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
No folks, you can't stop the Joe Torre Press Conference - you can only hope to contain it. A capacity crowd, hanging on every word from Torre as he addresses ... what makes him great? How he'll make the Dodgers great? Why the Dodgers aren't really schizophrenic? Actual plans for the team? I'm not sure, exactly.
You sort of get the sense there should be bunting (the colorful drapery kind) and maybe the Rose Queen and her court, but I guess the main thing will just be a celebration of the turning of yet another page. And who doesn't like a good celebration, a few words from the Bard, Vin Scully, and images of Dodger Stadium in the fall air?
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******************MLB Pressconferenceday*****************
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* * *
Trivia:
Sandy Koufax - most strikes thrown in a game (that Baseball-Reference.com knows of).
"I consider myself" (myself...myself...myself)
"the luckiest man" (man...man...man)
"on the face of the earth" (earth...earth...earth)
Step 1 in the long road back to respectablitly.
I guess the obvious answer is "More innings for Scott Proctor".
Duh.
JT: "I think you're great too Bill. I like that Horn show you do."
BP: "Joe, any chance you could trade Matt Kemp today?"
JT: "That's up to Ned. Ned?"
NC: "We're committed to providing Joe with the best chance to win possible. The Dodgers are all about winning."
FM: "You mean the DODGER NATION."
JT: "Well, it's my old friend Scott Proctor. Hi Scott! What's with the torch?"
SP: "I'm burning my equipment again!!!!"
JT: "Well, gee, take it off first....ouch."
It certainly isn't sunny now.
Perhaps Joe Torre will be framed against a blue gray sky.
To help indicate how big this difference really is, 3.83 would have been 2nd in the MLB; 4.66 would have been 21st.
Seriously, I need someone to tivo the press conference....does anybody think they will replay it in its entirety on the Dodgers website?
I'm sure you can watch it on the Dodgers website again.
How soon before Joe Torre shows up in the LA Times "Hot Properties" column saying where he bought a condo?
Or is he just going to rent?
I see him as a Bunker Hill kind of guy, like Lasorda was during the season.
Step 1s to the road to respectiblity.
Hire Paul DePodesta
Trade Milton Bradley
Fire Paul DePodesta
Hire Ned Colletti
Hire Grady Little
Sign Juan Pierre
Fire Grady Little
etc.
Aren't we supposed to be better next year, independent of the manager...?
Really? I thought it was that streak in August when we hit less then a buck with runners in scoring position in August.
The longest journey begins with several single first steps followed by falling on your face.
Not to mention "war is peace".
I kid because I have to.
And that number is being helped by C Bill's impressivly low era during that time as someone mentioned before.
I can have Joe Torre talk to South Pasadena's leading real estate agent, the aptly named Meg Middleman.
I'm 99% certain that Lasorda lived in the Bunker Hill Towers. I don't know if they were built in 1977 however.
He also had a home in Fullerton although I don't know if he's moved.
We should start a contest, what local business will get Joe to be its spokesman.
Scioscia does Howards Big Screen TV, Grady did Jiffy Lube (at least in his first season.) Kobe, Living Spaces, Luke Walton, Custom Comfort beds.
My guess, Joe will do some type of auto insurance ad.
As far as LA caring that the Bums hired Torre, I think it's two things: first, a lot of people see this like the Phil Jackson hiring (though the Lakers circa 1999 and the Dodgers today are in completely different places); second, he will now be the most recognizable man wearing a Dodger uniform (which really says something about the promotional failings of the club).
Did anyone ever go to his rib restaurant, I know I went at least once in Pasadena.
So, was Grittle providing good "attitude" and "leadership" when the Dodgers were winning, and then all of a sudden providing bad "attitude" and "leadership", after which they started losing?
Lasorda's restaurant was in South Pasadena. It closed down in the early 1990s after it had trouble getting customers again after closing because of a vermin infestation.
It is now Carmine's Italian Restaurant, which is very popular despite having awful parking and mediocre food.
Sandy Koufax - most strikes thrown in a game (that we know of).
I can't wait for the new sit and sleep commercial where Joe says that "Larry" hooked him up with his new bed when he got to LA.
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Attendance: 12,068
Dodger pitchers will dominate lists like that because for many years, the Dodgers were the only team to tabulate such information.
Such was the legacy of Allan Roth.
Celebrity reasoning. Great title for a treatise on LA's relationship with celebs.
However, I believe Mike Scioscia lives in Westlake Village and commutes to Anaheim for most home games.
The Galaxy may try to get Jurgen Klinsmann or Jose Maurinho to coach the team. And since Klinsmann already lives out here, he would be a good choice.
But pitch count totals don't exist for much of the database.
Yes, that restaurant is pretty busy but I have not been there for years.
I've eaten at Carmine's perhaps twice. It's not all that exciting.
My girlfriend likes Scarantino's in Glendale for what I call "1950s style Italian food."
I like Charlie's Trio for that type of cuisine. That's in L.A., just across the city limit line of South Pasadena.
He also said that "the reason Torre is here is to win one in the next 3 years. He wants to stick it to the Yankees."
Scary scary words to me.
Granted I don't know how much better informed his speculation is than ours, but he said he thinks if we don't sign Arod we will be trying to trade Kemp for Santana. I said I would be unhappy if we traded say, Kemp and Kershaw for Santana with less than a three or four year extension.
We both agreed that the biggest problem with all Dodgers trades is that Colletti isn't getting good enough value on what he's trading.
It was interesting to hear his insight into the clubhouse dynamic. He was pretty adamant that all the problems in the clubhouse were because of the kids and Matt Kemp especially. Now-- if he's got a loyalty to the PVLs, it could color everything but here's how he related it to me: When Matt Kemp came up in '06 he was a sweet kid, but when he came back up and was hitting .340 he was a real jerk to everyone. Petulant and cocky.
A Martinez's perspective was that the vets are there to help the kids get better but the kids weren't open at all to their input and that management wasn't helping the situation at all. He said that he thinks management should have stepped in and basically told the kids to listen to what the PVLs had to say. I said, "couldn't part of the problem be that the vets were griping about playing time?" and he responded "no way."
I mentioned Jon and Dodgerthoughts to him and his response was a weak "yeah-- I think I've heard of that". I gave him the website address and told him he should check it out and talked up Jon for a while. It's going to be an interesting few months. More and more I hope we sign Arod..
vr, Xei
the sun.
I believe Garret Anderson commutes from Canyon Country to Anaheim.
vr, Xei
Being a manager/coach is more psychological management of your players (especially the higher you go) than anything. Grady was terrible at the psychological aspect of his job.
It is truly hard for me to imagine a scenario where the kids were the entire problem. And how come if Kemp is a jerk, that means all the kids were the problem. It's as if Russell Martin ceased to exist.
I think you have to at least give A Martinez the benefit of being with the team every day and certainly having a lot more access than most. Not saying that he is correct and may not be totally objective but he probably is not that far off in what happened.
16-- Most the Dodgers live in the Pasadena area; but;
Joe seems more like a Marina Del Rey kind of guy, so he and his wife can double date with Phil Jackson and Jeannie;
Besides, the ghost of Grady Little gunning his Harley will be seen in the pre dawn darkness haunting the leafy streets of Pasadena.
No. The pitching tanked, the team tanked, then Kent, Luis, and Lowe got out of control and blamed Grittle for playing the young kids (who were outperforming their older counterparts).
I doubt any amount of "leadership" will keep veterans happy when they're on the bench and would rather be playing instead. They're less likely, however, to express their unhappiness when the team is winning.
What kind of expectations? Throw harder? Run faster? Hit the ball farther? This just sounds like the kind of babble that surfaces when a teams plays poorly. No one can accept either that players just weren't very good or that they just didn't play very well.
Joe Torre's wife is very tall.
So I guess Bill Belichik isn't being used as a consultant anymore?
Yeah........I know. My point is the 'other' A Martinez is about as informed as to what's really going on as is the joker who supposedly spends all kinds of time with the team.
If he really knew what was going on or what went on down the stretch, he would've reported it faster than an ethiopian with a gift certificate to McDonalds. That's his job, and reporters always want to be the first to break a story. He doesn't know jack and i wouldn't take his word for anything Dodgers related. But that's just my opinion.
He struck out 66 times in 384 ABs.
vr, Xei
Did anyone else get a little worried when Vin started his story with wanting to make a "public confession"?
I thought that Vin was going to confess to killing Jimmy Hoffa.
for those who remember:
http://www.johnspeedie.com/healy/garvlong.wav
Juan Pierre wears his uniform all the time.
vr, Xei
This was prior to the Letterman appearance and before Grady "resigned."
The Japanese expect everyone to mispronounce Japanese names.
"Cy-Toe" isn't really correct either.
vr, Xei
For example, bhsportsguy's name in Japan would be really hard to pronounce.
They just don't have a "uy" sound for starters.
The thicker number makes Juan Pierre look bigger.
Will Tsao and Kuo ever pitch again for the Dodgers?
It's a match up of skill against skill. The best team wins, usually because they played the best. Just like the regular season.
I'm going to get my picket signs out soon.
vr, Xei
vr, Xei
Has Simers and/or Plaschke asked a question yet?
See also: St. Louis Cardinals (2006)
See also: Los Angeles Dodgers (1988)
See also: Florida Marlins (2003)
I could write a parody but I think it would break 2 or 3 rules.
Er, I mean, they're great fans.
Er, I mean, they're all individuals that can't be generalized.
Primarily, the Latino community in L.A. buys a lot of tickets to Dodgers games.
It's also not monolithic.
"We kept putting the garbage can back where we wanted it, and (Matt) kept moving it away from his locker. We just couldn't get through to him."
Perfectly said BHSportsguy.
Kind of like comments here but with no chance to self-edit.
171 Probably quite symbolic of what really happened.
Did anybody pick up on that?
I'm guessing that will last until the first game of the season.
And Vinny liked Grady, he also liked Jim Tracy.
Now he has to lie to Psycho about how much he loves Grittle, how much he'll always love Grittle. Hang in there, baby!
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