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
D.J. Houlton is headed for Las Vegas, and the Dodgers go back to 11 pitchers for the time being while making room for Mark Sweeney.
Pitch counts by the bullpen this week (Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday):
Rudy Seanez 25-0-14
Scott Proctor 0-17-24
Jonathan Broxton 0-10-15
Joe Beimel 0-0-6
Takashi Saito 0-0-10
Roberto Hernandez 0-0-0
* * *
Tonight's 5:10 p.m. game:
Update: James Loney got a vote of confidence from Grady Little today, according to Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise:
James Loney is hitting third and can be expected to do so for the remainder of the series.
"He has a chance to be a run producer," Manager Grady Little said. "One day you'll see him in the middle of the lineups regularly, and that day might be now."
"We'll give him a shot up there. If that doesn't look like a comfortable spot for him, we'll change it."
I love the Dodgers. To continue the covers discussion I wrote:
376. weatherman
363 - Most of those cannot be considered true "covers" though since they are either country tunes or pre-Beatles rock songs. Obviously, there are exceptions, but in Country Music as well as early Pop Music, songs were written by songwriters and performed by singers. The singer/songwriter was not the norm until very recently. Even today, a lot of artists (Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, the Dixie Chicks, etc.) by full rights to songs or even to individual lines and claim them as their own.
Here's my point:
Cash - Hurt
Definitely a cover. NIN wrote and recorded and then he recorded a different version.
Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down
Not a cover. Kris wrote it for Cash to sing and delivered it via helicopter to him personally. It's a Cash song, he just didn't write it.
Hopefully, of course, all we need are Broxton and Saito.
You know what, that TALK TALK song was a can't miss with girls in parties (to get them screaming) songs to note also:
Tones on Tail - GO!
The Cult - She sells Sactuary
AH-HA (SP) - Take On Me
OMD - Electricity
ps I know those songs are older 80's maybe 70's? but they still rock even now.
But to respond to Weatherman about Kristofferson and Cash:
The way I heard it, Kristofferson landed his helicopter on Cash's yard and gave him tapes of a lot of his songs, not just Sunday Morning. Also, I think Ray Stevens recorded the first version of Sunday Morning Coming Down.
The line -- "When my soul was in the lost and found, you came along to claim it" -- does it for me.
I am a really big fan of Cash, I was actually married in Hendersonville, TN and had my groomsmen pictures taken at the House of Cash (closed to the public).
9 - It is getting harder and harder to make the distinctions (which may be moot), since few songwriters actually "write" songs anymore, and shop only recorded versions. No one seems to be able to read music anyway.
Anyway, yeah, there are a lot of live Bruce versions of "Because the Night" floating around out there. But the studio version, which he recorded in 1977 for potential inclusion on "Darkness on the Edge of Town" has never been released.
I thought the Dodgers looked similarly lethargic against Cincinatti this week. There is no way that Martin should catch both day games this weekend.
Should Albert see anyhting to hit?
George Michael's "Faith," covered by The Boy Least Likely To:
http://www.theboyleastlikelyto.co.uk/playfaith.htm
His whole performance in Sling Blade is amazing.
Chris Duncan, if he plays, is also good. All the other hitters are pretty iffy. But Duncan has only started about half of the Cards recent games for some reason. I'm not sure if he's nursing an injury or a manager grudge or what.
Hendrickson should walk Pujols. Pujols has two homers and two doubles off Hendrickson in 7 at bats. That may be small sample size, but it's also a clear warning.
Furcal, SS
Martin, C
Loney, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzo, LF
Nomar, 3B
Pierre, CF
Ethier, RF
Penny, P
Gotta be tough to have a manager grudge when your dad is the manager's long-time pitching coach.
It's still a great pop song.
What was the Yank's posting fee on Igawa?
Yeah, but this is Tony LaRussa. I wouldn't put anything past him.
It's probably just a crowded outfield, with Ankiel making it even more crowded now. But Duncan should be playing every day if he's healthy.
In the 8th slot, he'd be forced to take some walks.
I thought Helm stole the show in The Last Waltz as well, but that was a part he knew very well.
I remember the Juice version of that song, by the way. It's stuck in my head now.
Not Fig Newtons?
D'oh!
It's really not a bad risk to take.
That should be "Hasn't" sorry peepz.
Eric, you might want to see if you can dig up a copy of the obscure but great "The Legend Of Jesse James". Levon was great on it, as well as Charlie Daniels, Emmylou Harris, and others.
Somebody please give me the lowdown on Ankiel!!!
"Just a bit outside" - Harry Doyle
Some of my favorite Dylan covers are contained on Tim O'Brien's "Red on Blonde."
Los Lobos "La Bamba" is on all my dance mixes. Their version of the Dead's "Bertha" on Dedicated is great as well.
At least they won't have to give up 26 million to get him.
http://tinyurl.com/39l4fz
That said, if someone were to say that they preferred a song with a hook, I would see their point.
vr, Xei
Don't own him in your fantasy league.
I love Kevin and Winnie...er, I mean Fred and Danica.
Frankly, the music chat could go there too, though I haven't been rigorous in enforcing it.
I thought Limbo was a fantastic film.
.296
7HR
.370 OBP
That is painful to see
The best track might be "I Shall Be Released," if only because the harmonies are spectacular.
http://tinyurl.com/yve3nu
I understand the different environment. Was there any word on why we didn't resign Lofton for another year? Did he not want to be in LA? Was it the poor post-season? It just seemed like an easier, less expensive, and better short term solution.
As well as (roughly) $40 million cheaper.
I think regfairfield thinks that Ankiel will have an 0/26 streak. His power is for real but he had a 316 OBP in AAA. He's a hacker who will strike out a lot and rarely take a walk.
http://www.truebluela.com/story/2007/8/9/18136/24243
89) Good point. Sorry to pull back on the band-aid a little bit.
The Prime-HD channel schedules on digital cable systems are not to be relied upon.
There are far more Dodgers games in HD than Angels games.
-----
I do believe that originally (pre Beatles/Dylan) the term "cover" referred to an artist doing a song that someone else had already recorded. Think Pat Boone doing a Little Richard song. Now a days, it seems to mean anyone doing a song they didn't write, even if the song was written specifically for them. But, if "cover" is a pejorative, I have a hard time thinking of Aretha's "Dark End of the Street" as a cover. :-) (Or "Natural Woman).
Go Dodgers- let's get a streak going!
"Sexual Healing"-Soul Asylum
"Easy"- Faith No More
"The Girl U Want"- Soundgarden
"Top of the World" Shonen Knife
Has anyone seen the Roots live?...they do great hip-hop cover montage things....the highlight of thier shows....
If you're putting up a million bucks, we should get all the specifics out of the way.
If you're looking to take the moral high ground in a baseball game, forget it. You'll have better luck with college football.
I guess I'm just saying I agree with the whole "don't try to stake the moral highground" idea on this subject.
This team is so disheartening.
Ummm... What?
i just got my copy of madden!
I hate these ones I have now. They just correct for myopia.
Ankiel will not pitch in a game ever again. Even if the Cardinals had to forfeit.
Is it Dan McGlaughlin and Al Hrabosky?
They're generally bewildered all of the time.
But did you ask them for any steroids?
So I'm totally intolerant of playing a PED guessing game about any player or team. The criteria for these guesses is so far from anything conclusive, it's outrageous. Guy looks big. Guy got better than he used to be. These are phenomena with many, many possible explanations.
Marrying sabermetrics with these long-distance guesses is a depraved misuse of statistics. I trust most true sabermetrics experts would spit on this practice. An increased OPS for a minor league player from one year to the next is evidence of exactly, precisely nothing.
I remembered Bavasi was extremely aggressive with promotions (Miller, Jackson, Guzman were all challenged).
At least they don't have to knock down any doors before the majors.
I thought he signed with the padres?
We'd better hope that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Meanwhile, Vin dusts off the "Shea Hillenbrand owns a lot of animals" folder and sees what he can add to it.
THIS SHIP IS SINKING!
PLAY FOR YOURSELF!
I saw that coming ;o)
How did this guy even get the reputation of being good? He's never had an OPS over 802 and he can't play defense.
Was he actually good? OPS+ of 109.
It will be deeply annoying to read all the PR fluff about him.
Doesn't this continue the pattern of Colleti following a good move (Sweeney) with a bad one?
But it was like the New York Times. He used it as a quoted material!
helicopters not jets.
As a one time denizen of Venice Beach, the movie "Cisco Pike" with Kristofferson acting and writing the soundtrack nailed the Venice ambiance of the seventies.
Some Cash songs to die for: "Country Trash" about hillbilly life, "Like a Soldier" and "Drive On" off the best American recording and from the same cd, a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire"
Bobby Abreu unintentional walks in 2006: 118
Shea Hillenbrand unintentional walks in his career: 121
And we don't know if Bonasera did Don Corleone's funeral service.
The one when you think about it & it kind of doesn't make sense is the Betemit for Proctor deal (could have simply called up Jonathan Meloan) You'd think Betemits value could have fetched a starter.
I have seen that we are getting nothing at all in the way of Karma, so I am afraid we are not out of "it" yet.
BTW - Starting at 3B for the Las Vegas 51s, Shea Hillebrand
(and then I think, oh no, but were the dodgers.)
I think that's overstating Betemit's value quite a bit, unless by "starter" you mean another Tomko/Hendrickson. Who needs that? I'd rather have a competent middle reliever with some upside, which is what we got.
maybe the front office knows something I don't but why not just call up Meloan? & keep the power & OBP of Betemit. From what I understand we still had him under our control right.
You're not really Tony Jackson are you?
don't jump ship just yet Mikey, they'll break out of it eventually I just hope it's sooner rather then later.
im fighting it hard.
Lefty O'Doul was another great hitting pitcher, though most of his great pitching seasons came in the PCL during the years when it was a "third major league."
There are really lots of these guys from the Babe Ruth era and earlier, though. Cy Seymour was another one.
The Cardinals won that game.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN199208280.shtml
The Dodgers last beat the Cardinals 1-0 in 1991.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN199106060.shtml
doesnt look like it.
Welch did win 1-0 with a homer. He hit off of Mario Soto.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN198306170.shtml
wow, that's cool winning on his own four bagger.
Someone else can taste the bittersweet taste of a 1-0 loss!
O'Doul ran that restaurant for many years before his death. He also was largely responsible for popularizing baseball in Japan. Bob could probably tell us more about that.
I think it's one of those "eye of the beholder" type moves were it depends what Umpire is at 1st base.
hopefully it will be a 2-0 loss.
Why no love for the balk? It doesn't get called very much.
that wasn't a mojo call that was totally luck, but we'll take it.
Of course not, that would be silly. ;-)
"He has a chance to be a run producer," Manager Grady Little said. "One day you'll see him in the middle of the lineups regularly, and that day might be now."
Yay, Loney.
Can we do a "Please Explain: Tony LaRussa" blog entry? Is Wainright still really in there with 121 pitches? Is St. Louis' entire bullpen injured?
Nice job James.
Loney homered? Very nice!
2. Are you guys really serious about Shea Hillenbrand?
3. I refuse to believe there are people who don't know that the song is called Baba O'Reily.
The real badge of honor, of course, is being able to sit reverently through the entire intro and then massively air strum in on the right notes.
4. I believe I started the last cover discussion by shaking my head about Dido covering Fire and Rain, which isn't a very good cover and which I was really just doing to get a rise out of Greg Brock.
Which is exactly why I raise it again.
5. I got caught up one night recently watching the first season of American Idol on a "rewind." I'd never seen the show before. That Kelly Clarkson can sing. Boy did she belt out You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman. Great cover, even though it just was really powerful singing and didn't take the song anywhere particularly new.
the way he had him looking outside outside & then come high & in, NO WAY Rolen was gonna hit it, BELIEVE ME SAM!
Free baseball in the Queen City!
A little late for that now.
I just thought of the famous Eddie Murphy "to hot in the hot tub" song he made famous on SNL.
To bring this full circle, Charley Steiner called Hee Seop Choi "The Godfather of Seoul" earlier in tonight's broadcast.
"Hot Tub! Gonna make me sweat-a, gonna make me wet-a...Ahhh...Too hot in the hot tub!"
Pierre is amazingly consistent - only one starter, in June two, has OPSed lower than Pierre in any month so far in 2007 622/650/625/664 (Apr/May/Jun/Jul).
Martin is also amazingly consistent - his OPS has stayed within 56 points throughout the season 863/843/807/858.
Gonzo reached his peak in June and is now declining at a precipitous pace 736/832/946/604.
Kent started decently then took off in July
850/816/832/1237.
Ethier began his rise in June 740/711/848/1021.
Furcal has been all over, up and down, with no consistency 515/908/591/831.
Loney also shows inconsistency, no surprise for a youngster, 1252/750 (Jun/Jul)- small sample size.
Kemp has been consistent despite appearances to the contrary 967/x/888/912.
Nomar was slowly sinking past mediocrity until an uptick in July 767/606/567/805.
Argh, stop fouling off so many pitches!
Two in a row. Hooray.
2 wins in a row. What a feeling.
Oh, and you are all welcome for the reverse jinx in 335 .
Walk, 2 Hits, 1 RUN...Strikeout the side...Ho-Hum 28 pitch inning Save.
Hope Broxton is ready for a 'S' if the opportunity presents itself tomorrow!
Could he be prepping for a utility role in the very near future?
The whole drama thing is what made it very compeling! & the Dodgers came out on top yes!
That Saito appearance woke me up throughly, however.
Night all. If I log on here again later, please tell me to leave.
Go Dodgers tomorrow.
TORONTO PITCHER SHAUN MARCUM HAS A NO-HITTER THROUGH SIX INNINGS.
KANSAS CITY'S BILLY BUTLER SINGLED WITH TWO OUTS IN THE SEVENTH INNING TO END SHAUN MARCUM'S NO-HITTER.
TORONTO PITCHER SHAUN MARCUM LEFT THE GAME IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH INNING WITH A RIGHT CALF INJURY.
Night!
The video reminds me of maybe my favorite thing about baseball. The thing that is pretty much unique to baseball: the curtain call. You knew it was coming just as he was rounding 3rd. Cardinal fans, being the classy and knowledgeable folks they are, knew it was an appropriate occasion. It took Ankiel a second to realize what was going on, but he came back out and tipped his cap to thunderous applause.
Here it is for those that want to see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rtsWdv3Wfo
Thanks, never seen La Russa so happy.
Martin
Loney
Kent
Kemp or Ethier
Gonzo
Nomar
Pierre
Not Ideal, but practical
Homer, out, homer, homer, out, out
I caught the end of homer 3 and all of outs 2 and 3.
The pre-preseason football stuff is unimpressive.
We hardly get any coverage of the Redskins out here of course.
Some days, I can hardly figure out what Joe Gibbs had for breakast or whether the team groundskeepers will be hitting the bars or what.
Pete Carroll discusses which High School All-America will be #6 on the depth chart at tailback. Several different High School All-Americas scramble to be John David Booty's backup. Snoop Dog and Will Farrell come to practice.
Meanwhile in Westwood, Karl Dorrell says his team is "showing signs of being able to compete and be tough in the red zone" or some such nonsense.
The Redskins are owned by a man who makes C. Montgomery Burns look Andrew Carnegie.
Those even out. Although USC will have to find a new friend in the LA City Attorney's office to drop the charges in most of the cases since Rocky Delgadillo is hanging on to his job by the skin of his teeth.
Bill Murray plays golf and goes to Cubs and Bears games.
Oh, he shot a 7-under 63 and is leading by two strokes after being 6 back when the day started? Ok, now I get it. I think it's official: this Tiger kid is pretty good at golf.
Let's go Nash-nulls, let's go! CLAP CLAP
Actually Dorrell just said that this team is learning how to practice well.
Karl Dorrell actually makes Jim Tracy sound exciting.
I can remember Bob, one and maybe more articles, that stated, in Jim Tracy, the D's have perhaps found another Walter Alston, who will quietly and unasumingly take them to the pinnacle of baseball again and again. I swear I read it.
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