Perhaps he should have stopped motion.

Oh, and the lineup receives the coveted Humma Kavula Seal of Approval.

LAT'd:

I tried to find evidence that hitting eighth increases your unitentional walk rate and I couldn't find any. I've never seen anything that's shown otherwise.

http://www.truebluela.com/2007/9/4/201518/6293

Sweet lineup.

Pierre must be fuming. Strangely enough, I don't feel bad for him at all.

How long until people start worrying about Martin? He's been horrendous thus far in aught-eight...

Aah, my favorite Simpson's line

Tonight, on Smartline. "The Power plant strike. Argle bargle, or fooforaw?"

Love the title
Love the lineup

DeWitt goes deep tonight

6 Anything can happen in 100 at-bats, so, at at-bat 101?

6

Longer than 2 games I would think.

The Captain is wearing the largest Dodger poncho/wrap I have ever seen.

What a picture, Pamela Anderson, The McCourts, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Billy Crystal.

6 Russ has a whole season as far as I am concerned.

6 You're right. I am worried about Martin. He's started every game this year so far! When is Torre going to rest him?

6 - I've already gotten a wonderfully polite but anxious e-mail about Martin.

BH: Any ceremony for Guerrero, Astacio or R.J., I'll move mountains to get to. But next year, the mountains will easier to move.

8. I predict DeWitt is walked tonight.
vr, Xei

That lineup is a thing of beauty. Not a weak link one through seven, and maybe eight, who knows?

The initial 1/81st of the season has been quite pleasurable.

Chad Johnson calling into SportsCenter, classic!

I've never heard argle-bargle before. I've always heard something like this referred to as argy-bargy. That's why I come here.. everyday I learn something new.

3 - I have no evidence to support this, only keen insight developed over my relatively short life time of watching baseball, but here goes:

in a typical NL line up with the pitcher hitting 9th, one batting 8th would expect to see more intentional walks when a runner is on second or third (or both) and first base is open, especially with one or no outs in the inning (two outs is less likely because you want to start the next inning with the pitcher hitting or a pinch hitter, if possible).

It's no surprise that the 3-4 hitters get more intentional walks because they tend to be the best hitters. I would especially expect to see the 4-5-6 hitters walked in a situation similar to above.

There's also the problem of the unintentional intentional walk, ie - pitching around a guy to get to the next hitter.

Love the lineup. Furcal, Kent and Jones should be staples at their spots. The kids should be moved around a bit, depending.

6 David Ortiz had a miserable start to the season, but had a home run today. I'd be ok with Russell using that as a beacon to break out.

21. Speaking of Oritz, watching him take batting practice at the Coliseum was priceless. vr, Xei

I wouldn't worry about Martin until, oh, May. He looked fine in the Spring, he looks like he's pressing a bit to start the season, but it's two games, and there are so many good pitchers in the NL West it would help Martin and everyone, too when they start facing the weaker pitchers of the other divisions. But I bet he gets off the "schneid" (as Chris Berman says) tonight.

19 And there's no sign that 8th place hitters get more of those than normal. They do get the second most intentional walks, but that's the boost to on base they get.

Thanks to Xeifrank and Bob Timmermann's conversation with the Subterranean Homesick Blues reference, I now have Blonde on Blonde songs stuck in my head. Yes it's not on that album.

I'm more worried about Kemp getting off to a slow start than Backstop Bacon.

Stiener and Monday were talking the other day about Martin having trouble keeping his hands up at the plate, so he's got a bit too much hand movement when the pitch is thrown (up and back instead of just back). It's a little mechanical thing that he's just got to fix, he's probably thinking about it too much, which likely isn't helping.

22 Love him or hate him (hate him), steroids or not (steroids), I had the pleasure of watching Bonds take BP once. It was amazing. It was almost, and I can't believe this is the word I came up with, inhuman.

Brian Bocock leads the NL in walks. Let's consider that before we worry about Russ.

There's a youtube clip of Bowa melting down when he was a Cub that explains a lot about him.

It's NSFW

We went through this whole intentional walk thing with LaRoche last year. All the arguments should be easily found and repurposed.

Best lineup possible. Copy and paste, Joe!

29. and where in the lineup does Bocock bat?
vr, Xei

3
I think we'd have to know the methodology you used before we sign off on it.

I for one would like to know the percentage of walks for someone we might consider a good player like a Justin Upton or Andy LaRoch who is batting 8th relative to someone like a Bocock or Juan Pierre who is batting 8th.

Also the pitcher might be important. Can't imagine Justin Upton is going to get to many walks with Micah Owings on deck as opposed to Randy Johnson.

Lots of variables involved in this.

So far, clear skies in Glendale

35. Cloudy skies 55 miles NW of the stadium. Radar shows light shower activity in Santa Barbara county and the outer waters of the SB channel. Rain is on the way.
vr, Xei

30 About YouTube: I was using the SI Vault website to read some articles on the 2006 World Cup, and there was an article about Ronaldinho that said "Thank God for youtube.com"

When was the last time anybody referred to it as "youtube.com"? YouTube is now (and has been for a while) up there with Google, where the word is part of normal vocabulary. It's like if somebody were to say "Go to google.com and search for this". Now, it's just "Google it."

I like the lineup, too. I wonder if Joe Torre is likely to settle on a lineup sometime, or if he'll just ride the hot hitter at the #3 spot, whomever that may be? I never thought of Ethier as the best hitter on the team, but it makes sense to bat him there if you believe he is running hot right now. Otherwise, I'd rather see what Kemp could do in the three-hole, and I'd bat Ethier second.

My first LAT:

I just watched the Bowa incident on Youtube. I know Bowa is in the wrong with the argument, but the umpire did not help the situation with his body language and yelling. Can't they print out the "How to Deal with Difficult People" paperwork that Phyllis found on google?

"I understand this ruling has angered you, tell me how it makes you feel"

30

Molly is right. It is not safe for work, which is where I watched it. He seems like the kind of guy you bring home to meet mom and dad...A real charmer,

Oh, and why is it that I can't feel warm and fuzzy about Larry Bowa? I think it has something to do with the Dodgers-Phillies NL Championship rivalry in 77/78... Even before his hotheaded-coach deal, I've just not been able to wrap my mind around him as a Dodger.

WHOA! I don't know if this UFC is live, but Houston Alexander just got destroyed!!! It's on Spike TV FYI...

37. Yeah, "google" has almost become it's own verb for the word 'search'. We had a salesman visit us with a fancy presentation and he kept referring to database queries as googling data. Our supervisors were mesmerized by the fancy terminology and shiny brochures. vr, Xei

39 Who you callin Molly?

As Marty has said, Bowa has been a jerk longer then most of you have been alive. He's good at it.

I'm so glad Joe brought in an out of town jerk instead of employing one of our own.

Dodger baseball, catch the fever

31 I do think there is something to it. both batted 8th in the majors where they saw their walks go up. in the minors they weren't batting 8th and their walks happen to be lower.

Some here are on a Juan Pierre Outs Watch. I'm on a Matt Kemp Bases Loaded Watch. In 2007 Kemp didn't get a single base hit with the bases loaded in about 13 PAs. I remember Jon checked and he was 0 for 9 with a walk and about 4 RBI. So my highlight for 2008 will be watching Matt get his first grand slam. :-) So far we're 0 for 1. At least he didn't swing at any bad pitches during that AB. However, he did get two fat fastballs right in his wheelhouse and swung right through both. He still has trouble remaining calm when there are several runners on as evidenced by his managing to hit .342 while having so few RBI and such bad pinch hitting numbers. Some have said they expect 35-40 HRs from Matt but this is to be his first full season at age 23 and I'd be quite happy with 20-25. Of course, Torre will have to play him consistently for even that to happen.

42 Same with NetFlix, as in, "I'll have to NetFlix it."

One time--only once!-- I pointed that out to my buddy, who to this day makes it a point to always say instead, "Oh, I'll have to be sure to have my online movie rental service send me that particular film in the mail." Jerk.

Larry Bowa's tantrum: So easy, a caveman could do it.

46 he looked way out in front on those two pitches. problem wasn't the bison. that darn pitcher wasn't throwing hard enough for our man-child

43

That made me laugh hard. Sorry about that...I saw M...y and assumed Molly. Many apologies.

Great, I just made it worse

S.Drew homers, AZ up 2-0 early on Cincy. Top four teams in the NLW have yet to lose.
vr, Xei

I can see Bowa's point of view. How's he supposed to steal signs from the coaching box?

34 Of course, but you can't just write off someone's walks because they hit eighth, that's the point I'm trying to make.

45 I wonder why I bother some times.

46
From the Joey Ponanski thread a few days ago regarding clutch hitting.

"And if there are anomalies, if there really is someone who performs way better in clutch situations than he does at other times, I would stand with Updike. That guy ain't trying hard enough in the third inning."

47 Since I work for a competitor of NF, I don't think your buddy is a jerk at all! ;-)

54 - that reminds me, do we have a working definition of "clutch" yet?

Also, that's a great quote.

47 Haha, that just sounds annoying.

53 hey don't don't get all worked up. I'm not saying anyone could get walks in the 8 hole. just saying there are better opportunities for walks, that's all.

55

Long's Drugs?

55 Blockbuster, right? I was thinking to myself that even if I used a service other than Netflix (I don't use any service), I'd just say "Netflix it" just to not sound weird. Almost like saying "I'm going to Altavista it" instead of "google it".

This is just a feeling but that lineup seems kinda odd.

It seems like Kemp should be our #3 with Loney and Ethier somewhre in the 6-7 slots. I would love to see this lineup over the one we had last night, but Ethier as our number 3 just doesn't seem right.

Not bad, just out of place.

59 HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Man, this UFC Fight Night is great! Nate Diaz submits Kurt Pellegrino via triangle choke and gives the crowd the double finger salute while he's got the hold locked in.

I had Blockbuster until they took the free game rental away from the lowest tier. I knew it wouldn't last for long.

53 I think the same arguements apply to having protection in the lineup.

19 - I think that the issue is more about pitching around that an official intentional walk, no? Also, IMHO one might be more inclined to walk the 8th batter with one or two outs, rather than none and one. If we are talking about having a runner on second base. On third base, you are probably right. While one always likes to pitch to the pitcher leading off an inning, if you pitch to him with one out and runners on first and second you run the risk of having to pitch to the leadoff hitter, who is usually more dangerous than the 8th in the line-up. (Sorry, if I misrepresented what you were saying, and I don't know if this is helpful, or of I have just confused myself, along with others). Obviously, with Sutcliff on the mound or in the bar, none of this applies.

61
Linecum is pitching, Matt Kemp will be lucky to not have a hat trick tonight. I'm very surprised that Pierre is not playing. If he isn't going to play against this kind of RH pitcher then I do think he is officially a 4th outfielder.

Let's breakdown tonight's lineup:

Furcal - FA (2006)
Martin - Drafted (2002)
Ethier - Trade (2006)
Kent - FA (2005)
Jones - FA (2008)
Loney - Drafted (2002)
Kemp - Drafted (2003)
Dewitt - Drafted (2004)
Billingsley - Drafted (2003)

This lineup has 5 players drafted by the Dodgers, 1 player traded for (by Ned) but who played his first MLB game for the Dodgers, two free agents signed by Ned and one free agent initially signed by Paul DePodesta but extended by Ned. All the picks were made under Logan White but the 2002 and 2003 drafts were under Dan Evans and the 2004 draft was made under Paul DePodesta.

Great lineup tonight. C,mon Kemp! I hope he goes deep tonite.

Since I'm going to the game, I also really hope the rain misses us. Right now it's sunny here in WLA.

That is so great that Torre is benching Pierre. If Kemp starts hitting, Pierre will be relegated to being a late-inning pinch-hitter/pinch-runner.

DGutierrez32, I support Arsenal as well.

66
I know that no one really has a lock on that number three slot, but hitting Ethier there consistently (though that term is very loosely used since we are 72 hours into the season) is a bit strange.

46

I think you are selling Kemp short when you say that

"He still has trouble remaining calm when there are several runners on as evidenced by his managing to hit .342 while having so few RBI and such bad pinch hitting numbers"

This does not seem to be supported by the numbers he put up last year, when he hit better than 370 with runners on and better than 300 in any situation with runners on other than 9 at bats with the bases loaded

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7780/situational;_ylt=AifPwtZGUNuFPYL8BMrPSgGFCLcF?year=2007&type=Batting

The lineup is fine, Torre is just trying to alternate lefty/righty from top to bottom. There are two righties in the 4/5 slot but that is unavoidable if you want to hit Furcal first and DeWitt 8th. The lineup order doesn't matter that much, as long as the 8 best are out there as often as possible. vr, Xei

Joey Posnanski?

62
No Spoilers!!! Most of us live on the West Coast.

69 Good stuff, I'm kinda pissed that Arsenal were denied a penalty in the second half of the match today. Have you had a chance to see the highlights? Hleb was brought down in the box by Dirk Kuyt, the announcers also mentioned "for the conspiracy theorists" that the referee for the match is a Dutchman who apparently hails from a town around 5km from Kuyt's hometown.

I have Lincecum in my fantasy league starting today, ideally for fantasy the Dodgers would win 1-0 on a bottom of the 9th HR after Lincecum had already been pulled, but my heart wouldn't mind at all if they blew him out of the stadium...

I'm rooting for the Padres and Dodgers to win tonight so we can have an early collision of unbeatens.

69 blood and ashes we had that one! Fabregas had it in the net but Bendtner decided to try to keep possession. And Hleb in the box from Kuyt! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHhhhhhh. Wish I coulda watched the game with the arseblogger in Santa Monica today, ah the bane of work.

on a Dodger Blue note, I'm happy with the lineup and I hope the rain passes as the Wyf & I will be in the Reserve tonight.

trainwreck, I apologize. Apparently it's on here live, I figured it would be live on the West coast as well (the event is in Colorado).

76 You better root for Randy Wolf tomorrow, in era of multiple days off for teams starting the season, the Padres play 10 straight games, 4 with the Astros, 3 weekenders with the Dodgers and then up north to have Opening Day/Night with Bondsless ones.

78
Only UFC PPVs are live for people out here.

Best Fight Night card ever, so I am really looking forward to it.

73
He's far superior to Billy Plaschke

77 I totally forgot about that one as well, what a shame. I still like Arsenal's chances at Anfield, but the Sky Sports announcers kept talking about how a "European night" at Anfield was something special, so we'll see.

I think all lineup questions can be answered by a reminder that Joe Torre still feels like he doesn't know enough about his players, due to all the time-and-space dislocations during his first Spring Training with the team. Clearly, many individuals on the team progressed, and a sense of team cohesion and esprit de corps developed, but for Torre to know whether Kemp or Ethier should bat third requires more confidence in the data than Torre feels he has.

My theory is: As of now, Torre plans to start Ethier every game, while Kemp and Pierre will flip depending on matchups. It's more important to Torre, perhaps, to have the first four or five lineup slots become predictable, so players know what's expected of them.

One thing the spring situation might have done is led Torre to overrate Ethier. It's not a stretch to think Andre is better than Pierre -- Mr. Magoo would know that. But Torre might think Ethier is even better than better than Pierre. He might think he's better than Kemp, just because Ethier had a very hot spring.

And who knows, maybe Ethier is, right now, better than Kemp, owing to his larger number of major league at-bats.

But if Kemp and Pierre are going to split time, the split should be in the vicinity of 90-10.

82 hopefully a "European Night" at Anfield is just like one in Mee-lan. I have faith in the lads, but both teams are good and it could go either way.

59 60 No, definitely not Blockbuster. GreenCine.com. Much smaller, ships from LA though. (We rent ahem cough cough blue movies cough cough too) ---advertising---

Anyway, back to baseball... I've got to tivo the game as I have a workshop tonight. No DT for me 'til tomorrow morning.

80 Do you know why a UFC Fight Night wouldn't be live on the west coast?

Although being overseas isn't always that fun, I can't complain about watching all the boxing/UFC/wrestling for free...

85 nudge nudge wink wink say no more say no more

83 - "One thing the spring situation might have done is led Torre to overrate Ethier. ... He might think he's better than Kemp, just because Ethier had a very hot spring."

Been meaning to make that point, so thanks for doing it.

Also, great pics of Koufax and the gang on the Flickr page, Ratt.

Is Andrew Miller an example of why you should never sign a draft pick to MLB contract?

84 My thoughts exactly. If there's any team I trust to do well away from home in the Champions League, it's Arsenal (see Madrid 06, Milan 08).

85 I'm assuming you mean porn, not blu-ray movies.

90 And upon visiting the website, my assumption is confirmed.

90 Doesn't quite have the subtlety of 87

Al Roker is in the stands at the UFC Fight Night. Weird.

86
Because it would start at 4:00 and they would not get good ratings that early.

90 - Don't forget Juventes '06! :)

90
And they got them in High Def!

88 Also, Kemp had 18 RBI, 8 extra base hits and was 7 for 7 in SB attempts, his line was .291/.313/.494 for his adventures in two countries during March.

88 Jon to give you some extra color... Pedro Guerrero did the index finger salute on Diamond Vision.

71 46 I think you are selling Kemp short when you say that

I certainly hope you're right. I'd like nothing better than to see a breakout year from Kemp. That's the one possibility that excites me the most about the 2008 season.

I think I'm moving from Netflix to GreenCine...

85 I don't think you can call them blue movies unless they were made in Sweden, yah.

I wondered why I had always been attracted to Dodger blue.

94 That makes sense. Sorry about the spoilers, all I'm going to say is that you're in for a treat.

85
underdog-- 4 years of reading dthought and I never knew you worked for Greencine. I remember you linking to an article over there at some point but I didn't put 2 and 2 together.

I love the blog over there. I read it almost daily. It's my favorite place to find links to film reviews and articles. I didn't even know GC was in the-- um- blue business.

88 Thanks, Jon.

No one is safe from my Canon Power Shot's built-in telephoto. I took those pictures from Aisle 24 of the Reserved section, Row U. This is a somewhat new camera for me, and I'm stunned I was able to get half-way decent shots of those little ants on the field from way up there.

I feel like Gene Hackman in "The Conversation."

105
I picutre dzzrtRatt now sitting in his home all alone with the walls torn apart and playing a saxophone.

Just a figure of speech. We have other words for it, too, but don't want to keep this from being a family chat. (And you can also subscribe without being subjected to any of the, er, films in question, by blue-proofing your account, as it were.) Cough secret free trial promo code: 10DayFreeTrial exp in 3 weeks

Cough cough.

Anyway, I'm off, hope the D's win again. Hope Russell and Kemp do some good things with the bat.

Of course the trade-off to watching PPV for free is that I'm treated to a non-stop cycle of commercials telling me that I'm a suicidal alcoholic who drives drunk when he's not driving drowsy and without a seatbelt, acts like an "ugly American", shakes his baby, takes illegal war trophies from combat zones, and beats his wife.

New Breaking Bondaduce promo shows him getting baptized. What's the over/under on number of days before he goes crazy again?

104 Neat, nj. Yepper, and the non-blue rental biz, as well. Drop by anytime.

Btw, the latest rumors make it sound like Coco Crisp could end up in Chicago, for either Sox or Cubs. But could still just be rumors...

Okay, hasta.

106
I had the same thought.

108
I got 0 days.

There was an absolute Eckstein love-fest just now going on ESPN2. Most of it coming from Hershiser. It pretty much stopped when Eckstein hit into a double-play.

82

No Love for Liverpool here, well I'll never walk alone

I think this is what they are referring to when they talk about European nights at Anfield

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka_eBOpLP_g&feature=related

Hey Bowa, the Jerk Store called...and they're running out of you!

112
He has made the Blue Jays professional, so they will win it all just like the Angels.

99

I thought last year would be considered a breakout year for Kemp, I would be very happy if he can OPS 890 again this year, maybe you are setting the bar a bit too high (or maybe I am setting the bar too low).

I just want an ISOd of around .50 from Kemp this year

111 Sadly, you're probably correct.

113 I'd love to watch your video, but I don't have YouTube access from the computer I'm using right now. I could spend hours watching videos of great football crowds and beautiful goals.

In everyone's unbiased opinion, who has the higher ceiling between Bills and Lincecum?

Chad's and Tim's numbers are comperable but favor Tim, and they're about the same age. I'd guess that a determination on higher ceiling would have to be based on their builds/deliveries/injury histories. I'd guess Tim?

119 - I'd lean towards Billingsly, if only because he's younger and already has more ML experience. But looking at their numbers it would be a toss up otherwise.

116 99 I thought last year would be considered a breakout year for Kemp

I guess my problem is that I need to see a player repeat his good year. I've seen too many players have one good year and then the pitchers adjust but the player is unable to adjust and never lives up to expectations. So I'll feel a LOT better about Kemp's future if he shows progress in 2008.

Diamond has a link to a nice article about Kyle Skipworth, a top prep catching prospect in this years class.

For me in terms of ceiling....

Kershaw>Lincecum>Billingsley>Cain

121 - But he's only about a month younger. And you could argue that his ML experience works against him compared to Lincecum, because even with his 2006 experience he still only matched Lincecum's 2007 numbers (aside from ERA).

I doubt I can give an unbiased opinion, but Lincecums ceiling may be a bit higher but definitely made out of rubber. I like Bills to stay near his for much longer.

120 By builds alone, Bills is about 4 levels higher than Lincecum. But I don't put much importance on that.

I thought the Reds had sent Votto down, but here he is batting.

Haren gave up a couple HR's in the 4th, otherwise not too bad in his snakes debut.

123 How many non-pitchers has Logan White drafted in the first round?

Answer is 1 since Loney did pitch and most teams had him as a pitcher first. Chad Billingsley, Scott Elbert, Clayton Kershaw, Avery Morris and Chris Withrow are the pitchers that White drafted in the first round.

Blake Dewitt remains the only non-pitcher drafted with the firs pick.

From the previous thread:
"91 I think it would be referred to as plural even though it's one team. It's like saying "Who are the Dodgers?" instead of "Who is the Dodgers?""

Speaking of plurals or not... A couple weeks back, a CPA I work with was telling a story about some auditors he used to work with, who liked to leave the office early sometimes, and party... Says once, he and his wife got to a particular party at one of the audit executives' homes, a little while into it, and "They were all drunk as a skunks."

He hehe...

130 - Or who is the Heat (more likey question: What are the Heat?).

The Phillies were one-hit tonight by Tim Redding, Luis Ayala, and Jon Rauch.

125 - It's a tough call, especially considering that Bills has had a lot of time out of the bullpen while Lincecum was a starter last year. I still lean towards Bills, but I really haven't seen much of Lincecum, so my opinion could change.

46 Also, whenever I point out that Kemp didn't get a single hit last year with the bases loaded (and, in fact, has only one such hit in his career) someone never fails to point out there is no such thing as "clutch." But I don't think his failure to do well in those situations while during very well in others in merely a coincidence (although I'm willing to accept the possibility that it could be). For example, consider the following two statements:

1). Player A hits better in pressure situations than he does in non-pressure situations.
2). Player B hits worse in pressure situations than he does in non-pressure situations.

I don't consider these statements to be exact opposites (human beings are not robots).
In the case of Player A one can legitimately ask, if he "bears down" in pressure situations why not just hit that way all the time. But in the case of Player B I've played team sports (although not professionally) and I've seen too many guys have trouble controlling their emotions under pressure. So even if one believes Statement #1 is false that wouldn't automatically make Statement #2 false also.

Goes without saying, fine lineup tonight. So far, Torre's making the tough decisions, good decisions. These things just don't happen. One is so accustomed to accepting the acceptable/expected decisions. How can we react now? Lineups we'd actually choose if we had a say? Keeping Hu up? Torosco?

This is more like it.

134
I guess the Dodgers should just have tried to clone Pat Tabler.

wow, I suddenly feel old. I just noticed that half the Dodgers' 25 man roster is younger than me.

125 I would take Cain over all of them. He is stillvery young,and his command is quite good. He is a rich man's Brad Penny.

137
Kid,
Enjoy it while you can.

134

He had 9 at bats with bases loaded, 9 at bats, 9.

He also hit 370 with men on, yet you don't seem to consider that number, why not?

Don't the Brits use collective nouns with a singular verb?

134 I think that trying to ascribe much meaning to 18 PAs at ages 21-23 is a tenuous exercise. Occam's Razor leans me toward a "small sample size can lead to anything" conclusion. In 16 PAs with runners at first and third, these is Kemp's line: .643 .563 .929 1.492. Small sample size.

Starting to rain up here in Ventura County. Bring your rain panchos to the game. :)
vr, Xei

141
Yes, the Brits do that. It annoys me greatly.

"England are dominating this match on both ends of the pitch!"

Stuff like that. I want to come over and teach them just how to talk like an Amerricun.

Hey Bob, how many 1-0 games has CBP seen?

Bob Carpenter said that this was probably one of the best pitched games ever in CBP. Which I scoffed at. But then thought, well . . .

I'm assuming no no nos.

Dinner tonight, Dodger Dogs on the Reserved Level.

Looking forward to seeing the Robot Made of Nails.

In order to guard Torre's health are the Dodger Bat boys now undergoing training with tranquilizer guns for neck shots?

141 - Yes, while driving on the wrong side of the road. That also have that royal "we" stuff.

What's the proper length of time for a professional baseball manager to take in figuring out that Kemp is better than Pierre. What kind of travel schedule/pain sniffing regimen would be required for a normal person not to see that in the first couple of weeks?

Pain sniffing might mean something. Don't just assume I meant paint and failed to spell it properly.

Diamond is reporting the Dodgers have resigned Myers.

"The Dodgers re-signed left-hander Mike Myers to a minor-league contract after releasing him last week, he was assigned him to Class AAA Las Vegas."

The Dodgers beat the Phillies 1-0 on 7/21/2005 with O. Perez getting the win and Brazoban the save. Oscar Robles led off with a double and Jeff Kent doubled one batter later off of Jon Lieber. Schmoll and Alvarez also pitched for the Dodgers.

The Phillies beat the Nats 1-0 on 7/9/2005 on a ninth inning sac fly by David Bell to score Bob Abreu. Wagner beat Carrasco, but the starters were Lidle and Patterson.

Pain sniffing is so tempting with my withdrawal.

Yep, looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

149 - as in I sniff your pain? Yuck

Highest game score for a pitcher at CBP is 87 by Cory Lidle on 8/29/2004.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI200408290.shtml

You should all, by the way, be ashamed of yourselves for failing to note that Paul Bako picked a runner (happened to be the O-Dawg) off first. He plays for the Reds now.

I wonder how many runners Gary Bleeding Bennett will pick off first, this year.

108 Must be watching it on AFN?

Sitting in a hotel in Scottsdale... bottom of the ninth, Brandon Lyon pitching, AZ leading 5-3, but the Reds have two on and nobody out. Dunn just batted, and got a single on a 3-1 pitch. Now, Dusty is having Encarnacion bunt.

But I have to go, so...

Thanks!

bills out, kuo in.

?????

Gameday now has Kuo as the SP? Is that a malfunction?

155 - What are the English rules for using "bleeding" as opposed to "bloody"?

LOL! Dusty Backer tried to bunt with him?

Stupid Encarnacion failing to get the bunt down. I hate him so much.

So much!

137 Encarnacion, after failing to get the bunt down, just hit a homer into the left field seats. Cincinnati wins. Now I can go to my cocktail party.

3 run hr walkoff for Encarnacion v. Arizona

http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/prosports/2008/04/billingsley-scratched-for-dodg.html

Who is the color guy for FSN Ohio??? Just prior to the walkoff he insisted that Encarnacion is NOT a clutch player and they should have pinch-hit for him with someone who could bunt.

huh?

According to Diamond Leung's blog:

Joe Torre has decided that Hong-Chih Kuo will start in place of Chad Billingsley due to the rain that is due to hit during the game.

167
The esteemed Jeff Brantley is Thom Brennaman's partner.

as long as chad is ok.

I can see nothing wrong with using either bleeding or bloody with 'is' or 'was'; reason being that one refers to the process, and the other the result.

I guess that means I get to see Chad Friday in SD.

140 I considered all of his at bats. I also agree with 142 about the sample size being small. Matt Kemp is my favorite player in baseball, by the way. I guess it's just that I'm usually on the edge of my seat whenever he's up there with the bases loaded and so that situations has just stood out to me. Once he gets his grand slam (or at least a double) I'll move on. :-)

Awesome. Lyon blew the save and Arizona loses. Colorado is down 4-1 too. Now lets just go out and sweep.

Also as for the lineup I think the only reason Kemp batted 3rd on opening day is because Zito's left handed. I think against righties he'll be lower. Also you don'yt want Dre and Loney back to back so the can't be 6/7.

I get the Giants broadcast in Extra Innings tonight.

as long as chad is ok.

Joe Torre is definitely a different kind of manager. I love this pitching switch, whatever happens.

Okay, now that I know Chad isn't experiencing "tightness" or something, I can go to my cocktail party. Whew.

Prediction: Martin's first hit of the year will be a HR tonight.

170 Thx- that was downright embarrassing for Brantley. I bet that makes sportscenter top plays tonite.

176 Any thoughts on that Sunday game in LA yet?

I wonder if Torre is used to more rainouts from managing on the east coast. we rarely get washed out and I suspect they'll get an official game in tonight

Wow. The pitching change is a smart move. I might actually like Torre after all.

So are we going to do doppler watch throughout the game?

171 - Ok, as Bennett is the result of a process undertaken by Ned to make sure that Martin would never get any rest.

178 If Joe was looking at matchups, he might have noticed that Chad began to dominate the Padres last season., if he saves him to pitch on Saturday at Petco, He can push Lowe back a day to open the series in Arizona. And then he can still have Chad, Penny, Lowe pitch the weekend series against the Padres in LA.

Jeff Brantley is a chump, and has been one for a while. I thought Encarnacion would have a quietly useful year last year and he didn't, so maybe I was just off by a year.

Lincecum out too?

172 - 184 meant for 172.

167 that was classic - Brenneman was quick to point out how wrong Brantley was.

Will Carroll tomorrow:

"Chad Billingsley was scratched from the game. According to Torre, it was because of the rain but I have a great, very reliable, anonymous source that Billingsley's arm is going to explode at the elbow and anyone within 10 feet of him will get shards of bones in their eyes.

You were forewarned."

187 Yup. Lincecum is out for Merkin Valdez. What a name: Merkin. I had quite the laugh Monday afternoon when he came on in relief of Zito.

Best case scenario: the rain doesn't really affect the game, Kuo turns in a gem and quickly replaces Loaiza in the rotation.

I don't get why many here are happy with Torre for sitting Chad? Not trying to start an arguement, I really don't understand why this is a good thing.

Also why would Kuo step in, is he somehow better suited to pitch in possible wet conditions? Has he pitched more than 2 innings this year?

192 Well it looks like Kuo is about as much of a gem as cubic zirconia.

Ok it doesn't matter how bad a lineup is you gotta throw strikes. Kuo needs to know that if he gets strikes these guys can't hit him.

193 It has nothing to do with possible injury, just that a long rain delay would result in a short outing for Chad, essentially wasting a start. Seems a bit strange that Loaiza wasn't the choice though.

193 If the game gets called before the fifth inning, then we would have wasted Billingsley's efforts.

196 Loaiza would have been going on only three days rest.

fair or foul, Ethier played that perfectly

Kuo will settle down now. I predict a good performance lasting only about four innings.

Imagine you purchased a ticket for this game knowing full well that each team's # 3 starters should be starting, that those starters are Billingsley and Lincecum, making your way to stadium, only to find that the starters are now G/Kuo and Merkin Valdez. Wow.

Merkin has a really nice arm.

I'm not sure how often this happens on the east coast where rain is a more common concern that out west.

Suspicious side of me thinking...perhaps displaying Kuo to entice takers in a Pierre/Kuo trade. Is mgmt that impatient with 3rd base options?

Can we have Lincecum?

192
I like your thoughts better than mine.

wow. Merkin looked good. I prefer that over the Dodgers looked bad.

At this pitch count rate, G/Kuo won't even get a 5 IP CG.

Who is the Giants color guy? No Dodgers broadcast on Extra Innings tonight.

208

http://mlb.mlb.com/team/broadcasters.jsp?c_id=sf

The announcers are Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow.

jeez. The server is running incredibly slow for me.

210 or slowly, as it should be.

True Blue LA is always available for those of you desperate to game chat :).

There are server issues. Your patience is appreciated.

Actually, you don't have much choice except to be patient.

I had a frustrating day. Then I get in and Guo and Valdez are pitching. These unknown announcers give me nothing on why this is happening for a long time. Toaster or my IP os barely functioning at -2mph. I gradually glean that the teams have some deal because they think a storm is coming. I don't know how it can happen, but I hope they both get what they deserve!

210

Don't feel bad Hallux Valgus it's doing the same thing for me too.

Merkin (not safe for work)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkin

Ahora esta lloviendo.

The announcers are Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow.

Even if they were to put a gun to my head & told me YOU MUST name your child Duane I'd say, no way Jose!!

Any sign of rain yet? I think Torre may have outsmarted himself here, per wikipedia

The ballpark has had a good run of luck with rain. Prior to 1976, the Dodgers were rained out only once, against the St. Louis Cardinals, on April 21, 1967. That rainout ended a streak of 737 consecutive games without a postponement. The second home rainout, on April 12, 1976, ended a streak of 724 straight games. No rainouts occurred between three straight games from April 19-21, 1988, and April 11, 1999 - a major league record of 856 straight home games without a rainout.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodger_Stadium

That and Kuo was not being stretched out to start so we will be taxing the bullpen, at least tommorrow is an off day.

210 - Yeah, it's very slow. I'm not even getting properly formatted pages. The style sheet must be even slower than the database.

Mr. Valdez, OTOH, is bringing it.

Does Ken Arneson have a go to server in case one falters? (wondering to self)

I think these Giants announcers are pretty decent. Probably b/c I live in the Midwest and listen to the Cardinal's hacks, Hawk and DJ with the ChiSox, and Brenly with the Cubs.

Kemp looks overmatched against this Taschker dude.

Some tidbits on Hong-Chinh K/Gou courtesy of Wikipedia>>>Kuo and three other Taiwanese players tested positive for banned stimulants before joining the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. The players explained that they had taken cold/pain medications containing a banned substance and due to their innocent situation, all of them were cleared to play in the Asian Games by the Taiwan's Olympic Committee.

Kemp looked so good in the early going of ST but I'm sure he'll work out the kinks.

218 How about Dwyane?

The software/database are fine. It's the file server that is having problems. It's causing images and the CSS files to load very slowly. I'm working on the issue.

Any idea who is in the bullpen? Giants broadcast tells us nothing.

I guess a pitch count limit for Kuo. Pitching by committee for the Giants.

You'd think someone would've tipped Vin Scully off on the G vs K thing. Spelling I can kind of understand, but pronouncing it he should know by now. It's not that complicated.
vr, Xei

No bat flip.
vr, Xei

227 I wasn't complaining, just mentioning. I expected others to be also dealing with the issue. Thank you for your attention. Much appreciated.

Any guesses on how far Troncoso will pitch and who we'll see afterwards?

I'd be very very surprised if this game isn't completed with out any delays, rain delays & rain postponements just don't happened in California. [rarely]

You figure the list of available pitchers would be:
Troncoso
Loiaza
Proctor
Broxton
Beimel

234 I've been to Dodger Stadium once in my life and I nearly saw a rainout. Second game of the season in 2006. What are the odds of that?

Anyone else who's watching the Giants broadcast getting beyond annoyed with this Giant's VP whining about the meteorologist ruining this game?

Old friend Gary Miereanu gets quoted by Vin Scully giving the Valley weather!

Troncoso (for a sinker baller) seems to leave the ball up.

235 Extra innings could leave us with Loney.

I don't believe the Dodgers have played any games in L.A. that were official and did not go at least 9 innings.

Lincecum in the pen for the Giants now.

237 Now its a conspiracy to keep Lincecum out!

Testing

1 2 3

I hope the Dodgers realize this, but I don't think a rainout will save them.

235 - You forgot Billingsley

TRON TRON!!!

TronKso or Tronqueso?

Troncoso says try at hit this (93mph) zoom!

There's something about having Andruw track down a ball that fills me with faith.

I don't know if Jones can still hit, but I like him in the field. Pretty good for a fat guy.

Tron Tron showing a curveball? Nice.

Andruw!

Did Andruw pull out his gold glove on that one (I can't see the game right now.)

247 I thought that Joe might save him to start but its true, he would be on the list somewhere.

255
It was just a nice track down job by Andruw in left center. He caught it reaching in stride.

Ramon Troncoso's first MLB appearance was to come in with the bases-loaded, one out and he induces the GIDP. In his second he gets out of his own second and third, no one situation. Admittedly, this is the crummy Giants lineup, but still.

249 Tronqueso! Nice.

Raise your hand if the first thing you thought after Andruw caught the ball was: "No way Juanito would have caught that."

Since Lowe was mildly hurt last night, we can skip his turn and Bills could face San Diego.

You have to believe that the Dodgers must really think Meloan's future is as a starter because he has a much better profile than Troncoso as a reliever.

test

Raining hard now in the Fairfax/ Venice area.

lets get a run here, complete the top of the 5th and then let it rain.

264 We have never communicated before but are you nervous about Saturday's game.

259 Andrew (regfairfield) posted on his blog (TrueBlueLA) at 8:22: Pretty sure Pierre wouldn't have got that.

Blake DeWitt entered this game 15th in the NL in VORP.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=310430

It's only fair that our Billz come in also...

Billingsley warming up.

Billingsley up.

Didn't someone suggest using your closer first and then bringing your starter. I thought I heard that theory before somewhere.

269
Visions of Pedro against the Indians in the 1999 ALDS.

I almost hope that this inning gets drawn out just enough so that Bills won't have to enter this game.

... but looks like he is still warming up. Let's hope that Loney can bring us on top.

(btw, after years of talking about it, how GREAT is it to see Kemp, Loney, Martin, and Bills firmly entrenched as Dodger regulars.)

Greg Maddux has given 3 solo homers in Petco, now tied 4-4 in the top of the 6th.

...and THERE it is.

Drop ball drop!!

So now all we have to do is complete the 5th inning? Someone help me here.

So, let me get this straight... the Dodgers have had 18 games rained out in 50 years and 2 games while in LA, and both managers decide to sit their starter?

Then, when there's no rain, both bring their scheduled starters in in the 4th and 5th innings?

That seems, um, unconventional thinking.

277 - actually, I think all we need is to complete the top of the fifth... Bob?

Larry Bowa does not send Bob Watson Christmas Cards

From Tony Jackson's blog.

``(Watson) has been after me since I have been out of baseball as a player,'' Bowa said. ``He has done it since I started coaching and managing. That's his gig. ... If Bob Watson was a man about things, he would be calling me back.''
A spokesman for the commissioner's office said this wasn't the first time Bowa has accused Watson of having a personal vendetta against him. The spokesman said Watson hasn't responded to the accusation in the past and wouldn't be responding to it this time, either.

277
Just the top of the 5th now.

Now they are showing Morgan's homer on the Giants broadcast. I want Vin.

Nice job, Loney!

Was there ever a consensus on what his nickname should be? RM is the Golden God. Kemp is the Bison. What's Loney's moniker? Big Game James steals from the great James Worthy. So that's out. What say ye?

Here are some fun facts about Rich Aurilia:

* On June 14, 1997, during his first stint with the Giants, Aurilia hit the first-ever grand slam in interleague play at the expense of the Anaheim Angels' Allen Watson, a former teammate. The Giants went on to win the game 10-3.

* Aurilia appeared on the ABC soap opera General Hospital in 2003. For his non-speaking role as Juror No. 9 in a court room scene, he was accompanied by his wife, Raquel (Juror No. 10).

* The Aurilias are very active in the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

281 I am sorry I will miss your talk, will you be posting a podcast later.

Also, do I recall correctly that you may be on our newest state during the first game of the NCAA Final Four?

261 -- I'm not so sure about that. Meloan's minor league K to walk ratio is better, but Troncoso's ability to induce groundball contact is naturally going to limit his K's. In Double A last year, Troncoso's groundout to flyout ratio was 3.07, which is fantastic. And Troncoso throws harder than the usual sinkerballer, so that is a cherry on the sundae. Anyway, I don't recall anybody mentioning it here before, but Logan White talked to Tony Jackson about Troncoso in the off-season. Here is White's quote:

"He is learning how to pitch a little bit. He has a real power sinker and a plus sinking fastball that he throws at 94-96 (mph). His slider isn't bad at times, but he needs to be more consistent. He gets a lot of groundballs and breaks a lot of bats, and he is aggressive. Early in his career, he'll probably be in middle relief. He has the type of arm where he could end up at the back end of a rotation, but it all depends on how much improvement he has in his breaking ball and in his overall consistency."

283 I still prefer Crazy Eyes.

278

20 years from now we can answer this, if it were a trivia question no?

So, if the game gets called after this half inning, does Bills get the save?

Guess both managers didn't want to use the young studs unless they felt certain they'd get to the fifth inning of this game. Curious that BOTH managers did it.

New post up top.

How come there are no dances to make the rain stop.

Billingsley in for the pressure save situation?

I like saying "Crazy Eyes" Loney. He sounds like a player from the Deadball era. Or a hobo.

Loney! Yeah!!!!@!

287 There is some justification for that, though I doubt Loney himself would embrace it.

265

I always get nervous, but only right before the game. It was cool today seeing the little parade on my way back from class.
Persoanlly, i think the biggest matchup of the game is Howland vs. Calipari, and we have the big-time edge there.

Raining hard!

283
Line Drive Loney?

I think that is what they mean when they say Loney's advantage is excellent "plate coverage.

'In July 2006 -- two years after the trade -- baseball mystic Bill Plaschke wrote, "Two seasons after joining the Dodgers in one of the most controversial trades in club history, Brad Penny was the starting pitcher for the National League All-Star team. And the truth is, the trade still stinks. Stunk then. Stinks now. Smells forever."

Forever is a long time to a myopic. Three-and-a-half seasons later, Penny continues to anchor the Dodger staff … at a rate of $8.5M in 2008. Next year, at age 31, he'll receive $8.75M -- a full $1.25M less than Juan Pierre. With the possible exception of Jake Peavy's four-year/$14.5M dollar deal between 2005-2008, Brad Penny has been one of the best value contracts in baseball among post-arbitration players over the past four seasons. And Paul Lo Duca, 36, has been Nationalized.'

From Neyer article at espn.com. Basically, Neyer says Depodesta was better than people remember, especially Plashke.

So SF had to use Lincecum and we had to use Billingsley? This all feels rigged to me.

Juan would have made that play.

I want a suspended game!

301 - That was actually Neyer quoting Kevin Arnovitz's article at SportshubLA.

http://www.sportshubla.com/2008/04/01/073104-revisited/

However, the game will likely not end up being suspended since they will most likely start up again.

236 The last (and only third) time I saw a game at Dodger Stadium was the game after the one you saw, where the Braves beat the Dodgers 9 to 8. The Dodgers are 1-1-1 in games when I attend.

1 W - Dodgers 4 - Padres 0, April 15, 2005 (Jackie Robinson 50th Anniversary)
1 L - Braves 9 - Dodgers 8, April 5, 2006
1 T - Dodgers 6 - Angels 6, March 31, 2006 (called after 7 innings due to, you guessed it, RAIN)

307
The 2006 exhibition game should not have been a tie. The Angels should have been given a win, but the umpires pulled an old rule about the score reverting to the last completed inning after the Angels took the lead in the top of the 8th.

I don't even know if the umpires did it. For all I know, it could have just been the official scorer at the game.

308 I sure as hell didn't remember that the Angels had taken the lead, but the article from the official website I just looked at said the game was called a tie, but it listed the score as Angels 7 - Dodgers 6.

I've had a rough day and its after midnight here. Did someone actually miss a crean-puff and was it Ethier? I'm half asleep and I want a rainout. I wanted it even more before it was tied.

Rain Delay Theater for me:

La Regle du jeu

Per Diamond Leung:

The Dodgers will resume play at about 10 p.m. after a 69-minute rain delay.

lame, Linc is coming back in, Loaiza for the dodgers. whoever is giving weather reports needs to be fired. blow bills for what, an out

I love having andruw in cf

Well, maybe we blew Bills for an out, but at least we've blown through Loiaza. I hope we don't have to use a 5 man rotation when there are off days in the schedule.

307 - That has been the rule for many years if the home team is trailing and does not complete its final at bat due to a suspended game the score reverts to the previous inning. This ensures both teams have an equal number of outs and therefore equal opprotunity to score.