We are slowly getting what most of us at DT desire. The results will come.

Kemp with his 2nd hit today. Yeah, let's "forget" him. LOL.

Kemp just blistered another hit, 2 on with Saenz at the plate.

Wow, what was Abreu doing swinging at that.

Mike Lieberthal seems like a stranger wearing the Dodger Uni.

Kemp sure has the ability to look bad sometimes. He's looked pretty shaky at the plate today but then you look up and he's 2 for 3. He's sort of the anti-Pierre in that regard (and probably many others).

4

he swings at anything with in radar distance.

All we need is two grand slams to tie it!

D-Bax are up 2-1 in the 7th.

I spell potential B-e-l-t-r-e.

Losing 5 out of 6 doesn't hurt as bad when your competitors are losing too. We're pretty lucky to still be within a game and a half of first place. (Or 2 games if the DBacks hold on. Couldn't we have sent that Snake Killers guy down to Phoenix after last night?)

It's kinda silly that Abreu gets to score there instead of Kemp. Stat-keepers ought to keep track of such things.

WOW. I just got home from work, only to peruse on the net and see that we're getting clobbered. Was the game really as bad as the score indicates for us or was Schmidt in the losing end of luck with some ground balls ball and shallow fly balls?

Glad to see Loney got a hit and RBI. It was wishful thinking to have him go 3-3 and force Grady's hand at playing a hot bat, but take what you can get.

I believe LuGo is the new team OPS leader.

was at the game today. i think the focus needs to be on schmidt again. he just had nothing out there.

13 - Schmidt was terrible.

11-True. This week's key bc the Padres get the D-Rays/Cubs, while the Dodgers have to play Mets/Angels.

Dbax get the Yankees/Orioles.

17

the D-Backs i feel don't have the pitching to stick around for the long haul.

Which pitchers do you not like in their rotation?

Aside from Brandon Webb they don't have much else, i could be wrong.

The series with the Mets is going to be interesting because we're throwing two lefties against them. Last year, if you recall, the Mets were simply awful against LHP, ranking 26th out of 30 teams with a .738 OPS against lefties. Against righties they had the third-best OPS in the NL at .796.

This year, with essentially the same lineup, they've completely turned that on its head. They have the second best OPS in baseball against lefties at .854. (Against righties it's .735, ranking 17th.)

Randy Johnson is having a good year also. i totally forgot about him.

i don't know but i just don't think they are gonna stick around.

The questions all along for me have been: 1) are the Dodgers committed to developing the kids? 2) do the Dodgers have the aptitude to develop them to their potential?

They done a respectable job of giving the Kemps and Loneys and Martins a chance to show themselves in the majors. Maybe not perfect, but I have no huge complaints there. And I buy the idea that such apprenticeships need to be earned, that vekterans in place can create a more favorable chance of success.

As for No. 2, again, no huge complaints. But I would love for the press to tell us more about Eddie Murray's teaching ability. I was struck by how enthusiastically Kemp endorsed Easler. Remember, the Indians found Murray sorely lacking in this area. He was fired because the young hitters weren't developing under him.

Martin's development certainly is encouraging on this score. It is so hard to know what role a hitting coach plays in this area. Seems like we get next to nothing from the press and players about what Murray's performance level is. If the Dodgers are going to have so many young hitters here, is he the best guy to teach them? Would Easler or Robinson be more familiar and supportive?

My other question about aptitude would be in regard to Little. Is he willing to sit veterans if need be? Does he create an environment that is supportive of the young players? As a former ballplayer who was never a major leaguer, is Little secure enough to get tough with the Nomars and Kents and Pierres, if need be, and in a way that doesn't bring resentment?

25 Murray has a policy of not talking to the media, so they're certainly not going to do many stories on him. He's not scratching their back, which makes it very unlikely they'll scratch his. Like you, I often find myself curious about the way he's working with the hitters and what he's telling them. I suspect it'll remain a mystery.

That was supposed to refer to 24, obviously.

LaRoche's play in the minor's since he's been sent down has been mirroring the small amount of time he spent up here:

.200/.400/.300 in 27 PA's

I hope Colletti isn't short-sighted in trading him, but I wonder if he is still lingering from those two labrum injuries from last year.

I bet it's not very often that a team that commits three errors wins a ballgame, as happened in today's Tigers Mets tilt. (Tigers had 21 hits and 15 runs to go with their 3 errors.)

What I was saying to myself during the four-run fumblerooski is San Diego was, do we really want our defense to be filled with the old, the halt and the lame?

After watching the Dodgers lately, maybe the Mets and Angels will be overconfident...

And maybe it will bite them...

So, anything going on at Screen Jam tonight?

I see that Scott "Bob Loblaw" Baio is getting his own "reality" show on VH1. The theme is apparently about how he is 45 years old and has never been married.

31
I have decided to forego the HD broadcast tonight and watch the East Coast feed of HBO starting at 6 tonight.

I don't trust our Eastern and Central Time Zone commentators.

Not one bit.

Nope.

32. Isn't that pretty much the theme of every reality show on VH1?

34
Well, some of the 45-year olds are divorced...

24. I was struck by how enthusiastically Kemp endorsed Easler.

That was also what caught my eye. Kemp didn't just say Easler was the best hitting coach he's ever had. He said Easler was the best coach he'd had BY FAR. I couldn't help wondering what that said about Murray (if anything).

Don't look now*, but the Rockies are only 4 games back of the Dodgers.

*Well, you can look if you want to, but you don't really need to because I already told you.

I remember when I was a teenager a few years ago, I used to watch VH1 instead of MTV because they actually played music videos and had shows that revolved around music. Now, VH1 is beginning to resemble A&E, E!, and every other "lifestyle/celebrity" reality show channel that increasingly speeding up the downfall of Western Civilization.

38
Yep. VH1 has changed a lot since the early days, when it actually showed Randy Travis videos.

37 - This, too, shall pass.

The Rocks are playing the Red Sox next.

EE - good call on the Aflac screw-up. I guess they didn't bother to check if any of the guys from the 81 team were still around when the Blue Jays won their titles.

38--I usually only found VH1 watchable in the middle of the night---Insomniac Music Theatre--typically had mainstream, uninterrupted videos. That was good.

Most of VH1's reality stuff isnt that great, although I do oddly enjoy "Celebrity Fit Club".

I'm just wondering if Warren G's "street cred" is down the drain after appearing on that show?

Another train wreck of viewing pleasure is on Bravo---"Kathy Griffin's Life on the D List"

Uh, I was talking about circa 2000 VH1, back when they played heavy metal videos and such after 12PM and I loved watching the complete obliteration of music careers on BTM. I could sense the downfall of VH1 when they decided to cancel the show (Rock Show it was called) because it didn't play enough Nickelback or Creed like every-other show on VH1. The final straw for me came when they gave GN'R 1/2 hour (I think) to do BTM, when they gave everyone else 1 hour and Madonna 2. Covering the complete, self-destruction of that band in a 1/2 hour is like describing the rise and fall of Rome in the same time-frame.

BTW: I didn't mean that showing Randy Travis videos is a good thing, but rather that showing Randy Travis videos is very different from what they show now.

44. Yeah, music channels hate variety these days, I guess they just can't keep up with the internet anymore.

I am surprised that Jon isn't liveblogging the Braves-Cubs game tonight since Buddy Carlyle is starting.

It would be nice to have a separate music-video channel for each genre like radio, wouldn't it?

Why does Jon like Buddy Carlyle again? I wasn't visiting this website a whole lot back in the beggining of 2005.

Got back from my first game in a couple of years, courtesy of bhsportsguy. The weather was nice, seats were outstanding, the young kids played, and the company couldn't have been better. BH and I had a good time trying to figure out what transpired to get Loney up. We narrowed it down to Brady Clark and either the DL or a DFA.

If you ignore the entire, you know, actual game, it was a fantastic day. Sopranos finale at 6, and I shall return later.

Yay kids playing, boo today's outcome. Best of times, blurst of times, and all that.

Regarding Murray's teaching ability, I seem to recall Milton Bradley speaking very highly of him. So I don't think we should prejudge his abilities based on his firing from Cleveland.

WWSH

>>> Manager Grady Little said Loney would play both corners of the outfield and first base. According to Little, the idea behind recalling Loney came from the need to rest Garciaparra and the emergence of Matt Kemp in the outfield. <<<

http://tinyurl.com/3d7p2w

How would "the emergence of Kemp" lead to the recall of Loney?

you guys think it's a good idea to shut Schmidt down for june & July & hope for the best when he returns? i really feel like we're sugar coting his bad outing today, but then again i could be over reacting.

50. Gonzo credited working with Murray for his recent turn around. You're just not going to see much nor is there much reason you would. I can't see any point to talking publicly about what you're working on as a hitter. As for Cleveland, he took a bunch of young kids and helped make them into major league hitters. They slumped, he got fired. They immediately started hitting. Did they fail to hit because he was stopping them? Did they learn to hit from the new coach the day he left? It's a bit like the presidency, it takes a while to affect changes and the later regime is likely to take the blame/credit for your work. That roster is full of raw young guys who Murray helped to become legitimate big league hitters. He was fired because he didn't see eye to eye with Eric Wedge.

52. How would "the emergence of Kemp" lead to the recall of Loney?

Based on the other things he said in the article the conclusion I reached was that Little was indicating that when resting Garciaparra he feels better about the bats of Loney & Kemp now rather than Loney & Clark being available. So "the emergence of Kemp" has increased his confidence level concerning what his plans are with the lineup in the coming months.

But that's just my take on it. Maybe others got something different out of the article.

So um, yeah, missed that game. How'd the Dodgers' defense look this afternoon, apart from the Pierre error and Martin's ::gasp:: passed ball?

Whoever said they'd rather lose by ten runs rather than one oughta be sentenced to multiple viewings of today's game. Give me last second heartbreak any day of the week.

Who caught Gammons on ESPN 2? Whichever brown-eyed handsome anchor was interviewing him said the NL West is clearly the best division in baseball. My jaw dropped about two feet, not because it was said but because it was accepted as understood. Gammons responded in the affirmative. He said the Padres are the least appreciated great team in the game and had high praise for the Dodgers and DBacks. And... he didn't add how that would impact the Yankees or Red Sox.

I ask my fellow DTers... is there a rip in the space/time continuum that I don't know about? If this keeps up, I'm stacking up on dry goods.

46 - In my dreams.

I'm a firm believer that hitting coaches can make a difference, but why should Murray get a bad rap when everyone knew this was a motley collection of hitters?

Gammons is from Boston, and it's natural for him to focus on BoSox stuff, but I don't think he gets enough credit for following other divisions, including farm systems. When I could still read them, his pre-season roundups frequently had a lot of coverage of non-AL East teams, and it usually tended to be optimistic. I still remember his high praise of Minnesota, in the years it was a perennial contender in the playoffs. Of the ESPN crew, he's also the most open to sabermetric methods, aside from Rob Neyer, of course.

The problem with ESPN is with meatheads like Kruk, and guys who really do just focus on Red Sox/Yanks like Buster Olney, and the fact that Gammons, although knowledgeable, isn't as telegenic as other people. From what I've seen of him, Orel seems to have been a good addition, though.

WWSH

58
A "Motley Blue Crew" or a "Blue Motley Crew"...?

Interesting end note in the latest TrueBlue LA blog entry after today's game:
--Today's loss equaled the fifth in six tries, which Little admitted was "disappointing." There's a difference, however, between "disappointing" and "reaching for a towel," the latter effect the Dodger Skip is looking to avoid. "What we as a ball club need to do is to not lose sight of the fact that we're good and it's a long season. We will get through this. We have a lot of confidence in these players. All the effort is there. The results just haven't come for a few days, but they will." Was that the message imparted during the meeting held immediately after Wilson Betemit struck out to end the ninth? Can't tell you, because Little wouldn't tell us. Martin also remained mum on the exacts, although he did have a funny take when asked if he thought the meeting- the first of its kind this season- was needed. "We'll see. If we win tomorrow, then it was a good meeting." --

Tony Jackson is as acerbic as any commenter here.

Anyone notice the NBA Finals going on?

Me either.

George Horton looks funny coaching at third base with a pen stuck behind his ear.

63
Cleveland hasn't noticed either.

But I thought the NBA playoffs were the superior playoffs?

Basketball sucks.

5-2-3 double plays are exciting.

Oh my, the Cavs are being schooled again by the Spurs. Yikes. So much for my rooting for the underdog. :-(

62 Jackson can be quite, er, caustic, yeah - often downright negative. Guess it's hard not to be when the team's playing so flat.

68 For a sample of Tony's, er, bluntness...

And with one out and nobody on in the third, Pierre tried to bunt his way on and popped it. There's something you don't see every day. Oh, wait, yes, you do.

As some of my students say, "Daaaammmnnnn."

Do you guys think there's any chance of a sellout tomorrow?

If it was the Suns and Cleveland, ratings would not have been an issue.

Grady has given the kids the opportunity to not disappoint. The pitching staff will do its part. Just pondering the possibilities is more exciting than Spurs-Cavs.

This is really a good weekend. Even though we lost 2 of 3 I am so happy that Dodger management has taken us in this direction. The time is now for these kids to slowly take their spots and not look back. let's hope they can. I feel like as long as they all get some chances I have nothing to complain about (other than Chad getting to start I guess) anymore. Just time to go along for the ride.

Saw the first part of the game on TiVo. Pierre is a terrible CF, and from the look on his face...He knows it, and is aware that his place as a starter is in real jeapardy. When Vin starts to call you out on TV you've got to have been bad for long enough.

Cavs have pulled to within 9 points.

74 - Vin called Pierre's defense out on Opening Day.

Loney looks so smooth on defense that he makes it look effortlessly. Abreu turned a very nice double play from a feed from Betimit at third. The future does look bright indeed, I think that Ned could unload some of this veteren leadership and we would still compete.

Since I was at the game and did not read the comments was it mentioned that Halladay's RBI single was the first one by a Blue Jays pitchers since Mark Hendrickson did it back in 2003 when he homered in Montreal.

I am not sure if I can recall a worse CF on D as our starter..

77 It's not veteran leadership. It's proven veteran leadership.

It's proven. And leadership. From veterans.

79
You never saw Rudy Law play center did you?

The Black Mike Ramsey was not exactly handy with the leather.

John Shelby was ... John Shelby.

It game me some comfort to hear it today from him, because it is someone I belive can have a small portion of managements ear. And perhaps can convey the importance of playing the best players availiable, rather than the ones you owe alot of money to. And I was open to pierre once he was signed, although I didn't like it.

I was a little too young for law (i was born in 71). Shelby I recall but he didn't seem so bad

What, no (un)love for RJ Reynolds or Cecil Espy?

78 How ironic!

81 I saw all three of those guys and Ken Landreaux. I think all of them were better than Juan Pierre. I think if Greg Luzinski had speed, he would've been Juan Pierre in the field. Juan Pierre is like a more chaotic version of Lou Brock.

But he's a Dodger. He's on my favorite team. I'm cheering for Juan Pierre.

I saw Franklin Stubbs play CF. I also saw Pedro Guerrero. There were times when Tommy Lasorda felt that defense should take a back seat to, well, everything else.

81 Everytime I see McReynolds' fly ball in the 1988 NLCS, I keep thinking, Where's Shelby?, Where's Shelby?

It was another day at the ballpark with a DTer.

Of course, the difference between talking to a poster here vs. in person. In person, you are not allowed to review what you say before saying it.

But I kid, it was great to hang out with Greg Brock and I hope to meet a lot of you at the game in July.

88 I didn't really appreciate it when you tried to steal my wallet, but other than that it was a great time.

Thanks again.

I had five empty seats around me.

And five unused tickets in my car.

90 I think that's the beginning of a Johnny Cash song.

Or maybe it's Woody Guthrie.

85
It's like rain, on opening day.
It's the weak arm, the fans have to take.
It's the bad contract, we all re-evaluate
Who would have thought bunting every game really figures?

Enough Tom Foolery, back to studying.

The Brewers have 21 hits now in the 12th inning. The team record, which was set in a 9 inning game, is 31.

Ahh, Rick Springfield singing "Jesse's Girl."

A classic pop song, nonsensical (why would Rick Springfield need to steal another guy's girl?) but a catchy beat and chorus.

UCLA's attack against Fullerton tonight is evocative of the Dodgers.

Cla Meridith in for the Titans.

Not sure if Nate saw this: Per Diamond Leung - The Dodgers have signed two local picks in USC pitcher Paul Koss (11th round) and Lewis-Clark State catcher Fausto Mier (12th). Mier was born in Fontana.

Want to know what hurts worse than this loss? Mitch Jones being shipped to Japan. I'm wearing black this week.

92- After seeing "the Player" botch those two plays in the third inning, it is time to bite the bullet and pull the plug on the failed Pierre experiment. Package him with a top pitching prospect and Tomrickson at the break and offer to pay part of his salary and then go after either Torii Hunter or Ichiro to fill the CF gap in the offseason. My main disappointment is if you are going to build a team on great pitching with little power, then you better at least give the team a solid defense behind your pitchers. What are we, next to last in fielding in the NL? We can maybe afford one stonehand with a noodle arm in LF but not in 2 of the 3 OF spots. The future infield looks bright with Loney at 1B and Abreu at 2B.

Package him with a top pitching....

We dont have many to choose from. They're dropping like flies!

Just got back from a trip deep in the heart of enemy territory. Nothing like a weekend trip down to San Diego with the family. Lego Land, Sea World and a 2-1/2 hour drive back home. Was sad to see the Dodgers lost both days while I was gone, but was happy the Kemp move wasn't the last one, with Loney getting called up, Pierre batting 8th and Nomar benched. Hopefully, the rookies do well and at the very least put some pressue on the vets to play well.
vr, Xei

I know I am staring at one tree while the forrest burns all around me, but the worst part of the Pierre fiasco for me is that every runner in Major League Baseball knows they can run on him. I have come to terms with the lack of offense and the absurd routes but watching runners tag up or take an extra base because he has an arm like my Mom really annoys me.

(Sorry Mom)

87, Guerrero was shifted to third to reduce his damage on defense. But besides Shelby in CF, Guerrero had other concerns in the field: "First I think, `I hope they don't hit it to me.' Then I think `I hope they don't hit to Steve Sax.' "

52

Grady left one part out:

"the emergence of Kemp" led to the redundancy of Clark which led to the recall of Loney.

I was at the Pads/ Mariners in SD on Friday night. (My parents live there and were part of some charity event.) Meredith gave up the winning HR in the top of the 10th, and Hoffman even looked human (non-save situation.)

Has anyone ever explained why the Dodgers do so poorly against a team which seems to give their opponents every opportunity to score runs? Is there a piano submerged in a pond somewhere in San Diego county that we should know about?

I was out of town for most of the weekend so I'm not sure if this was mentioned:

>>> 51s pitcher Greg Miller was optioned to Double-A Jacksonville. <<<

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/7900847.html

so, how much does Mota get booed tonight?

Why would anyone boo Mota? 99% of the fans in attendance won't even know he was suspended for steroids.

The Mota/Beltre warmup thing was one of my favorite things to watch when Mota came in.

Heck, 99% of the fans in attendence won't even know he was once a Dodger.

Toy, are you going to any of these games? I'll be at all three but not in the usual seats but I'll be around there.

99% of the fans in attendence won't even know he was once a Dodger

And the other 1% will remember that Paul DePodesta traded him along with Paul Lo Duca for Hee-Seop Choi.

109
Busy week, I'll be there Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

107. As between Green, LoDuca, Mota and Ledee, Mota won't be on anyones radar. Green ususally takes the brunt of it. More recently some Dodger fans have begun to boo LoDuca but for the last few years he has generally gotten a pass. I think it was that whole crying/anger/shock/dismay thing when the Penny trade went down but now everyone gets booed at DS.

In one weekend you could see all of Grady's frustration with Pierre come out in the open. Batted eight, pinch hit for, double switched. What Ned/Grady did this weekend was impressive. As easy as it is to say play the kids to actually bench high salaried players that the GM brought in isn't easy. The clubhouse must be on pins and needles right now. The next week will be very interesting as we see how playing time is actually distributed. Gonzo continues to amaze me. Other then that slow streak at the end of April and beginning of May he's been very solid. In a year when so many good hitters are struggling it is surprising that Gonzo is posting an > 850 OPS.

Santy Glaus was very impressive this weekend. For a guy who can barely run he looked okay to me jogging around the bases.

I missed the game/discussion, but it looked like Schmidt's fastball was 85-86 most of the day and the result was the same as before when he was in that range. That's just not going to get 'er done. He isn't Maddux.
Props to Grady and Ned for bringing in Kemp and Loney, curious how Pierre took the benching in the 5th? Not that It matters.

curious how Pierre took the benching in the 5th?

And was there any word from the D-Train...?

I wonder if Schmidt feels guilty about taking all that money knowing his shoulder was shot? Or, if he really is as shocked as the rest of us that he went from throwing 93mph to 85 mph over 1 winter.

Or, did Colletti pay intending for a juiced up Schmidt, only to get the non-juiced Schmidt?

Inquiring minds yada yada yada.

Color me dubious that Schmidt's shoulder was perfectly fine until a few months ago when he went on the DL.

It would be nice if ESPN covered one of these Dodgers-Mets games. You'd think, given the media markets, particularly a New York team, that they'd air one of them Tuesday or Wednesday. But I guess they don't do later games any more? Or they're just lame. Can't wait for the White Sox-Phils game today though. Oh well, thank dog for MLBTV.

117 Maybe it wasn't perfectly fine, but he must have aggravated something over the course of the season. In his second start of the season his velocity was fine, just as it was in his fourth start.

His third and fifth starts are when he completely tanked. So I don't think there's some massive, permanent condition we should have known about.

So I don't think there's some massive, permanent condition we should have known about

I guess it's just bad luck then. For the team, at least.

Also, I wonder how Colletti's feeling right now w/ Pierre 64 OPS+, Nomar 73, Schmidt 66 ERA+.

That's a ton of money for players who have each hurt the Dodgers.

I know this seems naively optimistic, but I don't want to fully judge Jason Schmidt v07 until the end of the season. It's hard to know with pitchers - maybe he'll just be erratic from now on, or maybe he's building up both arm strength and, after the long layoff, consistency, which doesn't always just come back right away. He looked terrible yesterday, but he looked great last week (separate from the fact that the Jays have a better lineup than the padres, Schmidt really did look better last week), so I'm not ready to judge this situation until I've seen another month or so of him, at least. I do hope they'll have him on a tight leash for awhile though; if he looks anything like he did yesterday next time out, I'd not wait til the game's out of reach. Make him through some side sessions, skip a start for Billingsley, something.

"through" = "throw" in 122 for those of you scoring at home.

Buddy Carlyle had a quality start through six innings Sunday! (before allowing a fourth run in the seventh)

124
I've argued before that a pitcher should get a QS in that situation. Quality-Start-ness shouldn't depend at all upon whether a manager decides to take a pitcher out after 6 innings or leave him in.

125 - To the extent that I care, I agree.

126
I don't care much myself: it's just the principle of the thing.

125 Quality starts are not to be thrown around like candy. These are QUALITY STARTS were talking about, here. If you can't maintain the integrity of the QS, then what good is sport?

Also, for those of you familiar with the story of Georgia football recruit Genarlo Wilson, his prison sentence was voided by a Georgia judge. The state is appealing.

The state is appealing

Not really. I've never wanted to live there.

New post up top.

122

sounds like a reasonable idea.

24 "Does Brady create an environment that is supportive of the young players?"

There's always alot of talk in business and elsewhere about "creating an environment". Tell me, just how would a manager go about creating an environment for young players?

Or maybe I'm just not into big, pretentious sounding phrases, when every-day language is clearer, like, "is Brady giving the young guys a chance?"