably do some work anyway! Check back with y'all later.

I would love for the dodgers to drop KFWB and provide the spring games live, not delayed.

If a station like 570 picked up the Dodgers, would they be allowed to air games live on the web?

Still no luck in my regular browser (Safari on Mac), but I'm now watching the Cards/Mets game in Firefox (excelent video quality). I hope there will be a few Dodger games - only 3 games in all today are actually available. Looks like I'll have to subscribe to MLB Audio to get radio and follow Dodger games. Yes, getting there via the Audio & Video tab/Multimedia is the only way. The MLB.TV & Radio schedule's links just go back to the purchase page.

The Santa Barbara (actually Ventura) radio station on the Dodger network (1450) is not carrying the game. Probably no Spring Training games until the Angels previews at Dodger Stadium.

Still, it's good to be back.

Braves score a run on 2 hits and an E on Betemit.

Top 4, Dodgers 0 Braves 2

Firefox tended to work better with Gameday Audio on my Mac last year. By midseason, it wouldn't even work on Safari at all.

But you can call them (mlb.com) and they'll send you some tips on how to get it to work better for Mac.

Same for me. That was irritating.

I wonder if GameDay audio would work better on Macs if IE was still supported and making updates for the Mac? Always seemed to work better on IE, but now it's real out of date.

So Rick Monday is back? Why couldn't he have been the one outed in the Babydoll Gibson book?

He said that when he starts, he wants to finish. Got to like the attitude.

54
Beyond irritating, if it wasn't for post 18 I would have thought the game wasn't on radio today. I guess the same incompetent programmers who worked on the LAUSD payroll system are also employed by MLB.COM.

Kemp - (K'd first AB) Deep fly, off the base of the wall in right. Double. Pierre held at 3rd.

Saenz - (popped to 2nd first AB) ground ball to --, should have been an error but scored a basehit. JP scores, Kemp to 3rd. Choo PR for Saenz.

Betemit - K, Freeman steals 2nd.

Martin - (grounded to 2nd in first AB) Grounded to short, Kemp scores, Choo to 3rd.

Ethier - (1B in first AB) ground out to 2nd base.

Middle 4, Dodgers 2 Braves 2

Pierre scored on the error on Saenz ground ball, Kemp moved to third.

Kemp scored on Martin ground out.

Both runs unearned for those scoring at home.

67 By jove, I think you've got it. The fact that I hadn't updated to FF 2.0 for Mac was likely part of the trouble. So I'm doing that now. Weird, thought I'd been auto updating that. D'oh. Hopefully that'll help.

Then I'll have no excuse but to get some work done. ;-)

Lillibridge - grounder bobbled by Betemit, throw late, E (his second)

Orr - (WP, Lillibridge to 2nd.) Hard grounder to 2nd, 1 out, Lillibridge to 3rd.

Cormier - Grounder to second, 2 out. Lillibridge stays at 3rd.

Escobar - slow roller up the third base line, Martin great attempt but runner safe at first, Lillibridge scores.

Blanco - ground out to short.

End of 4, Braves 3 Dodgers 2

Wilson Valdez bidding for Ramon's job (not really but he is out of options)

Martinez - line drive base hit up the middle. (Tony Abreu PR.)

Wilson Valdez - Liner into the LF corner, double. Abreu to 3rd.

Repko - broken bat bleeder to 3rd, E on the throw by Escobar. Bases loaded.

Loney - K, 1 out.

Kemp - bounced into DP.

Middle 5, Braves 3 Dodgers 2

This does once again bring up the "why is this guy on the 40 man roster?" question, however.

No dice on getting my gameday audio to work with new FF, by the way (for anyone keeping score at home).

That said, with Hu and Abreau ticketed to Vegas, you wonder what the plans are for Valdez.

(hitter) - ground out to short. 1 out.

Bohn - grounder to short, E6 (Valdez)

Thorman - K. 2 out.

Clark - Fly out to CF.

End of 5, Braves 2 Dodgers 2

Will you be organizing a drum circle?

LaRoche - Ground out to 3rd. 2 out.

Sandy Martinez - K

Middle 6, Braves 3 Dodgers 2

Salty stings us like he did last spring.

Lillibridge - BB

Orr - (Lillibridge SB, high throw from Martinez) Fly ball to center, bad route and unsuccessful diving attempt by Choo. Runners at 2nd and 3rd.

Saltalamacchia - line drive base hit. Lillibridge scores, Orr scores.

Escobar - bloop base hit. Saltalamacchia to 2nd.

Blanco - 1-6-3 DP. 2 out. Saltalamacchia to 3rd.

Corky Miller - single past a diving Loney. Saltalamacchia scores.

Bohn - Fly out to CF.

End of 6, Braves 6 Dodgers 2

Delwyn Young - Broken bat groundout to 2nd. 1 out.

Tony Abreu - Ground out to short. 2 out.

Wilson Valdez - bunt back to the box.

Stretch, Braves 6 Dodgers 2

Mendez - Line drive down the LF line, double.

Clark - Line drive to left. Mendez to third.

Lillibridge - 6-4-3 DP. Mendez scores. 2 out.

Orr - Single to right-center.

Willie Harris - K

End of 7, Braves 7 Dodgers 2

Bigbie - ground ball base hit to RF.

Loney - 6-4-3 DP. 2 out.

Damian Jackson - Ground out to third.

Middle 8, Braves 7 Dodgers 2

Escobar - base hit up the middle.

Blanco - Fielders choice. Blooped over Valdez. Force out at second. 1 out.

Missed the other 2 outs.

Damian Jackson? Sigh.

Freeman - BB

LaRoche - Deep Fly ball to LF. 1 out.

Martinez - Fly ball to CF. 2 out.

Young - groundout to first.

Braves 7, Dodgers 2 FINAL

Schmidt tosses a few innings tomorrow in Vero and we will see Gonzalez, Nomar and Kent making their spring debuts. Hopefully the weather cooperates.

Here's to more baseball and less Choo Freeman.

My mortal enemy! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ortiz has always been a capable hitter. He's got a career .208 average.

I sent him an E-Mail about it. I'll publish it if he responds and gives me permission.

Explanation of RPI: http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/rpi_help/

(reliability not guaranteed)

http://www.bizofbaseball.com/

Boy, after working at home all day I have one non-sports observation to make: cats really don't move very much during the day, do they?

Plus, neither of them have written a blog entry, a review or caught up on their emails. I win!

I need to get out.

I can understand the players having to be under it because they have collectively bargained those terms. And if private employers want to set those terms, they can. But it seems like this type of action is more for show but there will be some noise raised about this by not just one or two people.

Wow, the Broncos just traded Tatum Bell and George Foster for Dre' Bly. (I guess the apostrophe is on his birth certificate.)

Players have deals that are part of a collectively bargained agreement with MLB, I doubt that Ben Platt or Sam Fernandez does and to me it is a big deal when someone who I don't work for wants to start invading my privacy for no cause.

To avoid last night's focaccia debacle, I opted to buy food that I could see. For example, the ahi steak, I will cook tonight was plainly visible.

I'm taking the breakfast cereal at its word as it felt like it was full.

I did receive an email from Nestle USA saying they were looking into the matter.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers have stopped calling me trying to sell me a mini-season ticket plan. "Dave" and I had a thing going on my voice mail.

{shakes fist}

It appears 710 will be available next year as Moreno now has his own station.

>>> ANGELS 2007
Moreno keeps pushing and pushing

By Bill Shaikin, Times Staff Writer
February 24, 2007

He spent $42 million on a radio station with a mighty signal, at 830, changed the call letters to KLAA and said "most likely" the Angels will move their broadcasts there next season, when their contract with 710 expires.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-moreno24feb24,1,3773449.story <<<

It's cold and flu season.

I am a fairly regular Idol viewer and though I can't say I get no pleasure out of it, I wish I weren't hooked.

158 No. They're just kicking people off tonight.

Surely you meant "Ortiz delendus est". That is, unless you were talking about his wife... but that just wouldn't be cool.

http://tinyurl.com/255eyd

Excerpt: "Call him a walking contradiction and you'd be shouted down with a retort that for a fast runner, Pierre doesn't walk much at all -- only 32 in 750 trips to the batter's box last year.

"That is so ludicrous," said Wills, who revolutionized basestealing in the 1960s. "Who's going to walk Juan Pierre? You're walking a double. They make him hit the ball, and he got 204 hits last year. What do you want?"

{strikes match, backs away...}

I watched the Italian horror film, Demons 2 (Demoni 2) last night. It was not as good as Demons and Demons was not exactly the greatest horror movie. Lamberto Bava does not quite live up to his father.

Woohoo!

UCLA travels to Pullman in the Biggest Game Ever in Washington State History.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/sports/pros/abox/article_1594752.php

"The Dodgers went into the offseason in search of a power hitter and wound up with Juan Pierre. It probably was one of their better moves of the winter.

"Though the decision to sign the center fielder to a five-year, $44million contract resulted in criticism from talk-show hosts and newspapers, Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti decided the best response would come from Pierre.

"People who criticize don't understand the full picture," Colletti said.

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_5319506

Excerpt:

"We grow up, file away all the kids who never delivered, all the stars who got old, all the weaknesses that weren't overcome.

"And you're certain you're past all that. Too many disappointments, too many false hopes and false starts. Too much distance from childhood.

"Where there were wide eyes, crow's feet stake a claim. Where there were baseball cards, tax forms invade. Where there was certainty, doubt takes hold.

"So it is unexpected when it reaches out to you after so many years, after so many springs."