As Park's save showed, technically every team leading after either five or six innings has a save opportunity, no matter what the score is.

Those three-inning saves are weird because they can change the numerator, but they don't always change the denominator. Same applies to blown saves by setup men. It only counts as a save opportunity if they blow it. Whereas for the three-inning relievers, it only counts as a save opportunity if they don't blow it.

Me and my romate live in Pasadena, and arelooking for aleague to play in...

This is one battle I won!

The least tension in any save ever:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL200708221.shtml

MC Safety asked about cribbage in the prior thread. Used to play with my Dad all the time until he moved away two years ago. As a family we played a lot of spades and hearts and a game called wisk. I think part of the allure of cribbage are the cool boards.

MCCLOUTH!!!

Boozer, strippers and gambling.

I guess that falls in line with the feast or famine offense. Saito's save was earned in the last series finale in San Diego where the Dodgers scored in the top of the 9th to take the 1 run lead.

In other news, Jim Tracy would not have enjoyed managing this team.

Not if you're good at the third one :)

The kid pitching tonight has got talent but Josh Hamilton is a game changing talent. I wonder if Ned was ever in on him since he was going to replace his CF anyway?

Everytime I watch Josh play I think that this is what a Natural looks like. How come one of you screenwriters hasn't penned a screenplay on this guy?

Scene: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
Blackjack Table, single dealer with 3-4 casino employees around him. Surrounding a young man dressed in a black tux are showgirls and several other "working girls"

Dealer: Would you like another card Mr. Minotaur.

Minotaur: Muttering to himself, 1 for good, 2 for bad, 1 for good, 2 for bad.

Eye In The Sky: He's doesn't have any electronic devices on him, no partners signaling, and we all know that noting human can count into a 8 deck shoe that is reshuffled every 3rd hand.

Dealer: Sir?

Mr. Minotaur: Yes, I'll double down.

Dealer: On a 19? Yes sir, A 2, that makes 21. You win again.

I read somewhere that maybe the Reds were worried that the hard drugs may have damaged his ability to stay healthy for a whole season but it was just conjecture.

How would you rate your competitive levels?

All the guys I am talking to played ball at least through high school, but we are pretty relaxed. Yes, we like to win, but some of them are going to be very rusty. If you are looking for an intensely competitive team, than it might not be for you. If not, than we should chat... email me at

kevblewis at sbcglobal dot net

"If we need help, he would be at the top of the list," Torre said.

Icaros is gonna have to dust off & wash up his Ghame Ohver shirt, I'm thinking he'll come up this year.

I do not buy for one second that Pathology is so gory that it will turn gore-hounds off.

I'm going to the game vs. the Rockies this Saturday so I'll buy a media guide to confirm these things.

I think this was a study of Hall of Fame and Hall of Very Good players, though, so the results might or might not apply to players like Hamilton.

http://tinyurl.com/3294v7

Actually I like getting the Media Guide, I did get one on Opening Day, it was a nice gift that gave out at last years, DT day.

Of course, those are just averages, and not all players fall within that range. Zack Wheat peaked at 36, Al Kaline at 20.

I don't feel so bad now.

Seconded.

No?

l.tabb@mpglaw.com

And that's a nice touch if Kemp is in center. And realistic too.

F8,8-3 DP

1-0, good guys.

Go, Kuo!

FWIW, Furcal, not Nomar, was the headline and lead in La Opinión today.

Boo!

Well you want to talk about bad luck, we have it. Poor Kuo (Gou). Whatever.

126 Lined somehere below Kuo's Mendoza line, ball went into foul territory near 3B.

As a side note, Kuo is now pronouncing his name in a higher octave.

Tony Abreu saw his Philadelphia-based surgeon today and is headed back to Los Angeles to undergo a contrast MRI on his right hip.

Right hip? Now what?

Andy LaRoche went 0 for 2 with three walks and a hit by pitch [in extended Spring Training, I imagine] and is off to begin a rehabilitation assignment with Class AA Jacksonville.

"not so close, whaddya think I got that insurance?"

over and over and over. Kinda like what we've had to go through for two years now with this sickeningly stupid ever present ad.

Let's go K/Gou (claps)

the pitch was middle away (the dinger) but I think if K/Gou pitches him middle IN you won't have the result K/Gou had.

Nah, that's crazy talk.

They write about Furcal's injury and his inability to recover due to daily play as if Furcal was solely responsible for putting himself in the lineup each day.

Grady could've sat him, but apparently was, what, afraid to?

Sigh. Well, these guys can come back. Just need to limit the damage.

Otherwise, who knows, before long we could be seeing The Schmidtataur, or the Minotaur.

4 great pitches and one bad one.

Probably the right move to pull him, but a crappy result.

If the team doesnt come back tonight, its absolutely imperative they win at least 1 vs the Dbax.

[kisses fingers, shows peace sign & walks out the door]

The whole system is out of order!!!

His slider is a bona-fide out pitch. Kuo didnt pitch as bad as his line looked. Votto got a single by sticking the bat out and toching the ball, Hairston had a blooper, Dunn should have been k'd but then hits a homer, and Votta gets a dribbler for a hit. Thats 4 hits right there that were pretty much the result of bad luck.

11 pitch inning for Volquez, 73 in 5 IP, not that Dusty's counting.

I'm kind of PO'ed right now but I don't wanna show it, are my acting skills up to par peepz?

Welp fellas, at least we have our health! That goes for the Dodgers, too :)

--Motorhead

The bad thing is if you have to burn up your pen everytime but if you can somehow win 50% of those starts, I think you will take that with a smile.

So glad that Jones signing is working out for us!

Did you order that red alert?

Tell me the truth!

2008 Dodgers first 20 games possibly 8-12

2007 Yankees first 20 games - 8-12 (finished April 9-14, May 22-29)

Joe has seen this before.

Peeeeeew.

:(

The 1st was Schmidt.

I'm thinking he looks like this tonight >> [http://tinyurl.com/3eznj3 ] You gotta copy & paste frip, you MUST! (too funny!)

J. Schmidt - Bust
E. Loaiza - Bust

A. Jones - So far a Bust
J. Pierre - He is what he is.

Nomar- Resigned

Hope he is on a short leash if this season continues the way it is.

Although I do like his arm action. He needs to stop cuffing the ball though.

Though a few minutes ago after his at bat he looked like he could star in his own Marlboro layout.

Any predictions?

Ned is not a monarch in the front office.

I have friends who are telling me tonight that I be a sentimental fool.

Voloquez rolls off the tongue better.

Evidently, those guys saw stuff with their eyes that didnt show up in the stats or radar gun that caused them to give an endorsement of signing each guy.

GMs, even bad ones, usually are not as expendable as managers, possibly because they are closer to the owners than the field manager.

Also, Torre will deflect some of the attack.
Now if Joe wants him fired, that's another story.

Cycle alert canceled.

Stand down.

*Unless, of course, said GM does not mingle at club Christmas parties.

I think scouts use radar guns.... unless the Dodgers only have scouts who are 80 years old.

Now they were all right handed so that could explain, Piazza generally hit everybody but it wasn't enough.

I have to admit, finishing in last, with the Giants in the same division, would take a monumentally bad team. If that doesn't fire a GM in the Nation's #2 market, I'd be surprised.

---

Here is a summary of my frustration tonight.

When I go around the dial on Extra Innings, I see everyone, almost every team getting extra base hits.

If the Dodgers were losing 13-3, it might be more tolerable, but tonight, we could end up scoring 1 run in 3 out of 4 games. That doesn't even seem fair. Most teams can score 3-5 runs by accident.

That's basically it. I know the Dodgers will pick it up, but at the moment that's what I'm thinking.

If the D's had no money they would be close to Arizona and Colorado.

The same is true of the D'Backs. I am especially guilty of this. I swear the D'Backs will have an "x" next to their name in the standings by June. But if I believe that I'd also have to believe the Marlins (12-7) will win their division, Baltimore (12-8) is really the second best team in the AL East and the White Sox (11-7) will trounce the Tigers and Indians.

None of these things are true. The Tigers, Yanks and Indians are very good teams. The Dodgers will heat up. The D'Backs will cool down. I wish we had opened the season hot but we led the division into Aug last year and what good did that do us? The truth is 20 games into the season there are a lot of mis-leading records, including the Dodgers'.

(So anyone convinced? Anyone?)

Ned will get the heat this year. Last year, he passed it to Grady. He wont get the chance to do it with a "proven winner" like Torre.

Crap, now I'm stealing and not even knowing it. This must be what Dane Cook feels like.

-Team sucks til ASB
-McCourt cans Colletti. Anoints White as GM
-White calls up Clayton
-Dodgers have a natural progression to the mean in the second half and win wild card
-White gets 10 year contract
-Justin Upton demands a trade to the Dodgers.

A's Mum on Interest in Big Hurt, and so is the reporter

http://tinyurl.com/4ttvxj

Yeaaahh Giants.

It's more likely that LaRoche will become Betemit.

Only The Shadow knows...by which I mean Ned.

Will Upton agree to a Longoria type contract?

Joba Chamberlain.

http://www.truebluela.com/2008/4/22/447484/support-ned

But I voted for Colletti anyway. And it felt good.

those germans have a word for everything!

Upton will be like A-Rod where his first FA year will be just as he hits his prime years, you know Boras will point at A-Rod's deals though defensively a RF is less valuable than a SS.

D-Back fans can feel at ease for now but come 2010, they better hope Boras is no longer his agent.

Which is definitely a stretch. I feel okay about my joke now. Heck, after 20 years, pretty much every joke can be stretched into a Simpsons joke.

Sorry Dbacks, you will only enjoy him until he is 26.

plate discipline and in game power.

The deal includes a $6.1 million signing bonus payable over five years, the largest-ever sum for a drafted player on a minor-league contract.

He gets $400,000 of the signing bonus upon approval of the contract, $400,000 at the end of the year, $1 million each in 2007 and 2008, $1.3 million in 2009 and $2 million in 2010, according to the Associated Press.

Both are going to be superstars.

what is considered "far?"

Or possibly the Ripkens. If the Dodgers had ever signed a Ripken, it would have been Billy.

Exciting!

That's an HOF and an All-Star. And I am excluding Vince.

protest Joe, protest.

But I will ease a bigger injustice by feeding the cats fromupstairs.

Its probably the homer in me talking but Kemp gets so many of those outside pitches that are 3-5 inches off the plate called strikes on him. Normally I don't care, but for a player like Kemp who is actively working on his plate discipline skills, it might motivate him to ditch the effort and just swing at those pitches if the umps keep calling them strikes.

which in turn, won't let him realize his potential and eventually cause the Bison to become... extinct.

/end homer rant.

1. Dimaggios
2. Waners
3. Bretts
4. Alous
5. Ripkens

Pitchers

1. Perrys
2. Niekros

Otherwise, can't argue too much.

Boy the Philly Flyers sure have a knack for winning overtime games on the road!

example: http://tinyurl.com/5nxrj6

>> The Seattle Seahawks released former MVP Shaun Alexander, just 26 months after he signed a $62 million contract as the franchise's cornerstone. <<

http://tinyurl.com/3kk5p7

Or the Hairstons.

http://tinyurl.com/5qgnuc

Because like Scherzer, I think their elbows are going to explode and require a trip to Dr. Jobe.

Can there be any dispute that Bobby and Barry are the best father-son combo to ever play. Only other one I can think of is the Alous. But just wait until Preston gets here. He and Don will knock the Bonds off that pedestal.

I hope you don't have some place to be while you wait because you might be waiting a while.

Cecil and Prince Fielder (oh wait, Prince has no father according to him). Leron and Derrick Lee.

Actually a more fan friendly version would be Ken and Jr. Griffey.

Makes no sense, doesn't fit the Dodgers' apparent strategy of playing the young guys, offers no answer to where he'd play in the field. And Thomas doesn't seem to be near what he was.

In other words, an ideal move for Ned.

Wonder if it's crossed Ned's mind to look up Sammy Sosa?

Bite my tongue--twice.

OMGz best D-line EVARRRzzzz

Why would any GM? Thomas won't have a job until Piazza and Bonds do, and that will only happen if a team like the Red Sox gets decimated by injuries.

1-0 , ERA 0.00, 5.2 IP, 5H, 0 BB, 7K, WHIP 0.88. One hold, 2 GF.

Small sample, etc. But too bad the Dodgers didn't think he deserved more of a chance despite putting up pretty good numbers in Las Vegas' launching pad.

But no alert now.

Or trade down with the Jets and still get Ellis? Chris Long doesn't excite me too much. Solid vs. the run, will make some hustle plays, but does he have the burst to rush the passer against LTs as a 4-3 DE?

I don't really think he'll do anything as dumb as signing Thomas. Kind of a DT reverse psychology...mention it and maybe he won't make that or other PVL moves. But there is precedent for mind-numbingly dumb ones.

He was 10x better in the second half. Essentially in # of games played, he was still in his first year last year. I think he will be good enough with all the other talent on the team.

They're all in different situations, and he seems to have figured out what they each need:

Ethier: a chance to play everyday, which by all rights he has earned.
Kemp: a chance to mature without feeling like he's got to carry the offense
Jones: a chance to shake off whatever nerves are preventing him from getting comfortable. There's only so much Torre can do, but he hasn't made it worse.
Pierre: a chance to show he belongs in the lineup, either here or somewhere else.

Given how crummy the Dodgers are playing now, it seems that Torre's got them on an even keel, and capable of playing a game like last night's. This doesn't feel like a death spiral.

Sidney Rice was def the better pick over Dwayne Jarrett. I'm glad they did okay there.

oh and that #28 isn't half bad.

No rushes over 40 yards last year. Fargas got fat against Denver, KC, and Miami (3 of the worst 5 run defenses). Fargas never had more than 3 catches a game and lacks consistent hands, a plus in McFadden's resume.

Just think he would impact the game more than Long if Long has to play in a 4-3.

Look at Denver's rushing attack with guys like Portis and T. Davis, to guys like Reuben Droughns and Travis Henry. Yeah, the 1,100 yards still show up at the end, but the effectiveness is not the same.

Come on, it's Al Davis :)

Is the upgrade from Richardson/Edwards to Long that big? Or who's your pick.

Solid one-dimensional run-plugging DTs can be found in the 4th round, or discarded by other teams in the summer. Guys like Grady Jackson, Sam Adams, John Parrella back in the day...those guys seem available often enough.

McFadden goes dead on contact when you hit him low. He has to be in open space, much like Reggie Bush. I am not sure those types of players are worth that high a pick.

Someone else needs to start posting for Raider Thoughts to end.

And I still don't see Long as a legit pass-rushing threat in a 4-3 defense.

Not that I care all that much, Raiders aren't my team.

I didn't watch that much NFL or college last year to be able to say much about the draft.

Lack of homeruns from Kemp, and corner IF positions have sputtered the offense.

Kershaw by late May?

BTW, as I have said before here, I believe Barry will beat the charges. I have read part of the grand jury examination and less objectionable questions from first year law students.

Fargas also has skinny legs and rarely breaks tackles. Just saying I dont see how McFadden isn't seen as a pretty good upgrade, especially considering health history and hands.

429 - I suspect if football returns to the area it will be in the form of the San Diego Chargers of Anaheim.

I'm a big believer in not waiting around for the home run, I'd rather just put the ball in play and see what happens.

I have an affinity for teams that continually let down their fan base.

Those guys that do put the ball in play? I would just rather we show that we have one or two that can hit it over the wall more than 25 times this year.

Just thinking of that man creates a sense of revulsion I usually reserve for genocidal maniacs.

"Take that, below average pitcher".

Those Mark Reynolds HRs in AZ made me feel the Dodgers were very inferior. Again, maybe it's just me, but I wonder what effect those bombs have on a team's psyche during a game or even long-term if the HRs are strung together over an important series.

The American War for Independence was not a revolution. Please do not refer to it as such.

Thanks ;-)

Speaking of the NFL draft, should I represent the Broncos or has Hallux already done that? My hope is that they get Ryan Clady, but now it sounds like he may be gone before they pick at 12. In which case Williams of Vandy (who has blocked for Cutler before). They need another OT desperately. I would also be happy about USC's LB Rivers. Some of the other guys they're interested in sound like reaches at 12 so they could also draft down for more picks.

I think the Raiders should go with the best guy available and if that's not one of the Longs, then it should be Dorsey or Gholston. If they want an RB, then McFadden, but something about him scares me off.

The War for Southern Awesomeness?

However, I think Torre just wants to ride this out and believes the winning will come.

Guessing we are better than our record shows, but it would probably help that record if we used those guys in more important situations.

If so, our teams will be battling again. Sharks vs the Avalanche.

Okay, I'll give you fried foods. The war of fried food supremacy, perhaps?

Denver taking Rivers would be a great fit, and not a happy thought to Oakland fans.

When he was traded, Shaq told his team to not worry about fitting him into their game, that he will be the who adjusts. It's not looking that way.

I could see how a shorter swing might lead to more contact, but as Pierre shows us, that does not lead to better hitting.

At least something went right today.

No, I have no evidence for this, other than 20+ years of watching baseball.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxIIAtV_LSw]

Dramarama - What are we gonna do

Vote Whig in '08. Thank you.

Baseball thought: if Pat Burrell keeps this up, will he actually make that All-Star team? And finally make [JD Drew / Beltre / Eric Chavez] the most overpaid player never to make one?

Movie Thought: When this "King Kong" remake that's on AMC came out in 1976...did people think those special effects were actually realistic?

If so...what was wrong with those people??

Vote for the less old past.

Thats actually not true at all. The difference between a single and a home run isnt the length of the swing, its where you hit the ball. When Matt Kemp hits a bomb its because his swing is short and compact and super quick. Watch any one of Chase Utley's 9 homers this year and you'll see what i mean. For the most part, the team isnt making solid contact day in and day out, and thus, they are extremely inconsistent.

As for shortening your swing, that really doesnt exist today in the major leagues. Juan Pierre does that but thats because he knows he cant ever strike out. I actually dont like when players do that because it is unnatural and can lead to mechanical problems.

Come back into the fold, Marty. We need you!

Guess I'm the only Free Soiler here?

Actually, I feel like everyone on DT should be a Torre Party member.

Lousy Freemasons.

No.

No.

My one solace this morning: the Snakes aside, the rest of the NL Worst is as bad as we are. How can this team be a game out of second?

And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon England's mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On England's pleasant pastures seen!
And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold:
Bring me my Chariot of fire!
I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor Shall my sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In England's green & pleasant Land.

And thats really rare to do.

I'm a big believer in not waiting around for the home run, I'd rather just put the ball in play and see what happens.

I'd rather just put it over the fence.

home runs are over rated. The inability to get a hit with runners on base (.224 BA w/men on, .311 BA w/no men on - 4 homeruns with runners on, 11 solo shots)

Wouldnt it be better to hit more home runs with runners on base? Sure, getting hits is great with men on. But a home run is also considered a "hit". In every AB, regardless of men on base or bases empty--the goal is to make hard contact against strikes, and not swing at the bad pitches.