Also Anderson and Valdez can play OF if needed.

And as you said, when Furcal comes back, things'll change once more.

I hope Tsao (and later Meloan and/or Kuo) will later replace Seanez on the roster.

Also, recalling Tsao could also be a sign that either they are not sure that Schmidt may not be available by his next turn and perhaps they will need Chad to fill in next week.

meanwhile, the line-up:
Pierre, CF
Martin, C
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzalez, LF
Valdez, SS
Ethier, RF
Betemit, 3B
Tomko, P

(Valdez before Ethier?)

Still... Valdez before Ethier?

Valdez before Ethier doesn't make much sense, but hey, lightning struck once (Marlon Anderson) so I don't blame Grady for going with the hot hand.

One last thought on the restuarant critics...if they write off of their first visit, how is it that they can weigh in on five or six different appetizers, entrees and desserts? They just take one bite of everything and then give their opinion? Or do they leave every meal stuffed beyond all belief? Anyway...

Of course. They probably only take more than a few bites of a couple items.

He's obviously hurt. He said his shoulder REALLY hurt. That's not going away in a day, even if it's not a serious injury. Even if it's something he could play through I'd rather play a healthy Ethier than a hurt Kemp.

At the very least, I'd like to see Kemp and Ethier both in there against LHP.

But I fear that Pierre will never sit.

I'm pretty sure Seanez is a good dude & all but I brace (sp?) my self everytime Grady calls him in to pitch.

If Ethier and Kemp take over left and right field respectively by say the all star break, that means Loney and La Roche are fighting it out for the infield spot, and that's only if Betemit doesn't get on track. Either Nomar moves to third for Loney, or La Roche takes third. Or La Roche or Loney takes an outfield spot over Ethier. Either way there is some musical chairs going on here and somebody is going to have to go when the music stops.

Even if Nomar does get hurt and we find room for them all, he'll eventually come back. Unless all of them are playing somebody has to go. So who should it be?

My hope is that Betemit gets it done.

But it does seem at this point like there's a choice to be made between Ethier and Loney. They're very similar hitters. I think Loney will hit for higher average but Ethier for (a little) more power. One's a natural corner OFer, the other a 1st baseman, and one of them is made superfluous by Colletti's commitment to Nomar. Too bad.

13, 14 - My point wasn't that it was a conspiracy theory, just that it makes things easier for Ned. He needed a roster spot, and Kemp could use some time to recover, problem solved. Considering that Ethier was benched last year, they obviously don't feel they have to appease him.

This is where the human element comes in, in that if these guys are good enough to be starters they are going to want to be starters. Plus, the team is going to have needs to fill.

Then he does it.

All season long.

He'd drop dead before the All-Star Break. But right before he died, he'd type
"Pitch 7 - In play, run(s)"

And then leave us all hanging.

On my way home a few minutes ago I saw a license plate cover that said "Teacher's never lose their class". Note the apostrophe. My mind is still reeling.

So, for the good of the team, I am pleased to announce that I am now accepting donations to fund my MLB Extra Innings account.

Please make checks payable to `I need my Vin Scully'(a Cayman Islands Corporation).

Thanks!

28 - LOL

if the organization is loaded then why do we have such a roster crunch with all our potential high end youngsters? shouldnt we let them play instead of wasting millions here and there for vets who probably wont be any better?

anyways, elbert looks to have something to prove down in AA. "Kershaw rated above me!!??! We'll see about that..."

Tsao was called up to back up Tomko for tonight since Tomko hasn't pitched in 12 days, Grady doesn't expect more than 4-5 innings and Tsao will be the next pitcher tonight.

Furcal is expected to replace Tsao later on this week.

Honkbal.

only thing i ask of elbert is to keep the walks down.

I always read the Griddle. I don't read the comments of every post. Too many intimidating strangers.

a grade one separation is basically just a deep contusion.

http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/stories/041007adk.html

H.M.O.'s
S.U.N.Y.'s

I think the New York Times style editor might be smoking crack.

Well, OK, he's got a point, but how else are we gonna get him on the DL. He even stands too far from home plate for an opposing pitcher to throw at him.

Come on, Gonzo, get scrappy!

Of course, since a traumatic injury is, as Just Blue suggests, very unlikely for a guy who tiptoes around, the risk is that he'll play all season and just get worse and worse and worse.

So when will Pierre have his? I'm guessing it will be a 5-hit, 3-run, 2-SB game, with an OF assist (nailing a guy trying to advance from 1st to 3rd on a shallow popup, most likely), and that it will come in July.

We have no room for Jackson and he has little trade value.

I suspect this was discussed in a previous thread but DT is getting a lot of play at Josh's blog. Ratt's site being cited too.

Tomko and Hendrickson are valuable members of the club that will pay dividends throughout the season.

Ramon Martinez has been a wonderful addition to the club since he signed prior to last season.

Valdez has contributed greatly in his 3 starts thus far. I think he's the real deal.
He's found his niche. He's like a fine wine. Got better with age, though he's still fairly young.

And maybe Loney can get his mind back on the ball if he were to get a chance to play first for a week.

To each his own I suppose.

It was great.

So I guess you think Randy Winn is the best right fielder in the league based on his great September 2005, huh?

A. Never saw him play the middle infield.

B. I have fond memeories of him pounding the baseball.

Robinson's name is etched in granite on that list. It's like one of the Ten Commandments.

You gave yourself away with the "silly willy" comment. Hope you get banned again soon.

i was about to comment about it. but i was going to say its awesome...!!!

On a completely unrelated note, Tomko looks strangely effective tonight.

"I didn't think I was getting the home opener at Dodger Stadium off," Helton said. "I'm not too crazy about that."

Yea I know, but they'll find a way, trust me.

well he was a jerk to Sciocia that one time.

Bullfighting! It's the "sport" where you know that the steak you are about to eat was taunted before a large crowd before it was killed.

That was the lowlight of my trip to Spain.

And I had my wallet stolen on that trip and $5000 of fraudulent charges run up on my credit card!

But best of all, we went to the Plaza de Toros.
Now whenever I start feeling morose,
I revive by recalling that scene.
And names like Belmonte, Dominguin, and Manolete,
If I live to a hundred and eighty,
I shall never forget what they mean.

(For there is surely nothing more beautiful in this
world than the sight of a lone man facing singlehandedly
a half a ton of angry pot roast!)

Jeez. Icaros has apologized like a million times already. Can't you ever let anything go?

It's getting pretty expensive for him to do this every day.

I hold my breath every time the ball is hit to 'em & believe me I wanna like 'em cause he's a Dodger now.

jeez, Tulowitzki looked like the 11 year old sI coached when they saw a curve ball for the first time.

And here in SD, they have channel 4 with the Padre announcers. They make me hate the Padres even more. They are horrible!

Given he played AAA at Colorado Springs, it's likely most curveballs looked like fastballs, and most fastballs looked like straightballs.

Yeah, that ball to Pierre could have been caught. Wasn't an easy play but he had it. Tomko can't be too mad because that ball was crushed.

Speaking of which, Tomko really does look a different pitcher tonight than the one that usually made me cringe and twinge. Really good stuff so far. So far (he adds, ominously.)

Has anyone heard anything about the movie "The Lookout"?

"Pierre looked... {in Homer Simpson voice} D'oh!"

The injury called into question the change in the Dodger Stadium outfield fence, which originally was unpadded wood. A similar injury suffered when Darryl Strawberry ran into the right-field fence in 1991 prompted the club to pad the fence entirely, but several years ago the Dodgers cut out sections of the fence to install out-of-town scoreboards, which were replaced this year by larger video message boards.

Kemp absolved the scoreboard of blame.

"It could have happened if the wall was padded," he said. "I hit it the wrong way."

...Kemp said, as Jamie McCourt finally released the atomic wedgie after 10 minutes of excruciating pain.

Damn this slow speed when MLBTV's on.

Thank you Clint Hurdle!

You may recall our discussion last year regarding the striking resemblance between Francis and Tom's son Colin Hanks who plays Lt. Jones in Band of Brothers.

http://tinyurl.com/2ullfr

I nearly choked on my Shiner Bock (I'm in Texas, and if you don't know Shiner Bock, you are missing out!) when they panned to the right to reveal Tom!

Also, while I'm wishing for stuff, I would like for this burrito I ate earlier to digest better. Thank you.

Thanks for the correction. Still a lot of pitches for so few hits allowed.

I wonder if Billingsley struggles in the bullpen, whether they'll move him back to the rotation?

heh.

And this is not fiction writing class.

Some comment about conventional wisdom probably is called for here. But I pass.

Go sit in the corner and think about what you've done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciG-Xs7mBwU

Darn you Chad! You are testing our love and resolve.

Anyway. Sorry I didn't think to do it immediately.

I like the footage of Holliday tearing up his batting gloves to shreds after that d.p.

But water under the bridge.

I wish the Dodgers had 8 guys with Martin's approach.

And a lot more productive

Kenny Lofton hit into 16!

He's 42yrs old, completely done, and a bench player for the Rockies.

He DHed against Colon and didn't do much, but he did seem to run with ease (to my untrained eye). Seems like he'll be back shortly with no problems.

DeWitt and DeJesus hit a couple of nice shots against Colon while the rest of team looked like A-hitters against a big league pitcher.

Bastardo got lit up in the first inning and had to leave in the 4th (?) due to injury.

A win is a win.

Martin proving why he should stay in that #2 spot when Furcal comes back.

I feel like the pitch was borderline, but Torrealba should know better then let a close pitch like that go threw atleast foul it off or something. JMO.

Bills will get his shot as the 5th starter & from what I remember he ROCKED at the end of the season last year.

But putting an out maker like Pierre in front of the 3-4-5 guys seems to prevent big innings from getting going.

That Tomko's dad named the Cleveland Cavaliers (and designed the original logo)

That Jason Schmidt owns a remote-controlled fart machine.