Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
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11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
In this interview with Steve Garvey, in which Garvey toots his horn rather emphatically for his Hall of Fame candidacy, WFAN hosts Mike Francesa and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo point out that Garvey's performance needs to be evaluated for the era that it took place in (compared to the more offense-happy era that followed). Yet what happens when analysts try to do exactly that? Too often, people jump down their throats.
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Stanford grad A.J. Hinch, Arizona's director of player development, explains minor league pay at his blog:
Regardless of the signing bonus received after the draft/signing, each player in the minor leagues has the same initial salary structure. It is designed to pay players at different rates depending on what level they are playing. For non 40 man players, the salary begins at $1100/month in Short Season/Class A. Salaries in AA increase to $1500/month while AAA gets a jump to $2150/month. We pay those salaries only during the 5 month season, so the paychecks for the players begin in April and end in the first week of September. The only players that may differ from this scale are minor league free agents signed for AA/AAA or players on the 40-man roster but playing in the minor leagues. Those players are on a completely different scale and many of them have much more comfortable salaries (albeit much less than the big leagues). ...
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Preventive measures: The Dodgers need to have a rule that states that no pursuit of an out is worth Rafael Furcal getting in a collision. Furcal collided with Andruw Jones tonight. Both players stayed in the game - fortunately. Somehow, the Dodgers need to keep Furcal safe as he runs with the big boys. I know it's not always easy out there, but outfielders need to call for the ball or get out of the way.
(First two links above via Baseball Think Factory.)
then begin a minor-league rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Jacksonville, probably on Wednesday. He is slated to begin playing third base on his second day there.
That's great news. I'll be at the game Thursday in Huntsville which should be his first action at 3B.
I found the 1986 game:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU198608110.shtml
Luckily, and I hope we don't here anything negative tomorrow, Furcal seem to see Andruw coming and braced himself with his left shoulder.
Vintage McCarver.
Did he rob Sexson of a HR? I'm 20 years behind his evening.
If it wasn't going to be a 2-run homer, it at least would have been a game-tying double.
Carl Furillo was not happy with the Dodgers when he retired. If I recall correctly he was very bitter. I think as a kid it was the first time I realized how badly some players got treated at the end of their careers and it was why I started questioning this whole loyalty thing that I still hear romanticized even today.
Furillo didn't think he was injured and was still healthy to play, but the Dodgers were set to go with Howard and Willie Davis in the outfield. Nobody picked up Furillo after his release.
Andruw Jones is beginning to look like a major disaster.
(I do feel like a bit of it today may have been nerves and distraction about returning to Atlanta. Hopefully he'll be better the rest of the series.)
Sure fire method to beat the Dodgers: Bring up a pitcher from the farm that nobody has ever heard of (no matter what his ERA, WHIP or any other measuring stick you may use)he is sure to pitch a three hit shutout against the Blue! Maddening, I tell you!! They sometimes can make a nun pitching for the Sisters of Mercy look like Roger Clemens out there. I guess they left their good bats back in LA!!
Sick! Sick! Sick!!
He might not. But the sample size isn't big enough yet to draw a conclusion.
Jones might also see an improvement if he lost weight, which will probably occur over the course of the season.
The point is, Jones contribution might change. Unlike Pierre's, which is a known quantity with no possibility of improvement.
Even so, I do still think we are better than both San Diego and Colorado, so we might win a few playoff games if we are lucky.
Re the .900 OPS, simply recall that in 2006 when we scored something like 820 or so runs that Drew and Nomar tied for the team lead with 20 HRs. JD was close but not quite at .900 for the OPS. And we do have a guy sporting a .900+ OPS as Furcal is at .500/.694 [or at least he was as of the cutoff for the stats on the Dodgers' site as I read them now]. Loney is just shy of the .900 OPS at .890. The problem is, well, the golden god is at .196/.308/.286. And there's also one Andruw Jones, he of the .167/.274/.259 line. Other problems are Ethier's OBP at .323 and Kemp's at .304.
I could care less about the SLG, as I would rather we have Ethier somewhere in the .370s for an OBP and Kemp up around .350 [say, exactly .350]. If Kemp manages the .350 OBP and he steals 50 bases he'll be Carl Crawford. The new despised one, Mr. Kent, is at .283/.333/.528. I'd gladly take a hit in the SLG if we could get that OPB up to .385, say Jeff's 2006 line of .292/.385/.477.
Right now, our BA should be Furcal, Loney and Kent. Then it's Ethier and then a black hole. No idea when exactly that state of affairs will end, but right now, it is what it is. In sum, the problem is too many batters making too many outs.
I'm hoping that Raffy gets his '06 line with a .010 increase in OBP, Kemp at .350 with 50 SBs, Martin at .370, Kent at .385, and Ned insinuates some strong hallucinogenic drugs into the morning beverage(s) of the Cubs front office and he then trades a large moving van full of cash, Juan Pierre, Andruw Jones, and Steiner and Monday, for Fukudome ["Mr. OBP"], and we have him hit behind Raffy. A man can dream.
Ken Noe will be weighing in on that analogy.
The opponents are 6-2 in those games.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/hUF2
"George Washington (David Morse) so quickly tired of the infighting among his Cabinet and vagaries of public opinion that he stepped down from the presidency after a single term."
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-hbo19apr19,0,3333375.story
Haren>>>>Schmidt+Kuroda+Loaiza
Ned refused to trade any of the farm, and chase high priced average PVL instead of quality primeness. That'll be his undoing as Dodger gm. Valuing depth over talent.
You know I thought that looked funny when I read that last night.
Good point.
Kemp/Ethier's walk rates are going to be key in determining how much runs the Dodgers score. Kemp's never walked very much, and it loooked like Ethier turned the corner last year with plate discipline but we'll see if he can sustain it or regress back to what he was.
If they each arent going to walk much, they need to be .300+ hitters to be effective, and Kemp may K too much to be a .300 hitter. Ethier might be able to do it though.
I've been a Sewell fan since he played Fortinbras in Branagh's Hamlet.
The infamous "zipper" problems never really phased me - sure they destroyed what was left of his saintly image, but compared with a lot of fallen heroes, meh. And now this. The stories about being a bat boy, in awe of the Boys of Summer were nice, but the rest of the interview was awful. What a tool. I guess I'd always figured that even if he wasn't "the perfect Dodger," it wasn't his fault that the press and Dodger PR office forced this image down our throats. But it's pretty clear that he bought into it, and still does.
This won't be news to a lot of you, especially younger fans who grew up already hearing that Garvey was a phony. But he was my favorite player on my favorite team, and I was in denial about the extent of the deception.
Blecch.
At least most 2-year olds are great healers.Best wishes to Cambria.
Well, looks like another FOX Dodgerless saturday. If it was in NY I would have a slight chance of getting blocked out. I don't think there is much chance for rain in Philly.
I broke my elbow when I was around 2. Or so I was told. I actually weird memories of it.
I believe that break of my elbow turned me into a kid who would decided it would be better to collect baseball cards rather than play baseball.
Tony Jackson says the lineup is the same as yesterday's, with Kemp and Ethier flipped.
Furcal
Ethier
Kemp
Kent
Loney
Martin
Jones
Garciaparra
Billingsley
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