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
As discussed at Dodger Thoughts Day last month, the next phase of Dodger Stadium renovations will involve the concessions and restrooms. The Dodgers held a press conference today to offer the media some details.
A good amount of attention has been given to improving worker conditions, which are important in and of themselves, but which I also hope (but am not entirely convinced) will lead to better service. As I've expressed before, the Dodgers can make all the renovations in the world, but if the manpower isn't more effective on a nightly basis, people will still complain. We'll just have to see.
Also noteworthy is that the renovations seem focused on the stadium's field level. Other levels, apparently, will be improved in future years. Here are some excerpts from the press release:
The multi-million dollar construction project will expand the Field Level concourse to include nearly double the number of points of sale and restrooms, two new all-inclusive clubs for baseline seat ticket holders and a new energy-efficient and environmentally friendly cooling system. …
With this redesign, all concession stands will now be served by the kitchen space behind them and those kitchens will be sized to produce and distribute the amount of food required for the number of patrons on each level. The ergonomically designed workspace will be outfitted with brand new state-of-the-art equipment, from grills, to refrigerators, to soda dispensers and ice cream machines and grilled Dodger Dogs will now be available at every concession stand on the Field Level. The addition of a new stadium-wide cooling system will lower temperatures in the workspace and all concession stands now will be fully compliant with ADA standards from both an employee and customer standpoint.
"With the upgrade in technology and improved work conditions workers will be able to better serve the Dodger fans," said Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary and Treasurer, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. …
The widened concourses will feature a monochromatic color scheme utilizing stainless steel, gray tile, architectural metal panels, concrete, textured wall coating, and sculptured architectural panels accented with yellow highlights, which is consistent with the seat color on the Field Level. Taking hints from the existing language of the building, the open, airy concourse will provide more space for fans to move throughout the concourse and improve the lighting scheme and signage.
* * *
Joe Sheehan and Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus had an interesting point-counterpoint today about the firing of Houston general manager Tim Purpura. Here's an excerpt from Silver's piece that I quote because it has relevance to Dodger fans:
There are 30 general manager jobs throughout baseball, and probably at least two or three times as many executives working in the game today who nominally have the resumes to fill those positions — that is before considering the "outside-the-box" candidates outside the close circle of the industry. However, like the field manager's job, or perhaps the quarterback position in the NFL, it is generally much easier to eliminate patently unqualified candidates than to determine which of the credentialed lot are really going to add value when they step into the office every day. Under those circumstances – when there are people like David Forst and Chris Antonetti and Kim Ng sitting around waiting for the musical chairs to rotate – you need to perform.
Make no mistake: the general manager's job is exceptionally difficult. Unless you have an exceptionally strong infrastructure around you, you need to have formidable skills in both player development and performance analysis, a formal and informal aptitude for the economics of the talent market, and the people skills to appeal to a wide diversity of constituents (the media, your manager, your owner, your players, the 29 other general managers, and your junior staff). You need to be exceptionally good at multitasking, and you need to work exceptionally long hours under high-stress conditions, probably for much less compensation than you could make in the business world. I keep repeating this world "exceptional", but that is exactly what the general manager needs to be; it is extremely unusual to find this set of aptitudes within one person.
Moreover, the general manager's job is to a large extent a zero-sum position. You can be the 25th best general manager in baseball, and you're still losing ground relative to your peers, just like the 9th best poker player in the world will lose money if the eight better players are sitting at the table with him. What you want, ideally, is for your general manager to be within the top half of the active GMs in baseball, or to have the potential to join that group with a moderate amount of additional experience. From the available evidence, Tim Purpura was not among the top half of baseball GMs today, and, I don't know that he has more potential to become so than someone like Antonetti or Ng. …
Andrew Grant also has a worthy piece about the relationship between Dodger general manager Ned Colletti and risk at True Blue L.A.
Selling high on a player is a risk. There's the guarantee you're going to get slammed by the media initially, plus the risk that no one will let you forget it if the player doesn't come back down to Earth. Even if the guy never does a thing after you trade him, people will still rip on the move, generally with an argument containing the words "who's to say" (the Lo Duca clause). If you sell low, no one but obsessed people like me will care. The media will give you kudos for getting rid of a struggling player, and unless that person goes on to be a hall of famer, it's likely there won't be any notice if the player succeeds elsewhere. No one that actually matters is calling for Ned's head because Werth has found success elsewhere. For all the reasons that the media hated Paul DePodesta, no one with a voice has made one peep about getting rid of Shane Victorino. Similar things happen if you buy low. ...
A good GM needs to be bold. A good GM needs to take risks. If you just sit there and make safe acquisitions all day, you just turn the game into an auction for overvalued talent, and that's a game that no team but the Yankees can win. Until Ned Colletti starts making moves that have some chance at upside with some risk attached, we'll be watching the same type of mediocrity we've been accustomed to the last 20 years.
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Ethier, RF
Kent, 2B
Gonzo, LF
Martin, C
Loney, 1B
Hillenbrand, 3B
Billingsley, P
>> Manager Grady Little decided to have Wells pitch against the Padres, followed by Derek Lowe and Chad Billingsley. Rookie No. 5 starter Eric Stults will next pitch Sept. 4 against the Chicago Cubs. <<
## Nomar Garciaparra, out since Aug. 13 with a strained left calf, is eligible to come off the disabled list Wednesday but isn't likely to be ready to return this week. ##
http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_6736755
on a lighter note, upon hearing i'm moving to the bay area, someone wrote a note on my blog expressing the hope i wouldn't become a giants fan. after i responded by saying i would rather eat my own children than root for the giants, another friend made this. enjoy:
http://tinyurl.com/27jk7n
"Life's like a ball game. You gotta take a swing at whatever comes along before you find it's the ninth inning."
(A high five to anyone who can name the film without cheating)
I bring the offense with me DT posters. Call your bookies and put down the mortgage payment, I'm bringing home a laugher tonight.
Oh yeah, where's Kemp in that lineup? If he hits one over the fence, can he space out while running the bases without comment?
The Dodgers say there isn't enough demand. But the demand could be low because people don't consider public transportation because it's not offered.
Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.
Gotham City was destroyed by a massive earthquake. The Cataclysm, as it came to be called, was particularly devastating as it came just as Gotham was reemerging from the horror of The Clench - a massive outbreak of an Ebola virus variant. Lex Luthor profited massively in the wake of the disaster as his company oversaw the rebuilding of the city.
There have now been 3 Robins -- Dick Grayson, who grew up and became Nightwing, Jason Todd, who was murdered, and Tim Drake, who is just a yute and attends a school called Brentwood Academy.
There is no longer any dividing line between hot superhero-type comic strip girls and hot Heavy Metal-type comic strip girls.
Please return to your regularly scheduled business.
"Detour" is the flick.
It's full of 'em!
No matter what your opinion of his baserunning skills or baseball savvy, you shoot yourself in both feet when you willingly bench your best, and probably hottest, player.
Billingsley is pitching tonight, so I'm not going to go so far as saying that I hope the Dodgers lose. But if they do lose, it will have been richly deserved. Incompetence and lunacy should not be rewarded.
Dodgers OPS+ leaders
Matt Kemp 125
Russell Martin 118
Jeff Kent 117
Dodgers EQA leaders
Matt Kemp .301
Russell Martin .298
Jeff Kent .292
Dodgers batting average leaders
Matt Kemp .333
James Loney .302
Russell Martin .295
Dodgers slugging percentage leaders
Matt Kemp .516
Jeff Kent .484
Wilson Betemit .474
By any measure, traditional or sabermetric, Matt Kemp is the best hitter on the Dodgers. He also has six multi-hit games in his last 10 starts. How long is this going to go on, him rotting on the bench every third game?
Shuttle between DS and where?
At least now I know where not to take my money. If, in fact, I had any.
Therefore, you must try to suck and win at the same time. I see what they're doing, and though I don't agree with it, I damn sure respect it. Building character is important.
>> Asked whether he saw himself coming back to play under similar circumstances, Gonzalez replied, "No, no, not here. <<
## Gonzalez said that he is looking forward to collecting his 2,500th hit, a milestone of which he is 14 shy. Once there, he intends to aim for 3,000. ##
http://tinyurl.com/3x5zso
In an interview earlier this season Gonzalez admitted that his one remaining goal was to get 3,000 hits. And although he didn't say it I'm sure he feels that 3,000 hits would ensure his induction into the Hall of Fame. In fact, he said that he believed he could reach that goal by playing two more years after this one. But that doesn't seem possible now because it would appear that he is going to be some 500 hits shy when this season ends. In any event, even if he is to reach 3,000 hits in three years he must do it as a starter. Platooning and pinch hitting would take way too long. That may have been one of the reasons he preferred to sign for one year instead of two (the possibility that he would be stuck in a platoon situation during the second year). I expect him to look for a team during this off season that will offer him a job as a starter. If he can find one he will not return to the Dodgers.
We just need William Holden to come and blow it up.
http://tinyurl.com/3x7zuk
-- conservative most of the time, with occasional wild indulgences that seem to lack strategic focus
-- very focused on the PR of every move, which tends him toward short-term thinking,
-- trusts the farm system will correct all his mistakes.
When the Dodgers were loafing around in the 1990s, I remember Fred Claire's response was to snap his suspenders and say, "Yeah, but five ROY in a row? You think that happens by accident?"
The only difference is that Colletti is presiding over a greatly revived minor league system and amateur scouting, thanks to Dan Evans and Logan White, so the conservative strategy might, in fact, work out.
Plus, if he screws up the concessions and bathrooms on the Field level he only has to go back and fix one level instead of four. Also, he'll know what not to do when the other levels are renovated.
And it makes you James Donald. "Madness! Madness!"
>> Kennedy, 28, was assigned to the triple-A Syracuse SkyChiefs, but could be promoted when major-league rosters expand on Sept. 1. <<
http://tinyurl.com/33k8vd
12 for 54 .222 Avg.
1 HR
3 2B
5 BB
10 K
7 RBIs
He is in a bit of a slump.
And Saito is not Saito.
I think whatever strategy they look at regarding public transportation, they are going to have work with the MTA.
Now, maybe this year, Gonzo isn't complaining but Little just wants to keep him happy. In any case, that wouldn't be my primary worry. Kemp would be in my lineup every day.
Playing which position(s)?
When I read that article this morning about him whining to the LA Times, I told a friend of mine that I hope Little doesn't just automatically put him back in the lineup. So disappointing!! And so the wrong message to send out.
Not that any person in a hurry would want to go that way.
I've entered a guess as to your 6 counties.
it took me almost 2 hours.
Trains don't go there anymore. It's too crowded.
Hilarious.
---
I wonder if Ruggiano will be another Victorino, another OF that got away. To be honest, I never gave him much thought, though I only saw him play (in a game televised online) once and only followed him casually.
Navarro: .275/.309/.529
Jackson: 2.45 ERA
Ruggiano: .415/.452/.708 (AAA)
Pedroza: .344/.397/.689
Ruggiano: 457 AB, .313/.386/.508, 28 2B, 2 3B, 19 HR, 48 BB, 143 K
Young: 457 AB, .337/.387/.580, 50 2B, 5 3B, 17 HR, 37 BB, 102 K
Does Ruggiano's whiff rate translate to a signficantly lower projected MLB OBP?
For a non-pitcher, right...?
Only if the kids get playing time.
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/
We talked about this quite a bit around the time of the Betemit deal. My conclusion at the time was that yes, Colletti is risk-averse, but that that's not the worst of all worlds, because he's also a terrible judge of talent. Incompetent and risk-acceptant is much worse than incompetent and risk-averse. The latter is Colletti. The former is Kevin Malone.
Natch, we'd all like competence and risk-acceptance. That's what I thought we had with DePodesta.
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