Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Jon's other site:
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TV and more ...
1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
It's not as bad as you might think, but it could still be better. Dodgers vs. Padres since 1988:
2007: 8-10
2006: 5-13
2005: 11-7
2004: 10-9
2003: 8-11
2002: 10-9
2001: 9-10
2000: 8-5
1999: 3-9
1998: 5-7
1997: 5-7
1996: 5-8
1995: 7-6
1994: 6-4
1993: 9-4
1992: 9-9
1991: 10-8
1990: 9-9
1989: 6-12
1988: 7-11
Season series won: 8
Season series lost: 10
Season series split: 2
Total W-L: 150-168 (.472)
* * *
A full organizational depth chart can be found at True Blue L.A.
Only two September wins by Dan Spillner spoiled a clean sweep.
GB single to right
Balk
Pop up to short
Strike out swinging.
Walk
Strike out swinging.
Second inning
Fly ball to right
Strike out looking (Curve ball)
Fly ball to left
Dodger Player Personnel Folks in attendance
DeJon Watson (will be on the air during Sunday's game)
Marty Reed (Dodger Minor League Pitching Coordinator)
I always figured it was because they are often traveling a great deal, or work later, and are more likely to have their computer with them than be at home to watch games.
So MLBTV it is for me (plus I can watch the latter when I'm stuck at work, too).
Second inning, couple of hits and a run on short pop-fly that the first baseman fielded.
I subscribe to both.
So far that's two appearances by Wright, both with 2 out and (1 or 2) men on base. Today's appearance was in a tie game; Monday's was a 4-run deficit.
It will be interesting to see how many high leverage situations Wright is involved in this year.
That I'm not sure of. It might depend on the memory of your phone. Jack Bauer's phone, for instance, can probably have 3 games running at the same time!
I still remember Eric Enders' quote after that game (and I'm not saying this to call Eric out; I just loved the quote): "I want Nomar's head on a plate."
That said, so far I can only watch live games and the archived games load seemingly at random. And I can't seem to find the little thingee that lets you skip to innings where there was scoring.
It's their 30th anniversary season. Or, if you can count, their 31st season.
Cool. Love the powder blues.
3rd inning for Kershaw
Busted bat ground out
Walk
Strike out swinging (curve ball)
Sinking liner on a 3-2 pitch to center that ended up scoring the runner because he was going, batter to second on the throw.
Error by first baseman scores second runner.
Picks off runner on first.
Suns down 2-1.
14 Playing games from the archives would be nice.
Note: Vin Scully is "a little under the weather," according to a team spokesman, and will not be simulcasting on radio tonight. He's expected to still be on TV.
What would he do with some protection behind him?
Ok, I'm ready for--he wouldn't know what to do with it--.
Given 3 hits, 1 run and 3 strikeouts with no walks.
Down 1-0 after 2.5
That's weird. I wonder what extra there is to do for Scully to be on both radio & TV.
I guess his style could be altered for radio, that he has to paint more of a picture for the non-viewing audience.
Is the half-hour-later start time on Friday history, or has my memory failed me? Didn't the Friday games start at 7:30pm....
Oh, wait. This is a road game. Never mind.
The Dodgers fired Sergio del Prado, their longtime vice president for sales, and Karen Marumoto, director of sponsorship sales. ...the McCourts have fired a LOT of people in the four years that they have owned the club, with some positions turning over multiple times. So much for restoring the brand, .... What [McCourt] clearly doesn't understand is that the "brand" was all about stability.
I explained the simulcast and that he pulls way back after the 3rd inning. That hadn't occurred to him. To his credit, he apologized and is now a huge fan.
So yeah, those first three innings would be tough with a sore throat.
I thought I detected that Vinnie had a cold during his pre-game standup on Wednesday. Hope he feels all better very soon.
Furcal, SS
Martin, C
Loney, 1B
Kent, 2B
Ethier, LF
Jones, CF
Kemp, RF
DeWitt, 3B
Kuroda, P (first big league appearance)
I am stoked that Torre isn't afraid to push Jones down to sixth in the lineup. I don't think Little would have done that, at least not so early in the season.
But I have really enjoyed Andruw's defense in the outfield. It is really nice to watch him.
5.2 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs; 6 K; 1 HR; 7/3 GB/FB ratio.
Bring back the balanced schedule!
http://www.latimes.com/features/magazine/la-tm-phillipes6apr06,1,7121955.story
Joe Torre Isn't 100
http://www.latimes.com/features/magazine/la-tm-torre6apr06,0,7050519.story
And teams like the Rays and Orioles like having Red Sox and Yankee fans take over their stadiums.
The NL East is a different matter.
Interleague play helps you not see the same teams over and over again (aside from Angels). It breaks up monotony of NL teams only.
I have the Yankees-Rays game on the highest bandwidth setting and it's a very good picture.
I'm sure you can upgrade. The good people of MLB.com will always be happy to take your money.
Not all of my Premium bells and whistles work however. For all I know, the subscription entitles me to a visit to the Wonka Chocolate Factory.
Boy, I may have to watch this one with the sound turned off. Forgot that the MLBTV broadcast tonight is the Padres' feed. Ah well.
And I totally mean no disrespect to men and women in the military, but I always find the fatigues uniforms a bit hard to look at. Maybe I'll have to turn the picture off, too.
If you put cursor over the video, you'll get the controller, the third option on the right is full screen.
I also think the camo uniforms are ugly as sin.
(a) You don't have to dress like the military to support the military.
(b) They do it in support of their local Navy population. Because, you know, the Navy wears camo all the time.
(c) Regardless of what they represent, the things are just ugly as sin.
It's akin to playing ball in a white coat with a stethoscope to show you support doctors. Or pitching in a girl scout uniform to show you support the girl scouts.
So the Padres announcers say that a fastball in Japan - or actually they only were sure about Taiwan - is called a "Speedo." True or false?
I have some silverfish down here in the basement in which I blog, if you want any.
(a) I agree.
(b) Would you rather they dressed like Mr. Salty?
(c) Not as ugly as the Padres uniforms of the 70s and 80s.
I believe it's something like "fausto boru." It sounds a lot like "fastball" when Japanese speakers say it.
That was some pretty nasty stuff Germano threw to Kemp there, in the Bison's defense. This could be a 1-0 final type of game.
I don't see us scoring many runs this weekend; we're gonna need to hold them to 0-2 a night.
Hey, if you're not playing the role of party pooper, then I have to. And since I'm leaving town after today, then you're going to have to shoulder the burden all by yourself.
Also 2 line drives caught.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/gl.cgi?share=1&n1=germaju01&year=2007&t=p#10:32:sum
Maybe Rum and Banana?
... there is was again. It is pretty tough.
You've made a huge mistake.
Kuroda has only given up one hit and that is to the pitcher.
Also, Dodgers showing patience with SD pitcher throwing 91 pitches so far.
Then you'll really be in trouble.
And the Padres announcer just said, "Now I wish Seattle had signed Kuroda, too."
Okay, I think we jinxed the "Dodgers are working the count" thing.
If its a guy like Peavy or Young, not bad, but Germano? I guess if we're gonna be up 1-0, at least we're making the pitcher earn his innings :)
This is nice to see, I have to say; this can pay off very soon.. keep at it, blue!
I think Kuroda will find CPB quite familiar.
Hiro looked like he was about to curse in English there before catching himself.
Bob has your answer, but my guess is it took place during game 7 of the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals in the NBA. As the Celtics were getting pounded by the Sixers, the Celtics Fans shouted "BEAT LA! BEAT LA!" during the last 2 minutes of the game. The winner of the game was going to play the Lakers for the Championship.
And that was how "Beat LA" was born.
They lost but it started a trend, more familair for the Lakers but in San Francisco and San Diego it gets used a lot against the Dodgers.
And wow that was close at first.
It's also Madison Square Garden, but in Toronto it was Maple Leaf Gardens.
The present home of the Celtics and Bruins is now the TD Banknorth Garden.
Also, are you posting a Final Four chat on the Griddle before you leave?
Not that I'm complaining.
Nice walk. He had zero hope of getting a bunt down, too. Talk about fundamentally unsound.
Other way around.
I'm liking this whole "take pitchers deep in the count and then feast on middle relief" thing the Dodgers got going.
This is no time for Martin to be going to a bar to pick up women.
I think you're referring to the shuuto.
Spell it like this: シュート
Yippee Martin! What a way to break out of the slump!
Yay, Golden God!
NL hitters everywhere are sending thank you notes to Kevin Towers for signing Rusch.
I like that Glendon Rusch works quickly.
And that he also isn't very good.
He was traded to Pittsburgh before he got a chance to get a hit. He got a single off of Steve Frey on July 7, 1991.
And another sac fly scores a run.
Me!!!!
Eric S. is very happy right now.
It's like a vacuum out there in Petco tonight!
Not the Dodgers.
This is really making my night.
Looks like it happened as recently as April 3.
http://www.japanball.com/news.phtml?id=11849
I won't get too excited... I still remember how Broxton blew a 5-0 lead last year, and how the year before a similarly large lead was chucked by Baez.
It's nice to see the Padres' bullpen does in fact have a weak spot for once.
I don't think so.
The rose goes in the front, big guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cySfw8f0beg
Unless we are talking Game 7 of a series in October.
Anyway, yes, more power would be nice, but I find it hard to complain too much about 7 runs.
Why is a starting pitcher getting work in, during a game, in an exposed bull pen?
And there goes Slappy.
/bows after first toaster double
381 I hear ya. I just expect more of the power to come after they leave California, ya know? Hopefully.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFkYKKVuGbk
Dodger starters so far, Penny 6.2, 0 runs, Lowe 6+, 2 runs, Kuo 3, 0 runs and Kuroda 7, 1 run. 20.2 IP with 3 runs given up.
shake it off James, shake it off
Yah, I would think this would be a logical spot for Park.
It helps that there haven't been a lot of Japanese born pitchers.
Tommy Craggs strikes again!
http://www.slate.com/id/2188158/pagenum/all/#page_start
The [] will set you free.
I hope he is wrong, but I'm concerned, and wonder if this strange usage of him is a sign that there is something we don't know.
There are 7 guys in the bullpen, at least 4 of whom haven't seen any PT, how about running one of those bums out there when you're up by 6 instead of Bills?
Was "Fire Joe Torre" a little over the top? Yes. Was that a less than stellar move by our new manager? Absolutely.
But you're on Tommy Craggs Watch while I'm gone.
Now I am worried Kemp may sit tomorrow in favor of Pierre, but I'll try not to think of it too much.
what's that, since last Wednesday night? ok then!
Personally, if I was in Torre's spot, I'd have either run Billingsly out to start on Thursday or backed him up to either today or tomorrow. But that's just me.
Oh no, but now the Padres announcers had to bring up the infamous Dodger bullpen meltdown game of '06.
Those broadcasts, in case you missed them, featured Mark Grant speaking in Chinese gibberish a la Bill Singer.
Okay, I'm off like a bad prom dress.
The chances of the Lakers and Warriors finishing with the same record are rather remote.
Bills has thrown 51 pitches this season (which is far less than he usually throws in a start.
Of course, just being in isn't quite good enough this year.
Grant is an embarrassment all the way around. Put him out to pasture.
Since the Lakers and Warriors split 2-2, if they did finish tied for a playoff spot, I think the schedule would require the Lakers to have a worse record in division games.
Grant ate up the whole pasture.
I did not know that. I must be in that 1.5 part.
Plashke doesn't know what to say.
You should slash at the first pitch you can.
After rubbing your championship rings and metals.
But will people listen.
They may be reading blogs, and my truisms may fall on deaf ears.
And CBillz pitched the final two innings??
What an interesting move...
BTW, Angels now trailing 11-6. I believe all six run have come in the bottom of the ninth.
I think the D's rotation is equal to any in the west, and it is up to the offenses. I think ours might be the best in the second half.
Possibly, but Hiroshima wasn't exactly Citizens Bank Park or the Baker Bowl.
http://home.earthlink.net/~japanbbtrip2003/id22.html
Bob, how did the workshop go at the Better Than Vin Central Library? Wanted to make it, but was needed at work today.
It drew a big crowd, by library standards, about 50 people.
It seemed to go well. I was a little upset that I didn't get everything in to it that I wanted.
It's not that fancy.
Try this link:
http://tinyurl.com/55fbtv
>>Interestingly, Dodger Thoughts' goes for the reverse jinx (as opposed to my blatant digust) and points out our overall advantage over the Dodgers since their World Series. That's kinda friendly of them, though it makes me hate them even more for thinking of the idea to do that before I did.<<
I actually kinda like that blog more after reading that and some of the amusing comments during the game.
And no, I'm not getting all cocky, especially given how bad the Dodgers have generally fared on Fox Saturday games in recent times.
Wow, a lot of big sports to take in tomorrow. Thank God for Tivo.
This is what my life has become.
Perhaps the lights will go out for this game too.
Welcome to MLB, Hiroki Kuroda. From the looks of the Petco radar gun, Kuroda was hitting 87-89 MPH early on, then from innings 4-6 he was consistently 90-93 MPH. He just absolutely pounded the strike zone. I was actually surprised he didn't pitch longer, having only thrown 77 pitches. I assume it had something to do with Honeycutt's mound visit in the 7th when Kuroda appeared to wince ever so slightly.
I haven't read anything yet, but I was intrigued by Billingsley's relief appearance. If he's just getting some work in, that's cool, especially if he can still start Monday (or maybe now Tuesday). Also, I wouldn't mind using starters in relief on their throw day anyway.
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