Lately (or perhaps LATedly) all I have to do is comment to get a NPUT.

I thought Jackson's argument was curiously framed: that power off the bench (represented by Kemp or Ethier) is more valuable than power in the lineup, whereas speed off the bench (that other guy) is far less valuable than speed in the everyday lineup.

So we should save the power for the seventh inning or later, because that's when power matters?

Speed off the bench is good.

There are other ways of getting speed in the second spot of the lilneup than putting Pierre there. Kemp or Abreu could also hit there.

If Torre is concerned that the young players might not be ready to play a full season then he should be comported that he has Pierre on the bench ready to step in.

Not to mention the advantage of having someone off the bench who can pinch sacrifice bunt.

Everybody should feel comported and lilneup don't you think?

Per the previous thread, that was an interesting read on William Wesley. Must be intoxicating to be drawn into his world.

Sad but inevitable news about Lindsey. Here's hoping he gets an at-bat in the majors this year, and not at Loney's expense.

Does Tony Jackson realize how much his bias filters into his writing?

Everyone except the guys making the decision can say those words.

Pierre's spring training BA ( not that spring training stats matter for veterans, of course ) is .186. Speed can't help if you can't get on base, hmmm.

9
Are you referring to his blog or the stuff that appears in the newspaper? Or both?

11 His newspaper article of today.

12
But what of your bias you bring to it when you read it? Doesn't that cancel it out?

11 - I want to feel a little sorry for Jackson because he's taking so much grief in the comments on his blog, but he's been so coarse and crass in his original posts that, really, he pretty much deserves it.

Something tells me the decision to go "sports radio" on the blog was a tactic to drive up readership and commentership.

13 He could have, for example, weighed the merits of power versus speed on the bench, gotten some quotes on that subject from baseball sources. Instead he just assumed that power would be better off the bench.

My bias is for objective reporting. :-)

No article mentions defense. It bothers me. The dodgers decided that Pierre was a minus defender, which is why they got Jones. Say the offense is even (it's not) and Torre is on record as any manager is as saying it's pitching and defense that wins, why sacrafice the defense.

There are always justifications to play Pierre from the beat writers and Ned. Why to play Juan 101 is what I call it. There is never justification on why we should play Ethier and its because there dosen't need to be..

15 Or you know, he could have weighed the merits of putting the best team on the field and the best players getting the most ABs.

His argument is like arguing in favor of bringing a knife to a gun fight. Don't bring the gun because it might be nice to have it later. A gun is nicer to have later on than a knife. Ugh.

17 I LedOL at that one. Excellent analogy.

All Ethier really needs is a hot young celebrity GF...Someone with some real pull.

Gameday link.

http://www.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/y2007/gd.html?2008_03_16_flomlb_lanmlb_1

Luis Gonzalez is batting third and playing right field. For marchers and chowderers, Gonzalez has a .472 OBP this spring.

Speed off the team is good.

His skill set is so unbelievably limited, the only thing to do is play him every day at the top of the lineup.

Makes perfect sense.

Is Gameday frozen for anybody else?

23 Nevermind, it's working for me now.

So, is it safe to say yet that the battle for LF is heating up?

Bucky Walters of ESPN has seriously abused the word "irony."

But I am the lone holdout who wants to watch the Southland Conference final. Whom should I root for Northwestern State or Texas-Arlington?

25 Ed Orgeron went to Northwestern State.

So I assume everybody yells there all the time.

Northwestern State makes subs in groups of five. UCLA is matched up against the winner of this game in Joe Lunardi's world.

Luis Gonzalez has not played RF in a major league game that counts in the standings.

19- Ethier is married.

If he keeps hitting like this, though, I don't think they will be able to keep him out of the every day line-up. I have faith that by May 1, the best outfielders will be out there.

.....

29 Hmmm. But Pierre has hit a double, 2 RBIs. How often did that happen (just the double, never mind the RBIs) last year?

30 Do you get the feeling that that double will stick in Torre's head more than either Pierre's ineptitude so far this spring or Ethier's great success so far?

10 Spring stats don't matter for anyone except maybe guys on the bubble to make the roster. Martin's hitting .219, Young is hitting .162, but I really doubt their spots are in jeopardy.

31 - Why would it?

33 I think a good game by Pierre will be used as justification for Pierre over Ethier, though Ethier has had a much better spring.

At least I expect Jackson to be reminding us of this double later in the day.

I think the Juan Pierre Scare has replaced the Red Scare.

Have you no sense of decency, Joe Torre?

Have you no. Sense. Of Decency?

35 Someone has to take the heat off of me.

Lowe seems to be having problems.

In Arizona, the outfielders who hit for power are also fast. Not saying that's better or worse than the L.A. way of doing things; just different. I embrace roster diversity.

I don't think it's unreasonable to imagine that any good thing that Pierre does will be weighed more heavily than any good thing that Ethier does. And also mistakes that Ethier and Kemp make (like baserunning or throwing errors) are magnified. It is not a reasonable thought process, but a reactionary one, that has Pierre playing over Ethier or Kemp.

So, yes, I imagine that Pierre's double will stick out more, in the minds of those who want him to play, than the successes of Ethier so far this spring.

37 40 Are you coming to your own defense here? Is the "yes" in "So, yes", you agreeing with yourself?

I do not think that Ethier's achievements will pass unnoticed. I think that, as long as Pierre has a few good days and does not suck consistently like he did yesterday while in Arizona and vs. Boston, he will have the edge over Ethier at the start of the regular season, even though Ethier will have had the better spring. Veteran's privilege. But Ethier's achievements should get him about a third, or at least a quarter, of the LF starts in April, plus lots of late innings replacements in both LF and RF. If, by the end of April or mid-May he remains twice as good as Pierre, as I expect he will be, their roles will be reversed by sometime in May. If there are no injuries reducing our functioning outfielders to 3 instead of 4, Pierre may get traded for a pitcher by the end of June. Or he'll remain the 4th outfielder until injury time.

41 I'm not sure. I think it may been a disjointed continuation of 34 .

Is there some significance to an umpire's signalling that a ball was foul-tipped into the catcher's glove? That has always seemed to me to be a useless piece of information.

Luis Gonzalez not having much of a pay-back day today.

44 He's not going to be playing RF regularly for them this year, is he?

Loney and Martin not exactly doing too well either so far.

I forgot about Loney's single in the first inning.

You know who's having a good Spring? Eric Byrnes: .345/.406/.621. Couple of stolen bases, too.

Gameday seems to be taking a 30-minute new pitcher warmup session, or something.

43
The umpire rules "foul tip" to indicate that the ball is still in play if caught by the catcher. I would think they do it all the time to make sure they never forget to do it.

If Pierre is going to be the starter, it's going to be because he's Pierre, not because of some random double he hit while Joe Torre was on a plane half a world away.

Jason Johnson, and a bunch of substitutions - Pierre, Furcal, Abreu gone, Maza, De Jesus, Young in. Probably last chance for some of these replacers before more options and reassignments.

They are playing Young in left field because his arm is to sore to play 2nd base?

3 pitches, 3 outs. Oy.

Although I suppose they don't need to option and reassign Vero Beach players until after Tuesday's game. By Thursday when they start playing in Arizona, they'll probably be closer to the 25-man roster plus a few Vegas-destined players. It will be interesting to see how long Kershaw and DeWitt stick around - maybe until opening day.

I agree. And think Berkowit's prediction in 41 is pretty spot on, that's what I think will happen too. I also don't think Joe Torre thinks exactly like Tony Jackson, and Torre's opinion matters more.

In lighter news, don't know if this was posted already but this bit in the newest Onion's sport section made me chuckle:
>>PORTLAND, OR—ESPN.com baseball columnist Rob Neyer has announced the formula for a new statistic which compares and contrasts his own disillusionment with the sport of baseball against that felt by his fellow sabermetricians. "It's called Baseball Fatigue Average, or 'BFA,' and it's the most comprehensive anti-baseball stat out there," said Neyer in a chat session in which he also argued the meaninglessness of the run batted in."It takes into account the extreme importance given to the walk, coincidentally the least interesting part of the sport, and factors in the sheer randomness of the game and how little effect players ultimately have upon the outcome. Even the Crack Of The Bat Quotient and the Smell Of The Freshly Cut Grass Under A Cloudless Robin's-Egg-Blue Sky On A Warm Spring Afternoon Index are not enough to counteract the effects of BFA. And the best part is, you don't have to watch a single ennui-producing pitch of Major League Baseball to figure out how little you like it." Neyer announced he will now turn his attention to reducing the abstract concept of "fun" down to a single significant digit.<<

There's too much "think-ing" in 56

Ah well, too bad, looks like Clemson can't quite pull off the upset. I was pulling for them.

They're dancing in the streets of Arlington! UTA goes to the NCAA tournament!

Efficient if not all that successful inning for Broxton - five pitches, five strikes, five balls in play, one run

In other news, my cat no longer has diabetes! After less than two months of treatment. Woo hoo! They're dancing in the streets of Glen Park.

Okay, time to watch the Lakers game.

Looks like Broxton just gave up a run and staring at the box score no longer excites me all that much.

Radmanovic instead of Gasol doesn't give me much confidence.

61
Nope.

60 Great news underdog!

I didn't realize diabetes could be reversed.

63 Thanks, we're both very happy. No shots, and he gets to eat lots of fatty food for awhile to get back to playing weight.

Looks like Dewitt just got his second double of the game. He's certainly made an impression this spring, I'll say that - is he off to AAA?

64 It can in cats. It's a condition caused in part by the diet we feed them - too many carbs, not enough protein. Reverse that and you can reverse the problem.

And looks like Repko just inefficiently cleared the bases of runners by hitting a 2-run homer.

Repko has 12 RBIs this spring.

66 People do the same thing with ferrets. They are obligate carnivores and have 0 carb requirements. But people usually feed them only kibble, filled with carbs, which their body can't handle well.

We give ours a high-fat, high-protein kibble, which is better for them. But we're still too lazy to force them to eat meat, which is what we should really be feeding them.

And then the bases were loaded (De Jesus, Sweeney, Bell) only to have two outs, Bennett sacrifice flies, score 7-6 (up from 7-3). Nook Logan grounds out to end it. Close but no cigar.

The long lapses in data at gameday seem to often mirror those at "live" box and scoreboard. Basically they get updated about once a half inning. I have this image of one guy running through all the games trying to update them, something that has many more people when the offricial games start. They are probably just working on game day for development.

68 Interesting. It's been a learning experience for me. All that time I thought I was feeding them healthy IAMS food when it really wasn't. Of course, there are people out there feeding their cats Meow Mix, which is like giving your kids Trix cereal for lunch every day. But yeah, they need the protein, not the carbs. I'm thinking of also installing a kitty treadmill with a dangling mouse at the head of it.

Lakers look tired and out of control in this one. They have to do a 180 in the 2nd half or the Rockets' streak will continue.

Tampa wants a back-up centerfielder, and will give up pitching. Ned loves to trade with Tampa for pitching. Pierre for Jackson. See, I've solved everything.

http://tinyurl.com/34cgft

Rockets 59-44 at halftime.
McGrady's got 0 points.

Their defense is non-existent.

73 Works for me. If we're going to trade with Tampa again, that's the move I'd want.

Just watched a few minutes of the Giants-Angels game on FSN here, and, in case you missed, boy, the Giants stink.

74 Touble is once our execs. finish with it it will be Ethier for someone like Baez.

meant 73 not 74

75
Bruce Bochy is already a defeated man.

Don't worry Bruce, you got Rowand to replace Bonds.

I heartily endorse watching the Big XII championship on ESPN. Lots of lead changes and great plays. #1 seed in the NCAA tournament at stake.

79 Watching it now. You mean it's better than the Giants-LAA game? Hard to fathom.

Too bad Cal State Bakersfield and South Dakota, both division 1 newcomers this year, can't play each other in some sort of consolation playoff game. A Roadrunner vs. Coyote match-up would be fun. If not quite the Acme of all such match-ups.

DJ Mbenga is at +11!

82 DJ Mbenga is at +11!

Yet another reason to ignore that space in the box score.

There was a game in late December where Earl Barron went 0-4 in 15 minutes for no points and 2 rebounds and was +14 while teammate Dwyane Wade went 16-21 in 51 minutes for 48 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks but had a +/- of -2. It is to laugh.

Georgia over Arkansas 66-57 and into the NCAAs as SEC tourney champ.

Won 4 games in 3 days, two Sat. Improbable but obviously not impossible.

Some bubble team just got bounced, maybe even Kentucky. Which might be fitting since Georgia beat them first yesterday.

This will be Pierre's ninth season in MLB, Ethier's third. What's going to happen in April that would change any manager's mind about which of the two he'd rather have in LF?

People who like dog biscuit ice cream like dog biscuit ice cream.

Tiger Woods is going to have to start playing one-handed.

Joe Lunardi is wrong already. Said UCLA would be #1 overall.

Yes! UCLA has a potential shot at Memphis.

88
In theory, UCLA has a potential shot at 64 other teams.

But I doubt one of them will be Mount St. Mary's or Coppin State.

89 You don't think they'll get past the Tar Heels? Oh ye of little faith!

A potential UNC/Indiana matchup in the second round.

Funny how fast Notre Dame's clapping ceased when they saw they were matched vs. George Mason.

UNC got a lot harder bracket than Florida got last year.

Why exactly does Brady Quinn endorse anything?

I say Pierre for Kazmir. I think that trade might have happened in my fantasy draft two years ago.

Why not aim high?

At least Ethier is making it as difficult as he can for Joe and Ned.

Kemp and Repko are probably as fast or faster than anybody Arizona has in their outfield.

I think Jones is a big dollar question mark. Ned could be looking at Schmidt, Pierre, and Jones all having less talent than players sitting on their bench.

Has anybody seen Dewitt play this spring and if so would you please comment.

Jon breathes a sigh of relief as Stanford avoids Siena.

Mayo vs Beasley!

How many here like K State for an upset?

What are the chances that Dewitt gets to start the season with the Dodgers and stay until Nomar, LaRoche, Abreu, etc. are haealthy?

I don't like K State for an upset much against USC.

101
Slight to nonexistent.

Fine, let's talk about K State

96 And thankful for Ned, LaRoche made it easy on him or we'd be adding Nomar to your list.

I do not, but it should be fun to watch.

Who does start at third then?

Looks like six max for the Pac-10. Stanford must be in the South, because I doubt the committee would put them in the West with UCLA. Texas the 2 in the West for the rematch, with Duke the 2 in the South?

Nomar will start at third.

Wouldn't Ramon Martinez be Worst Case Scenario™ for third base?

Texas as 2 in South and Stanford as 3rd seed.

Oregon in! One of the Arizona schools is crying.

110 - yes.

I was just hoping Dewitt might get a couple of weeks of MLB experience at the start of the season.

Stanford vs Cornell! Break out the SATs!

Kentucky is fortunate to be in.

112 - So is one of the Oregon schools

Stanford has got to love their draw.

Hey, underdog. Have you tried Innova cat food? That's what we use for the ferrets. It's high fat/protein, low on carbs and all the not-so-good-for-cats stuff.

Stanford facing Texas or Memphis would be very intriguing. Complete opposite styles of play.

116
Oregon State is just a baseball school now.

120 - Back to back baseball schools

Drake and Xavier pose problems for UCLA with their ridiculous shooting.

Arizona's tournament streak is in jeopardy...

123
I will weep later.

Seed seven, West Virginia...

Seems like having the admittedly better hitter with power in the lineup from the start gives you a better chance of being ahead in the game and not having to get that pinch hit HR late in the game. Although your basic premise that power on the bench is more valuable than speed from a one dimensional player that can't even be kept in the game for defense late in a game is correct. Is it really smart to let that convoluted logic reward a clearly inferior player to the detriment of the team? If you truly believe this, bless your pointy little head.

How does Drake get a 5, and Butler only gets a 7? Is that just my Indiana bias or is Butler a better and much more proven team like I think?

I guess the unnameds can't be killed and they won't die.

The MVC is a much better conference than whatever they call the conference Butler is in.

126 sounds like it should be posted on Tony Jackson's blog.

I did Fanerman.

Such a joke that SEC gets as many teams in as the Pac-10.

129 Better maybe, but the MVC is not MUCH better than anything.

132
Blame Georgia.

I can't think of the last time a big conference champion was that low of a seed, #14!

And there was also that small matter of Drake beating Butler in Indianapolis.

The streak lives!

136
And my mortal enemy cackles...

135 True, but using your two arguments, Texas would be a number one instead of UCLA. I see why the may have made Drake a higher seed in theory, but Butler isn't a one year wonder and they have been the higher ranked team all year. They will be better this weekend too.

Dodgers' Abreu getting back on track

>> "I don't feel really good. But it's better now," said Abreu <<

## Garciaparra, who hasn't played since taking a pitch off his right wrist 10 days ago, is cutting short the Florida part of spring training to rejoin Manager Joe Torre in Arizona today when the Dodgers' split squad arrives from China... ##

http://tinyurl.com/3dkav2

Mississippi Valley State lost to Washington State earlier in the year 71-26.

http://tinyurl.com/2qdzkw

Just to clarify, I'm not saying Texas should be a one instead of UCLA, just using it for a point.

138
How about Drake being #10 in RPI and Butler being #17?

142 How about Tennessee being #1 in RPI? I don't think anyone believes Drake is the 10th best team in the country.

ACC#1 conference is a joke. Shut up, Packer.

Billy Packer will not rest until all 12 ACC teams make the NCAA tournament.

For the record, I don't have a (bull)dog in the Drake-Butler situation. I'm just throwing out what some of the thought processes may have been.

112 sweet! bummer they are in the South I guess, but just glad they are in. Really I think they should have done much better this year.

Pac-10 Final Four

Washington State (4 East) vs. USC (6 Midwest)
Stanford (3 South) vs. UCLA (1 West)

120 121 that's ok, now that the Ducks have revived their baseball program, it won't be long before the Beavers will play 2nd fiddle in that sport as well.

The NIT selection show will be at 6 pm!

I think I may be putting Stanford vs UCLA.

Beating a good team 4 times is quite a challenge.

146 I realize that. Just looks like two real bad seedings this year, Kansas State and Butler, and one happens to be the local team. At the least, they could have seeded Butler ahead of Oklahoma, a 5th place Big 12 team, in their own bracket. Oklahoma lost to 11th seed K State and finished behind them in the conference.

Reliever believer? Nomo trying it with Royals

>> If Hideo Nomo succeeds in his comeback attempt with the Royals, it will be as a reliever, not a starter. <<

## Hillman said Brett Tomko, John Bale, Luke Hochevar, Kyle Davies and Jorge De La Rosa are ahead of Nomo for two open spots in the Royals rotation. ##

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/23661825/

I don't get it. If then consensus is that the PAC-10 is the best conference this year then why only 6 (ok, I've heard the reasoning, but still) and why is Stanford only a #3 seed. If you looked at the brackets only to determine the best conference, you wouldn't think it's the P10

Paradise lost: 60 years later, Dodgertown era nears end

http://tinyurl.com/ysaabj

England just won the cricket match. They should have managed it yesterday but poor fielding left New Zealand in until now - but still got them out before lunch on the 5th day.

Garciaparra out, leaves Dodgers thin

http://tinyurl.com/2874ce

Wow, Ducks get a 9th seed. Amazing.

Pros
-Beat Stanford at home
-Won at Arizona
-Won at Kansas State
Cons
-Lost at St. Mary's
-Lost to Oakland (in Detroit, Michigan not California!)
-Lost at Nebraska

156 That fielding yesterday was a shambles. Good to have a tied series though. And good to get to watch the worst fielder (Panesar) and the worst batsman (Martin) in international cricket in one game!

So, I'm interested berkowit28, did you just randomly come across cricinfo yesterday or do you have some wider interest in cricket?

UCLA vs BYU in the second round won't happen. You can guess why.

139 Nomar would start now if there was a regular season game. This blessed rest means he may stay ahead of the competition for a month or two.

160
Because Mississippi Valley State is going to pull off an incredible upset?

154 "I don't get it. If then consensus is that the PAC-10 is the best conference this year then why only 6 (ok, I've heard the reasoning, but still) and why is Stanford only a #3 seed. If you looked at the brackets only to determine the best conference, you wouldn't think it's the P10"

I think the answer to that is, they're really telling the truth when they say evaluate things based on the individual teams instead of by conference. Which specific #2 would Stanford be better than? Certainly not Texas or Tennessee. Georgetown is the regular season champ of one of the premier conferences. You could argue about Duke, but that's a team that was ranked #2 for much of the year. They also beat the #1 overall seed, North Carolina, while Stanford lost to every #1, 2, or 3 seed it played against.

I'm really bummed that Stanford and Texas got sent to the same region. Those are two teams I'm really rooting for to make the Final Four. Obviously, Stanford's chances of beating Texas in Houston are not all that great.

I'm not sure how far down the bracket they go with the snake system, but strange that they'd face each other since Stanford is obviously the second-best #3 seed (after Wisconsin) and Texas is either the best or second-best #2 (depending on Tennessee).

I think Wazzu got a pretty nice draw, though, and so did USC. I don't think they'll have too much of a problem with K-State.

86 - I never doubted him!

164 - Yeah, it's no fun. An Enders divided against itself cannot stand.

Woods Birdies 18 to Run Win Streak to 5

http://tinyurl.com/3695u2

Aha! Another cricket follower here took the bait. (You must have missed my comment yesterday.) I lived in England for many years and got interested then. To begin with, the fact that I really, really could not figure it out from watching it on TV intrigued me. Then the subtleties and intracacies got me. Foreigners think baseball is complicated, but it's nothing compared to (proper, multi-day, 2-innings) cricket.

The really amazing thing is how a game that can be deadly slow and boring for long stretches and that can end in a draw more often than not can become incredibly exciting when the tide turns after a massive buildup. I've been around quite while. Maybe you'll realize how long when I say that I really caught the bug in the "Botham series" - still the most exciting sports event(s) I've ever experienced - mostly the old-fashioned way listening on BBC radio while up a ladder painting the ceiling of my flat.

I was excited to discover a few years ago that I could get the same Test Match Special live radio on my computer. But that didn't last long. Now the only test match series that can be heard live are the ones played in the UK. The others (like today's) from elsewhere, even with England playing and broadcast in the UK, are blocked outside. You can pay to subscribe to some commercial site usually (at least it was that way for the Ashes in Australia) but I haven't done that yet. It was pretty expensive, from what i recall. Are you doing that? Or know some other way? I actually didn't even check to see if it was available through NZBC. Should do so before the 3rd Test.

164
K-State is #15 in the Pomeroy Ratings. They finished 10-6 (third place) in the Big-12, the only conference Ken rates tougher than the Pac-10. They have Beazley and Walker. And they get to play a virtual home game in Omaha.

I'm not saying USC won't win. If nothing else, it's a great matchup. But no way they're an 11 seed. And no way is it a favorable draw for us.

168 Nice story. I saw your comments yesterday but was too busy chasing around after children to reply. Now I'm back at work...

You can get audio for the NZ matches here http://tiny.cc/LbSon Just click on listen live in the header image. They'll have ball by ball for the third test (starting Saturday) and some good English commentators have come over.

Having played cricket my whole life it was the subtleties and intricacies of baseball which got me - for all the differences, there's a lot of similarity in that way.

170 Ooh, thanks for the link. Will do.

And Saturday will begin Friday...

169
I think Walker is all athleticism, but lacks a lot of skill. Jefferson should be able to do a decent job defending Beasley and the USC guards should have no problem scoring on the Wildcats.

163 I think that Duke is overrated.

170 Some of the most fun I had was listening to the England test series against Pakistan a year and a half ago when that Australian umpire went crazy/stubborn and caused an international incident. I was just sitting there minding my own business, listening to ball by ball play on Test Match Special, when the thing developed. As I recall, it was at the height of baseball season in September, and I was going a bit nuts myself trying to follow both at the same time.

169 I understand all that, but having seen them play a bunch of times this year, I think they're an easy team to beat if you come into the game with a good game plan. (And Tim Floyd, if he's proven anything, it's that he always has a good game plan.) K-State consists of Beasley and Walker and absolutely nothing else. Their outside shooting is awful. And they play horrendously away from home. Their RPI comes mostly from playing in a really strong conference, but they've lost every significant game they've played away from their home court.

Containing Walker is the key. Beasley can't be stopped, but everyone else can. Their complementary players are really, really bad. Walker is like Memphis's Joey Dorsey in that he's extremely temperamental and you can take him completely out of the game by bodying him up and/or playing head games with him. His buddy Mayo is the perfect guy to do that.

I really can see no scenario in which K-State beats USC. If Floyd pulls out the triangle-and-two that he successfully used against Memphis in NYC, it'll probably be a blowout.

Anyone have a link which shows who was picked for the NIT?

175
Can't disagree with any of that; SC should be favored, even in Nebraska.

But as to the draw, using Pomeroy as an indicator of what a perfectly objective ranking might be, Kansas St, an 11 seed, is ranked Number 15 in the country.

The other 11 seeds:
St Josephs #55
Kentucky #61
Baylor #39

Also, Washington State got a 4. SC (ranked #20) could easily have been a 5. The actual 5 seeds and their Pomeroy rankings are:

Notre Dame #27
Clemson #13
Michigan St #17
Drake #24

My point being not that you're wrong, but I would have rather played Kentucky in Anaheim. Or Arizona anywhere.

174 Yeah, the Australia/India series just gone was fun to listen to for the same sort of reasons. Especially if you weren't partisan!

You're right about that Botham series - if anything will convert someone to real, 5 day cricket it's that. I think the Australia/West Indies series of the 80s and 90s were thrilling in the same way.

Enjoy the game this week. I assume we all have Easter at the same time so you'll be listening in on Good Friday?

174 Where do you live? If abroad, as it sounds, and learned baseball after cricket, how exactly did you become a Dodger fan?

178 Where do you live? If abroad, as it sounds, and learned baseball after cricket, how exactly did you become a Dodger fan?

178 New Zealand. My family visited LA for a week on the way to Europe in July 1986. I was already a Lakers fan - we had NBA on TV once a week in NZ - so since it was summer and I was reading the LA papers it seemed natural to focus on the Dodgers (wasn't likely to be the Angels at that stage!). Listened to baseball on static-y Armed Forces Radio around Europe and it just really caught my imagination.

I think what made the Dodgers easy to adopt was the tradition and history. There's just so much to read and take in - Uncle Robbie, the bums, the Boys of Summer, Jackie Robinson, the move west, Koufax - and that only barely scratches the surface of course. Orel Hershiser then made me a lifelong Dodger fan, just in time for me to say I achieved that status before the '88 World Series.

181 Ah. Well in most ways you precede me, since I only became a fan in 2004, and only a really serious fan in 2006. But in some ways I precede you. Although I live now near LA (Santa Barbara), and before that lived a long time in England (1972-93), I am originally from Montreal, Canada. Before the Brooklyn Dodgers came west, the Montreal Royals were their AAA farm team. Jackie Robinson, and almost all the Boys of Summer, first played for the Royals. I never saw them, but my father did, and he was thus a Dodgers fan. Although I was only 7 years old, I can remember the excitement when the Dodgers finally beat the Yankees in the 1955 World Series. (For some reason, the name I guess, I remember Pee Wee Reese in particular.)

I had left Montreal by the time the Expos came into existence, and they were so awful most of time there was no reason to become a long-distance fan. If I ever checked baseball standings while I lived in London (as I still do, for example for the Montreal Canadiens hockey team), I'd check the Dodgers before the Expos. But I wasn't really into baseball. After I moved here, I only noticed front-page news such as the hated Rupert Murdoch buying and selling the team, and trading Piazza. But I happened to catch the end of the 2004 season, when the Dodgers won some really exciting games to get into the playoffs. Then in 2006, I had a slow time in the summer and found myself watching every day, and was hooked.

So do you catch some games on mlb.tv? Or how do you follow the Dodgers, other than via DT?

It's not a bad time to become a Dodger fan I think - great young players and no shortage of madness in the front office and ownership.

I would love to get mlb.tv but because of the time difference the games would end up being during work time. I can justify gameday and DT but I'd be out on my ear if I tried slipping mlb.tv past the internet police. I remember in the late 80s while I was at University waiting a week for print copies of the LA Times and NY Times weekend editions to arrive in the Library so I could catch up on everything (probably why I became a librarian). The internet has made it possible to be a more up-to-date fan. DT has made it possible to be a completely well-informed fan.

We also get espn international on satellite. Not the best in general, but it means I get 4 or 5 games a week, and sometimes the one not involving the Red Sox and Yankees will be a Dodger game. Then I take the day off work.

It is great, hearing how international travellers became Dodger fans. My path was not as exotic. My grandfather came from Brooklyn to New England, and I think the poetry of Red Barber and Vin kept the women in the family(librarians all) in the fold. I never abandoned the team when they moved west(I was 5)and it seemed natural to me.

Larry Bowa is a prophet:

"I saw the bat coming. He was watching the ball. I yelled, 'Heads up!' but he didn't hear me," Cabrera said. "I saw the blood, there was a lot. It was scary, man."

http://tinyurl.com/2z5xac

is there going to be traffic on the 5 between 630-8 tomorrow morning?

186 And will there be honey still for tea?

186
Interstate 5 goes from Canada to Mexico, so I think we need more specific information.

118 GP, yepper, we've been feeding 'em Innova Evo for a month+ now to great results. It's good, healthy stuff - except for making 'em, uh, smell bad in, uh, certain ways.

--
There's an NIT bracket PDF on the NIT site, and then I found this article on ESPN.com:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3297200

UCSB plays at #2 seed Mississippi. That's tough.

188

from Irvine to Burbank

190
I would advise using the bathroom before you undertake that journey during rush hour.

when should I leave if I have to be there by 8am?

I am having a hard time understanding Tony's argument. So, power is more important off the bench than speed, and Pierre's speed is worthless if he is not at the top of the lineup for each game?

This just seems to inadvertently admit that Pierre is a poor player for this team, and couldn't you argue that having power and defense in the defense everyday is better than having it sitting on the bench?

183 "I would love to get mlb.tv but because of the time difference the games would end up being during work time. "

Well, there are weekend games - in your case that would be Friday and Saturday games - virtually every week. Also I think the games get archived and can be downloaded, although I'm not 100% sure that comes for the basic subscription price.

192
I would leave by 6 am, but I tend to worry a lot about being late.

To an unhealthy level.

195

Alright thanks. Tomorrow's going to be a long day.

6am sounds good to me. Only because I would rather arrive early and spend some time getting coffee instead of sitting in traffic and stressing out.

I left for the LAUSD building the other day from Pasadena. I left an hour early, and I got to the floor for my appointment 5 minutes early. I could not believe it.

Wear an astronaut diaper!

In latest report from Ken Gurnick, as the China contingent returned to the US, some hopeful (+) comments along with a (on a smaller scale) less hopeful one (-):

>>But general manager Ned Colletti indicated while in China that he's not interested in picking up a third baseman with an existing long-term contract, clearly an indication he won't deal for Detroit's Brandon Inge, and probably not Joe Crede of the White Sox, either.+

"Right now, our thoughts are that with Nomar, Kent and Abreu, if two of the three are ready, we can start the season," said Colletti. "Even if all three are out, I'm not about to make a major investment and trade for somebody with a long-term deal, knowing that LaRoche will be back in six weeks. We've still got versatility with [Chin-lung] Hu and Ramon [Martinez]." -

Management believes Abreu is a key. He has barely played this spring while nursing the remnants of October surgery for a sports hernia. With the age of Kent (40) and the injury history of Garciaparra and LaRoche, the backup infielder is likely to be a quasi full-time player getting 300 at-bats or more. Abreu has all of the tools to handle that role, but the Dodgers have been unable to keep him on the field. <<

Watch, Nate gets there at 7am tomorrow.

If Nate takes the 5 from Irvine to Burbank, he is going to spend a lot of time in the south end of L.A. County where there is a lot of construction and the freeway has one fewer lane than it does in other parts. He will be wondering just how long one person can spend in Norwalk.

Of course, there are alternate routes, but we won't tell him.

Stanford got the dreaded 2 p.m. game Thursday again - the one that never gets on TV. That happens to us too much.

200

That was the point of my argument. At least he will be there on time and will have time to relax/get a cup of coffee. Much better than stressing out in rush hour, at least in my opinion.

199 Also:

"In a rotation, you like to think you can have it to where it works out, but will it be satisfactory and will it work out?" Torre asked. "I don't know that. You can put down on paper that each guy will get this many at-bats, but sometimes a player is a good player with this much playing time and if you cut into that, there's a danger it can cut into his success ratio."

Let's hope he's referring to Ethier, since Pierre hasn't been particularly successful to begin with, so there shouldn't be much worry about cutting his time.

201

Give me the alternate routes.

Funny reading this in the LA Times concerning Torre's thoughts on the China trip.
----------------------------
And seeing the way cars cut each other off without any warning in Beijing's congested streets, he said he came to realize that traffic in Los Angeles and New York weren't as bad as he previously thought.

"Sitting in the first row is dangerous on the bus," said Torre, who often squirmed on the rides to and from the ballpark.
-------------------------------------

Just like I said about the crazy driving in China and Beijing in general. Now imagine being a pedestrian in that mess, or let alone Andruw Jones trying to ride a bike all over town in it. As far as the first row being the most dangerous spot on the team bus in Beijing. That might be true, but I'd still want to be in the first three rows. On my bus tour to Xian, all of the sudden smoke started billowing out of the engine (front of the bus) and I am sure it was probably about to catch fire. Everyone had to exit quickly (Chinese fire drill up close and personal). So I'd prefer to be near the front, so you could escape as quickly as possible. Safety standards are quite the same. vr, Xei

USC plays Thursday at 4 and UCLA plays the same day around 7. Cal State Fullerton's game starts around the same time as UCLA's forcing Titans fans to watch online.

The Stanford-Cornell game is listed as starting at 1 pm PT on Thursday.

205
You really need to round up a friend and take freeways with carpool lanes. Your biggest problem will be once you cross into LA County on the 5. You won't get anywhere fast once that happens.

205 If you leave at 6 a.m. I don't see how you won't get there by 7:15 or so. The real traffic doesn't kick in until 7:30 or so, so I'm guessing you'll only run into minor slowing once in a while.

Check 980 AM for traffic on the 1's to see where the accidents are. There are tons of ways to make your way to Burbank, but I don't think one would be much different than the other unless there's an accident. Going north you can take the 5, 405, 605, 710, or 110. Going west you can take the 22, 91, or the 105. Pretty much whichever route you'll take will end up with the 5, but you can take the aforementioned freeways to avoid any trouble spots that may occur.

Hmm. Went to Dodger Blues today. They now have a "Games Until Pierre's Contract Ends" counter. Is that new?

211 Nope, it's old.

From Gurnick, Torre on left field...what does this mean?

"In a rotation, you like to think you can have it to where it works out, but will it be satisfactory and will it work out?" Torre asked. "I don't know that. You can put down on paper that each guy will get this many at-bats, but sometimes a player is a good player with this much playing time and if you cut into that, there's a danger it can cut into his success ratio."

213 I dread knowing.

Sad day. It's the swan song for the Dodgers at Vero Beach.

If you're enjoying some St. Patrick's merriment tonight, hoist a pint of Guinness and give a farewell toast to Dodgertown.

Jim Leyland announced that Ivan Rodriguez will hit some leadoff this year. IRod has been swinging a mean bat this Spring and since he's got speed and all, he's going to bat first.

9.

That's how many unintentional walks Rodriguez had last year.

I think, though I can't be sure, that the Dodgers have found a suitable suitor for JP.

216 Inge for JP?

the more I read on La Roche's injury problems the more I hope somebody tells him about the book "the mind body prescription" by John Sarno.

213
You can put down on paper that each guy will get this many at-bats, but sometimes a player is a good player with this much playing time and if you cut into that, there's a danger it can cut into his success ratio

Translation: Pierre's value derives from his playing everyday, and if you cut into that, he will be less effective.

I do like the humor in the term "success ratio". One could say "on base percentage" is a success ratio, but that would only discredit a certain diminutive outfielder.

216
Wow, Pudge II for leadoff? Here are his OBPs the last 3 years:

2007: .294
2006: .332
2005: .290

That lineup is pretty darn good, but I-Rod leading off is a good way to sabotage the best laid plans. I've heard Peter Gammons say the Tigers will score 1,000 runs this year. I'm not sure about that -- he said that about the Yankees in 2004 too when they got A-Rod, and was short by 103 runs -- but the Tiger offense will still be really good.

213

I read that as hope for Ethier. I am blindly optimistic on this one!

To be fair, they're only going to bat him lead-off against lefties since Granderson isn't very good against them. While Pudge does hit lefties better, it doesn't quite translate to his OBP (2006 aside):

2007 - .302
2006 - .385
2005 - .316
career - .363

221
You should have had a meeting at the LAUSD building today. I got from South Pasadena to Downtown in about 15 minutes today.

God bless Spring break.

In his new post about the last day at Dodgertown (and supposedly there was something about it on NPR this morning but I missed it), Tony Jax also mentioned this:
>>... Kyle Blair, whom the Dodgers drafted in the fifth round last summer but didn't sign, struck out a school-record 16 batters for the University of San Diego yesterday in a 15-0 win over Hawaii-Hilo. Before that, the freshman right-hander was 0-3.<<

Maybe he can still be ours in a few years...

Ahh, UH-Hilo, where Mainland baseball teams go to pick up early season wins. UH-Hilo had one of the ugliest campuses of any college I had ever seen.

213 Ned and Torre really are pulling out all the stops, Andre has no chance.

Meanwhile, this from Rotowire:

Kemp drove in all three Dodger runs Sunday in a 6-3 loss to the Padres in China.
Spin: Kemp leads the club with 12 RBI and his six extra-base hits tie him with James Loney and Blake DeWitt for the team lead. Anything less than Kemp getting 550 plate appearances means the Dodgers are less interested in winning than playing guys with bigger contracts.

I like how some of Torre's vague quotes are like Rorschach tests: interpreted differently based on everyone's own assumptions and expectations. I thought his quote was an attempt to be both diplomatic and open-ended in case he needs to change his mind, whichever way that is! It could just as much be seen as a "We hope players won't whine if they're on the bench" - and that could mean Pierre, too. Honestly, whoever starts in LF on opening day may not be starting there a month later.

I haven't been following the spring training games too closely of late. When does Kershaw pitch again? Thanks.

vr, Xei

NPUT