Did Bigbie get his release or will he be accepting a position at Vegas?

My hotel doesn't have FSN in the rooms. I figure I have to go to ESPN Zone at this point since I don't want to buy the game and then get blacked out and have to run over there and miss the first inning. It says on the MLB site that it is for out of market games only and that games are subject to blackouts. I wish opening day was on KCAL.

Juan Pierre is up and, after taking the first pitch for a strike, grounds out on the second pitch 4-3.

I yell out "You've got to take some pitches, Juan." Pierre shoots me a nasty look and says "Are you talking to me?"

I reply "Yeah, learn to take a pitch." Pierre swears at me.

Then, in my dream, I wake up and go online and tell my friends at Dodger Thoughts about my dream. Weird.

11 Huzzah!

---

Welp, I'm not going to get too freaked out if the Dodgers lose to Ben Sheets today, tough one to start off with, but I have faith in th e boys. See you all in awhile.

I always wanted to write "emphasis mine." And gosh, I'm glad I picked up Kemp for my fantasy league team.

Tough matchup today, Sheets is nasty when healthy.

Even though I love our staff- seems like we have two 1.5s and a 3,4,5 rotation. No real #1.

God, I love me spring break!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is still several months off.

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

alot of clubs dont have a real number 1.

Did you hear about the new dirty Pirate movie?

Are you sure about that? I was traveling during the tournament and was able to get two different games from the same location by logging in to MMOD using two different accounts that had different billing zip codes.

[insert joke here]

For $14.95 ( I think) at MLB.com you can hear every game for every team all season. That's what it was last year. And you can choose home or away broadcasts- theoretically, you would want that.

Remember that a lot of people are trying to download the same thing now.

Coincidentally, those same sponsorhip issues keep the pregame and postgame shows off the individual radio stations websites.

It's a Catch-Marlin Anderson + 1

not really but i want the higher resolution picture. i d/l the setup installation and it says error every time i try to open it.

they have around the league with A. Martinez and the Dodger dugout. Comes on about 20 min before the game.

should be KFWB (I would just click "away" broadcast on game day audio) I don't live in So Cal so I don't Know the programming there.

(And Apple & EMI are gonna offer DRM-free music! woohoo!)

So those Gamedays work OK.

ESPN is using Karl Ravech and John Kruk to call the Rays-Yankees game. This will not be good.

Also, the 700K stream looks exactly the same as the 350K. What a joke.

Pierre, CF
Martin, C
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzalez, LF
Betemit, 3B
Ethier, RF
Martinez, SS
Lowe, P

That could be decent, but the downside is 2003 redux. Get well soon Furcal!

I just signed up yesterday for that. So I go to login to my account today, and they say I have to put in another credit card for "verification" purposes only again. That I'm going to do this for every game I want to watch for the first 5 days. Is that right?

Anyone else have this problem?

Hard to complain. Watching live baseball over the internet while working is high up on my awesome list.

And if anyone had the right to shave off Chase Carey's mustache.

So why do we set a place for Juan Pierre?

I expect about six comments on the basketball game tonight.

This is annoying. I figured these bugs would've been worked out before Opening Day.

Please explain.

http://tinyurl.com/ytzfyk

Levale Speigner

'...the Brewers take a 1-0 lead RUNNING ON JUAN PIERRE...'

Will I have to hear that all season long?

i hope!!!!

I predict that we won't see that a lot with the Dodgers.

I would wager that it won't happen once all year unless Pierre gets hurt.

what day should i take in the "d4p will say something positive and not sarcastic" pool?

Strikeout on a ball in the dirt, then feels sorry for himself instead of running to first.

One extra base taken on his arm, and another extra base taken on his error.

Craig Counsell - is there any NL team he hasn't played for? (Okay, I know there are... but still, that guy's been around, if you know what I mean, eh? He's a goer...)

#162: Who wants to keep track of the Pierre net extra bases statistics? I'm thinking something like SB - CS - WAEBA (Weak Arm Extra Bases Allowed).

Is Charley Steiner announcing the game on TV?

Nice to see Kent increasing his trade value…

Rodriguez really didn't deserve his.

His hat looks two sizes too big.

Can I only run the software on 1 computer? Of course I've been on hold for 15 minutes w/ MLB.

(I forgot how to link the post #s.)

Lowe is looking really shaky today. Four walks!

Moving a runner from 2nd to 3rd on a flyout should get the same ruling as moving a runner from 3rd to home on a flyout.

Having Derek Lowe on your fantasy team with this game - bad.

I have both.

But otherwise, yes.

I wonder if Lowe gets to hyped for games like this and he gets the ball up in the zone where he doesn't have the stuff to get guys to swing and miss?

It wasn't very popular.

I'm of the school that sacrifice flies should be credited as at bats. Unless you can prove that a batter deliberately hits a deep fly ball more often with a runner on 3rd and less than two outs than at other times of the game.

He would have had a really scary batting average with sac flies helping him out.

http://tinyurl.com/3c46o3

Also, Bigbie accepted his assignment to Las Vegas, Brazoban may be ahead of Kuo on the rehab trail and Logan White says that Loney knows that there are some things out his control and he has to be ready when his opportuntiy comes.

Grady Little to the white courtesy phone, please, you're leaving a struggling pitcher in for too long again...

247 - As I suspected. Score one for me over Tony Jackson.

Exactly. Lowe is notoriously atrocious on opening day...so why continue to start him against the opposing ace?

But whatever, now is the perfect role for Hendrickson...eat up some innings.

I'm in the desert and they block out Dodger games here. I just saw the Yankees run themselves out of a big inning, leaving the score tied 5-5. But Kazmir is out of the game, so they'll eventually win it.

The rest of the time, it's just the stringer guessing.

You can't always get what you want.

this one is over.

0-1 with 161 to go.

Ssh, don't tell Bud Selig. He'll fine the GameDay freelancers who don't do this $5000. Or the umpire's union will make him do that.

Good Lord, it better not be.

2006: 5 IP, 7 ER, 2 K (9 hits, 1 walk)
2005: 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 K (though he allowed 8 hits and 2 walks)
2004: 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 K (7 hits, 2 walks)
2003: 6 IP, 5 ER, 3 K (6 hits, 2 walks)
2002: 7 IP, 0 ER (!), 1 K (1 hit, 3 walks)

Over the previous 5 years, Lowe's had an average ERA of 4.65 in his first start of the year with a WHIP of 1.32. Not great, but not really atrocious - just definitely not opening-day material.

"Q: Where does this data come from?
A: A series of high-speed cameras are installed in the ballpark, which record dozens of images of each pitch in real time. From those images we are able to determine the speed, trajectory and location of the pitch at any point along its path from the pitcher towards home plate. That pitch data is merged with the stats data entered by our scorekeepers in the ballpark and then presented in Enhanced Gameday.

Q: Why are the pitch locations different in Enhanced Gameday vs. Classic Gameday?
A: The pitch locations in Classic Gameday are entered by our scorers in the ballpark, but are not exact; they are the best human attempt to approximate the location of the pitch. The high-speed camera system in Enhanced Gameday makes it far more accurate than the locations previously available in Classic Gameday."

http://tinyurl.com/29xqd2

This isn't quite the start I was hoping for after 6 months of waiting for the season to start.

Where would we get our violence from if everybody had to think about it ahead of time?

Vinny:
'...the Brewers are beating the Dodgers in every facet of the game...'

Now Sandy Koufax with a healthy elbow, he might be though he might only be able to pitch 5 innings a start now. Then again, Sandy is 70 or so years old. (See old joke about Ty Cobb).

But Santana is top 1. And I don't think second place is even close to him.

That's the ol' Hendy!

Pedro Martinez came pretty close in 1999 against the Yankees.
http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1999/B09100NYA1999.htm

Can I say I wasn't very confident going into this one, and just looking forward to the "do-over" tomorrow?

(Just repeat to yourself... "12 and 2 start two years ago...")

Santana's best season 2004 20 W,6 L, 228 IP, 156 H,70 R,66 ER,24 HR, 54 Walks, 265 SO, 2.61 ERA

In addition, ERA doesn't factor in a pitcher's ability to prevent unearned runs, which IS in fact a skill - note that Santana had only 4 unearned runs, while Sheets had 14, a not-insignificant difference (though HOW much significance I couldn't say without the stats for the defenses behind them that year, but I don't care THAT much).

45K plus at Miller Park today, I predict 25K tomorrow and Wednesday.

And if you neutralize the stats, Santana is a solid amount better than Sheets. But Sheets is good.

Now he's the heir to Willie Davis, Rudy Law, and Steve Sax.

How many beers drank?

A Jeff Kent HR is keeping Sheets from a perfecto tho.

Sheets GB%: 43.8%
Santana GB%: 40.6%

Santana seemingly got lucky on hits that year, which explains the difference in WHIP considering that Sheets has a significantly better BB/9.

Terrific...terrific

Ben Sheets has played with some truly awful Milwaukee teams. He is a great pitcher, just unfortunate.

It's not a bad compariosn, though. A healthy Sheets, as has been demostrated, is comparable to Santana. IMO, still not as good, but at least in the discussion.

Not saying that Sheets isnt inducing weak contact, but even weak contact will find holes some of the time. Especially if those balls are hit in the air.

Sheets: 9.38 K/9, 7.61 K/BB, .77 HR/9
Santana: 9.67 K/9, 5.10 K/BB, .9 HR/9

Of course, Johan is in the American League which is a big mark in his favor, but Sheets has had some pretty lousy starts right after his numerous injuries.

I think Johan does have the edge, but it's close.

http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B04200OAK1990.htm

No. It's still too early.

It is, however, perfectly reasonable to worry about the Dodgers season considering some of the moves that have been made during the construction of this team.

Isn't this the primary reason that weak-hitters like Pierre have higher BAs than power-hitters like Dunn...?

Pierre better line into a DP!

The Brewers won 67 games that year. Sheets went 3-9 in his last 16 starts, with a 3.18 ERA in those games. It isn't a question of sample size, it is about run support.

The Twins have been playoff contenders almost every year Santana has been there. The Brewers had a team where Royce Clayton was sucking up a large amount of at-bats, and their best hitter the last few years has been Geoff Jenkins. It's not even close.

Change of subject: Has Aaron Harang always been this good? ESPN just put his numbers up on the screen from last season and they're really good.

Asking for a line drive from Pierre is probably asking too much

Hope you enjoyed it. Ain't happening again.

I make one tiny little crack about Bob's spelling, and all of a sudden I can't add, or remember to include comment references? What kind of hoodoo is this?

ON the bright side, 100% of our hits were for extra bases. Who said the Dodgers don't have any power?

No big; 161 of these things to go. I didn't expect the team to go undefeated.

Coward

As for the Pierre line drive double play, Pierre has a really high LD% over his career, though I don't think all line drives are created equal.

you mean JD has more BB's this season than the entire Dodger team?

Glass half full -
Hendrickson's ERA is 3.00
Clark hitting .500
Kent on track to hit 162 homers

We counter with Randy Wolf, who is essentially an unknown quantity at this point. Should be interesting.

The game was like a bad horror movie. A good horror movie has suspense. A bad one has no suspense, just gore galore. I hate the games where I know the team has no chance of winning. That was the Dodgers today.

Sad, ain't it?

Which Dodger pitcher had the most consecutive opening day starts?

I was getting lunch at the corner JIB,
what was the answer?

I guessed Don Sutton.

Are you talking about the strange Josh Hamilton comment in the Reds game?

"He got into some bad stuff, drugs, alcohol, and tattoos."

http://tinyurl.com/34953s

Wesiman: I take it you are not related to Buster Olney?

I miss that show.

Parker also tried to give credit for the Dodger farm system to Ned Colletti but I quickly brought up the roles Logan White, Dan Evans, and Paul DePodesta had. He backtracked, giving credit to White and Evans, saying Evans was a great GM, but initially would not budge on DePodesta, saying he was one of the worst GMs, because he used his computer too much, which was predictable. Parker said DePodesta never used his scouts and his friends who are scouts in the organization "drank champagne" when DePodesta got fired. I made the point that DePodesta could never have made the LoDuca-Penny trade without input from his scouts and he, suprisingly, conceded that point. He had to leave but, except for his initial rhetoric, was suprisingly open-minded on the things I was telling him.

He also said that Wolf had no life or movement on his pitches in spring training and Billingsley's curveball looks unhittable right now.

I also won a pair of Dodger tickets for knowing which Dodger holds the rookie save record, which no one else in the bar seemed to know.

"So do you think about the Dodgers?"
"Yes."
"Do you do this while standing up or sitting down?"
"Both."
"Do you write your blog on a computer?"
"Yes."
"Does the computer have a space bar?"

Did you eat a "weasel" at the place next door to Yankee Doodles? I always forget the name of the place but I can never forget that magical hangover cure that is the "weasel".

Gonzo, strike one?

I've never heard of this "weasel" you speak of, I just went down there because I knew there'd be Dodger fans and they'd be giving stuff away. There is a jazz club close by, I think it's on 4th, called Harvell's thats got cool Tuesday nights, where these girls dance/perform. Its like going to a stripclub with really good music. I always stay too long, drink too much, and am hungover for work so next time I'll try to find that hangover cure you're talking about.

Forgive me, I don't know what I was thinking! I was talking about the Yankee Doodles in Long Beach.....But still if you are ever over in that area, I'm telling you the place next door has got "Home of the Weasel" painted right on the side of the building. You can't miss it and you shouldn't either.

(Curls up into fetal position and hides in closet.)

If we needed a sweatener, the Dodgers should have picked up Esteban Yan.

The waterfall in center is awesome.

Where does Meche fit into the equation?

Glad to help.

The new College Basketball Hall of Fame is set to open that weekend.

For those of you not familiar with LA based sportstalk radio, "Jeff from Tarzana" is a familiar caller to all radio shows and radio contests in L.A.

His favorites are USC Football, Cleveland Indians, and LA Clippers, though he was a Bird fan in the '80s. His dislike for the Lakers and Kobe Bryant is well known out here.

Others in contention: Yankees (Abreu, Rodriguez, Giambi)
Braves (Jones, Jones and McCann)
White Sox (Konerko, Thome and Dye)
or maybe even the Rockies (Atkins, Helton and Holliday).

Indians would get a nod if Sizemore was in the heart of the order.

And iirc there was some question about all of these newfangled stats the other day, FJM can definitely help out anybody confused on those:

http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2005/04/glossary-of-terms.html

- MLB scores
- Game mix (8 games at once, audio of one game of your choice)
- Strike Zone (not sure what it does yet, as it's not working now)
- At Bat (scroll through the lineup, with results from this game)
- Pitching (same thing for pitchers)
- Box Score (expands to include entire lineup and all pitchers)
- MLB Standings
- MLB Leaders (Eckstein leads with a .750 average!)

Basically, these are mostly things you can get from being online at the same time, except through your TV. The lone exception is the Game Mix.

Honestly, I'm not sure how much I would use these features, and I'm a pretty big baseball junkie. Since I got home, I've cruised through the Rockies and Red Sox games, with many more to come tonight. If I wanted to find an interesting game, I would likely use the Game Mix channel, but I doubt I would stay on it for long. It does allow you to switch between game audio (and a small picture) much more quickly than flipping channels, and to see the scores all at once. The games are surprisingly watchable on the small screen.

Overall, I'd actually rate the Game Mix as the best feature. If I wanted to peruse box scores (e.g to find out why the Red Sox are losing 6-1 to KC), I'd likely turn to my computer, not the DTV system, but mainly because the menu system is too slow compared to my computer.