James Tomlin LF
Ivan DeJesus SS
Greg Jacobs DH
Lucas May C
Rene Rivera 1B
Jamie Hoffmann RF
Russell Mitchell 3B
Juan Gonzalez 2B
Adam Godwin CF

As they say on "Lost", "It's complicated."

McDonald, first inning:

3-1 one-hopper to 2B, out 4-3
1-2 swingandamiss! K
3-2 infield single to 3B
2-2 home run to right field corner

+7 fouls not represented above (most to the #3 hitter)

Plus a balk

3-1 one-hopper to 2B, out 4-3
1-2 swingandamiss! K
3-2 infield single to 3B
2-2 home run to right field corner
2-1 two-hopper to 2B, out 4-3

+7 fouls not represented above (most to the #3 hitter)

31 total pitches

Plus a balk

Its hard to factor how much playing with better defensive talent helps these guys.

The infield single might have been an out with a better fielder.

That's like one of the Onion's many Favre-related jokes over the past couple of months, except real.

Now batting: catcher Lucas May, who I will nickname Silver God if it kills me.

0-2 breaking ball (curve?) at the knees, called third strike! K
0-0 single to left
0-1 out on a liner to right
1-0 fielder's choice, out 4-6.

8 pitches this inning. 39 total.

Kershaw has passed him on the depth chart, yes. I'm not sure why that precludes McDonald from being a September 2008 callup and part of the 2009 rotation. We already know we need to replace Lowe, and it's a pretty safe bet that we'll need to replace Loaiza too.

There's a reason that the Dodgers didn't hand Kershaw the fifth starter job out of spring training. But there's also, maybe, more reason to believe that he's put it all together than there is reason to believe that Park is going to be the Chan Ho of 2000.

McDonald, third inning:

And if the Suns turn a triple play in this inning, Paul Cole of Jacksonville wins a brand new car!

2-2 line drive single to right
0-2 back to the box. McDonald throwing error. Runners safe, first and second. He's just setting up the triple play!
0-2 base hit to center. RBI.
2-2 base hit to left. bases loaded. Cory Wade starts warming in the bullpen.

+2 fouls not represented above

2-2 line drive single to right
0-2 back to the box. McDonald throwing error. Runners safe, first and second.
0-2 base hit to center. RBI.
2-2 base hit to left. bases loaded. Cory Wade starts warming in the bullpen.
2-1 infield fly. caught by 2B. one out. bases still loaded.
2-2 infield fly. caught by SS. two out. bases still loaded.
2-0 infield fly. caught by 3B! Yes, three infield flies in a row.

+2 fouls not represented above

29 pitches this inning. Plus 39 is 68 total so far.

Logic says Clayton makes the Dodgers first and has a much bigger impact.

Just because something happens instantly doesn't mean it's spontaneous.

Even with a hybrid.

Arizona gets 9 of 15 with Oakland, Minnesota, and KC.

*While DeWitt hits from the left side, one scout said his full-fledged devotion to baseball is similar to David Wright's.

"I loved him when I saw him in high school," the scout said. "He wanted to hit all day, and he'd do anything the scouts wanted him to do. He's sort of a baseball rat."*

http://tinyurl.com/2y6boj

Tobias is in the movie. Sad.

I listened to as much as I could bare of the Jax MacDonald game. At first I was kind of dissappointed in the team until I realized the announcer, while a mellow laid back guy, has a talent for making any team he's broadcasting sound pretty rough.

I know we've talked about this before, but it's an off day and looking at the standings piqued my interest.

http://intuitor.com/moviephysics/

In the words of Jesus Christ in John 19:30:

"It is finished."

Belated welcome back

Thanks.

I very much enjoyed your talk. Echoing Jacob L , I enjoyed the historical perspective featuring locally prominent and sometimes forgotten figures. The missed Roz Wyman tidbit would have been great and drawn a reaction. I would have stayed to chat a little, but had a 1:30 meeting back in El Segundo that I had to chair. Been quite awhile since I've been downtown in the middle of a working day.

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus wrote a couple of days ago that Elbert will start the season in extended spring training and said that Dodgers officials are worried about his lack of progress in his recovery so far, although they aren't saying so publicly.

OK, maybe not hilarious. But they're outtakes.

That was interesting, but like he suspected at the end, it didn't really change my mind any. I guess I'm less concerned about him selling out than I am about how far he has fallen, which isn't completely his fault.

Bobby Cox and the Braves are pulling the "move pitchers in between LF and P to achieve desired platoon advantage" move in the 10th.

http://tinyurl.com/7kfko

- C. Resop relieved R. Soriano
- N. Morgan hit for T. Yates
- N. Morgan walked
- L. Rivas sacrificed to pitcher, N. Morgan to second
- J. Bay walked, N. Morgan to third on passed ball
- R. Ring relieved C. Resop
- C. Resop in left field
- A. LaRoche struck out swinging
- G. Blanco in left field
- C. Resop relieved R. Ring
- X. Nady singled to center, N. Morgan scored, J. Bay to second
- J. Bautista grounded out to first

With DeWitt's high quality play recently and Dodger Thoughts' penchant for nicknames has anyone else read the article on ESPN here

http://tinyurl.com/2y6boj

[In the 2004 draft, the Dodgers picked DeWitt and fellow Missouri native Scott Elbert in the first round. Former big league outfielder Mitch Webster, now a Dodgers scout, signed both players. According to Orange County Register columnist Mark Whicker, Webster refers to them as the "Missouri Mules." ]

I think Missouri Mule is a great nickname if it is not already established I hereby nominate it.

Missouri Mule is a good nickname. I put "The Solution" on wikipedia and it was taken down quickly.

He scored his first MLS goal.

Hey, Jon. Are you a Bob & David fan as well -- or was your link solely due to the topic at hand (i.e. Alvin)?

95 - the former.

Batting Average
"The Solution" - .556
Loney ("The Money Man") - .556
Furcal - .385

On Base Percentage
"The Solution" - .667
Loney ("The Money Man") - .667
Furcal - .467

OPS
"The Solution" - 1.333
Loney ("The Money Man")- 1.333

At Bats
Furcal - 13

Hits
"The Solution" - 5
Furcal - 5
Loney ("The Money Man") - 5

Doubles
"The Solution" - 1
"3.5" - 1
Furcal - 1
Jones - 1
Kent - 1
Loney ("The Money Man") - 1

Home Runs
Kent - 1

RBI
Furcal - 3

Bases on Balls
"The Solution" - 3
Loney ("The Money Man") - 3

Stolen Bases
"The Solution" - 1
Hu - 1
Loney ("The Money Man") - 1
Martin - 1

Singles
"The Solution" - 4
Furcal - 4
Loney ("The Money Man") - 4

Runs Created
"The Solution" - 5
Loney ("The Money Man") - 5

Adjusted Batting Runs
"The Solution" - 5
Loney ("The Money Man") - 5

Batting Wins
"The Solution" - .02
Loney ("The Money Man") - .02

Extra Base Hits
Kent - 2

Times on Base
"The Solution" - 8
Loney ("The Money Man") - 8

Furcal - 7

Intentional Walks
Loney ("The Money Man") - 1

Oldest Player
Kent - 40

Youngest Player
"The Solution" - 22

I just found this list interesting, and as a nickname for Loney, why not "The Money Man"?
Just a thought.

It was good while it lasted.

http://www.celsius1414.com/node/1542

It has standards!

By the way, as you already know, the Bruins are destined to take it all!

Ah, youth.

107 - I watched it when it first aired.

Dodgers third base coach Larry Bowa accused Bob Watson, Major League Baseball's vice president for on-field operations, of harboring a personal grudge against him after Watson suspended Bowa for three games on Wednesday and fined him an undisclosed amount.

"It's ludicrous is what it is," Bowa said. "There is no due process. I called (Watson), and there was no return call. They don't want to hear the coach's side of anything. It's a joke. You have (players) who tested positive for steroids and even admitted taking them, and they're not even suspended. Bob Watson is very prejudiced against me, and I have no idea why."

I'm open to whatever, like that matters.

_ONEY

LONEY

MONEY :)

http://www.nextag.com/hand-held-counter/search-html

I know that the league will adjust, that they will find his holes, but man, he looks solid at the plate. Saw him Opening Day and again last night. He has also made all of the plays on D. His "throwing error took Loney's foot off the bag by an inch.

Anyway, maybe I'm just seeing blue sky, what I want to see. I'm not going to assume that he "can't" succeed now. It would be rare, but not unprecedented.

Guess who is pitching for the Nationals against the Cardinals tomorrow?

All I can say is that Albert Pujols will be at the ballpark at Juan Pierre hours so he won't miss it.

I like the name Orbison. He also did a song called "Only the Lonely", which is a perfect fit for "Only the Loney". I like Orbison.

I repeat, Yellow Alert in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Stand down, false alarm

(creative pronunciation necessary, but man, he is money -- and I think he even knows it).

Wishing you and your family all of the best as you all overcome the health challenges.

The Solution is not bad for DeWitt. It's clever and kind of ironic. I like very much. Although "Joyce", not so much. I think it does a disservice to the talented Ms. DeWitt, who never got enough credit for holding "Three's Company" together all those years, and has been criminally underemployed since then.

You might be interested to know that we shot that notorious hot-tub scene for the Wyckyd Sceptre sketch way up on a hillside at an LAPD Sheriff's training facility in City Terrace (near Alhambra). It was right down the hill from Sybil Brand, a (defunct) women's jail where we had shot the "Sweetie Pie Jones" bits earlier in the day. Yes, we had to bring in our own hot tub.

That was our final location bit for the first half of the 1998 season, and I was bloody exhausted! I got to go home and sleep for a week, but Bob and David and the producers and writers had to charge right into rehearsals for the live show.

(Their hot-tub ad-libs were even funnier in person -- you should have seen the stuff they didn't use.)