Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
A game score of 50 or better by a starting pitcher gives the Dodgers an authoritative chance of winning a game. (See the end of this post to see just how authoritative.) So how often do Dodger pitchers get those game scores?
Caution: The following is not hard science.
Game scores, defined by Bill James, attempt to quantify a starting pitcher's performance in a given game. They are calculated in the following manner:
Start with 50 points. Add 1 point for each out recorded, (or 3 points per inning). Add 2 points for each inning completed after the 4th. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit allowed. Subtract 4 points for each earned run allowed. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run allowed. Subtract 1 point for each walk.
Keep in mind that Game Scores are not adjusted for park effects, quality of opponent, health or rest. But with those caveats, you can still get an idea of how consistently effective Dodger starting pitchers have been.
To generalize, a game score of 45 puts you in the neighborhood of a quality start (minimum of six innings pitched, maximum of three earned runs allowed). However, a 45 could easily mean that for the Dodgers to win that game, the bullpen has to pitch shutout ball or the offense will have to score, say, five runs or more. Both of those things are doable but hardly automatic. So for some, game scores of 50 or even 60 will be what's relevant.
Here's how the 2007 game scores break down for Dodger starters (listed in order of starts made):
Derek Lowe (19 starts): 21, 64, 68, 29, 46, 42, 75, 66, 36, 56, 62, 74, 62, 78, 75, 56, 59, 52, 38
00s: 0
10s: 0
20s: 2
30s: 2
40s: 2
50s: 3
60s: 5
70s: 4
80s: 0
Starts at 40 or above: 14 out of 19 (74 percent)
Starts at 50 or above: 12 out of 19 (63 percent)
Starts at 60 or above: 9 out of 19 (47 percent)
Comment: Lowe has provided a quality start roughly two-thirds of the time. He should have a better record.
Brad Penny (18 starts): 53, 68, 62, 49, 47, 66, 81, 64, 19, 67, 68, 40, 72, 66, 65, 72, 68, 21
00s: 0
10s: 1
20s: 1
30s: 0
40s: 3
50s: 1
60s: 9
70s: 2
80s: 1
Starts at 40 or above: 16 out of 18 (89 percent)
Starts at 50 or above: 13 out of 18 (72 percent)
Starts at 60 or above: 12 out of 18 (67 percent)
Comment: Not only has Penny been near-perfect in providing quality starts, he has pitched exceptionally two-thirds of the time.
Randy Wolf (18 starts): 46, 62, 54, 65, 45, 26, 58, 80, 51, 64, 69, 38, 34, 45, 35, 41, 50, 22
00s: 0
10s: 0
20s: 2
30s: 3
40s: 4
50s: 4
60s: 4
70s: 0
80s: 1
Starts at 40 or above: 13 out of 18 (72 percent)
Starts at 50 or above: 9 out of 18 (50 percent)
Starts at 60 or above: 5 out of 18 (28 percent)
Comment: Wolf scored 45 or better in 10 of his first 11 starts of 2007 – then only twice in his most recent seven before going on the disabled list.
Mark Hendrickson (10 starts): 56, 61, 72, 36, 35, 35, 37, 29, 49, 56
00s: 0
10s: 0
20s: 1
30s: 4
40s: 1
50s: 2
60s: 1
70s: 1
80s: 0
Starts at 40 or above: 5 out of 10 (50 percent)
Starts at 50 or above: 4 out of 10 (40 percent)
Starts at 60 or above: 2 out of 10 (20 percent)
Comment: This is Hendrickson – pitching well at times, but also pitching poorly more frequently than a Dodger starter should. That being said, scoring 45 or better half the time has its value.
Brett Tomko (8 starts): 76, 36, 45, 50, 35, 56, 7, 36
00s: 1
10s: 0
20s: 0
30s: 3
40s: 1
50s: 2
60s: 0
70s: 1
80s: 0
Starts at 40 or above: 4 out of 8 (50 percent)
Starts at 50 or above: 3 out of 8 (38 percent)
Starts at 60 or above: 1 out of 8 (13 percent)
Comment: Similar scores as Hendrickson – despite that one truly awful appearance. As Clark Kellogg might say, Tomko as a starter had "spurtability" – in the positive and negative sense.
Hong-Chih Kuo (6 starts): 47, 66, 66, 10, 55, 22
00s: 0
10s: 1
20s: 1
30s: 0
40s: 1
50s: 1
60s: 2
70s: 0
80s: 0
Starts at 40 or above: 4 out of 6 (67 percent)
Starts at 50 or above: 3 out of 6 (50 percent)
Starts at 60 or above: 2 out of 6 (33 percent)
Comment: As we go from small sample sizes to infinitesimal, the question with Kuo is whether his two dogmeat starts reflect poor health or factors he can control.
Jason Schmidt (6 starts): 59, 40, 20, 71, 21, 40
00s: 0
10s: 0
20s: 2
30s: 0
40s: 2
50s: 1
60s: 0
70s: 1
80s: 0
Starts at 40 or above: 4 out of 6 (67 percent)
Starts at 50 or above: 2 out of 6 (33 percent)
Starts at 60 or above: 1 out of 6 (17 percent)
Comment: What might have been …
Chad Billingsley (4 starts): 48, 33, 80, 45
00s: 0
10s: 0
20s: 0
30s: 1
40s: 2
50s: 0
60s: 0
70s: 0
80s: 1
Starts at 40 or above: 3 out of 4 (75 percent)
Starts at 50 or above: 1 out of 4 (25 percent)
Starts at 60 or above: 1 out of 4 (25 percent)
Comment: The only active Dodger starting pitcher who can avoid dipping below the 30 mark this season.
Leaders
40 or above:
Penny, 89 percent
Billingsley, 75 percent
Lowe, 74 percent
Wolf, 72 percent
Kuo, 67 percent
Schmidt, 67 percent
Hendrickson, 50 percent
Tomko, 50 percent
Team: 63 of 89, 71 percent
50 or above:
Penny, 72 percent
Lowe, 63 percent
Kuo, 50 percent
Wolf, 50 percent
Hendrickson, 40 percent
Tomko, 38 percent
Schmidt, 33 percent
Billingsley, 25 percent
Team: 47 of 89, 53 percent
60 or above:
Penny, 67 percent
Lowe, 47 percent
Kuo, 33 percent
Wolf, 28 percent
Hendrickson, 20 percent
Schmidt, 17 percent
Tomko, 13 percent
Billingsley, 25 percent
Team: 33 of 89, 37 percent
By the way, the Dodgers are 37-10 (.787) when their starting pitchers score 50 or better and 29-4 (.878) when they score 60 or better.
If Wolf and Kuo can get healthy and Billingsley can kick it up just a notch as he settles back into his former role, the Dodgers would have five starting pitchers who could put the team in strong position to win more than half the time – even with some slippage from Penny or Lowe. I count three ifs there, but as ifs go, they seem on the smallish side.
Update: How Penny turned things around, according to Lyle Spencer of MLB.com:
The big right-hander went on to deal for the Dodgers in the second half, but something wasn't quite right. Guys were turning on too many pitches.
It got back to him from inside sources - hitters who used to be teammates, mainly - that his windup was giving hitters an edge. He'd do something different in his delivery when he was getting ready to throw breaking balls, and word of things like that spread like a Southern California brushfire through the fraternity of batsmen.
Determined to eliminate this problem, Penny returned to a delivery he'd used early last season - bringing his arms all the way back behind his head, rather than stopping at his cap. This seemed to strip hitters of that little edge they'd found, and the big man is back in dominating form. He ranks right there with San Diego's dominant duo of Jake Peavy and Chris Young in the ERA race while moving along at a 20-win pace. He's 10-1 with a 2.39 ERA, trailing Young (2.00) and Peavy (2.19), who gets the start this time.
"I had a lot of people tell me in the spring that I'm tipping my pitches the other way," he said, wisely choosing not to identify the traitors to the hitting fraternity. "So I'm back to bringing my hands over my head. I started the season last year doing [that], and went away from it."
I just hope the faternity of batsmen survived the fire.
Bold statement.
The latter. Which would make him the former.
11. He was an effective pitcher last year.
vr, Xei
For me, I think our pitching is more about our bullpen. They have been generally so good during this first half that I'm amazed when they faltered (like recently). Seems to me if they can keep it up as well that we'll still be in good shape all things considered...
Interesting - on a blog, plugging my ears would make me mute.
vr, Xei
vr, Xei
LA's Four in a row plus Nomar didn't make the cut...
ESPN never ceases to amaze me....
I do seem to recall that the story was that batters were ignoring his off-speed stuff and just waiting for his fastball. Of course, I recall lots of things that aren't true.
Strangely, the Dodgers are 5-11 with game scores in the 40s but 5-7 with game scores in the 30s.
(just kidding)
Talk about perma-whine...
"Bud Selig is the Commissioner. I don't know what a Commissioner does."
Joe Morgan is Joe Morgan.
Why couldn't they have Ravech, Gammons and Kruk work this thing instead of the stiffs in suits.
http://tinyurl.com/3c24ar
Brad Penny just sort of appears.
You just mentioned their company name on this blog.
Mission accomplished.
This year's Derby has to be more challenging because of the time of day and the bit of a wind.
I guess that isn't actually the company name...the product name.
And some of them are white.
BTW: Is Bob still working on his BART*...?
*Bay Area Related Tirade
He's working on his control in AA.
Two words... baseball. Cam. Discuss.
Gyro stabilizer. Maybe even a flux capacitor. Someone will figure it out.
I guess I saw the worst pitched game by a Dodger starter this year, if Tomko's "7" start was the one where he gave up 8 runs.
:)
The San Francisco diatribe was canceled because I'm sleepy.
Baseball Prospectus (Aren't they only site with VORP?)
My guess is the point is that Miller wants their product to be the only overpriced item in the retail locations in which it is sold. The lead actor is reasonably funny, for what it's worth.
On a HR derby note, Chris Berman just made a Florida recount / hanging chad reference. That was almost seven years ago. Berman has long since outlived his usefulness. The halcyon days of Bert "Be Home" Blyleven and Eric "Sleeping With" Bienemy are long gone.
Yeah, now I know what my Grandma must feel like when I speak English.
Vin Scully made a hanging chad joke on Sunday.
he's got a super powerful swing & IMO there's nothing ugly about it. Aaron Sele on the other hand has a pretty bad swing. Mr. Cub Ernie Banks in my book probably takes the cake for worst swing.
The Dodgers are 0-4 when I've attended and been outscored 29-9!
As long as they don't talk.
Huh.
What else is on tonight?
"Maybe the derby is merely a sideshow to the big circus of the All-Star Game, but it's a great tradition -- not only the 21 years of the All-Star event, but dating back to 1960 when there was a television show called "Home Run Derby." It was filmed at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles (since demolished -- the ballpark, not the city), and during the show's one-season run, nine future Hall of Famers competed, one on one, including Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron.
Watching the old tapes now (the shows will be available on DVD from MGM Home Entertainment), it's horribly cornball and stunningly low-tech. The homer cam will make you seasick. But it's a great close-up look at legendary hitters competing fiercely for each week's $2,000 winner's check."
http://tinyurl.com/2mkkga
who new Billy Martin won a WS MVP I guess he was the little 2nd baseman that could back in the day.
Hit submit instead of edit again.
Grr...
Interestingly, I have not yet paid to attend a game this year. People just know when the Dodgers are going to lose and say, "I think I will give Bob a free ticket."
The four games were the first game of the exhibition Freeway Series.
In the other three, the opposing pitchers were Brandon Webb, Roy Halladay, and Jake Peavy.
The diatribe was starting off boring and unfunny, so I gave up.
By a Giants fan!
This one hates my Dodger Thoughts and Ghame Over shirts, even after I explain to her that one shirt is promoting a website which covers the Dodgers, not the Dodgers, while the other is referencing two players who basically haven't pitched in years, one of whom is no longer even with the organization.
They're an unforgiving bunch.
At least it is a she. So you got that going for you.
Married.
The Queen of Hearts! Now what do I do?
>>> Agent proposes a new stat, 'EP' or 'Exceptional Play,' to be given to players who make sensational plays on defense during a game. <<<
http://tinyurl.com/2ro7ak
http://www.laobserved.com/
You won't believe it until you read it but it is just another thing that makes you want to say hmmmmm.
http://tinyurl.com/2fpdbo
I'm 3 for 3 this year with 6 home runs. This team mashes. :)
So where do I send the chafing dish?
As long as they don't talk
Where's oswald...?
And then you could have gained national notoriety and made a bunch of money off it.
I was not referring to women in general, but to Ms. Andrews in particular, whom I would prefer never speak during a sporting event as she has little useful to add.
Go visit every restaurant John Goodman ate at in Springfield, Missouri when he was a student at SW Missouri State University in Springfield.
It's now Missouri State.
That should keep you occupied for a while.
Sorry. What you actually meant doesn't really matter in an oswald-related context.
that state sounds like Delaware where theres really nothing to do. I'm a city boy so i wouldn't know, is it humid out there overkill?
1) Go the beach
2) Go see the school where "Dead Poets Society" was filmed
3) Go see Delino DeShields' birthplace
4) Feel the "first state" feeling
5) Incorporate
Can we get an update on the 2007 Payroll Worksheet?
Thanks
I think you have just broken rule number 3!
:-)
I had a vision about the state of Delaware. It involved a burning bush, four angels, and the giant head of Kevin Mench.
146 - Absolutely. Don't let Bob try to snow you.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6436
I think Russell should get in a fight with Peavy on the mound, just for fun.
If you like the songs significantly more than the rest of the show, you've tested positive.
Mid Season Look at our Prospects: Top 15 prospects as determined by Baseball HQ
Headed into 2007:
1. La Roche - Wasted 1st half. Didn't hit in AAA, still got brought up to the big club and didn't hit their either. Showed excellent plate discipline but that was the extent of the positives. Went back to AAA and still didn't hit. Then it was discovered his shoulder was still hurting and he took some time off. Since his return he's hitting like the guy who was our number one prospect. Based on this you have to think his shoulder was never completely healed and he was gutting it out which would explain the lack of power. This bothers the crap out of me. How you think you can be helping yourself or team by playing through pain when it effects your productivity is beyond me. If he was hurt and he was still banging I could understand but it if hurts and because it hurts you suck(Nomar listen up) then letting the trainers know the problem is probably the best course of action but what do I know. Anyway now that he's starting to hit with authority again he still looks like a top prospect.
2. Elbert - Done for the year. This really hurts as it was not unreasonable to expect him to excel in AA, move up to AAA do his thing for few months and make his Dodger debut in Aug if we needed him in the rotation. Now we have to wait until next year to see if he comes back from surgery at the same level.
3.Clayton Kershaw - has done everything and more. Easily the number one prospect in the organization at this point. Many pundits have already proclaimed him the number one LH prospect and some have gone so far as to make him the number one pitching prospect. Still to young to count on as we need to see what he does in High A, AA and if he can stay healthy. Ace potential. Looking more and more like the best thing to happen to the Dodgers was for Hochevar to spurn us and give us the crack at Kershaw.
4. James Loney - bizarre year, big spring, didn't make team heads to AAA and does zip. Many ab's go by and he's still doing zip. Is this the same guy who hit 380 in the same league a year ago? Out of the blue he's promoted to the big club and unlike La Roche he's goes batty and slugs Nomar over to 3b. At this point he looks like he could be our 1st baseman for years to come. Far cry from what he looked like in AAA in May. I'm still not a complete believer but I'm getting there. I think the gold glove talk is overblown right now as he has not looked like a gold glove 1st baseman to me but he certainly is a huge upgrade over Nomar's defense.
5. Blake DeWitt - terrible April but with each month he's gotten hotter and now he's smoking.
Dewitt's Splits this season.
Month/Avg/OB/SLug/OPS/BABIP
April .211/255/368/623/228
May 296/321/407/729/316
June 390/435/650/1.085/427
Problem is, he's doing this in High A which is a repeat league for him. I've seen some scouts start to sour on him completely and even with his hot June they aren't convinced he will be able to hit major league pitching well enough to overcome his 3b defense. 15 errors so far but these are minor league parks but as Greg Brock says, "stone hands".
6. Jonathon Meloan - went to AA and has just dominated from beginning to end. Many think he is just wasting time in AA at this point. HQ has now moved him from 75 to 50 on the prospect list which would make him the highest relief pitcher on the list. It is hard to crack top prospect lists as a relief pitcher. We will see him in Dodger stadium this year.
7. Preston Mattingly - after making about an error a game he was moved from SS to 2nd base. At the same time he started spanking the ball after a dismal April. All of the Loons were terrible in April and they all seemed to start hitting in May. After his hot May he has cooled off again. If he can really stick at 2nd base then we might have something to talk about. If he moves to the corner outfield like many scouts say he's destined to do it is hard at this point to picture anything special but he's so young and raw who knows.
8. Chin Lung Hu - fresh off his Futures game MVP, he's been having a solid year in AA. Everyone says he has the best glove in the minor leagues and the question was could he hit enough to be more then Cesar Isturis. I'm starting to see comparisons to Furcal(BP/Goldstein) but I think they mean the April/May/June Furcal and not MVP of 2006 Furcal. If the Dodgers don't resign Furcal then he is on a time line to be our SS in 2009.
9. Josh Bell - Another Loon who started slow and then came on strong. One scout has said that he looks like a man among boys and his power is his great asset. Since he's only at Low A we need to wait to see but it looks like we could have a special player. Switch hitting 3b but again the glove could be what tarnishes the star if he can't remain at 3b.
10. Bryan Morris - TJ Surgery in 2006- hopefully can be throwing by the AFL.
11. Tony Abreu - Already with the big club. Was having a great AAA season playing 2nd base when he was moved to 3b. I myself am not sure why he's on the big club at this point as I think he has no business playing 3b but should be concentrating on 2nd/SS and replacing Kent in 2008 or 2009. Hopefully he can be something close to an Orlando Hudson.
12. Kyle Orr - stayed in extended Spring Training and just now has started playing in the GCL.
13. Greg Miller - talk about highs and lows. In spring training he was so impressive they said he had a chance to make the team. Didn't happen but then he imploded in AAA and just started walking everyone. Was sent back to AA to work out his problems. He's gotten better but that is only relative to how bad he was doing, still walking a batter an inning. The only silver lining is that is still showing some serious dominance.
14. Ivan Dejesus - another SS with a great glove but little bat at this point. Still young and he does possess plate discipline something his father never had. Might turn into something but looks to me like a utility player.
15. Delwyn Young - the forgotten man. Typically he started off slow but is mashing in AAA and putting up doubles at a prodigious rate. Now entrenched as a corner outfielder with his only plus skill being his arm. He is a switch hitter and this year his splits are fairly even while in 2005/2006 in Vegas his splits showed him to be overmatched by LHP. However his 2005 AA splits were much more like his current splits are so maybe he can hit from both sides of the plate.
Added Players:
Xavier Paul - been around for a while but he's still young. Having a solid year in AA showing a some tools in all area's. Always had a great arm, don't know if he's a CF or not but if he is then I think he has a future.
Cory Dunlap - man he pisses me off. Showed some excellent power last year to go with his plate discipline but he's still a fat 1st baseman and now his power has gone AWOL.
Justin Orenduff - Coming off of surgery and overall his 2007 numbers look terrible but he has put himself back on the map with 4 straight excellent outings. Was never considered more then a back of a rotation starter and after having been written off earlier this year it is nice to see him bouncing back.
Mike McGrew - another pitcher coming back from surgery. He's been very inconsistent. He's had a few lights out games but they have not been frequent enough to get him into the top 15.
Zachary Hammes - made great strides last year and was put in the bullpen but know he's starting again. AA numbers are okay but 8 home runs in 54IP has been his Achilles heal.
Ramon Troncoso - lit up High A and earned a promotion to AA where he'd been just about perfect until his last outing which skews his numbers. Excellent k/w ratio and has only given up 1 HR all year in 49 innings.
6'7 large intimidating pitcher who is already 24 so he might get the fast track. He's cracks the top 15 for me.
Travis Denker - same age as Dewitt but shows more plate discipline and power. In the past he lit up low A and crashed and burned every time he hit high A. Now he's doing the job at High A 323/399/478 while playing 2nd base. Last year he and Dewitt flip-flopped positions but this year they are both back at their normal positions where they are both below average defensively. I've always like Denker's combination of plate discipline and power but he looks like a player who will take his time moving up the ranks.
James McDonald - Has been promoted to AA and has been the best starting pitcher in the minors for the Dodgers this year. Let's see what he can do against the next level of competition but he's in the top 15.
Franciso Felix - Dominated Low A and was promoted to high A and has not has great success. He was old for Low A so now that he's pitching in a league more suited for his age we can see how he does.
Garret White - LH relief pitcher, on the radar.
Lucas May - was converted from SS to Catcher and started how blasting home runs all over the place in High A but has since cooled. Still a 22 year old catcher with 16 bombs in 324 at bats is still intriguing. Have no idea whatsoever how he's handling the defensive side of the equation.
Jamie Hoffman - nice numbers for High A and he's been playing about 1/2 his games at CF. Without any scouting reports on his defensive ability it is hard to rank him depending on if he projects to be a CF or corner OF.
Adkins
Wesley Wright
Disappointing Prospects
Joshua Wall
Steve Johnson
Carlos Santana-this pains me. I had high expectations for him after he was switched to behind the plate. In the past he had shown good plate discipline with okay power but this year he is a big zero offensively. May be time to pick up the guitar again.
Intriguing Players: < 20
Jose Dominquez - 16 year old pitcher who is in the GCL and struck out the 1st 7 hitters he faced. They are using him as he's already pitched 3 times in a week. Not sure what a 16 year old is doing in the GCL but it makes looking at the box scores interesting.
Rondon Daigoro
Pedro Baez
Pedro Guerrero
Yosanddy Garcia
Andrew Lambo
Kenly Jansen
Jamie Ortiz
Alfredo Silverio
Scott Van Slyke
Winthrow
Watt
Hopefully Nate or Canuck can give us more insite on the above players.
Revised top 15 ranking - just my opinion and at this point it is really guessing.
1 Kershaw, SP
2 La Roche, 3b
3 Meloan, RP
4 Elbert, SP
5 J Bell, 3b
6 Hu, SS
7 Morris, SP
8 Mattingly, Preston, 2b
9 McDonald, SP
10 D Young, OF
11 *Paul, Xavier , CF
12 Denker, 2b
13 DeWitt, 3b
14 Orenduff, Justin, SP
15 Troncoso, Ramon, RP
Loney and Abreu I decided are no longer eligible for the list since they should both lose their rookie eligibility by the end of the year.
Oh, also, don't forget that Hu was just promoted to AAA! That's the what and where for Hu. ;-)
http://tinyurl.com/36tdat
Forget about the elevator thing:
http://www.insidesocal.com/dodgers/archives/2007/07/tomorrows_lineu_1.html
Jeff Kent
"Not talk to you guys."
Kershaw is a clear-cut #1 for me. After that it gets dicey but would have no problem with LaRoche, Meloan, Bell, and Hu rounding out a top 5.
Whereas I would send someone else to do it.
>>> All of those boyhood dreamy memories -- and the nightmare of the Dodgers departure -- came flooding back to me the other night watching an advanced copy of a brilliant documentary produced by HBO Sports in association with Major League Baseball. It's called "Brooklyn Dodgers: The Ghosts of Flatbush," and makes it debut Wednesday (July 11) at 8 p.m., with a number of future play dates scheduled over the next month. <<<
http://tinyurl.com/ypyjgs
Might have missed that but when I click the link to the Dominquez in the box score I get this from Minor League Baseball
http://tinyurl.com/2rft5c
It would make sense that the link is wrong since I had a hard time believing they were using a 16 year old in the GCL but that is what they show.
Morris was already bumped down because of the surgery or he'd have been a top 5 prospect. He was down to 9 because of the surgery so I couldn't see dropping him out of the top 10 since nothing has changed.
He is probably right. Other then La Roche I don't see any can't miss high offensive talents. Josh Bell is the only guy who looks like he could be an offensive difference maker and he's years away so if your looking for offensive impact players in the next 2-3 years I see nobody. Some of these 17-18 year old DR guys might be but they can't be anything but ??? at this time.
Not like you can keep the pipeline full of offensive talent when you've graduated Martin, Loney, Ethier, and Kemp since May of 2006. If La Roche makes it you would have 5/8 of your starting lineup comprised of home grown talent that just started reaching the bigs 13 months ago. It is reaching to include Ethier as either home grown or a difference maker so make that 4/8. Even the Twinkies would be proud so if we have to take a rest it is understandable.
Apparently no one's heart was broken when the Giants moved to San Francisco. Or when the Athletics moved to Kansas City (and on to Oakland). Or when the Browns moved to Baltimore. Or the Senators moved to Minnesota or Texas.
But you know who's really angry? People in Milwaukee who lost their AL franchise in 1901 to St. Louis.
If I have to run into another weepy Milwaukee AL fan from that year, I'm going to slug him in the face.
They folded the next year.
I hope Tony Jackson never gets a column because if his blog is any indication of what his columns would be like, it would make TJ and Plaschke look good.
But that's not really saying much, since there are, what, maybe 20 can't-miss high-end offensive talents in all of minor league baseball? We do have a bunch of guys who could turn out to be that. The odds are pretty good that at least one of Orr, Lambo, Gallagher, Baez, or Bell will turn out to be a good major league power hitter. And Delwyn Young appears well on his way to a Matt Stairs/Olmedo Saenz type career as a "professional hitter."
But you weren't crushed when the Angels moved to Dodger Stadium?
The Milwaukee Braves fans were very quick to stop showing up once the team stopped being a contender.
But if it hadn't been for the Braves moving out to Milwaukee and giving O'Malley a gameplan for a successful move and how to reap all the money, who knows what would have happened?
Does this stadium layout with parking lots remind you of anything?
http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/national/county02.jpg
Houston stole my favorite MLS soccer team, too, the jerks.
http://www.slate.com/id/2170031
The writer's point is pointless.
dodgers signed him this past winter signing period and according to Diamond's article, Logan White said they signed him as a 17yr year old and gave him a 200K bonus. Chris Kline in a chat answer said White stole him away from other clubs and for less money and he is a legit international signee that can turn into a power hitting monster. My only question is whether the milb.com info page is wrong because it lists him as a 19yr old and not 18.
I agree. What does Tony Jackson hope to accomplish by bellyaching? It's pointless point he's trying to make. I don't read that blog anymore and now I remember why.
If this involved someone in a wheelchair, that'd be one thing. Otherwise, just take the stairs.
Boras wants a new EE, or Exceptional Ejection to keep Cox from watering down the stat.
Tony Jackson would not like the Los Angeles Central Library. We have elevator and escalator issues.
There are so many guys in green shirts that say "Otis" walking around that I'm always worried.
Yeah someone handicapped or disabled in some way would've been an entirely different thing and then I could understand the justification.
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1000% True. I think that's the underlined reasoning. Of course I'm just speculating...
What good articles on college basketball? Do you mean the "John Wooden is the root of all evil" hit piece?
Slate also likes soccer players who dive.
To be fair, Wooden's legacy was a triumph of rigidity, bureaucracy, paternalism, and anal retentiveness.
Then again, you can apply that to Bill Belichick too. But he's a GENIUS!
Yesterday, leaving work, my coworker and I got stuck in the parking lot when the automatic gate refused to go up when she used the parking pass. We had to talk our way out and it took 20 minutes.
I demand sympathy!
Belichick is not from St. Louis. His father coached at a military academy. I believe his father was a SUPER-genius.
Berate!
Come mid-August, the two most significant positional acquisitions could end up being Milton Bradley and Michael Barrett, whom Kevin Towers essentially acquired for nothing.
http://tinyurl.com/3ykkrj
Gammons has little respect for Rob Bowen.
Funny how certain U.C.L.A. fans don't like the coach of the Florida Gators...
No, the article did bring up Sam Gilbert.
"(Though it bears noting that UCLA benefited not only from the services of the best talent of the day, but also from the largesse of an especially oily booster named Sam Gilbert, a moneylender, as it were, whom Coach Christ forgot to cast out of the temple)"
This fish is swimming away from that bait.
I'm staying in Mesa, but I'll be at chase field on Friday night. I'll have a car so I can go wherever if there's something fun to do.
Norm Sloan fans are going to be very angry at that assertion.
Dave Bliss and Todd Bozeman scoff.
That did seem rather pointless. Literally, I don't think there was one coherent message that could be gleaned from the article.
It was like there was a point in the first third. A second point in the second third. Then we were mercifully killed at the end.
It gives me hope for a future writing career!
July rain in Southern California? Call Ripley's.
It's nice and sunny here for the All-Star game, after a foggy early morning (pretty typical). Going to watch the game with a Yankee fan friend and some of his mates at a bar called.. the Connecticut Yankee. I'll likely be the only Dodger fan there.
Thanks
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Good, now let us see what he does.
I don't know Mesa at all but if you are going to Downtown Phoenix anyway, there's are loads of restaurants/bars within a few blocks of Chase, US Airways Center and Symphony Hall. Kincaid's is a good steak house in that area, located in the Collier Center. If you are into brew pubs, there's Sonora Brewhouse about 15 minutes north of downtown, on Camelback between Central Ave. and 7th St.
Don't know if you're into cultural things but if you have any interest in Native American culture, history and art the Heard Museum, also downtown (on Central Ave, about 5-6 minutes north of Chase) is outstanding.
Then of course you can always swing by St. Mary's High School (7th St. & Thomas, I think) if you want to see where Andre Ethier was (presumably) first scouted. There's actually some architecturally historic neighborhoods around that area if that floats yer boat.
Budget time to drive around downtown because they are tearing up streets for a light rail system.
Hope this is somewhat helpful . . .
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