So, of course, I got LAT'd on the last thread. I sort of expected it. Here's what I wrote:

408. dzzrtRatt
407 This just feels like an offensive slump. They had a few of these last season. So many called strikes. They're just not seeing the ball. Unless this continues through May, I will not believe that a lineup that regularly features Furcal, Kemp, Kent, Loney, Ethier and Martin, plus Jones and either Nomar or La Roche won't spend most of the season punishing pitchers or at least scoring a lot more than 1 run per game over the course of a lost weekend.

This isn't on Colletti or Torre. It's just a darn slump (avoiding Rule #1) that the hitters have to use mojo and burning sticks to banish.

Jon's diagram in his original post should be something you can look up every day on MLB.com. Maybe as a bar chart. It's extremely helpful, and a good basis for compariso

I agree. This team will improve, just as the Dbacks will...disimprove. But I'd sure like it to happen sooner rather than later.

We might have to put Justin Miller on notice.

-heavy, plus fastball
-good command
-lack of homers and XBHs,

looks like those are enough to beat up on low A hitters.

6IP 3H 0ER 1BB 11K

nice.

Unsure if the DT pun was intended, however.

I wonder if Ray Milland ever played in a Hollywood Stars game. It would be great to see what he looked like in a Dodger uniform.

He used to live near where I grew up. He was a frequent visitor to a bakery/soda fountain I used to frequent. He and it are both gone now.

final line today.

7IP 3H 0ER 1bb 12k

on the season:
20IP 12H 1hr 7bb 22k 1.8 era

Then Wthrow and Watt should take their spots in the Great lakes rotation.

3 runs.....Pathetic!!! LA rarely does well in Atlanta, but 3 runs against 2 mediocre pitchers and 1 decent pitching prospect....screams panic for Dodger fans. This weekend's performance, I hope, is rock bottom.
The last time I posted something similar to this was right before LA reeled off 16 of 17 two years ago....let's hope history repeats.
If not, I may have to start up a www.firened.com blog.

I agree, pretty pathetic series from the Dodgers offensively.

What was his username?

If, hypothetically, someone were to bet on the Brewers today, $20 to win $23, and they noticed the Brewers were up 3-1 going into the bottom of the 10th, that someone might hypothetically have thought he had money in the bank.

Then, if that someone turned channels over to watch Gagne close it out -- assuming of course that someone also hypothetically had Extra Innings on his cable package in San Diego, for instance -- then that someone may have shouted many Rule 1 violations directed toward a player he once revered after said closer gave up homer-homer-walk to his 3 batters.

You know, hypothetically.

Watching Loney the past 4 or 5 games is like watching a totally different hitter than what I was seeing during the first 12 games. However, I thought he was getting back to being himself today even with his lack of production. It just seemed like he was mentally out of it.

The Dodgers have been swinging and missing at sliders that break out of the strike zone. Today they seemed to make up their minds to stop doing that. But instead of sliders, today they got fast balls that were starting outside and coming back in to hit the outside corner. They kept taking those pitches for called third strikes.

At least my soccer team has started 3-0.
I never got the ray milland references in bugs bunny toons when i was a kid. But enjoyed them anyway.

It's not particularly fair.

At the end of the novel on which the movie was based he was looking forward to his next binge.

So it's not as if they suck.

Very true. I believe I picked the Braves to finish 2nd in the NL East this year. I'm very high on their overall lineup and I also knew Yunel Escobar could have a nice breakout season.

I feel like I just had a lost week. I don't ordinarily take an entire week off, and I had fun with my family, but now that I'm back I have the feeling that I've been gone forever. So much work to do this week. Let's hope the Dodgers get back to work too.

He forgot, however, to thank Henry Clay.

Those articles aren't gonna write themselves...

His strikeout rate is pretty high. I would keep him there for a while. Even though he is talented hitter, he still has some holes that he should work on.

But he is definitely exciting me.

Who's this Henry Clay you speak of?

No they don't...but the Dodgers offense is going a good limitation of a vacuum cleaner right now.

What was the old commercial from one manufacturer with the bolling ball?

Let me make a D4P comment. See, the Dodgers don't need power. Every time they hit a HR they lose.

Well, if the Dodgers did that...

*He's not

44 He's the guy that wanted to be president more than any human being ever. Yes, more than Adlai or Nixon.

Why did Juan Pierre start today?

I've read Remini's bio on Clay. I can go set up a thread for us to debate the merits of the Compromise of 1850 over on the Griddle.

Clay also was elected Speaker of the House in his first House term. He had previously done a short term in the Senate to fill out another term. Despite being too young to be eligible to serve in the Senate.

It's a bold strategy.

Many said Flames would be Sharks hardest test. Many may be right.

There is a sort of deflating sadness that accompanies grading tests. It's one quarter frustration towards the students, and three quarters blaming yourself for not doing a better job teaching. Even if the scores are decent.

There is no joy in Brockville :-(

I'm not kidding

/Reverse last words

The Communist Party of North Korea is your new leader.

It's sort of like Juan Pierre sitting out on opening day.

Hamilton was right about the future of the American economy. Jefferson was wrong.

That didn't seem to make it into the minseries.

Now Shimmin has a list named for me, too. What an honor.

KG16 and I may have met. I never took the novel class, but I'd bet your teacher was either Fried (who also taught my father in the late 70s) or Cooper (whom I have a personal vendetta against). Oh, and Greenburg may have been spelled Greenberg, can't quite remember.

I'm not a big Jefferson fan.

Would that be a good trade?

The deification of Jefferson is, to me, among the most baffling things in American history.

Get a room, Thomas Jefferson and people who love Thomas Jefferson.

It could have also been called Polk: And those other guys after Jackson and before Lincoln, you know, those guys.

Of course, I don't have more free time than others :-)

http://tinyurl.com/44f4od

"Every serious baseball fan has had moments when they see a dumb managerial move and say, 'Hey, I could manage better than that guy,'" says Eric Enders, a baseball researcher and author who avidly plays Richman's game. "Strat-O-Matic is a chance to prove it."

Which was more controversial Paul DePodesta's term as GM of the Dodgers or Henry Clay's American System?

I know, as a product of the California public school system, who only paid attention to history when forced to memorize facts for quizzes and tests, I was really getting a crush on Thomas Jefferson as portrayed in "John Adams" (I haven't seen the final episode yet).

Now Brock has made me feel like a guy who thinks Juan Pierre is good because he gets 200 hits a year.

Though is life is certainly more movie worthy, soldier, confidante/protege of George Washington, his affair, his anonymous writings in support of the constitution, his role in the elections of 1796 and 1800, and of course, his duel with Aaron Burr.

I mean, I majored in American Studies. I should have retained some of this stuff, right?

At least I knew Washington had two terms.

You're like a white, free, male Sally Hemings!

Greg Brock has founded "The Society to Promote Really Awesome Stuff."

98 I was stoked that Rufus Sewell was going to play Hamilton, until I remembered that Sewell only plays creeps and weirdos.

They might as well gotten Brad Dourif.

I feel dumb for wanting to wait until Flight of the Conchords returns.

Sewell was definitely not a creep or weirdo as Fortinbras in Branagh's Hamlet.

He was 100% badass. Inspired the "My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!" speech and everything.

George Mason was bounced and replaced by an actor who looked like Joakim Noah.

So do we really know much about them?

And pretty much saw sectional politics as the biggest threat to America's future.

The newspapers of the late 18th and early 19th Century were all partisan and pretty much consisted of one side hurling mud at the other.

And I am not sure that bias is limited to the portrayal of just the founding fathers.

Anyways, Ned sucks.

rabble rabble rabble rabble rabble rabble

That's the best quote. Ever.

But LaRoche's backers here might not like this from Gurnick:

Infielders going in different directions

>> DeWitt's surprising play, along with Garciaparra's guaranteed contract and LaRoche's injury, could turn LaRoche from a possible Major League starter to a Minor Leaguer once he's healthy. <<

http://tinyurl.com/3qou94

Is it Dewitt or is it LaRoche? It can't be Nomar. Or can it?

Dewitt is nice Southern lad while Nomar is from East L.A. with a stopover in the North East.

Actually, I have no idea what I am saying, I'm still recovering from watching UCLA QBs attempt to complete a pass the other night.

There are 19 "George Washington" types. Most are the first and middle name types, but there is one guy who went by George Washington, although his name wasn't George.

There was a guy named John Adams who played from 1910-19, but he went by Bert. The Brewers had a Jon Adams from 2004-2006, but he preferred to go by Mike.

That reminds me, is Cierre Wood going to make one of Bob's lists? He did pick Touchdown Jesus over UCLA.

There's nothing that Gurnick evers says that LaRoche backers will ever like. That's more of an indictment of Gurnick than LaRoche, however.

I found the portrayal of Abigail Adams very convincing, and good. But I had no preconception of what she might have really been like.

I actually liked John Adams as well. Of course, about 10 to 20% of the time, he just couldn't help but be the usual gormless Paul Giamatti. (I just saw him again in American Splendor on IFC last night, which didn't help.) Shrugs, raised eyebrows, over-abashment. The other 80-90% was excellent.

I still haven't seen the last two episodes - soon to come on my DVR. So far it's much better than the typical bio-mini-series.

But stuff like this makes me wonder:

LA Dodgers
Kansas City
NY Mets
St. Louis
Cincinnati
San Francisco
Minnesota
Seattle
Atlanta
COMBINED: 19 HBPs in 2008

Cleveland
18 HBPs in 2008

The whole series was really just a prequel to the movie Amistad, which I'm going to rent and watch next Sunday night. Gotta get my Adams fix now, even if it's just Quincy.

Of Cleveland's 18 HBPs, 4 are from Grady Sizemore, who bats leadoff and 3 from Jamey Carroll. And if you're hitting Jamey Carroll to send a message, I think you need a political consultant to get you a better message.

Greg Pellam softball update-- My team, The Godless Heathens, played a double header last night. The first game we lost 12-11. I had a single and two walks. The second game we won 15-11 and I had 2 singles and 2 walks. I pitched terribly in the first game, but played a flawless 1B in the second.

I'm going to tonight's game in Cincinnati and tomorrow's. I plan to enjoy each game as a discreet unit, as if the Dodgers were not struggling so far this season, and as if there were no more games after this season. This way I won't be too disappointed if there is a disappointing lineup on the field.

The Dodgers have never finished first in a season when they've fallen six games back in April.

If that's the case, would you be available to answer some questions later...

Loney's--.299/.342/448 in 67Abs. Sure those numbers are pretty good, especially given his salary. However, compared to the league average of 1st basemen--It's nothing special.

Ethier's-.290/.342/.468 in 62Abs. Again, not bad for his salary. But not that great compared to other corner OF'ers.

Kemp has 1 bb in 50 Abs.

I'm not sure the Dodgers can be an above average offense, if these players dont perform above average.

Wouldn't it just be called a strike if the pitch was over the plate? I am pretty sure that is the ruling. I am hoping I never need to call that in a little league game. The parents would go nuts.

168--How can Pecota predict 87 wins when the only starters below a 4.50 ERA are Kuroda/Billingsley? Its seems like Pecota believes the strength of the team is in the offense, and it did predict much more from Andruw than what the team is currently getting. Maybe Druw getting hot will make all the difference (if he does).

Hey, Chad lost some control on Saturday. At least he's not getting crushed like Cain who was considered by most to be his better. Who would have thought that Matt Cain would be a piece of crap and we'd still be staring up at the Giants?

Even if he is mediocre, who should we replace him with. Kerhsaw? If he struggles with his control, then does that mean he has Billingsley syndrome?

I said this yesterday but as frustrated as I am with the Dodgers' start, I'm less worried and depressed about it than I would be if they simply weren't very good. If they had this kind of start and we were debating Grabowski vs Edwards, __i vs. Phillips, and so on, I'd be, you know, a bit more pessimistic.

It was a little irritating yesterday taking some crap from a soccer teammate of mine, who is from the UK but also a baseball fan (well below EPL of course), is a very confident A's fan, and was mocking me for having a team below the Giants in the standings. I had to do the whole "it's really early, blah blah" speech but I'd rather not have to take that kinda guff right now. So, c'mon Dodgers!

191
No I don't have to admit it is concerning. It is concerning to you, not to most of us. Maybe your expectation of Chad is to high. What do you want him to be then remember his age and look at what other aces in this league were doing at his age.

He averaged 5.9 innings as a starting pitcher last season, including the time he was transitioning from the bullpen. He allowed eight baserunners per six innings. He was absolutely electric for the first four innings Saturday.

If you're down on Billingsley, you're basically letting three bad innings this year overwhelm his ongoing record.
Is Billingsley going to become one of those players who get remembered for what they do when they're at their worst instead of what they do when they're at their best?

The difference between a slurve and a slider is all about the angle of the break. A normal curve will have loosely a 12-6 break while a true slider will be almost 3-9. A slurve will come in between the two at something like a 1.5-7.5 break. I see Chad's as closer to a slider than a slurve.

I will predict one thing about this little series with the Reds. I predict the Dodgers average more than 1 run a game for the series. If not, I may start on a long crying jag.

That seems to be going around.

How quickly we forget: https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/757682.html

Right now, Andrew is using his Oregon State t-shirt to pass himself off as a CalTrans worker as part of an elaborate heist.

Yeah. What a jerk.

16. underdog
8 I recommend following it with a screening of "The Sorrow and the Pity" as a chaser.

The Dodgers will score a run tomorrow. I won't guarantee a win or a lot of runs. But I will bet on a run.

I think. Don't quote me on that.

Their last three box scores look like failed binary code. <<

{{cry}}

Actually, it still worked out to more than one run a game. How about that?

Notes about the Reds, today:

1) Adam Dunn is off to a slow start, despite a very good OBP
2) Arroyo is 0-2 with a 5.48 ERA, 1.6 WHIP, and a lousy frozen hamburgers commercial. We don't face Arroyo, but I thought I should point that out.
3) "Mr Clutch" so far: .258/.378/.484 with 4 HR and 9 RBIs

Was the trade of Harang by Billy the worse trade he's ever made?

I think a .300/.350/.450 line for Loney is well within the range of "likely".

Joeyp isn't the pessimistic guy, he is just the guy that has disliked Loney for a while and completely re-announced his prospect status a couple years ago.

It's possible.
When Guillen was in Cincy, he had hit .337/.385/.629 over 315 ABs.
In Oakland, he hit .265/.311/.459 in 170Abs.

Steep price for Guillen, although if he was offered arbitration they did get a draft pick--not sure if he was.

What I don't understand is why Nomar wasn't rehabbing for another week or so. If DeWitt was completely overwhelmed, I could at least understand rushing, but he isn't.

Torre acknowledged he's trying to give Garciaparra enough playing time to regain game fitness and show whether he should be the everyday third baseman, while not burdening an already struggling offense.

Garciaparra ... has had to make compromises in his swing because of the injury, reminding him of a similar cause-and-effect from a similar hand injury in 2000. "You can't hit without your hands," Garciaparra said. "You make alterations in the swing to adjust, but just a centimeter change can change everything. It took me more than a year to get it back that time."

In the same draft, DeWitt was the compensation for Paul Quantrill.

Chapter XXX on the Dodgers' letting player self-evaluations of health and value guide them.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/04/a-tv-critics-wa.html

Sorry for the rant, I'm just frustrated.

Maybe part of the frusration across the board is the fact that the players that most here want to play, have played. And still there is inconsistent play. Now, this affliciton is shared across the board, vets and youngsters alike but this is not a case of where you have Jason Phillips playing instead of Choi.

This where patience has to win out and hope that all the minor league projections play out and that the vets can squeeze out another year of production.

Still, sorry for the rule seven violation.

As far as the line up changes, I don't have much of a problem with it. It's one of the few things the manager can do to tweak the offense, and when the offense isn't working, tweaking the line up makes sense.

As for your other points, I concur. Though I think Billingsly's problems will dissipate soon, assuming they keep him starting and on his normal rest.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/Skkf

Here are the numbers for the last three pitchers the Dodgers faced:

Jeff Bennett: 1 run in 1 of 3 career starts
Chuck James: 14 of 49 starts
Jair Jurrjens: 3 of 10 starts
Total: 18 of 60 (30%) prior to this weekend

I ask this not to be contentious, but because I don't know: Are sac flies luck? I know in certain situations, hitters try to hit fly balls to get the run home, but can hitters really control this?

And now you know how Babe Ruth got the nickname, the Sultan of Swat.

(That joke might have had a chance if the sacrifice fly official scoring rules had been the same back then.)

But given that a fly ball to the gap is a double a fly ball toward where the fielder is positioned is a sac fly, it's probably equal parts, because guys do want hits more than sac flies.

So, to answer your question: probably equal parts skill (hitting the ball in the air) and luck (where the defense is positioned, though you can argue (as I typically do) that this isn't so much luck as effective strategy of the other team).

Or Which Of These Names Do Not Belong

1. Gil Hodges 19 1954

2. Andre Dawson 18 1983

3. Bobby Bonilla 17 1996
Roy White 17 1971

5. Juan Gonzalez 16 2001
Mark Loretta 16 2004

7. Albert Belle 15 1998
Bobby Bonilla 15 1990
Gary Carter 15 1986
Howard Johnson 15 1991
Don Mattingly 15 1985
Magglio Ordonez 15 2000

Did anyone here like Bobby Bonilla during his tenure as a Dodger?

5 of those 10 played in NY during the year they hits those sacrifice flies.

The Dodgers have to be happy with the starts of Miller, Morris, Adkins, Sexton, McDonald, Kershaw and Meloan. Just waiting for Withrow and Elbert to get going and then we have to wait and see if Miller will ever come around.

My ideal lineup would be:

Furcal
Loney
Kemp
Kent
Ethier
Martin
Jones
DeWitt
Pitcher

It's here:
https://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/629050.html

It's a stunning piece of prose.

The Sedition Act served to chill free speech by making it a crime to criticize the President or Congress. The Alien Act lengthened the naturalization period for new citizens because it was them new people coming from France and Ireland and Germany who were stirring up the trouble.

Eddie Murray 128
Cal Ripken 127
Robin Yount 123
Hank Aaron 121
George Brett 120
Ruben Sierra 120
Frank Thomas 120

Perhaps some team will give the Big Hurt the chance to chase the record and boost their ticket sales along the way!

I haven't played regularly in 9 years and the last time I actually pitched in a game was 5 years ago in a weekend tournament, but I told our coach I could probably go a couple innings. Unfortunately, our main pitcher couldn't find the strike zone so they put me in with 2 outs in the 2nd inning. I was still only planning on throwing a couple innings, but my arm felt well enough that I went 5 1/3. Understandably, my control was a bit erratic (5 walks and 2 HBP), but other than that I think I only gave up 3 hits. I ended up giving up 6 runs total, but only 2 were earned due to some problems catching fly balls. It was a lot of fun to get back on the mound and my fastball had some decent zip to it (probably 70-75 MPH or so), but my slider was inconsistent and I couldn't really place my fastball very well. I'm hoping by mid-season I'll get my velocity up a little higher and be able to mix in my other pitches better. I joined the AA league this year just so that I could work through the kinks.

269 Tee-hee. I wonder if this post counts as the equivalent of an out?

What I learned from TV is that John Adams may have been a fine lawyer, first-rate patriot, fair ambassador, frustratred VP, absent father and loving husband. Not sure if I can rate his presidency, it seems he did what he could given the political climate.

>>Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire has agreed to answer some questions from MLBTR readers. I'll choose the best ones from the comments. Fred was the team's GM for about a decade, and also served in other capacities in the front office before that.<<

Back to baseball, Hank Steinbrenner believes Joba should be starting. Brian Cashman says slow down.

Who will win this battle and if Cashman wins, is he going to be without a job in October.

Hardly anybody heard from him during that time. Congress wasn't in session, so he didn't have to worry about any strange laws being passed. And it wasn't like CNN and MSNBC and Fox News parked their satellite trucks outside his farm in Braintree waiting for Adams to make a statement.

So Nomar is saying he's going to bat .100 and field .700 for the next month or two, but that he should play "every single day."

Presumably, in his mind, after a month of that, he returns to hitting .370 like he used to - so even if the Dodgers go 5-20 in the next few weeks, he'll make it up to us.

bhsportsguy left out earlier that there was another screen portrayal of Abigail Adams. Virginia Vestoff portrayed Abigail Adams in the film version of "1776." And it was a substantial role.

Call me crazy, but I really do think that.

I'm still worried that we will have the same problem with LaRoche. It is doubtful he can come back from that injury ready to roll once his rehab stint is complete.

299 I have the same worry.

301 Depends on how the rehab goes. I would prefer that LaRoche not rush to get to rehab, but be more healed to start it, making the 20 days, or whatever the max is, of rehab the most useful it can be.

Carmona can run his sinker up to 96mph, its like Kevin Brown nasty. I don't think Miller has that type of velocity... yet.

Bring back the Solution!!!

"If you're going to spend 13 extra innings with a couple of guys, you can do a lot worse than Vasgersian and Mark "Mudcat" Grant."

I'm with you on that one, Canuck. It's hard to argue with Logan White's results regarding pitchers in recent drafts, but we now seem so much more well-stocked there over position players, it's time to focus more on that. More outfield depth would be nice, and more middle infield depth, imho.

No love for the Rockies Broadcasters?

I just think White feels more secure with pitchers and he certainly is one not to pick players projected to be drafted at certain spots.

Alas, I will be on delay so I can't do that today.

Did anybody watch Orel Hershiser play in that poker tournament yesterday? Vasgersian did the play by play for that, too. He's everywhere! (By the way, Orel defeated his heads-up opponent and moved on to the round of 32. It runs Sunday mornings on NBC. The whole thing is long since over, but I've chosen to avoid the spoilers.)

I want Aaron Hicks too!

Ideally, for some unforeseen reason, Tim Beckham would fall to us and become a dodger but that isn't happening.

Prep position players does not seem to be the strong suit for the first round in this draft so there is a good chance BPA is going to be a pitcher.

Also

http://tinyurl.com/48yvxk

Justin Miller article.

As an aside, I finally got to experience "The Dark Side of the Rainbow" due to the wonders of youtube, but being sober, I gave it a rating of "not that amazing."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmCfvcfHwKA

1) "He would NOT be a cure for what ails this offense"

2) ..."he would allow the Dodgers to ship Chin-lung Hu back to the minors where he could get regular playing time instead of having him waste away in the majors the way he is now."

3) ..."this is all pure speculation on my part ... Even if the Dodgers are interested, there might be 15 other teams interested as well"

I never quite got that "Dark Side of the Rainbow" thing -- it seemed awfully arbitrary. Back in film school I used to put on the gunfight-in-the-snowstorm climax from "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" backed with Pink Floyd's "Echoes."

That seemed to work just as well -- maybe even better, with better source material on both fronts.

Editing is like that.