Continuing the discussion from the last thread:
"Nomar is hitting .279 and is on pace for 95 or so RBIs. To the average fan, Nomar is having a great year."

Even if you're a casual fan who believes in BA and RBI, is .279 with 95 ribbies really a great year? And doesn't the casual fan believe in home runs too?

"Booing has always been the fans perogative. We pay to cheer the good and boo the bad."

If that were actually going on, I wouldn't have quite as much of a problem with it. But the fans are cheering the bad (Nomar, Pierre) and booing the good (Broxton). It's not just the rudeness, but the combination of rudeness and ignorance that makes the booing so annoying.

Without hats.

The hats are on the ground, being danced around.

It may help, if the problem is mostly with Miller's confidence. My impression in ST was that he was back feeling healthy and throwing over the top with his old delivery--unless his shoulder is hurting again, the problem could be in his head, as opposed to physical, and pitching in a more friendly environment might get him back on trip.

Miller isn't that old yet--look at how long it took Kuo to get back on track--so there's still hope.

BTW Jon, great screen shots above.

WWSH

from Philly.com:

Cole Hamels doesn't take kindly to being shown up. Yesterday, he put bat-flipping Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca on notice.

"When I strike a guy out, I walk off. I don't fist pump. I don't try to show up their team," Hamels said. "You get to the major leagues, that's where you're supposed to show your class."

In Hamels' mind, Lo Duca's act Thursday in New York lacked class.

...Will Lo Duca pay?

"I have to be careful here," Hamels said, grinning evilly. "Let's just say, it could have been a mistake on his part."

that's a shame, he did so well in spring training.

I posted something in the ItD comments about booing your own team's players because I figured people who were part of the booing are more likely to post and read there than they are here (where we're probably preaching to the choir). That is, the ones who can read... God, that burns me up.

If real fans were booing Broxton it would be one thing. The pseudo fans booing is just another meaningless L.A. phenom.

That blew my mind.

http://brentblack.com/

baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK200109090.shtml

#1. Little pulling Penny after 87 pitches in the 8th inning. What was the rationale behind this? Had Rios had a great history against Penny or something?

#2. I'm not sure if Abreu is a better 2nd basemen than Kent, but if its a sudden death game then put Kent at 1st, and Abreu at 2b. Betemit at 3b. Now, this would involve taking Nomar out of the game, but at this point of the season Grady needs to stop playing his favorites and do whats best for the team. If Nomar takes it personally that he's pulled from the game, then so be it. The goal is to win the game, not for Nomar to play the most innings possible.

#3. Pierre-Kemp situation has been talked about already a billion times.

Agree with #2 though. I like Abreu at 2nd more than I like him at 3rd, defensively. Betemit's not 100% reliable there either but more so. Of course, again, if we have Loney to be a sub, putting him at 1st for Nomar would also work. At some point this season we'll see that.

That would tend to make me want to tell people to... go peddle their papers elsewhere.

(Toronto 2174 miles)
Washington, DC 2298
Baltimore 2318
Miami 2335
Philadelphia 2390
New York 2451
Boston 2595

And both Pittsburgh and Tampa are so close to Toronto's distance that you'd have to measure stadium to stadium to be sure.

However, Pedro's was on, what 110+ pitches?
Facing the Yankees.

Penny's on 87, facing the Blue Jays.

If anything, Little did the safest thing he could do. Managers almost never get criticized for going to their 'closers' in late inning situations. However, it almost cost the Dodgers the game last nite.

I can see pulling Penny if Rios had got on, but the guy wasnt tired at all. He still had his velocity, just was pitching great. I cant imagine Penny asking to leave the game, since he's had a history of getting upset for getting pulled.

Little's I fear is turning into a little bit of Tracy. He pulls guys even if they are going along fine. He's done it with Billingsley's twice in the last week (once in Pitt, and in SD), and now Penny. One who manages least, manages best.

Re: Pierre and Kemp. Listen: Kemp is here. There will be a slow fade-in for Kemp. There won't be a big Camille Johnson orchestrated press conference in which Ned and Grady officially peel off patches of their chest hairs in supplication for putting Pierre on the team. No, it'll be the subtle result of Grady "shaking up the lineup" after a bad game, then "shaking it up" again, then "going with the hot bat" if Kemp delivers, which he will, to "Pierre hasn't played for a week," to "Pierre, the forgotten man, giving player of the month Matt Kemp, a well deserved rest before the playoffs."

These guys don't want to admit a mistake, so they won't. But they also don't want to lose.

Ommmmmmm.

http://www.dcbb.blogspot.com/

Say, does anyone know why Sequoyah Stonecipher wasn't drafted? I can't find any info on it. Did he change his name before the draft? Or did he tell everyone not to draft him because he's going to college. Seems really odd to me. He was considered a top - or at least first 3-4 round - prospect. Wha' happened?

You wanna make sure you can pull off wearing a Panama hat. You don't wanna look like this.

http://tinyurl.com/2fggej

Not to sound like Pollyanna, but other than a few specific matchups, what would be the point?

The situation is this. San Diego has better pitching. Arizona has equivalent pitching. Both teams need more offense, but can't pay for it. The Dodgers can add more offense just by adjusting the lineup. What kind of foolish pride would prevent Little and Colletti from doing that if the division's on the line?

To be sure, if Kemp doesn't play well, Pierre will get the benefit of more doubts. And I also agree it will take an injury to displace Nomar for Loney, plus there's a good chance Nomar's just in a slump anyway and will eventually contribute. But the Dodger brass knows, but just won't say, that they need a daily lineup consisting of Martin/Nomar/Kent/Furcal/Abreu/Gonzalez/ Kemp/Ethier to win the division.

Watch what they do, not what they say. The promotion of Kemp is in the "what they do" category.

It surprised me, too, but I don't feel comfortable saying it was the wrong choice since for all we know, Penny told Little he was done. And if so, we should be thankful that Penny is actually being honest about those things, which he hasn't been in the past.

A 450 at-bat slump? I find that a little hard to believe.

Or, as the song goes, "Loney Again, Or..."

I'd assume he's a lock to start on Sunday."

Just so y'all are prepared in case Kemp isn't starting tonight either.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/D8ux

Note the presence of a certain other Dodger first baseman.

Furcal, SS
Abreu, 3B
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Martin, C
Kemp, RF
Pierre, CF
Lowe, P

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/Y5ef

The last one was Kevin Young in 1993.

Wither Left Field?

Is this some sort of homage to the frenzy of last night's Giants game?

It seems weird to bench Ethier vs. the righty. But they don't want to bench Gonzo and, well, never mind. We've been through this before. {blather, rinse, repeat}

Go Bison!

49 No, I realize that's not all that good for anyone. But I think people expect more offense out of their firstbaseman vs. say their #8 hitting spot starting infielder (or, I don't know, their slap hitting centerfielder). But yes, it's not all that good for anyone.

They could bring up Loney. I wouldn't have minded giving Jones a couple AB's either, but some are reporting he's left for Japan. Anyone know if that's true or not?

I know there are people who don't think Pierre batting 8th really means anything, and as far as pure run production, they may be right. But I think moving him to the 8-hole, if it sticks, is a good sign because it indicates a willingness to risk ruffling the feathers of a high-paid veteran who isn't performing. If they are willing to risk alienating Pierre by batting him eighth, it gives me ha little hope that they eventually would also be willing to bench him and Nomar.

Yowsa, the A's welcomed old friend Barry Zito back with closed arms, shelling him and on their way to another win. The Giants came out flat after the tough loss last night.

Does that make any sense? Look, I realize he's 29 and probably won't make it as an everyday major leaguer, but didn't he deserve a few AB's this year, especailly given how the offense (especailly Nomar) is struggling?

Maybe catch lightning in a bottle? Let him play 1st or DH a few weeks. Maybe he hits a few homers and has a big couple of weeks. Stranger things have happened.

I believe he should at least have been given a chance. No?

From what I've read about Jones, he seems to have Japan written all over him. He seems to be a quintessential AAAA player.

61 Works for me! The real mystery would be to find the Dodger fans who wouldn't welcome those 2 going on the DL? Do any exist?

And Eric made the point that when Grady when out on the mound, he talked to both Penny and Martin and then he decided to call in Broxton.

All that said, it was the best game I ever saw Penny pitch and the only other start I have seen this year as good was Randy Wolf's start against the Reds.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200408030.shtml

That being said, I too doubt he ever becomes an every day player in the big leagues, but he might be someone who could ride his best minor league season ever into a couple of decent weeks in the majors.

At the very least, wouldn't it have been a little intriguing with him in the lineup for a couple weeks? Along with Kemp and Loney, to try and jumpstart the offense?

It doesn't matter anymore, he is gone. But it does seem a little short-sighted.

I know Nomar has a no-trade, but he might agree to waive it if you presented him a choice between being a bench player with the Dodgers or a starter with the Yankees. I don't really care what we get for him. At this point, a bucket of baseballs would be an outstanding return.

I put up a first-hand account of what it was like to be at last night's game at Dodgerama.

It seems like pretty much everybody thought for sure that Saenz's hit was a going to be a double. And in the end, it went over the wall with room to spare. Weird.

Furcal
Abreu
Gonzalez
Kent
Martin
Nomar
Kemp/Ethier
Pierre

I'd say he should be 7th but that's probably asking too much, 6th is like next to the middle of the order so it isn't a total demoralizing demotion. Just a shake things up kind of demotion.

Furcal
Gonzalez
Martin
Kent
Kemp
Nomar
Abreu
Ethier/Pierre

Gonzo walks quite a bit. I think the team could use his OBP in the 2nd spot for awhile until he cools off. Martin should be batting #3. I'd platoon Ethier/Pierre and have Kemp/Gonzo the everyday OF'ers.

This is still a very positive development that Pierre is batting 8th. Glad to see Little has some cajones. Just a couple years ago, Tracy kept Izturis at the top of lineup all year long.

A lot of this were holdovers from a time when:
1) all the big stars lived in L.A.
2) going to Dodgers games was a big deal

But Hollywood's big stars don't live in L.A. all the time now. And the Lakers have picked up a lot of the star power now because they win a lot and Jack Nicholson is a big fan.

But even when Lemmon and Matthau played, there were a lot of not very famous people playing.

Nomar's hitting like .500 with RISP this year. His 'clutchness' this year is just about the only thing keeping him in that #3 spot. Grady's even commented about it--about how Nomar's job is to just drive in runs.

Unfortunately, "clutchness" probably wont last the whole season.

Overall he's:
.441 .485 .508 .994

So he's obviously been better than I thought, though not as good as he has been in some of his past years.

So it's things like the .341 SLG percentage overall that have stuck with me. Well, it could be the opposite, his overall numbers get better. But without him getting some rest at some point this season, and perhaps a little youth serum, I don't see it.

But even today, when the Dodgers try to show a celebrity in the crowd, the best they can come up with is Robert Wuhl. And that's just not right as "Arli$$" is a show that offends my sensibilities a member of the human race.

Bob Newhart would've been cool. So, too, would seeing Matthau and Lemmon. What a lame crop they have nowadays. There are plenty of stars still living in LA area, they could do better than they're doing. Though maybe many of the best of 'em are actually, you know, working. Shooting a film somewhere or traveling.

Here's my lineup (with a five-man rotation in the outfield):

Furcal ss
Abreu 3b
Martin c
Kent 2b
Gonzalez/Kemp lf/rf
Ethier lf/rf (lf when Kemp is playing)
Pierre/Clark cf
Nomar 1b

http://tinyurl.com/2bw5kc

The clip opens with a bit on the draft and ends with the Giambi steroid scandal, but the meat of the interview is the praise for Martin.

I would dispute that to a certain degree. I think it remains to be seen whether Kemp is a better outfielder than Ethier. Ethier is fundamentally more sound, but Kemp is faster and has a much better arm. I think they're close enough that you shouldn't be making the playing time decisions based on defense.

i've seen Arnold Schwarchenegger at games a few times.

http://tinyurl.com/3yjvaz

That was a favorite expression of my British grandmother, who died 35 years ago. I hadn't heard it in a long time. It is so much gentler than many alternatives.

So says the Midland Daily News.