HA. That scorecard is wrong if you ask the Cubs. 1005-1005 to them

I'm guessing that the discrepancy lies in the game described below. It's the only forfeit involving the Dodgers and Cubs and the Dodgers were awarded the win.

This is from Retrosheet's description:
07/18/1916 - Brooklyn at Chicago - NL - The score was tied 4 to 4 when Brooklyn came to bat in the tenth. Hi Myers reached second base on a wild throw and went to third on a bunt by Jimmy Johnston. Johnston then stole second. With the count 2 and 2, Hippo Vaughn, the Chicago pitcher, took too much time to deliver the next pitch and umpire Lord Byron called a ball. Cubs manager Joe Tinker protested, claiming that Brooklyn was stealing their signs and Hippo Vaughn was trying to communicate that to the catcher. Byron asked Tinker to leave the field, but he refused and kept arguing. Byron then asked a policeman to escort Tinker off the field. Tinker still refused to go, so Byron called the game in favor of Brooklyn. - New York Time; 07/08/1913 p 10, Washington Post; 07/08/1913 p 6 (Cubs)

Wasn't online last night, but had I been I would've mentioned...
That eighth-inning rally was notable, I thought, for its station-to-station look. Five singles and not once did any runner try for the extra base, and it didn't appear unaggressive at all - just good judgment.

3
All the singles were pretty well hit and got to the outfield fast. And there were no outs for much of the rally.

2. That's pretty interesting. You should pass that along to Josh. Would be nice to actually know the riddle is solved instead of having a never ending discrepancy.

2, I wonder if Tinkers said something about his foot. :-)

I think we see Kemp within the next week, and probably he gets Ethier's job and roster spot. Neither Ethier, LaRoche, Abreu, or Betemitt are producing well right now. Not to mention Clark or Martinez. Martinez is safe because he's Ned's buddy; Leiberthal is safe because he is the only back-up catcher. Half of the starters aren't doing well either but they don't have to worry. Higby is the one who should be brought up.

2 Tinker was waiting for Evers and Chance...

7-"Higby?"

Ah. Never mind.

8 And just what is a gonfalon bubble, anyway?

[7,9'] OK, Bigbie

7 Abreu gets two solid hits in his second start and he's not producing? I want to see Kemp up, too. But Abreu's looked fine so far. A little early to give up on him.

A very unhappy kid in my house. . .

http://tinyurl.com/22e6wa

Even stranger now, the Cubs official website lists their 1890 record as 84-53, although BR and Retrosheet say it was 83-53.

But that discrepancy would give the Cubs an extra win and not make it 1005-1005, but rather a possible 1006-1006.

And the 1890 discrepancy was the likely result of a Chicago win that was later declared a no contest, but that was against Philadelphia.

Somewhere along the line, there must be a game that the Cubs consider to be a "no contest" instead of a Brooklyn win. It likely happened in the 19th Century.

Any chance the Cub's house stat guy just can't count?

Hey jon - sent you an email.

16
Timmermann's Razor states "If someone can make a math error, they probably will."

17
And I didn't get one. :-(

18. Your razor talks to you? I wish mine did. Stupid Mach 3 only vibrates for me. I guess you could say it dances....i suppose that will have to suffice.

My razor is a sadist.

18
Timmermann's Razor is closely related to Timmermann's Law of Basketball Overtimes and Timmermann's Corollary to Lawler's Law.

The Corollary was disproven recently and a prize of 200 guineas was paid out by the British Parliament.

Line-Up change according to ItD.

We just had a lineup change. Furcal has a stiff right knee and should be back in the lineup tomorrow, but for today, Abreu moves up to the second spot in the order and Martinez will hit eighth and play shortstop...so there goes my note about the Dominican Republic.

Posted by Josh Rawitch on ItD

Line-Up change according to ItD.

We just had a lineup change. Furcal has a stiff right knee and should be back in the lineup tomorrow, but for today, Abreu moves up to the second spot in the order and Martinez will hit eighth and play shortstop...so there goes my note about the Dominican Republic.

Posted by Josh Rawitch on ItD

The team going out there to face Zambrano does not make me sanguine about the team's chances today.

Well if we take some pitches today we should draw some walks. Where's LaRoche? hehe.

Kevin Kennedy finally does something worthy of being on television. I've got the sound down (I like Wilson Pickett better than just about everything, but especially more than Joe Buck), but in his Kennedy's Heroes segment on Russ Martin, he included a clip of Scioscia being awesome.

27 Actually, Rod Barajas was one of his goats for blocking the plate poorly and he used Scioscia as an example of how to do it right.

19. Was busy typing you whiner!

19. Was busy typing you whiner!

28- I saw the Barajas thing, but couldn't figure out how he was a hero, since the run scored. I still don't get how the Scioscia was relevant to that, since his runner tried barreling him over, not sliding in under the tag. Should Barajas have willed (was it Hanley Ramirez?) the runner into going in shoulder first?

I don't really care; any reason for Scioscia clips is a good reason.

2 "umpire Lord Byron"? Dismissing the notion that this could be any descendant or relative of George Gordon, the Lord Byron, was "Lord" a nickname or did his parents actually call him that? (He predates Duke Ellington but must be contemporaneous with a lot of Earls. I haven't heard of too many first name "Marquess" or "Viscount" examples.)

That called strike 3 to Abreu was waaaay outside

Not sure if I missed this- but has Broxton's drop in MPH/last outing been discussed? Might he be hurt?

31 They pointed out how Scioscia put his leg in front of the plate to make the runner come in high while Barajas left the ole five-hole open.

32
Retrosheet lists the umpire's real name as William Jeremiah Byron. Lord was his nickname.

Stupid local Fox station decided that nobody in Rhode Island would ever want to watch the National League, so we're getting Indians-Tigers. Feh!

In the Nashville area the unsurprising Fox decision was Braves-Phillies.

Buddy Carlyle sailed through the first.

Furcal scratched from today's lineup due to a strained right knee. A strained right knee? Baseball players are such wimps :)

I hope Martin gets tomorrow off.

Zambrano looks good early. Hopefully he gets to struggling with his command soon.

Opposite field HR for A-Ram

Back-Back

Garciaparra in 2006 -- 30 strikeouts in 469 at bats
Garciaparra in 2007 -- 21 strikeouts in 181 at bats, including today's

So any chance we get both of Tomdrickson sent to the pen?

36 "Umpire's got a club foot! Umpire's got a..."

38- That was Fox Sports en Espanol's choice, too. If the next batter hits one out, too, it may be mine.

44 - at this point, Dodger starters need to take a number to be even allowed to go back to the pen.

Furcal could have a strained knee.
Or, he might have an ailment known as "Zambrano flu"

Furcal's 3/20 career vs Zambrano.
.150/.190/.250

... Two cheap daytime homers right there.

I was trying to enjoy a Fox network broadcast without Tim McCarver. Oh well. The big guy is serving up BP.

I think we'll soon see more changes on the pitching staff.

So have we already decided that LaRoche is a platoon player?

50- No McCarver? Who's in the booth?

43 Correction -- 22 in 181 in 2007

Padres crew.

Isnt it Mark Grace and Vasgersian?

Grace is a Dbax announcer, Vasgersian is Padres.

That was stupid.
What is Zambrano doing bunting?

RIP Bobby Hood Jr. I thought he must be related to David Hood, but it turns out he wasn't. Muscle Shoals, Alabama must be a Hood rich environment.

http://tinyurl.com/2w7nq8

57- If he'd gotten it a little farther down the line, he'd have been loading the bases for Soriano.

Vasgersian's pretty annoying, why don't they just let Vinny do these games? More of the country needs to know how awesome he is.

I did not even realize it was Mark Grace. He just keeps calling him Matty, so I figured it was his usual color guy.

What is Zambrano doing bunting?

I'm telling you: it's the Dodgers' year.

60
Yeah, I can't stand Vasgersian.

yup; Grace and Vasgersian. Vasgersian is a remarkably better broadcaster when he's doing a national TV broadcast like today's game. I enjoy him much more when he's objective.

Does Fox have an updated baseball theme song now?

Zambrano isnt going to beat out many bunts.
Plus, he's a pitcher that can actually hit the ball far. A fly ball to the OF scores a run.

Bunting just leads to bad things happening.

stiff right knee? where do these things come from. god these guys now a days are soft. we need some rocks. hard on the inside hard on the outside. not a bunch of marshmellows, soft on the inside soft on the outside.

64

..we all know Vin would be the best of course. That goes without saying.

They're not that great, that's for sure. I don't get it, two announcers from close Dodger division rivals? Interesting. I'd think Fox would get a better broadcast from someone non-biased. Fox has a ton of 'gap analysis' to do, about the differences between their sports product and ESPN's.

Counting today, Henrickson in his last 19 innings: 14 earned runs, 26 hits, 6 homers allowed, 9 Ks, 9 BBs.

61

But no matter what, it beats McCarver, do I have an amen?

We are going ot need a Zambrano meltdown to win this game- Where's Duncan ? Maybe he can get in his head and give us a cheap one.

stay on the bench wilson

to close, the most hilarious part is when Fox assigns Rex Hudler to any game involving the Angels. One might as well be watching the local Angels broadcast.

After last night, I am sure the Dodgers aren't out of it yet, as long as No. 30 doesn't give up any more gopher balls.

70 Amen

amen amen

Hee lives!

66 Not looking to argue, but "playing thru injuries" has not worked out too well for the Dodgers the past few years...maybe not ever.

The new trainer seems to want hurt people out of the lineup immediately--if they're hurt they're not really likely to help the team anyhow--and starting rehab ASAP.

Good thinking, IMHO.

Nice pick, Nomar. Didn't expect that.

Well that inning was a lot better. It would be nice if Hendy could give us 7 solid innings today.

With Izturis/Blanco hitting 7th/8th, I wonder if Piniella ever considered batting Zambrano in front of both of those guys.

Or would that be considered to embarrassing for the players he'd be hitting in front of?

77

i agree, im just saying ballplayers are so much different these days. i cant imagine maury wills or davey lopes sitting out with a "stiff knee"

zambrano is painting corners with his fastball.

For those only following on Gameday, the announcers started talking about the great lineage of Cubs 1st basemen and mentioned Hee Seop.

To counter that MMS, many players nowadays don't sit out with hangovers :)

"gonzalez and pierre negotiate it"

alex are you saying d lowe would be much better if he wasnt a booze hound?

lol, "Luis Gonzalez doesn't throw like he used to," says one announcer.

Hendy is missing up and not getting inside enough when inside FBs are being called.

hendy just isnt very good

When do the Dodgers get to host a freakin' all-star game? Hasn't it been more than 20 years since their last one?

When they build a new park or add all those shops and things to the park.

Former Dodger farmhand Buddy Carlyle may have sailed thru the first, but his ship now seems to have sprung a leak.

Phils 4, Braves 1, 3rd

Bobby Cox just got his 131st ejection.

What a contrast with laid-back Grady.

I think it's become realistic to hope for Billingsley and Kuo back in the rotation.

I think we all knew it was just a matter of time before Bills and Kuo would replace Tomko and Hendrickson.

73 - to close, the most hilarious part is when Fox assigns Rex Hudler to any game involving the Angels. One might as well be watching the local Angels broadcast.

I don't have a link for this, but the Angels have the worst road attendance of any major market team. I expect the TV broadcast travels the same way.

Hmmm, 4 sub-par starts in a row for Hendrickson, is it possible we'll see Kuo AND Chad in the rotation next time around?

what abot jason schmidt? might be good to get him back.

Sub-par is a mite charitable for my tastes. If he gives up another run today, he'll be half way to the MLB record (since 1957, anyway) for consecutive starts yielding five or more runs.

Tony Abreu, All-Star.

DOH nomar

How often has someone had as few as 4 HRs and as many as 100 RBI?

The "Franklin Stubbs basket catch"?

where is your bat speed at?

Should Nomar go on the DL to just rejuvenate himself?

Maybe he needs a rest like Schmidt did.

98 To be fair, he has only allowed 5, 4, and 3 ER in those starts (and 4 so far today)

101- 22. Lave Cross had 108 RBI for the Philadelphia A's in 1902, without a single home run.

I prefer runs to ER. I understand preferring the latter, but I don't think it's unfair not to.

frozen pizza. ugh

another painted corner k. not much Gonzalez could do there. not the "foul off" type of hitter.

this could be a long day. no furcal. no kent. russ probably needs a day off. nomar with no bat speed. we'll see.

Another excellent play for Nomar. Good to see.

Nomar's career OPS has dropped under .900

Another excellent play for Nomar. Good to see

Won't find that in your pretty, pretty numbers

Might be time to electrify those short fences.

Seems like Nomar flirted with a .350 BA briefly first half last year. Then he got worn down, hit by nagging injuries, or whatever second half. And hasn't rallied much this year.

If he's healthy--BIG if--does he have a pattern of doing noticeably better one half or the other?

Would it surprise anyone to know that the Dodgers are 7th in the MLB in drawing walks?

116 A poorly diguised "Am I the only one who...?"

tough luck on that clark line drive :(

can we trace stats far back enough to the last time Nomar had a healthy pair of half-seasons?

The problem with Nomar is I have a hard time believing he is hurt, simply because I don't think he could make it this long without hitting the DL. Yeah he was hurt in the second half, but you could tell. I haven't noticed him limping or anything. He just isn't driving the ball like he used to.

115- A little better in the first half, over his career, and every full year since '99.

Did any of us on this site expect Hendrickson to have a strong outing today? Even a half-decent one? I did not. What were Little's expectations?

Chad Billingsley--middle reliever.

Grace just said Chad pitched his way out of the rotation in spring training. Didnt he pitch well in the spring?

Mark Grace should ask Billingsley to be his pen pal.

122 Maybe he thought that Hendrickson had turned a corner in his career and the last four starts were flukey?

123- It's still technically true, since the decision was made after a bad Spring outing. That it wasn't unmade, after subsequent good appearances doesn't mean he didn't technically pitch his way out of the rotation.

Spring ERAs:

Hendrickson 5.49
Tomko 4.29
Billingsley 1.17

I hope Billingsley is making his case to take Hendrickson's rotation spot.

127 My goodness. That is shocking. How do I root for this team?

When Billingsley does go into the rotation (which should be relatively soon), I wonder how many games the delay will have cost us.

The Fox team is on our side for the whole all-time record against the Cubs thing

I think my little league team plays deeper than MLB guys do against Pierre

Vasgersian--"Pierre's a fantastic player, gets on base a lot.."

Matt Vasgersian is pals with Ned Colletti.

i hope the dodgers dont give up on laroche, hes played 11 games at 3rd base. give the guy a chance.

130- Hey now. They h'ain't lost this one, yet.

I'm all for Abreu playing.

CF that is.

136 We'll leave this game out of the equation until it has been resolved.

137 Yes! Nomar to the DL. Gonzo and Pierre on the DL.

Martin, C
Loney, 1B
Kent, 2B
La Roche, 3B
Furcal, SS
Ethier, LF
Abreu, CF
Kemp, RF

no-arm garcia-pop-up

139 I meant "Gonzo and Pierre on the bench."

138- They're 4-2 (leaving this one aside) in games Hendrickson has started. Maybe they wouldn't have lost one of those two, or maybe they'd have lost more than just two. No way to know. I'd expect them to have lost the two games in which they only scored two runs (w/ Hendrickson, they split them), but maybe not to have lost the one in which they scored five.

I'm not sweating a loss today. Lurch on the hill, Furcal and Kent out of the lineup. Betemit at third.

Not a winning gambit.

142 Factor in today, and Hendrickson's next start. Go ahead. It's a fair bet.

Our pitchers are so much bigger than our hitters.

144 No. No more starts for Hendrickson. Never again!

I wouldn't start him again. I wouldn't have started him in the first place. I just don't think it's likely that starting him over Billingsley has hurt the record. Yet.

How could they win anything with Hendrickson starting? Amazing.

147 That's a fair point. It may be neglegable at this stage of the season. Maybe. We'll see how much longer he starts.

It's a human rights violation if Billingsley isn't in the rotation for Lurch's next turn. Nice to see him dealing like he is today.

Isn't Hendrickson a better fit for long relief any way.

Dodgers would be (4-3) in Hendrickson's 7 starts this year counting today's game.

May 26- L (4-0)
May 19- L (6-2)
May 13- W (10-5)
May 8- L (6-5)
May 2- W (2-1)
April 27- W (6-5)
April 19- W (8-1)

It's encouraging to see that Chad has gotten his K/BB ratio back to respectability this year - 28/11 compared to 59/58 last year

Boom goes the Betemit!

a dodger highlight!

Boom goes the Betemit.

Betemit with another boom-boom.

Somebody must have hypnotized him into thinking he was pinch-hitting.

and BOOM! goes the Betemit!

C'mon Lou go to the pen!

Lots of poor ABs by Dodgers today, even from Martin, who looks tired. They're acting like Zambrano is still throwing 95. He's not. Basically 89-90 all day, yet Dodgers were so jumpy -- like they expected him to be throwing 95. Admittedly, Eddings gave him some key calls early and Zambrano did a nice job of pitching backwards. Good to see Betemit stay back on the 0-2 pitch.

158 There's no other way to explain it.

It seems like all of Betemit's home runs come off fastballs down the middle. Basically he crushes mistakes.

how about one of andres patented opposite field homeurns?

Zambrano is getting heated on the mound.

damn.

*Miller's struggles continue: Promising left-hander Greg Miller's control problems hit critical mass Friday night when all three batters he faced walked and scored. He threw 13 pitches, only one for a strike.

Miller, who had a six-inning no-hitter in April, has walked 23 of the 31 batters he's faced in May and 39 of 85 batters he's faced this year in 26 2/3 innings.*

From the Dodger notes.

Having Chad go 3 innings today is a good way for him to stretch out if they want to have him make Hendrickson's next start.

The pivot away, turn the glove, close the eyes and backhand the ball play.

Nice.

Billingsley's K/BB is now 31/11. Very nice.

martinez has had two horrible at bats. looks like a high-schooler trying to get around on these pitches.

It should be quite clear to Grady/Ned by now that a LaRoche/Betemit platoon can get it done at 3B all year. Rosenthal was floating Crede/Ensberg rumors on the pregame. Yech!

Reason #247 to get Adam Dunn- he could rotate in at 1B to spell Nomar. The Reds are toast. Give em Loney plus pitching.

ramon makes weak outs

keep Abreu instead when Kemp comes up?

ALERT (i think this one is yellow?) for the Flyin' Hawaiian, just hit a solo HR in hotlanta after tripling his last time up and a single earlier whiles I was out on the beach...

172

give them loney? thats blasphemy.

Abreu has looked good in the field.

171- It's probably rough to try playing after sitting for a couple weeks. Another good reason not to carry three utility infielders.

I think they could have gotten Saenz at second lol.

ah, Rick Monday--between the homer against the Expos and that flag routine, my least favorite ballplayer of all time...

175- That's a certified ORANGE alert.

I guess the Dodgers will need a triple to score Saenz from second.

they let Z face the tying run, interesting...

181
At least someone pays attention...

There was an orange alert last night too in Arizona.

176 - The Reds wouldn't require Loney anyway. They might want Hendrickson and Tomko though; Krivsky drives a hard bargain.

Beauteous!

Thanks Izzy.

Will Piniella use any reliever other than Dempster?

sweet - nomah - will Lou think about his 'great' bullpen?

I think Pineilla is making the right call here. Zambrano has made Martin look silly today.

It'd be pretty awesome if Martin hits a homer to win the game.

I am going to feel sorry for Zambrano when his arm falls off.

Krivsky should dump Dunn, and use that money on Zambrano.

190 Exactly what I was thinking, but nothing Russell does these days surprises me

185 Krivsky has been quoted saying he wants to purge the lineup of strikeouts and prefers contact/speed guys. Ethier fits the bill. Could have a Dunn/-0-/Kemp OF in '08.

195
Sucks to be a Reds fan.

fastball coming I hope

In comes Ohman?

Oh man was that pitch close

Good eye Russ.
Now they'll loogy Gonzo.

Too bad there isn't a fifth outfielder. Kent could hit for LuGo.

Is it wrong to go to the bathroom in the middle of a rally?

oooh, Ethier, Pierre (to help offset Dunn's contract), Hendy, Loney, and pitching prospect for Dunn. Makes it sound like they're getting a lot.

201 - LaRoche?

202
If you gotta go, you gotta go.

forget the 5th OFer. what does it matter if you don't tie the game here? hit Kent! Stick abreu out there.

Looks like I picked the right time to come back from a food run.

If we don't tie it up, it's my fault.

The Reds have Joey Votto percolating. Unless they want to turn Loney back into a pitcher, I don't think they'd want him.

Mystery left fielder in the 8th!

Great managing Grady!
Kent for Gonzo.

204- Well, looky there.

honestly, I want a Dodger victory here more to see Piniella's reaction to back to back back-breakers.

205 I didn't go.

missed two very hittable pitches so far.

Haha, Gonzo's pissed.

The Reds need pitching. Hendrickson does not meet that definition. That makes me laugh, that anyone would absorb Big H in a trade. He makes good money too, if I remember right.

Son of a

216 -They're the reds.

you are going to regret that fish pump ohman. the game aint over yet.

dang. oh well, still the right move IMO.

That was ...

anticlimactic.

Should have stayed in the car.

Drat. That was a bad at-bat.

Jeff Kent's veteran leadership.

http://tinyurl.com/2l3wgo

show the Reds that shiny sub 4 ERA over and over and over again. Hendrickson is only making $2.9 million this year and isn't TOO old at 32. Someone can make an argument that Ethier, Loney, and a top pitching prospect can match Dunn's value. Hendy just looks like a solid #3 pitcher throw-in.

Hendrickson is not a #3 starter.

old friend Ward.

Joey, you're not helping our PR campaign one bit. We just have to convince them that he is.

172 Let's see....Hendrickson, Tomko, and Seanez for Dunn.

Frees up spots for Bills, Kuo, Tsao (when back healthy). In meantime, chance for another reliever from AAA until Tsao is back.

Frees up spot on bench for...well, we can hope.

I like it. Reds might not. But then they traded for a nondescript bunch of middle relievers last year...

"Mark Hendrickson. In your heart, you know he's healthier than Gary Majewski!"

Dunn would suck up 20% of the Reds payroll if they pickup his 2008 option. With Hamilton & Votto in the mix they should shop him.

Is it alarming or encouraging that the only player exceeding HR expectations is Kent while the only guys approximately meeting their projections are Gonzo, Martin, and Betemit?

You'd have to assume that Furcal, Nomar, and Ethier have some power surges on the horizon.

compared to Eric Milton, Hendy is a savior. He would have the 2nd-lowest ERA in that rotation. Just saying...

Stults?

228 It would be nice to see Ned get a steal on a trade. I don't think he has yet. The one really plus trade was Maddux for Izzy. Obviously it can be argued that Ethier for Bradley has been a plus, too, but I'd love to see a trade that is clearly in Ned's favor. It would improve my confidence in him dramatically.

228,

give the reds olmdeo?

this umpire has a huge zone.

Hmm Dunn's 2008 option is voided if he's dealt before 2008. I wonder if the Reds can exercise it and then trade him a la Sheffield last year.

228- Unless Krivsky is secretly invincible, he probably wouldn't want to dare Reds fans to murder him.

bunt them over Saenz!!

kidding.

Its up to Saenz and Pierre to win the game.

had to hit it to izturis.

Drat

maybe liberthals hit in the 9th will wake up grady. russell is not the only catcher on this team and hes going to run him into the ground.

It's not Pierre's fault!

Please hit this Dumpster.

Well, at least a good Bills appearance.

Victorino is on deck.

Betemit had an awful, awful at-bat in the ninth.

Are we gonna be satisfied with his one homer per week, even if it means he does nothing else the rest of the week?

Where's Beltre?

Truly a game of Zambrano vs. Hendrickson, fairly uncomplicated.

Wonderful to see the Angels chew up the Yankees after doing us.

Flys out to Andruw Jones. Too bad.

Grady really should have sat Martin today. You could see in his swings that he was tired, and with Zambrano on the mound, maybe this was the Cubs' game. Play percentages and get your best nine out there for Sunday's more winnable game.

Cycle Alert canceled.

Stand down.

247: Very good point. This was not our game to win.

249 I sympathize. But only an idiot could sit Kent and Martin in the same game at this point. Now rest Martin--but better keeo Kent and Nomar in or he will look like a gomer!

No Nomar=Gomer. It sort of rhymes!

252: Agreed. I would have rested Martin today and played Kent. The guy is red-hot. Play Martin and Kent Sunday, because Monday is a day off (as was Thursday).

I mean, does Kent really need 3 of 5 days off?

martin better not be out there tomorrow.

246 Interesting. The guy comes off the bench and hits several homers. But as you noticed, he often has awful at bats where he looks way overmatched. I haven't really been sharp enough to notice if its from one side of the plate that he's good. But I sure notice when he's got the bat out there without the rest of his body and looks like he has no idea.

Kennedy and Zelasko. What a different scene from ESPN. I can't decide if I should try and like it or not. I ask myself, what has FOX done new, fresh, and forward looking recently - as far as their sports news and broadcasting? Not so much.

This is the first 2007 game that I can think of in which failure to make contact prevented the Bums from winning (perhaps easily).

A team with no power simply cannot whiff 10 times and expect to win. In big situations, too. Gonzo, Kent, Abreu, Betemit come to mind.

The good news is, our guys probably won't strike out 10 times too often this season.

"Betemit had an awful, awful at-bat in the ninth. Are we gonna be satisfied with his one homer per week, even if it means he does nothing else the rest of the week?"

Well, yeah. One homer per week would be 27 for the year, which would end up leading the team by a mile. If he walks enough to maintain at least a .320 OBP, which there is every indication he will, then the homers will be enough.

Guess it's 1006-1006 now.

Also, Broxton, Dodger notes, about last night:

"I just erase it," he said. "They just hit a lot of sliders last night. For some reason, they were sitting on my slider. Today's a new day. It's the great thing about baseball."

Um, what's wrong with this picture? If you know they're sitting on your slider, why keep throwing it, especially given that it not's your No. 1 pitch?

260 The slider is arguably his #1 pitch, though. It's the reason nobody hits his fastball. Major league hitters could hit his fastball if they were able to sit on it, but they can't do that because of the existence of the awesome slider.

Bottom line, Broxton knows how to pitch. One-third of an inning doesn't change that.

Not worried about one bad outing for Broxton.

But curious why he wouldn't change his pattern to, say, sliders out of the zone to set up the FB if he thought hitters were sitting on the slider.

Does he have a third pitch?

246- Kent should have hit a dinger with the pitches he was getting, for that matter. I don't know why he took that last one.

Jeff Kent is now 3 for 29 in his career as a pinch hitter.

Although Kent isn't as bad as Don Kessinger was off the bench.

Kessinger was 0 for 37 as a pinch hitter in his career.

Although Kent isn't as bad as Don Kessinger was off the bench.

Ha, I looked up Kessinger, and he hit .252/.314/.312 lifetime.

Penny-0 homers in 63.2 IP
Lowe- 2 homers in 71.2 ip.
Billingsley- 1 homer in 26 ip.
Broxton- 0 homers in 25 ip.
Saito- 26ks/2bbs in 22ip.

Sustainable?

267 - yes.

Just got back from the game. Nice crowd for an afternoon holiday weekend. Of course, at least half of them were Cub fans. I can recall ever seeing so many fans for the opposing team.

Could we really expect to win with that line-up? I don't understand why LaRoache is in the doghouse. Abreu looked good at second but Martínez looked awful.

Since 2006, Hendrickson has received the worst run support (3.35 runs) of any pitcher in the majors with a minimum of 163 innings.

Could this actually be true? Ugh. WIll Ned/Grady see this as a reason to keep hime the rotation. On the other hand its a good selling point for trade talks. Boras could really work with a stat like that.

270 That says as much about Tampa Bay as it does about the Dodgers, though.

271. Good point.

Why is Hendrickson still in the rotation if Kuo and Bills are available?

271. Dodgers offense is one of the worst in the league and I don´t think that trading for the Anti-Juan Pierre(Adam Dunn), will solve the problems.

Beggining last year I really dismissed Little's tendency to rest old athletes from playing every day in baseball (which frankly is not demanding( think of soccer), and stretch a rotation from four day's rest to five when there was a day off. The results he got last year made me consider his position as possibly defendable.
However, this year I am tending less towards his position, because I am afraid he gets so arbitrary that he will rest 2 out of Nomar, Martin, and Kent at once, which is lunacy. I also have this strange feeling that if we somehow got two days off in a row, he would start Tomko and Hendricksen after. The argument around 4 vs. 5 man rotation still has substance, but letting one of your better starters have more than 4 days rest smacks of idiocy.
With several young athletes who would love to play or pitch full time, It is ridiculous that the only player that will never be rested is JP. I think one of the sites like Hardball Times or Pospectus, mentioned how wierd it was to have three guys competing for third when we won't bring up anyone to challenge our worst off. player.

I find it extremely amusing that Little thinks they need Abreu to bring some spark to a team that has Furcal and Pierre.

If I were Pierre I would hear that as words of dissatisfaction spoken directly and clearly in my direction.

I think the Dodgers are trying to trade Pierre. And, with Loney playing right field again, I think Ethier is going to be replaced by Loney soon.

I also think Kemp might be brought up if for nothing else to add more speed and spark. I would not mind seeing Kuo struggle just enough to make Ned and Grady think he needs several more starts before he is ready for the Dodgers rotation and therefore Billingsley gets into the rotation and stays.

There are enough teams needing closers and setup men that Tomko should be in demand.

Watching Kent strike out in the eighth today is what we would have to get use to if Dunn were a Dodger.

278 In exchange for suffering through the occasional strikeout in high pressure situations would be balanced by an overall improvement in offense, which would limit those situations.

We just passed the third anniversary of Jeff Kent's last hit as a pinch hitter.

He doubled off of Danny Graves of the Reds in the 9th inning while playing for Houston on May 24, 2004.

The Astros lost the game 7-5.

Well at least the Giants just lost to the Rockies again, so the day's not a total loss.

I watched the game a little later after TiVo-ing it. Can't add much more that hasn't already been said, but my quickie observations:

Pluses:
Billingsley looked fab. He barely made any mistakes and looked like someone who should be starting.
Abreu had some nice at bats and made a couple of nice plays in the field.
The team showed some fight again and had their chances toward the end - all you can ask for.
Tomko looked good as a reliever - with his stuff and erraticness, it's best to have him as a 1-2 inning guy.
Betemit's homer.

Minuses:
Betemit's other at bats.
Pinch hitting for Gonzo, vs. a lefty a move I'd normally endorse but given his numbers vs. that pitcher, it would have been good to save Kent for one more spot. Whatever, Kent should have gad a better at bat than he did. But it's already been discussed.
Hendrickson wasn't terrible but he had a couple of bad innings and like someone who should no longer be starting.
Not having Furcal at the last minute didn't help the weakened lineup.

Ah well! No biggie.
Hope to see LaRoche back in there tomorrow but don't feel un-confident when Abreu's in there at least.

If we can take the game tomorrow, I'll be perfectly happy.

Matt Kemp is 3 for 4 so far tonight, with a double.

Gosh, Mitch Jones hit yet another home run. Crazy.

Does anyone know much about this Padres pitcher throwing tonight---Justin Germano?

He's 24yrs old, and I havent seen him on many prospect lists.

Anyways, he's made 4 starts this year:

At Atlanta--6ip 1ER
vs St. Louis--7ip 0ER
At Seattle-- 6ip 0ER
vs Milwaukee- 6ip 2ER

He was dominating the PCL when they called him up earlier.

282. Also, in that game in Vegas, William Juarez was removed after 6 interesting innings.

Las Vegas
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Juarez 6.0 0 0 0 2 10 0 5.79
Eckert 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27.00

It's 12:30 and there's no Dodger game on. Weird. What am I supposed to do for fun.

Germano is a righty with good off speed stuff. Only has a mid 80's fastball. The Padres picked up Germano on waivers from Philly in March. His great success will probably end soon.

Loney strikes out swinging in the bottom of the 7th.

285
Can't you start translating all the comments from today's game into Latin?

288 To show you how bored I was today, I spent a significant amount of time (I won't admit how much) translating Plutarch into Latin from Greek. Hm, it would be fun to come up with Latin terms for baseball jargon.

Kemp with a hard ground ball single up the middle in the 8th is now 4-5 for the night.

290. He will need to do that about ten more time before management will say he has, "knocked down the door."

I guess Mitch Jones is not a prospect. Apparently he's been as awesome as Bigbie. But neither is an option? I assume Jones is too old?

Bigbie only has a week left before he can opt out. Jones only hope seems to be that another team might offer the Dodgers something for him if he keeps hitting. There doesn't appear to be a place for either on the Dodgers.

If Kemp has to "knock down the door" at age 22 I can't imagine what a 29 year old career minor leaguer would have to do to make this team.

Is it just me or is Nomar actually slugging .278 this month? As long as you hit .285 all year no one really calls it a slump.

Trainwreck and D4P are probably very sad. I guess their UFC guy got knocked from pillar to post.

I don't think it's you

I'm a new guy and I'm 10.

I'm a new guy and I'm 10.

291 I can imagine it. "Matt Kemp, who is 40 for his last 50 in AAA Las Vegas, is knocking down the door to get into the big leagues, but the Dodgers have nowhere to put him. He will be the starting pitcher for LV tomorrow night. Ned Colletti says the the position switch is intended to improve the club's pitching depth. Kemp's name has also been heard in rumored trades for Craig Counsell or Pedro Feliz, to solve the Dodgers' 3rd base problem, where Andy La Roche is only hitting .250 with 48 walks."

299 Nice to meet you.

Do you guys think that Abreu's contract will pay off?

302 Well, Abreu is a rookie, so he'll be around for at least five more years, unless the Dodgers trade him.

He's a pretty good hitter. He will probably play second base every day when Jeff Kent retires. I think he's got a good future.

I have to go good night.

304 23:00:00 curfew eh?

304 He's ten, cut him some slack.

Wait, I have to go, too. Good night! I'm old, cut me some slack.

296. I just saw a clip of that on Sportscenter. Man that dude got his bell rung. He was out before he hit the canvas.

307 It was like Clay's punch on Liston in Maine. Punch looks like a glancing blow, but it completely put the guy on queer street.

Like you said, he was done before he hit the canvas.

286 - Actually believe it or not Germano was traded by the Reds last season to the Phils for Certified LOOGY Rheal Cormier.

What's that, you say? The currently unemployed Rheal Cormier?

Yes, Krivsky, that Rheal Cormier. Good job.

The Dodgers players have, apparently, been given the "Do not rat" memo from MLBPA. What a shock.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2883805

292 "I guess Mitch Jones is not a prospect."

Don't let Zappala hear you say that!

Apologies if this was already mentioned, but after today's game Russell Martin has now made at least one career start at every spot in the batting order except leadoff -- arguably the position for which he's best suited.

Trainwreck and D4P are probably very sad. I guess their UFC guy got knocked from pillar to post

I'm not a "UFC guy". I was rooting for the fella who ended up winning.

Down on the Farm--
Hu definitely has more pop than jp.
Is their anywhere to get a breakdown of his OPS. Nothing real easy about the Southern League.
DeWitt may finally be starting to hit!
Mattingly breaks the Mendosa line!

314 On the Hu question in 313-nevermind. I Forgot MiL.com has those stats. Hu's slugging is about .500 and his OPS .900

313 - Hu definitely has more pop than jp

But can he add spark and energy?

309 - Hey, Rheal Cormier is the pride of the Community College of Rhode Island!

315 If JP has to be sparky, or scrappy, why can't he be more like Repko?

Signing Gonzo was partly done to add calm and steadiness and bringing up Abreu was to add spark and energy.

Nomar was signed to add fragility and Pierre was signed to add unbreakability.

Kemp, Loney, and Bigbie merely bring improvement and so far that is not enough.

317 - JP understands the purpose of a warning track

319 I suppose I should see that as an asset.
I better move out, I think I've got a game to watch late this afternoon.

292 You're lucky I was away for the weekend on a scout camp. As long as Pierre plays CF, Mitch Jones deserves a shot.

I'm the new kid and I'm 10 years old

312 In that case, congratulations on a successful beating!

321 that's where your right

I like to see the dodgers as my favorite team in the universe

What about you guys?

I got to go, bye

See now, that's dedication. My allegiance to the Dodgers is strictly terrestrial. If there's baseball on other planets, all bets are off.

328- Mars is the Red planet, Earth is the Blue planet, etc.

Can we set up the equivalent of a kiddie table for Dodger Thoughts?

Hmm, I dunno, I like the Dodgers as far as this galaxy goes, but there's a team on Omicron Persei 8 that I've always admired. Or feared.

I gotta go to brunch bye.

Game thread is open.

330 - Don't know, but I think that's one of the reasons for rule 11.

lineup up at ItD, Nomar rests, but Martin doesn't; he's in the 3. My guess is Martin's next day off comes later this week since there's no game tomorrow (nor was there one on Thursday).