Baseball Toaster Dodger Thoughts
Help
Jon Weisman's outlet
for dealing psychologically
with the Los Angeles Dodgers
and baseball.
Frozen Toast
Search
Google Search
Web
Toaster
Dodger Thoughts
Archives

2009
02  01 

2008
12  11  10  09  08  07 
06  05  04  03  02  01 

2007
12  11  10  09  08  07 
06  05  04  03  02  01 

2006
12  11  10  09  08  07 
06  05  04  03  02  01 

2005
12  11  10  09  08  07 
06  05  04  03  02  01 

2004
12  11  10  09  08  07 
06  05  04  03  02  01 

2003
12  11  10  09  08  07 
06  05  04  03  02  01 

2002
09  08  07 
About Jon
Thank You For Not ...

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

Life on the West Coast: Not That There's Anything Wrong With It ...
2008-04-29 00:25
by Jon Weisman

I love it when Eastern transplants blame a West Coast mentality for the ills of Los Angeles. Let me emphasize that this is no big deal, but consider Derek Lowe's interview with Tony Jackson in this morning's Daily News:

So if a curse isn't responsible for the Dodgers having gone almost two decades without a reason to really celebrate, then what is?

Like almost everyone else in Southern California, Derek Lowe has his own theory.

"Having played on both coasts, I can see how people might get lulled into something when they play on the West Coast," the Dodgers right-hander said. "It's a laid-back atmosphere and we draw great fans. It's always sunny and 75 degrees. You can very easily get lulled into an attitude of, 'Whatever happens, happens.' I can definitely see how that could happen.

"I'm not saying that's the reason they haven't had success for 20 years. They have had all kinds of different teams, and I can't explain how they haven't won here. For the talent they have had here over 'X' amount of years, to have won one (postseason) game, when they were already down 2-0 in the series?

"Some people who have played this game for a long time say there is a certain mentality out here, that it's more about entertainment than winning.

"I'm not saying that's true, but a lot of people say that about Southern California."

Derek Lowe is from Dearborn, Michigan. In the current starting rotation, only Tijuana's Esteban Loaiza is from the Pacific time zone. In the everyday lineup, Jeff Kent is the only Californian - the next closest is Andre Ethier from Arizona.

So I guess this is gonna be the Dodgers' year - if us mellow Southern Californians in the stands don't ruin it for everyone. Perhaps it's a generational thing. Look at the Lakers since 1988; they haven't won a thing - oh, wait ...

And to think I was under the impression that Dodger fans had started booing too much.

(It seems almost too perfect that on the same day, Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise informs us that the Dodgers have hired sports psychologist Dana Sinclair. Would an East Coast team have the granolas to do that?)

Update: And now my Variety compadre Mike Schneider passes along the news at Franklin Avenue that Travel + Leisure magazine and its readers hate Los Angeles.

Comments (92)
Show/Hide Comments 1-50
2008-04-29 01:06:35
1.   DGutierrez32
Bench Kent?

I don't see how anybody would buy that logic, after all the Angels have had success "out here" and they play their home games in SoCal.

2008-04-29 01:20:11
2.   LoneStar7
I don't buy that, I think DOdgers fans have far more passion than many teams in the mlb. If you're anywhere near the pavilions in Giants, Angels, Padres gear your gonna get alot of heckling.

I was in out near the outfield along the first base line for the padres series on a saturday night, and I hadn't seen that many fights or ejections at any dodger game in a long while. On top of that the Sox fans where getting lit into at the coliseum for an exhibition game.

And lets not forget that we pull int he second highest annual attendance. If I thought our players felt laid back, and just here for entertainment, I'd be furious.

2008-04-29 02:23:35
3.   Dave G
Yeah, maybe it's the amazing weather that dampens our expectations as a group of fans and makes us "laid-back"... unlike Laker fans who, despite being in the same city, seem to demand a championship every year... or maybe it's the consistent commitment to mediocrity on the part of Dodger management since fox took over that has lowered our expectations for the team's success. But it might be a little troublesome for that to be the theory advanced by the players.
2008-04-29 03:00:56
4.   Sagehen
Anybody who thinks L.A. is laid back has never driven on the freeways.
2008-04-29 03:55:44
5.   adamclyde
Lowe just dropped a few more points in my opinion...

After living the first 20 years of my live in southern california, I've lived the last 10 on the East Coast. You have no idea how common that mentality is among people. Californians just aren't that ambitious. They don't work too hard. etc., etc. What they are really saying is that since they don't live in (or were born in) California, they somehow have superior work ethic and intellect.

Nothing makes me more angry than seeing people propagate this stupid mentality. I sometimes comfort myself with the fact that only stupid people would really believe that what they see on TV is really what Southern California is all about. But then I get frustrated with how many people are willing to accept an obviously stupid generalization. Maybe it makes them feel better?

2008-04-29 03:57:38
6.   CanuckDodger
I think the "arrive late, leave early" thing, plus the beach balls, have a huge effect on the way Dodger fans are perceived outside of Los Angeles. Really, any discussion of the topic has to begin with those things.
2008-04-29 04:07:56
7.   mankatododger
For those of you awake early, Mike and Mike just announced that Vin will be on their show during the last hour (6-7 am Pacific time).
2008-04-29 04:48:16
8.   Bluebleeder87
thanks for the heads up MankatoDodger
2008-04-29 05:39:43
9.   mankatododger
No problem Blue. They say it will be at 20 after the hour.
2008-04-29 06:15:47
10.   Marty
Derek Lowe has Larry Bowa for brains.
2008-04-29 06:28:04
11.   Penarol1916
10. Now that is a great line.
2008-04-29 06:49:55
12.   Chiron Brown
Southern Californians have been described this way by Easterners for 200 years. Western natives were called lazy, flighty, stupid and immodest. In reality, this had nothing to do with character and everything to do with climate. They were used to seeing east coast Indians who farmed, built permanent structures and wore lots of clothing. None of these things were necessary to survival here. The Easterners, egocentrically, saw this not for what it was but as some sort of flaw. It would be like saying people in Alaska are anti-social because they spend so much time in their homes. Every group that has lived here has had to deal with the same biases, most of which can be attributed to climate or landscape.
2008-04-29 07:25:14
13.   madmac
12 but climate and landscape don't explain why east coasters are so obnoxious
2008-04-29 07:29:34
14.   Penarol1916
13. No, I believe that has more to do with population density and the fact that east coasters tend to live right on top of each other. That leads to them being pushy and rude in an effort to stand out.
2008-04-29 07:31:17
15.   madmac
I wish Larry Brown would go away.
2008-04-29 07:32:02
16.   Disabled List
Everyone, let's not forget that Derek Lowe is a meathead. He reminds me of one of the GEICO cavemen. The "it's more about entertainment than winning" thing is pure nonsense, and he didn't even have the stones to declare it himself, but instead couched it in soft "a lot of people say" language.

However, I don't think the first part of his quote here is that inflammatory. Everybody knows that Southern California has a different vibe than the East Coast. That's what makes it Southern California.

2008-04-29 07:38:55
17.   madmac
14 I guess that's the difference. On the west coast if you want to stand out you get implants.
2008-04-29 07:41:52
18.   madmac
16 yeah nothing wrong with what he said until the 2nd paragraph. What do I care though it's sunny and supposed to be in the 80's today.
2008-04-29 07:45:27
19.   Jon Weisman
The kicker in this is not the stereotype of Southern Californians, it's the idea that even those believing in it could actually think that the stereotype is a reason for the Dodger organization's failures. It's high-order buck-passing: "The beach balls made us think winning didn't matter!"

Of course, the only post-'88 Dodger general manager born on the West Coast was Kevin Malone. Now there's a man who wanted to get things done.

2008-04-29 07:51:17
20.   scareduck
19 - and he did, just not in a good way.
2008-04-29 07:54:23
21.   madmac
19 yeah, that has become pretty typical of our society. make excuses and blame everyone else while taking no responsibility for your own failures.

"It's not my fault? It's not my fault....It's Mac's fault!"

2008-04-29 07:55:39
22.   madmac
20 yeah he was not a very good sheriff
2008-04-29 07:55:44
23.   Xeifrank
The answer is obvious. The Dodgers need more players from Texas on their team. Well, atleast one more...
vr, Xei
2008-04-29 07:56:26
24.   ToyCannon
Every time D Lowe opens his mouth I usually wish he had kept it shut. Depo may have hit it big with the performance of Lowe, Kent, and Drew but I could have lived without any of them ever having donned Dodger Blue.

A little more to the scouting report I provided yesterday on Cory Wade from HQ.
"April 26
Cory Wade (RHP, LAD)
To give them some depth and length in the bullpen, the Dodgers recalled the 24 year-old control artist from Double-A. Wade isn't blessed with any above average offering, but he has outstanding command and control. He was drafted as a starter, but converted to a reliever in '06. He isn't a strikeout artist, though his K rate has increased in the bullpen. Wade's fastball usually sits in the high 80s and his breaking ball and changeup are average at best. His best traits are his command, control and durability. Wade rarely allows walks - career 2.1 Ctl. Because he gets ahead of hitters consistently with his fastball, his secondary pitches seem that much more effective."

2008-04-29 07:57:31
25.   Jon Weisman
And just for fun, how many years have the New York Mets gone without winning a World Series? How many years did the Boston Red Sox go?
2008-04-29 07:58:18
26.   Bumsrap
This East coast, West coast thing, frankly, I just don't care.
2008-04-29 07:59:02
27.   StolenMonkey86
What's funny was Derek Lowe was teammates with Pedro Martinez for 7 years. You'd think he might have guessed that having Pedro helps your chances in the playoffs...
2008-04-29 07:59:17
28.   D4P
25
Phillies? Pirates? Orioles? Expos/Nationals?
2008-04-29 08:06:19
29.   StolenMonkey86
The Phillies won a pennant in 1993. Although if we're talking about the WS, how about the Giants' failure to do that since 1954?
2008-04-29 08:07:41
30.   regfairfield
We could never compete with the fastlane that is Dearborn, Michigan out here on the West Coast.
2008-04-29 08:09:33
31.   fracule
Also, the Los Angeles Dodgers have won more pennants
and world series than any other NL team since moving to Los Angeles. You can stick that in your pipe and smoke it! (Of course you must be in the designated smoking area, which is anywhere outside of California.)
2008-04-29 08:11:56
32.   regfairfield
A West Coast team hasn't been able to beat a non West Coast team for the World Series since 1981.
2008-04-29 08:13:26
33.   CanuckDodger
12 -- But maybe Americans thinking Americans in regions other than their own lack a certain, well, "get-up-and-go," predates any East-West rivalry? The founder of Richmond, Virginia, William Byrd II, in the early 1700's, wrote of North Carolinians,

"They make their wives rise out of their beds early in the morning, at the same time that they lie and snore, till the sun has risen one third of his course, and dispersed all the unwholesome damps. Then, after stretching and yawning for half an hour, they light their pipes, and, under the protection of a cloud of smoke, venture out into the open air; though, if it happens to be ever so little cold, they quickly return shivering into the chimney corner. When the weather is mild, they stand leaning with both their arms upon the cornfield fence, and gravely consider whether they had best go and take a small heat at the hoe: but generally find reasons to put it off till another time...To speak the truth, it is a thorough aversion to labor that makes people file off to North Carolina..."

Now THAT is the American history HBO should be dramatizing for you guys, instead of tired stuff about John Adams.:)

2008-04-29 08:14:23
34.   Ken Noe
24 Agreed. Plus, during the spring, someone reported--I think here--that Lowe bad-mouthed Scully in a bar near Vero. That alone should get you moved to a bad team for prospects.
2008-04-29 08:15:13
35.   Marty
Isn't D4P in North Carolina? Hmmmm.....
2008-04-29 08:18:28
36.   regfairfield
34 Allegedly bad mouthed...
2008-04-29 08:19:57
37.   Ken Noe
Rotoworld reports Lieberthal signing a one-day contract with the Phils, so he can retire as one. Hey Ned...Nomo....
2008-04-29 08:20:22
38.   fracule
31 It's true. Also, in that time we have only won 15%
(4 of 26) of the WS, and have a full 20% of the teams in the league.
2008-04-29 08:20:53
39.   Ken Noe
36 Agreed.
2008-04-29 08:21:21
40.   fracule
Sorry meant 32, not 31. Dang.
2008-04-29 08:21:24
41.   regfairfield
37 We don't have any space on the 40 man roster to do that. Maybe when the inevitable Chan Ho DFA comes.
2008-04-29 08:23:57
42.   LogikReader
Why don't we trade Lowe to the Tigers for Carlos Guillen? Does Michigan even count as "East Coast?"
2008-04-29 08:24:38
43.   Jon Weisman
You don't need to sign Nomo to a contract to honor him.
2008-04-29 08:25:34
44.   LogikReader
Guillen is a tremendously bad example... Let's trade both Lowe and Slap Hitter #9 for [fill in the blank]
2008-04-29 08:25:53
45.   Ken Noe
41 I assume Nomo will still try for awhile to catch on somewhere, so I'd be content to wait until the rosters expand.
2008-04-29 08:27:24
46.   Kevin Lewis
"I'm not saying that's true, but a lot of people say that about Southern California."

This is the comment that pisses me off the most. What a weak cop out. Either buck up and admit this is how you feel, or don't even bring up the topic at all. What a lazy way to express something you think to be true without owning up to the opinion.

2008-04-29 08:28:18
47.   Ken Noe
43 Very true, but it would be an added gesture. Lieberthal gets to put on the uni one more time and go out in style.
2008-04-29 08:32:33
48.   StolenMonkey86
33 - So you're saying Grady Little really did leave voluntarily?
2008-04-29 08:34:06
49.   StolenMonkey86
43 - agreed. Let him throw out the first pitch at a game.
2008-04-29 08:37:13
50.   Hythloday
42 Well as some are wont to point out, if Northwestern is in Illinois then Michigan is definitely not east coast.

This is like the good ole days when P. Diddy shot Tupac. Can we just have some drive-by baseball beanings to resolve this. I've worked on the West coast hand sign for years; I'm still better at the Vulcan hand sign, but I'm dying to bust out the new one.

Show/Hide Comments 51-100
2008-04-29 08:38:54
51.   LogikReader
37

That reminds me so much of how Charles Barkley, with his knee shot, came back for one game in Houston to finish his career on his terms. It was funny, but in a way, I'm glad it made Charles happy.

-- but really, it wasn't necessary.

2008-04-29 08:39:01
52.   Bob Timmermann
Laid back Larry Bowa is from Sacramento. So I suppose the laid back part doesn't apply to people who grew up in the Central Valley.

The 1960s Dodgers had fairly laid back and introspective Brooklyn native Sandy Koufax and Van Nuys hothead Don Drysdale.

2008-04-29 08:39:53
53.   Jon Weisman
47 - I don't know - I mean, it wasn't needed for Fernando, for Garvey, for anyone up to now. I really don't think it adds much.

I'm not opposed to it - I just would hate to see a roadblock to giving thanks to Nomo because of the Dodgers don't want to start a new precedent.

2008-04-29 08:40:36
54.   ToyCannon
It is almost like Boston never went through the drought. It is so easy for athletes to blame everyone but themselves for failure.

I tried to answer Jon's question yesterday but ran out of time. Reading El Lay Dave's answer made it more crystal for me. Other then the child he has, our lives are eerily similar but his having a child changes everything. My biggest hope is that no one close to me ever loses a child again. I can barely deal with it, I don't know how they do it.

Most of my conscious dreams have passed me by but my self conscious still feels I'm only 15, 20, 40, 24. So I guess I'd hope that my self conscious never gives up my dreams and continues to entertain me while I sleep. I hope this doesn't sound pathetic but man I have some great dreams. I attribute it, to the life I've lead and the books I've read and the fact I didn't have children killing my sleeping schedule. Between 04:00 and 04:10 this morning all 68 inches of me was kicking butt in an NCAA tournament game. I have no idea what team I was on but I hope it was Gonzaga.

I do expect the Dodgers to win a World Championship before my brain melts down but I'm not losing any sleep over it. If they don't win one in real life, I'll just dream one up for them. As much as I follow the Dodgers I don't really care that we haven't won a world championship. Probably because I already have two in my lifetime so my bag is full but I do understand how it grates at those of you who have not witnessed any.

2008-04-29 08:42:14
55.   Ken Noe
53 Fair enough--I hadn't considered the precedent angle, honestly.
2008-04-29 08:46:41
56.   fanerman
Hmm, apparently people from NorCal have the same view of SoCal that east coasters have of all west coasters.
2008-04-29 08:48:10
57.   Disabled List
Jon Heyman has a piece up on SI.com listing the seven GMs most on the hot seat. Our boy NedCo checks in at no. 3. The other six are Sabean (of course), Bavasi, Daniels, Bowden, Ricciardi, and Minaya. Interesting that, when listing Colletti's faults, Heyman doesn't even mention the hitter who used to be Andruw Jones:

3. Ned Colletti, Dodgers. This baseball lifer waited a long time to get his dream job, and it was a hire applauded in many circles. Sabean's right-hand man during the Giants' heyday also previously worked as a PR man and sportswriter (not a bad Dodger formula, as Fred Claire, another ex-writer, did a decent job as L.A.'s GM).

Colletti's first year, 2006, brought some wise deadline deals, including one for Greg Maddux that helped pushed L.A. into the playoffs. But the Dodgers have done a lot of disappointing lately, perhaps partly because of a lack of clubhouse cohesiveness. A few notable free-agent missteps haven't helped, though, especially the signings of Juan Pierre and ex-Giant Jason Schmidt, whose arm has bothered him practically since hitting L.A.

2008-04-29 08:52:32
58.   D4P
57
I don't see why Sabean would all-of-a-sudden be on the "hot seat".
2008-04-29 09:00:52
59.   kinbote
24 I'm no scout, but Wade's curve looks a wee bit better than "average at best." Maybe it's these rose-colored glasses I'm wearing . . .
2008-04-29 09:01:21
60.   Neal Pollack
I don't want to sit here and praise the Giants, but I think Sabean and Bochy have done an outstanding job weaving gold out of straw so far. Considering how much worse their prospects are, overall, than ours, you have to be impressed at the way they've integrated their veterans and their rookies. They'll probably end up fourth or fifth in the division, but they won't be one of the "worst teams of all time," which is quite an accomplishment. Take away Zito's 0-6 record and they're an above .500 team.
2008-04-29 09:01:33
61.   regfairfield
57 All Heyman putting down Jones as a bad signing in April is potentially give FJM ammo to use at a later date.
2008-04-29 09:05:31
63.   kinbote
57 If Colletti gets a ticket out of town, it will be a Pierre/Schmidt/Jones trifecta. What's truly scary is to think about the trade he might make to save his job.
2008-04-29 09:07:38
64.   regfairfield
60 The Giants are the kings of out performing their Pythagorean record right now. They should be 9-18.
2008-04-29 09:07:52
65.   kinbote
62 Wade must be an east coaster.
2008-04-29 09:08:10
66.   LogikReader
63

I don't think we have anything to worry about unless the Dodgers are still below .500 by the trading deadline. What are the odds of that happening?

2008-04-29 09:10:45
67.   regfairfield
And you know, we still do live in a world where the Orioles and the Rays are tied for first in the AL East.
2008-04-29 09:14:24
68.   kinbote
66 You're probably right. The only positions I could see Colletti "upgrading" would be 3b & the bullpen. Considering we have DeWitt/LaRoche/Nomar to cover 3b, that essentially leaves the bullpen. With Saito struggling early on [though he does have a valid excuse], I could see Colletti desiring an impact late-inning arm. All things considered, that's really the most realistic move I would expect to see at the deadline.
2008-04-29 09:17:06
69.   Hythloday
64 A team with Zito pitching should logically outperform their Pythagorean record. Not much different than the D'Backs last year.
2008-04-29 09:17:26
70.   KingKopitar
I think people from the East Coast use sport to denigrate people from the Southwest because they can't dismiss them on economic grounds and they can't say that they don't have any people. The only thing they really have left is the fact that their teams have been around longer and they're working class fans are white.

I deal with this stuff all the time as a hockey fan, especially the ideas that ice is worse in warm-weather cities and people won't watch hockey because they didn't skate on a pond when they were little.

2008-04-29 09:17:46
71.   Jon Weisman
62. Neal Pollack (edited)
Also, I was at Wade's debut game, and I had a good view of the 1st base line in the loge. After he plunked Drew, Drew was jawing at him, and Wade visibly grabbed his own crotch and mouthed (something profane) to Drew. This was the same inning that Torre and Kent got tossed. My friend at the came said, "man, the Dodgers are the Charlestown Chiefs," and I had to agree with him. Win or lose, this is a damn entertaining squad, loaded with oddballs.
2008-04-29 09:19:20
72.   GoBears
This reminds me of a friend of mine (from the Midwest) who argued that the reason that obviously superior Big-10 teams would lose Rose Bowls to Pac-10 teams (in the good ol' days before the BCS) was that their players would be distracted all week before the game by the weather and the girls wearing practically nothing in January in Los Angeles -- that LA culture was a built-in advantage for the Pac 10. That made about as much sense as Derek Lowe.
2008-04-29 09:22:13
73.   regfairfield
69 As much as Zito is a punch line right now, there's other pitchers that have been worse than him who aren't getting the pythagorean benifits. One bad pitcher isn't enough to completely throw the basics of how wins are created out of whack.
2008-04-29 09:22:17
74.   dzzrtRatt
62 is S. Drew a holy man like his brother?

0 Lowe's, or Jackson's, premise is faulty. Except maybe 1994, the Dodgers haven't had the best team in the National League since the 50s. I'm a fan, but I can't think of a year when I looked at a Dodger team and said, aha! flawless! Even in the 70s heyday, I feared the Reds because I thought they were a little better.

We could've gotten lucky like '88 another time or two, but it's not like we've been cursed, or really even underachieved. We've just had a series of weak GMs who overrated their own judgment -- a universal trait, not a West Coast specialty.

2008-04-29 09:24:53
75.   Eric Stephen
Echoing the thoughts earlier in the thread, Vin Scully was indeed on Mike & Mike this morning, because tonight he is receiving the first annual Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award from Fordham University, his alma mater.

More info on the event tonight here:

http://www.wfuv.org/gala/
http://tinyurl.com/6anqd2

The interview was classic Scully. Wonderful, melodic delivery, overly humble. One of the Mikes asked him how he would like to be remembered, and Scully (perhaps echoing yesterday's theme) said roughly the following:

"I hope I'm remembered first as a good father, a good husband, and a good man. And, oh yeah, he used to call sports for a living too."

2008-04-29 09:26:21
76.   Terry A
72 - I dunno. The distractions you noted would have an intoxicatingly deleterious effect on me...
2008-04-29 09:28:51
77.   Bob Timmermann
Rose Bowl theories:
1970s: "The Big 10 teams are distracted by the weather and the fun."
1980s: "Neither of these conferences are all that good."
1990s: "The Pac-10 teams are too small to keep up with the big guys of the Big 10. They don't play defense out there."
2000s: "The Big 10 shouldn't go to the Rose Bowl anymore. They're an embarrassment."
2008-04-29 09:29:27
78.   Bob Timmermann
75
You'll never get a job for the New York Times or AP saying "first annual."
2008-04-29 09:37:53
79.   dzzrtRatt
72 Lowe found himself shacked up with a California-type blonde within a few months of his arrival, and wrecked his family.

Maybe his comment is just projection. He regrets the split and has to blame some abstract force for it.

He probably drives around listening to the Eagles, muttering to himself, "You got that right" whenever "Hotel California" comes on.

2008-04-29 09:38:38
80.   D4P
78
I, for one, liked the most recent "The Simpsons".

"D'oh! I mean, Moo!"

2008-04-29 09:38:44
81.   Bob Timmermann
I think regairfield knows that 32 is not really indicative of anything. And I suppose Arizona's win in the 2001 World Series doesn't count.

The only West Coast teams since 1981 to be matched up against a team not from the West Coast were the 1990 A's and the 1984 and 1998 Padres.

Only the A's loss was a surprise. The Padres had the misfortune of making it to the World Series to play two of the most dominant teams of the 20th Century.

I believe in Derek Lowe's mind though, the Rockies are "laid back", but not the Diamondbacks.

2008-04-29 09:48:04
82.   Bob Timmermann
I can also be the first to bring up here that Ben Howland is always credited with bringing an "East Coast sensibility" to UCLA in teaching the team defense. Despite the fact that Howland learned his coaching style at UCSB.

Pete Carroll has been extremely successful at USC despite the fact that Carroll is very much a typical West Coaster.

Sometimes I wonder if Derek Lowe is DT's Goldstein.

2008-04-29 09:53:01
83.   D4P
"King of the Hill" was fun too. Loved the 70s outfits, and Hank & Peggy having "relations" on the train.
2008-04-29 09:54:54
84.   fanerman
80 83 I'm reading those posts and not seeing any complaints (or any hints of snark) in them. Is something wrong with my vision?
2008-04-29 09:59:31
85.   underdog
Derek Lowe's just a big dork who says humorously dumb things that rarely bother me for some reason. This is just another one. I also got the feeling that he was talking about the atmosphere in general, not the players specifically, though of course if he's blaming the fans for not willing the team to a championship since '88 then that's just, well, dumb. But whatever. He's a clown. I enjoy having him as a starter for our team and I'll enjoy not having his mouth around next season.

So is coach Larry Brown in some sort of a sequel to Groundhog Day? Where he keeps getting hired and fired and hired and so on as coach ad infinitum until either he finally figures "it" out or basketball teams finally figure it out and stop hiring him.

2008-04-29 09:59:34
86.   Michael Green
Weighing in on a couple of points.

I grew up in Las Vegas. For grad school, I moved to New York City. I listened to the Mets lose on Opening Day 1989, after the playoff loss to the Dodgers last year, and of the first 10 calls on WFAN's post-game talk show, seven demanded that Davey Johnson be fired for losing on opening day. I don't call that dedication or commitment. I call that insane (notwithstanding that Johnson may have been the most overrated manager of his time).

Anyway, to the related point. At the time, the Mets hired a psychologist, Allen Lans, if I remember the name correctly. Don Imus used to do these hysterical skits, "interviews" with Dr. Allen "Sparky" Lans, where Lans would explain how the Oedipus complex explained why Strawberry was picked off or whatever. It was hilarious.

2008-04-29 09:59:46
87.   D4P
84
What have I done to foster such expectations...?
2008-04-29 10:02:10
88.   Xeifrank
Just a reminder that Ned Colletti is in a dog fight over at the Bucs Dugout (Pirate) blog in his semi-final match against Ed Wade, in the worst Baseball GM contest. At the moment Colletti is leading 41-40. The winner most likely goes up against Brian Sabean. Wouldn't it be ironic if...
vr, Xei
2008-04-29 10:06:52
89.   evenatriple
The East Coast view of LA was epitomized by that line from Annie Hall:

Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) on moving to LA: "I don't want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light."

I lived in DC and Boston for 10 years in my youth and the constant put-downs and condescension towards LA is just a way of life there. It's not the active hatred that San Franciscans have for us, it's a smug sense of superiority that is ubiquitous in the media there.

I always figured that it stems from two things. First, most people there only know LA from the media, so they actually believe that everyone here is a vapid, shallow, air-kissing production assistant. Second, so many people from the East Coast cities have moved to LA that it is natural that the ones remaining would want to put the city down as a way of defending their decision to stay in place.

Have you noticed that the most stereotypical LA types -- the guys doing Pilates on the beach at dawn and then eating organic bean sprouts at the raw foods restaurant for breakfast etc. -- are very often newly arrived New Yorkers who have gone native in a big way? My apologies to DT readers who do Pilates on the beach and eat sprouts for breakfast.

2008-04-29 10:09:21
90.   Louis in SF
47 53 As far as Nomo goes the way to honor him if he has the desire is to offer him a position to help recruit in Japan and Asia. All of the latest Dodger pitchers seem to acknowledge that Nomo being a Dodger had a positive effect on them.

When I read the Lowe article last night it brought back my swing shift days at KFWB and having to wade through the reams of AP and UPI features for East Coast papers that seemed to highlight every odd ball story and sterotype with a dateline from California cities. Regionalism while I think weaker today still is very strong in this country, and it is an easy over lay to cover many complicated issues.

I think the article on a deeper level was trying to draw out Lowe a bit, since he maybe our best chip at the trade deadline, wondering if he was hinting to get back to the Sox....maybe we see if we can get Manny for a year!

2008-04-29 10:22:32
91.   Jon Weisman
Two new posts up top.
2008-04-29 10:25:04
92.   fanerman
87 You say it like those expectations we have of you are a bad thing.
2008-04-29 10:28:37
93.   Xeifrank
NPUT x 2?
vr, Xei

Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.