Blake Dewitt for rookie of the year.

Our 3B is hitting a robust .321/.402/.494!

Now THAT was exciting!

I guess the Three's Company jokes are tired and stupid, but I had 465 of the last thread up about 0.4 seconds after DeWitt's ball hit Church's glove in RF. :)

Mo' Kuo show fo' Joe.

Fun with sample sizes:

Kuo tonight, K/9: 27.00

This has been an awesome game.

So the party moved in to this room, eh? Anything left in the keg? If not I'll take a soda.

I don't think I even want to check out the Mets Blog again right now. Can't imagine the joy experienced in that last inning.

Martin should have dropped that foul pop! :) Me likey strikeouts!!!

damn! I kinda didn't want Martin to catch that in hopes of another strikeout...

Kuo's a KKKKKK Machine.

This game makes me really wish I was back in LA.

9 That made me laugh.

I bet we could get a lot for Dewitt right now...

11
KKKKKKKuo!!!

Okay now you guys are getting silly.

9 - "Stop throwing strikeouts, they're fascist. Throw ground balls, they're more democratic"

- Crash Davis

12 Are you away on biz? or did you move?

Kuo is a Met Killer.

There you go, Kuo!

7K's. Hiroki's performance is quickly becoming a forgotten memory of long ago.

Absolutely filthy.

I wanted to respond to Bob's near-seizure watching the x-mo of DeWitt's inside the parker:

500 Try this: Go to the Bay Bridge at about 11 in the morning, eastbound, which direction is the lower lane, going about 60 mph. Stay over to the right. At that hour last Saturday, the bright sun angled over that lane only, leaving the rest of the traffic in shadow. But the bridge has a series of pillars or girders or something that threw evenly-spaced shadows on the road and passing cars. It created an old-movie flickering effect as you drove the lane, quickly flipping from bright to dark at half-second intervals.

I thought my head was going to explode. Finally, I changed lanes.

Kuo should get a tattoo of a dagger going through the Mets mascot on his left bicep.

I feel bad enough about Campanella and his facial Nair, I hope Vin doesn't tell us Russ Martin uses the Mother's Day lip gloss.

Kuo is hard to hit.

DeWitt is going to be hard to lose.

HongZhi Guo, Holy Cow!!!!!!!!!!!!
vr, Xei

Yeah, so I think we're about done with this whole Loaiza in the rotation thing.

Such a Kuomotion.

17 - Funny, I just bought that movie on DVD, finally, today. That and Pastime, as part of my baseball movie research. I've seen Bull Durham about 15 times but figured I might as well own it at that point. So darned quotable.

Vin, "The magical bat of Blake DeWitt".

Has LaRoche played any second base? Maybe he becomes the new heir apparent to Jeff Kent?

Wow!..well hes enticed me again, give him s shot at starting again.

I did have Blake my roster vote earlier though lol, so I'm not jumping on two bandwagons at once

I like what I've seen of DeWitt. Even if he shouldn't be the starting 3B over the longer run, I think he'll be an excellent backup infielder. I know Jon has compared him to Jack Fimple, but I'm getting more of a Dave Hansen or Dave Andersen vibe from him.

22 Oh man, I totally have had the same experience. I almost crashed, seriously. It's dizzying.

27 Who?

18 Business

LeBron James came within one assist and one rebound shy of a quadruple double tonight:

12 pts, 9 rebs, 9 assts, 10 TOs

29 - I still need to buy it, just haven't got around to it yet. Also need to get Major League.

Actually, my DVD collection needs a lot of work.

Video of the Dewitt ITPHR is on Gameday

36. What was his FG%?
vr, Xei

33 I see Bill Mueller. He is a far better athlete than Hansen or Anderson.

did they give Kobe the trophy today? If so, any reason why they didn't do it pregame like they normally do (Dirk notwithstanding)?

I also hope Kuo can keep his arm intact, break out and become a star. Of all the teams in MLB, the Dodgers would probably benefit the most from having a star player of Chinese heritage.

39 - um, 11% - 2 for 18 or something like that. It was ugly, apparently.

39 2 of 18 from the field.

42 pitches. I assume Guo pitches the 7th??
vr, Xei

41

I believe the trophy is tomorrow before the game.

The Bison keeps his hitting streak alive.

37 - Amoeba, I'm telling ya! (If you're in SF or LA)

I'll take Bill Mueller for DeWitt. Maybe minus the way that story ended, though.

41
Press conference today. On court presentation before Game 2 tomorrow night.

40 Could be; I hope he hits that well. I guess he's better with the glove than Hansen, too.

42. LA, SFO and NY. Perhaps Seattle, since it's so close to Hongcouver.
vr, Xei

Kuo/9 on the season:

Overall: 12.34
As Reliever: 15.63

48 - orange county, which means Borders or Best Buy.

Kemp with his second steal tonight. Heh. "Kemp, who does everything right," says Vin

What's the name of that song they just played after Kemp's SB? I've been trying to find out for the longest time!

I want to see Ethier! Bench Circle K!

I have a feeling if we don't use Ethier, we are going to lose this kind of game.

This has been my favorite game of the season so far.

Man this Kent guy can't do anything right tonight -- bench him!

Tee. Hee.

did you guys talk about McDizzle's awesome performance today?

That was so cool. Opera music and strikeouts.

What's the break even point for SB? 9 for 11 is well above that right?

52. Yes, it's great. Unfortunately, as a starter his BB/9 was 5.06. Like I said before, if he could harness his control, he'd be one of the best pitchers in baseball. Arguably he was that one September back in 2006.
vr, Xei

61 - 9 for 11 (.818) is, but I think 8 for 11 (.727) would be borderline or worse.

61. Yes it is, plus the last one was fairly high leverage. vr, Xei

63. Depends on the score of the game, inning and the run environment.
vr, Xei

Dang, Hong Chih *K*uo

54 Its hard to tell, but i'd guess "Ridin"

This game is sure taking a long time, considering the score is only 5-4.

You know you're being spoiled when you're bitterly disappointed at a pop fly.

SHAZAM! There we go. Kuo's back on track!

Kuo is just dominating out there. Really impressive stuff.

I'm not a big fan of pulling Kuo after this inning, not with the way he's going right now.

Martin can't even catch Kuo's fastball due to so much movement.

Kuo earns my 2nd standing ovation of the evening.

68 - well, that was the first time that a team was sit down 1-2-3

Gary Bennett's arm would fall off if he had to make that throw to third after all of Kuo's Ks.

Keep the status kuo.

back-to-back 1-2-3s for Kuo.

73 agreed..truly impressive,if the fans were on it right now, they'd really serenade him for the work he just gave us there

I would like some more runs.

Man Kuo is so nasty. His case really gets to me. If healthy he's also a mythical creature.

Dodgers win expectancy when Guo came into the game = 38.7%. Dodger win expectancy when Guo made his last pitch = 79%.
vr, Xei

I don't think I've ever seen anything like what Kuo has done today.

Kuo's performance tonight is only the 10th 8+ K game in relief in LA Dodger history. Only Kevin Brown, Kevin Gross, and Jim Brewer had 9 K games.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/Ehu4

Kuo is the Centaur.

59 - Just checked MiLB.com. I'm lovin it.

82 - the closest I've seen was Ramon Martinez striking out 18

Anyone know the last Dodger before DeWitt tonight with an inside-the-park HR?

82 He made it look so easy and routine.

Kou has been a bit Koufax like tonight, as I recall the Lefty. I think under the right setup, Kuo would be a good starter. Sandy did it almost all with two pitches, probably because of his huge fingers. I remember his fastball and curveball starting at the same place and ending up at least two feet apart.

87 Dave Roberts.

87. Bob, on line three.
vr, Xei

What can Blake possibly do for an encore?

Kuo is like a werewolf. He is sometimes mortal, injury-prone, and ordinary, but when the Mets logo fills the moon, he becomes a vicious, unstoppable beast who tears batters to shreds.

85 - um, what am I not seeing?

I still think LaRoche is too injury prone to stick but I hope I am wrong. He is now battling "turf toe" - that is the first time I have ever heard of that ailment.
I really like the way DeWitt handles himself. He just seems like a gamer. LaRoche kind of strikes me as if he thinks he deserves to be the starting 3rd baseman even though he hasn't done anything in the major leagues.

93 Brilliant

Blake's going to be getting a heavy dose of junk pitches for a while until he can prove he can hit them...or lay off them.

82 - You must have missed game one of the 1966 World Series.

http://tinyurl.com/4p88le

95
Turf toe is fairly common these days, especially in football.

95 LaRoche kind of strikes me as if he thinks he deserves to be the starting 3rd baseman even though he hasn't done anything in the major leagues.

I guess those incredible defensive plays last September were just a myth.

98 I think you mean the 1965 series

99 is RE:94

haha nice little chance for a second ovation there, lets go JB

82 Haha yes, I was negative 20 years old then.

Assuming Kuo stays a long reliever, does any team have someone like him? Joba is the only comparable reliever I can think of.

102 How about '63?

102
I thought he meant Moe Drabowsky for the O's in 1966, against LA.

59 Yah it was discussed briefly in previous thread. Was great to see that. Maybe he was just nervous when Ned was watching him last time. Hope McDonald can keep it going now.

95 I had turf toe once, from soccer. It can commonly happen to athletes who play on artificial turf especially, but also other ways. It's pretty painful, though if caught early enough it can be protected and alleviated. He may indeed be injury-cursed, we'll see, but I don't know if your assessment of LaRoche's attitude is that fair though.

102 - Moe Drabowsky.

94 - 9 K's over 7, 0 BB, 5 H for McDonald

107 Yep, I realized that as soon as I hit submit. Bad form to be wrong on a correction :)

Lucas McCain Ain't that the Rifleman? I think its wrong to attribute any attitude to LaRoche. He has said nothing, and has had no chance to say anything. At the most the media may have said something for him. But he has made no statement I know of.

Game 1 of the '63 WS.

Koufax 9IP; 6H; 2R; 3BB; 15K
Beats Whitey Ford

As an 11 year old kid it was the game of a lifetime.

OK, seriously, Vin's researcher reads Dodger Thoughts (specifically 83 )! :)

106 Joba may have a bit better control--but he is not as unhittable for sure.

112 - Sorry, I should have named him, but it is still too painful.

102
Nope, he's referring to Moe Drabowsky.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN196610050.shtml

I went for a walk. Missed two innings, and four hundred comments. I see Dewitt is continuing to get BABIP lucky. . .

I'm going to have to hunt down the cords--haven't seen them in a while. They started to fray after the third wash, at which point I looked at the tag and discovered they were meant to be dry cleaned. I've never heard of dry cleaning cotton clothing.

115 - Well, it's not as if you have a monopoly on Baseball-Reference.com :)

107 ,114
But Koufax wasn't in relief. Drabowsky was.

this is large

112 - I should have named him, but it is still too painful.

Uh oh. I knew this one wasn't quite in the bag yet.

120
Let me cling to my ridiculous conspiracy, won't you! :)

There's no way that it could make sense to have Kuo, Broxton, Beimel, and Saito be a closer by commitee, right?

BANG! JB is a bad dude

I love our power pitching.

Niiiiiiiiice pitch, Ox!

Sweet.

Wright gets punched out for the third time tonight. That doesn't happen too often.

I like this game very much. Sweep, anyone?

I've been lurking on the Mets blog. They are all gushing about how great Vin is, and how is the only out of town announcer they can dig. It makes me tear up with pride. I can't handle the thought of baseball without him.

126 - I'm slowly moving to believing in the closer by committee theory... even if it hasn't really worked anywhere but Cincinnati circa 1990

131 - Can we just get through this game first?

119 Hope you look good in corduroy.

Gameday shows a top speed of 100 against Beltran for Broxton.

135- I don't look good in anything, but I don't think I look particularly worse in corduroy.

128
Currently, Kuo, Billingsley, Broxton, and Saito are averaging over 9 K/9, and Proctor is at 8.22.

Only the 1996 & 1997 teams featured 4 pitchers with 50+ innings and 9+ K/9.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/2bdq

126. Not sure what you mean?
vr, Xei

DeWitt's inside the park homer was not a BABIPpy fluke. It hit the top of the fence. It was only catchable via Web Gem.

It was a "truthy" outcome.

132 - how many people became Dodger fans because of Vin and Laker fans because of Chick?

I still have a hard time watching Laker games without the voice from "High above the western side line" calling the game.

Baseball without Vin is going to be tough, real tough. Maybe a season with no play by play man?

132 As long as Vin's announcing, I'm still a kid.

Last night I mentioned it, and I can't help it tonight, but Vin started toting up the Dodgers victory prematurely last night, and tonight he started again before a base hit made him pull back, because he is more than an inning too early. Go Dodgers--get through this eighth and add something, and then get through the ninth.

And yes: Hu's on first.

What's the Dodger record for combined K's by RP's? Are we within 3?

Hu, way to go! Let's go Pee Wee! Rally Time!

Wait was the song they just played before pee wee came into the box, I'm having a brain fart. not the short rap bit, but the the guitar intro.

Broxton's fourth pitch to Beltran: 100 MPH on Gameday.

ph ethier!

134 - Yes, that was a little bit Metsy of me. Sorry.

I was talking about his hitting, not fielding.

It's just a gut feeling I got from watching him. Maybe it is just his confidence that I noticed. Maybe it is the fact that all of Dodger blogdom has christened him the 3rd baseman of the future. I apologize if I offended anybody.
Maybe DeWitt is just a flash in the pan and when LaRoche comes back he will show us that he can hit big league pitching as well as he hit in the minors.

Our win expectancy is sitting at 86%. Top WPA leaders for us so far this game are DeWitt, Guo and Broxton, in that order.
vr, Xei

Wouldn't this be a nice spot for Ethier?

140- I saw it. I was just making a joke. It does increase the disparity between his LD% and his BABIP, but it was clearly not cheaply got.

136. 97 MPH on FSN.

The major league record for Ks by a reliever in a game is 16 by Randy Johnson. He pitched seven innings.

maybe they'll pinch him for Andruw lol

There is nothing wrong with closer by committee but the unflattering name. What it should really mean is that you identify your ace reliever, which is most likely currently classified as the "closer" on almost all teams. Just have that pitcher come in during extremely high leverage situations (runners on, best hitters due up), anywhere from the 6th to the 9th innings. Then work forward instead of backward, that is bring in your best relievers first before bringing in the ones that aren't the best.

138 - Add the Mythical One and yawl could officially change the name of LA to K-City.

Know it´s up to Eric to say: if Andruw walks, Kemp hits a homer.

Andruw has a chance for his 5th RBI on the year

Since April 20th, Andruw has 1 RBI. This would be a nice time to pick up another.

seems to me a chance for torre to earn his money - pinch hit for jones.

You know, I said a 1 run lead in the fifth is unlikely to win the game. and now I worry.

150 Don't think any offense was taken, just didn't seem quite fair. He certainly hasn't seemed that arrogant this season, just frustrated by his situation. I think folks here would like to see both he and DeWitt succeed, preferably even on the team together. :-)

C'mon Druw!

come on buddy, its gonna be alot of boos if he doesn't get this one

he's hitting 100 points less than his weight

155
I thought for sure I was at that game, but I can't find my ticket stub.

This is getting sad.

When do they start booing him coming up to the plate?

Sigh

He was schooled there. Well, hey, two good at bats tonight, we can't have everything I guess.

In the Dodgers 22-inning loss to Houston in 1989, the bullpen struck out 16. Starter Tim Leary struck out 1.

When does Jones announce his retirement?

alright sammy lets go

Doesn't it just seem like a lot of the time he's just guessing up there at the plate? Guessing at every pitch, instead of really looking, watching the pitcher and following the ball... It really does seem psychological. Oh well, like I said 2 decent at bats tonight. Maybe tomorrow he can up it to 3!

It's the same swing, every pitch, every time, no matter the location or the speed.

I think now is the time for every sports therapist, weird ritual, or change of habit that one can think of for andruw.

I know its asking too much, and he has had some decent at bats, but I feel like one day it'll just click, and he start belting it.

LoneStar! nice Defense baby

J-Lo!

#7, nice play.

Okay this game needs to end. My g/f is watching Gene Simmons Family Jewels on TV just to torture me.

One more out, let's go!

10-1 in the last 11.

i'm rooting for jones; my feeling isn't personal. but this also isn't "early season slump" stuff. this is a guy who hasn't yet looked like a major league baseball player in a dodgers uniform. he's an okay outfielder, so far, but not much better. as a hitter he'd be benched in double A or DFA'd at his age... in any case, the dodgers seem to be overcoming it for now, but i have yet to see a WS winner with a nu. 3/4/5 hitter at .165.

This game needs to end, I have work at 11.

uh oh..lets go sam

Back after my IM softball game. I come back and Saito gets hit like like Hiroki, while i missed all of Kuo's greatness.

ugh. drama.

It's nervous time.

Sigh. Sammy obviously doesn't care about my or Nate's situations at all.

182
For a second, I thought you were hoping for 11-12 hours sleep!

uh, why is pierre's arm in left right now?

few dangerous looking poke.

Fitting that the game ends on a K!

Ohhhhhhhhhhh!

184 You play softball via instant messenger? Now that's not gonna burn a lot of calories.

that was cool

Great win for the Dodgers!

yeaaaa lovely sammy lovely!

FROZE HIM. strike three!

heh. I knew it all along. whistles

Saito had me holding my breath for awhile...

We're going to the Series!!!

Nice win. Magic number down to 133. :)
vr, Xei

i love LA

I have absolutely no problem with co-players of the game this evening.

Great win. Needed it too with Arizona winning.

188

After my promo, I plan on sleeping for 12 hours.

Wow, that was a beauty pitch to end it.

We win!

And the channel will now be changed. G'night all.

201 What's the opinion on that song? I love it, but then again I think I do only because they play it whenever the Kings score.

199 YES WE CAN

Image on TV: Joe Torre trying to convince Russell Martin that taking tomorrow off is a good idea. Martin doesn't look too impressed.

Did Eric Gregg do this game?
LOL--on the last pitch from Saito.

Nice.

After the May 6th, 2006 game, Furcal was hitting .203/.319/.229, and, IIRC, he wasn't looking too hot with the glove. He brought his OPS up a hundred points over the next eight games, but it sat around .650-700 until after the All Star break.

Also, would Dewitt have made it if the outfielder hadn't overthrown his cut-off man?

I am curious about this shift that the Dodgers are using against DelGado. How come DelGado never bunts to 3rd base? It would be an easy single, as long as he could get it fair and away from the pitcher. You could bunt it real hard and still get on base easily. In the 9th inning, needing a baserunner, down by one, it seems like the right thing to try. I am not sure if he doesn't know how to bunt, or what.
vr, Xei

Oh that's right, day game tomorrow. I better have a productive morning at work. :)

209 - yeah, that was a pretty horrible call.

This is a hot team.

Thank you, Logan White. And whoever else.

David OrTiz will bunt against the shift.

209. The last pitch? It was a strike. Now the first one to DelGado probably wasn't.
vr, Xei

209/215 - Wow, I really disagree. That last pitch broke right over the plate.

Great win.

I and a good friend of mine (who's a huge Met fan) have a longstanding agreement that whenever the Dodgers and Mets play, if the Dodgers win the series, he owes me lunch, and vice versa.

For the first time since 2005, I'm getting a free lunch.

Happy day!

Hey Enders, interesting fact I had forgotten about Waking Life...

It's nine trillion hours long.

Ah slow-mo seizure slow mo replay on the in the parker lol!

In 2006, Mark Hendrickson struck out 8 in 4 innings of relief.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200609160.shtml

Last night on the news I saw the surname: Win'E (pronounced wih-NAY). I lost interest in the search in short order, but couldn't figure out the origin of the name.

Dodgers win!!!

IPHR makes #5 on sports center top ten.

Blake DeWitt now has 18 RBI to tie Jeff Kent for 3rd on the team. Who woulda thunk it.

The Dodgers had absolutely no right to win this game. They seemed to get all the breaks and the Mets did everything they could to lose by leaving all those runners on base. That being said, what amazing performances from DeWitt and Kuo! These are the games that you really have to savor!

Blake DeWitt now hitting .317!

I hope that he reads this thread.

"Blake DeWitt five for five with the bases loaded in his career", Steve Lyons.

Loney referenced that Kuo looked like Koufax tonight, glad to a see a texas boy throwing out his Dodger history.

The guy is an upstanding dude, seems like a really good teammate.

Also I noticed he was wearing this cool "Kuro 18" shirt that he must wear when Hiroki starts.

So does Martin rest tomorrow (day game)?
vr, Xei

232 I believe over the weekend Torre announced Martin would sit tomorrow.

This was probably discussed earlier, but the upside of this whole DeWitt/LaRoche debate is that it leaves Nomar far away from the starting lineup (for now).

234 - Well, as far as the Dodgers are concerned, LaRoche probably isn't part of the debate once Nomar is activated.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-dodrep7-2008may07,0,2246805.story

Interview with LaRoche

Shouldn't keeping LaRoche be in the debate considering how fragile Nomar is? I couldn't believe people on Dodger Talk were talking about moving LaRoche based on DeWitt's crazy month. Nomar's gone after this season anyways.

anyone want my tickets for tomorrow? I have 4 on Reserved 31. 2 bucks a ticket which covers the email fee. Email Amurvine at hotmail dot com.

View from the Reserved Section

1. Kuroda had nothing but Dewitt's error didn't help in the 3rd. One thing I noticed is that in the bottom of the 3rd inning and the Dodgers rallying, Kuo was getting ready and they were ready to pinch hit for him even after it was 4-3.
2. When I saw Dewitt was 4-4 with the bases loaded, I thought okay, he's going to make an out here and yet his OPS went down with bases loaded with that single.
3. According to scoreboard gun, Kuo was hitting 96 pretty much all night. His first 2 strike outs were electric.
4. Most impressive though was his work in the 5th, he threw over 25 pitches but got Reyes and Church looking.
5. I wanted to look at Jones at bats and see if he was making any progress, he had a really good at bat with Pierre on first, he worked the count, fouled off some tough pitches and then took a slider for ball 3 but Pierre got thrown out because he overslid the bag.
6. In Andruw's next 2 at bats, he hit the ball up the middle and looked good. It is certainly a work in progress.
7. Each of Dewitt's 3 hits were shots, his drive to right was belted and I give Dewitt credit, he ran it out for a triple and by the time ball was being picked up in right field, he was rounding third, not sure why there was no cut-off man, pretty much made it an impossible play, wasn't really close.
8. Pleasantly surprised Torre kept Kuo in the 7th, again still hit 95-96.
9. Broxton was sharp, not blowing guys away but Wright still took a third strike.
10. Nice standing ovation for Kuo, and a nice touch by Torre to let Kuo come out and then get the applause from the crowd.
11. Sammy is still a little rough but got the job done.

Oh, the Pierre we love was back tonight, sure he got a clutch 2-out RBI hit but otherwise some soft fly balls and grounders.

This team is showing a nice ability to come back from deficits.

Finally, I'm 6-1 this year so I hope that streak can keep going.

234 Wish that was right, but it's wrong. Torre will start Nomar the first day he's ready, and keep starting him unless he gets hurt again, needs a day off, or goes into a prolonged slump. He assumes he'll get more from Nomar than from DeWitt until events prove otherwise.

DeWitt will see a lot of action off the bench, but Nomar will start by divine right of former AL All-Stars.

I love the idea that we have a young third baseman with a great track record and an even younger third baseman who has been the big surprise of the year... and it seems we'll be starting the old former shortstop who hasn't been relevant since I was in high school.

239 From the top deck, my friends and I decided to start doing the tomahawk chop when Andruw came up to bat. It worked once when he got that single. :)

But what a shot in the arm both Kuo and DeWitt provided for the game. Kuo took whatever momentum the Mets had and just squashed it.

So far the Dodgers are 5-0 when I've attended this season.

242 I'm waiting for BrianF for the view from the Suite.

3-0 in my attendance. I need to get out to more games though, I've been lazy. And no one likes traffic ha

239 , 243

You covered most everything in your post (the suites and reserve level aren't that far apart as far as view of the field), but the atmosphere of the suite is obviously different:

1) Kuroda definitely didn't have his best stuff, but you gotta give him a little credit for keeping them in the game still. It was a long first three innings though. After the third people were coming up to me wondering if it was the 7th inning stretch already.

2) When Kuo came in, the whole dynamic of the game changed. Everyone I was with started paying more attention and people were saying "Is that Kuo? Wow." He was just blowing it by guys...96 mph everytime. There was one at bat in the 7th I think, though I can't remember who it was, where the batter was clearly looking for the fastball and he got an 80+mph breaking pitch and found himself looking like Andruw Jones.

3) The people with me were all upset when DeWitt came up with the bases loaded and when they flashed the "4-4 with the bases loaded signed", then they all got on board. I didn't want to explain the concept of small sample size to everyone in the suite. Either way, I was just the opposite...I was stoked at first and amped from all the talk here today, but when I saw the 4-4 I thought there was just no way. Luckily I didn't have to. I think the last time I screamed that loud was at the Lima playoff game. It was just sheer amazement/shock.

4) Jones still looked horrible to me. He was swinging through nearly everything. When Pierre got CS, I said to everyone "the worst part of this is that Jones has to lead off the next inning."

5) Kent is slow. I mean we all know this, but that time he went from first to third, he'd have been out by a mile if the RF hadn't bobbled it.

6) I think Torre played the pitching changes perfectly. I was actually scared when Saito came in...in a way I haven't felt since Jeff Shaw was our closer. It's a far cry from Game Over Gagne and Saito of the past few years, but it's working so far. I wonder if Broxton will become the closer by year's end. He looked great.

7) I think it will be good to give Martin a break tomorrow...I know he walked and singled, but I just get the feeling it's a good day to sit him...not that I like seeing Gary Bennett in the lineup. If Ethier sits again in favor of Jones and we have Bennett and Jones both in there as automatic outs, I'll be glad I'm at work and unable to watch tomorrow.

8) DeWitt and Kuo won this game for us. If we had lost I would have blamed Furcal.

The Dodger's record thus far this year is 3-0 during my attendance.

How fast is Jeff Kent in a real-life sense? I swear I'm faster than him. Although, I think I can run a sub-5.0 40-meter so who knows how delusional I am.

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_9177321

The second-place Dodgers (19-14), who remained three games behind division-leading Arizona in the National League West, won't need a fifth starter again until May 17 at the Angels. Whoever it ends up being, it isn't likely to be Kuo, no matter how well he pitches.

"No," Torre said. "That second left-hander in the bullpen ... that's important."

I was at the game tonight. Great game. Actually it seemed like I was at two games. The first game felt like a depressing loss with Kuroda in there. Kuroda looked extremely mediocre. Another great Colletti signing - what is it , 3years, $47 million?

Then when Kuo came in, everything changed and game 2 started. Kuo was unbelieveable. I saw Koufax's no-hitter against the Mets when I was a boy - Kuo does remind me of Sandy the way he seems almost unhittable.

DeWitt hit the ball really hard and seems to be a terrific clutch hitter. The IPHR was really fun to see. I'm hoarse now from yelling so much.

After losing the first 2 games I attended this season, now my record is up to 2-2.

I really wish there was some way Torre could sit Jones. Ethier would have been a big improvement tonight I'm sure.

247 I understand the temptation to make him the 5th guy but his 5th inning, he hits a guy with no HR power on a 1-2 pitch and then all the pitcher wants to do is make an out and he walks him and is not even close.

Sure he got Reyes and Church to take third strikes but an inning where he is facing 7-8-9, he ends up putting two men on base and throwing 25-26 pitches.

Add the fact that the Dodgers are more likely to need a bridge from 5th-6th inning every 3-4 days make its a tough choice.

Do you use Kuo once every 5 days for maybe 5-6 innings or do you use him twice a week for 2-3 innings?

247- That's terrific. That's even better than when Grittle needed Billingsley in the pen to be the third most important relief pitcher, instead of replacing Tomko in the rotation.

Kuroda had a bad night, but he made a great pitch to get the 1-2-3 double play and then struck out Wright.

Look at it this way: either we have Kuo as our long-relief man with Kershaw in the minors, or we have Kuo mopping up the occasional bad start with Kershaw dominating the entire world.

It's genius, really. "That second left-hander in the bullpen ... that's important." David Mamet could have written that.

248 And who personally scouted Kuroda and gave his go ahead.

Logan White.

253 Balderdash. There aren't nearly enough four letter words in that quote.

253 The best lefthander in the pen gets a new car. The second best lefty gets a set a steak knives. The third best, gets DFAed.

You know why I hate LOOGys? They're left handed. And that's the truest thing you'll ever hear.

Hey everyone,
was at the game today...WOW!
,well last night now, haha...
blake dewitt!!! that was incredible!!

the dodger stadium gun was saying kuo was throwing 94-97mph!!!
people with the beach balls stopped to watch kuo,people waiting for dodger dogs and beer stopped to stare at the 10inch monitors to watch kuo's amazing run! best pitching i've seen in person!(im only 20, okay) idk, it was just awesome being out there tonight!

david wright...grr...hes good, except for that one throw.ha

Best pitching i've seen in person!(im only 20, okay)

Better than anything I saw as a kid at Dodger Stadium. That's great.

That second left-hander in the bullpen ... that's important

LaRoche and Abreu for Embree. Book it.

Actually, it could be LaRoche/Abreu for Embree/Chavez, Ned willing. But even Ned might not be that dumb.

"You know why I hate LOOGys? They're left handed. And that's the truest thing you'll ever hear."

Everyone is born right-handed. Only the greatest can overcome it.

260 I disagreed with you on this yesterday, but after last night fireworks...I don't know now. Still would be foolish, if quite Neddian. Nomar will be back on the DL by July.

Gameday had K/Guo hitting 98 several times last night.

It says Broxton hit 100 once.

And then the game story on dodgers.com quotes Honeycutt saying the stadium gun was recalibrated this week, and the readings went UP.

Mets batters probably feel like the readings were accurate, at least.

I disagreed with you on this yesterday

People around here could generally save themselves a lot of time and heartache if they'd just agree with me up front, instead of delaying the inevitable...

265 I'll try to do better [hangs head].

Apparently way too early for West Coast folks.

The North Carolina-Alabama-Tennessee chapter of DT will now come to order.

Or not.

I'm willing to type stuff, but I will most certainly not come to order.

Is there a chance you'll stay in NC now that you're Dr. D4P, or are you more likely to head back west?

As best I recall you didn't care for the bugs and assorted other Southern nuisances, like rednecks and folks who think the Civil War was only discontinued, not decided.

Not that being a redneck is limited to the South. But being a unreconstituted Southerner pretty much is, I suppose.

267 What about Virginia? We demand equal rights.

How 'bout being AN unreconstituted Southerner.

Stupid submit button. Call the "grammer" police.

There are certainly things I don't like about the South, but they're not enough to preclude me from staying. Realistically, I'm much more of a beggar right now than a chooser, and I'll be fortunate to get a job anywhere. So, I'd be willing to stay in the South (preferably either NC or VA) if necessary.

272 If you ever make it up to the Hampton Roads area and are interested in a AAA game let me know.

Gotta run to a meeting-Boy am I tired-stayed up till 1 something with the game but it was worth it.

267 Be interesting if it ever worked out to have a DT day at Dodger Stadium for Southerners--but D4P probably wouldn't want to be counted.

Probably a pretty small crowd. But I'd think an interesting one, especially folks who've never lived anywhere near LA. Be interesting to hear how they became Dodger fans. I think there was a thread along those lines recently, which I found too late to comment on...as usual.

Other stupid stuff keeps getting in the way of making being a Dodger fan top priority, which it ought to be.

The crowd might be bigger if it included the folks from New Zealand, France, Israel, and wherever else not on the West Coast.

No Ich bin ein Southerner.

Ouch--this home stand is already wearing this E-coaster down. Need this day game today. What a display of power pitching last night.

275 - Is that to say, "Nein, Ich bin Southerner" (ein Southerner is probably some sort of sandwich), or "Ich bin nicht Southerner"?

I went to bed last night right after the Mets only scored 2 runs in the 2nd inning (which included scoring no runs with the bases loaded and no outs), knowing that the Dodgers would probably win as a result.

And a Ja(y)son Werth update:

.269/.349/.538/.887

The man is getting paid $1.7 million this season.

Through 1/5 of the season, Kuo has logged 20+ IP. As long as they keep using him and finding good spots, I don't care if he is the starter per se. I'm sure he'll start a few more games along the way. We will need 9 starting pitchers probably, not 5.

But really:
Loaiza as starter, 8.74 ERA
Loaiza as reliever, 2.84 ERA

Kuo as starter, 5.06 ERA
Kuo as reliever, 0.90 ERA

The starter job is up for grabs, and neither has grabbed it. Clayton Kershaw to the white courtesy phone. Paging Captain K.

I've got a couple weeks off of work for finals, so I can switch back to my west coast time sleep schedule.

Or maybe Ich bin Southerner nicht.

277
What are you, some kind of German Nazi?

(That's GERMAN Nazi, not German NAZI)

I've kind of been in the K/Guo for 5th starter camp, but I think Torre has a point that the middle innings are so important, and Kuo obviously can come in then and dominate.

On Dodgers.com today Kuo says he has adjusted to a relief role.

IIRC, Dodger middle relief--Brian Holton, specifically--was an underappreciated factor in 1988's title. Middle relief is when batters usually see the worst of the other team's pen. But in K/Guo they just might see the very best, if he's on.

Nice fantasy thought...Kershaw is called up, dominates a game for 6 innings or so, striking out 10+. Then, due to minotaur pitch counts and lots of LH batters on the other team, Torre brings K/Guo in. He then finishes the last three innings, striking out, oh, 8 or so, like last night.

Hey, it's not that far-fetched. Dodger pitching equation== _K_ershaw +_K_uo=lots and lots of K's.

To be fair, Kuo's 0.80 ERA had to correct at some point, and it did in his last brief start. In three starts with pitch count limits around 80, he's had game scores of 57, 57, 27. Not bad for a small sample with limiting circumstances. It seems like we can stretch him out to 90 or so pitches by the 17th.

282 - I learned a lot more German in 2 years in high school than Spanish in the same time period, which means I still remember a few words and phrases. And I think I've asked before, but what's the Doctorate in again?

D4P ist nicht ein Southerner. D4P ist ein Biber.

what's the Doctorate in again?

City planning. Yippee.

Hey, I'll join all you wrong coasters!

It's due to the fact that I inexplicably woke up at 3:30 am after going to bed at midnight and could not for the life of me go back to sleep. The rest of my morning has been used to catch up on work, watch some TV on hulu.com (awesome site), and catch up on this thread.

I'm hoping my job tomorrow allows me to come home by noon, the Dodgers open up a big lead, then I take a killer nap.

I had to look up "Biber".

My grades are submitted and the semester is done, except for the semi-annual response e-mails of complaint. As for all this German, gee, the proper phrase is "I ain't no Yankee." Unless you want to say you're not from Munich.

267 It is fun how DT in the early EDT morning hours belongs to our little band of south-easterners. And Bob.

My grades are submitted and the semester is done, except for the semi-annual response e-mails of complaint

Funny you should mention that. I've been getting emails from students who are unhappy with their grades, and are wanting to do extra work to improve them. (The students who are complaining got Bs and B+s).

How do you typically respond?

I just woke up and I'm getting ready for work.

And I've got an econ final. I'll talk to you folks later.

And I've got a paper to write. But I'm only an Alt-Tab away...

283 that's Gershaw to you

I've been up for a while, but too groggy to read the computer.

My grades were done a while ago (mid April). I never get anyone complaining about their grade since I came to BYU -- either I grade too easy, or they recognize I'm fair, or they are just thankful to get through alive. I haven't figured it out.

297
I'm a pretty generous grader, in part because I want to avoid the hassle and messiness of upset students. But I think most students at UNC have grown used to getting As, and they aren't happy when they get anything less.

297 yeah, you guys end the year early over there.

Seems to me that when you rank 50-something out of 60-something in the class, you shouldn't be too unhappy with a B grade.

300 but I deserved a B+

297 The bad part of that is we start the second to last week in August.

290 Think I've discovered what Bob does when he's not at the library, at a sporting event, or online====

From a local paper:

"Affordable professional photography for sports, events, parties, graduations, portraits, pets, and more. Shot at the location of your choice. Visit our website at wizardpixphotography DOT com to see why we should be your choice for quality photography. Bob Timmerman(one n), photographer."

So, Bob drops an "n" and moonlights as a photographer in TN. I bet travel is a bear.

Actually, I think commented on this Timmerma(n) fellow guy here a good while back after he wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper.

But DT's Timmerma(nn) probably never would do that. Would he?

"fellow guy"....time for more coffee and maybe some actual work...

297 Everyone at BYU is too nice to complain. Or too Stepford-ized to complain. Probably not too drunk to complain. Must be the nice thing, or maybe they just like you.

(BYU Class of '96)

291 Usually, it's enough to remind them of the paper they never turned in, or the many classes they missed. Occasionally it requires a meeting. Once in a blue moon they go over my head.

so it begs the question who will start may 17th?

307 What? You think this is a baseball blog or something.

i bought tickets for may 17th at the big "A" with the anticipation someone not on the current roster would start that game

I think Park is starting that game.

I have been in favor of DeWitt being our 3rd baseman ever since the season started. I know it isn't based on numbers or stats, but he is steady/good in the field, and he just looks comfortable at the plate.

LaRoche has never looked that way to me at bat. I know he has a good OBP, but in the old days it used to be called "don't let the 8th batter beat you when the pitcher is on deck".

Nomar is a waste of time at this point in his career, every time he plays it is taking away from someone on the upswing, be it DeWitt or LaRoche.

LaRoche is not happy where he is now, nor should he be. I would have thought one of them would be trade fodder prior to July 31, but at this point the team is taking shape nicely, and I don't see any great needs worthy of what we would have to give up.

310 sorry, that was cruel. I really doubt "someone not on the current roster" will be on the roster by then. Hopefully it is still a great game and the Dodgers win.

307 Loiaza will probably start. Especially since the Dodgers won't need a 5th starter again until May 27th.

With Joe/Ned going with Jones, Pierre, and saying they will go with Nomar when he is ready, I am appreciating among other things DeWitt's since of humor. DeWitt humbly says he understands he is a young inexperienced rookie and Nomar is a great proven veteran and he has no problem giving way to Nomar. He then turns his back and starts to walk away, raises his hand, turns around ala Colombo and says, "oh, just one more thing though" and hits over .400 and delivers clutch RBIs.

There are a whole bunch of Timmermans in Tennessee I've discovered.

Timmermanns tend to live in California, Missouri, Illinois, and New York.

Happy Birthday, bh.

316
I believe he turns 40 today.

If you use something other than base 10.

I'm going to throw it out there one final time; hopefully without violating Rule 8. I have 4 season tickets in Reserved 31, Row M that anyone can have today. All I am asking is $2 each to cover my email expenses. If you are interested email Amurvine at hotmail dot com.

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/05/darryl_strawberry_the_boo.php

Pass.

318 I'd buy them in an instant if I lived in LA still. Drats.

290
291

Since all my students are Math or Physics grad students -- grading is easier.

If students do not know Jim Morrison or Duke Snider they have problems. :)

Jim Morrison. the rock star or Jim Morrison, the utility infielder?

Since all my students are Math or Physics grad students -- grading is easier

I envy you. Well, not so much the "math and physics" part, but the "being able to give use questions with obviously correct/incorrect answers over which students can't argue much and that are easy to grade" part.

321 - If you haven't heard Patton Oswalt's bit on the "Physics for Poets" class he took in college, and his Trekkie-related conniption fit therein, you simply must. It's a riot.

I took a class called "The Two Crazies: The Mad Scientist in Fiction and Real Life" co-taught by a physicist and an English teacher as an undergrad that was kinda similar.

This is from Yahoo's game notes today:

"SS Rafael Furcal reached base on a fielder's choice Sunday, extending his season-long streak to 31 games. He is the first member of the Dodgers to safely reach base in 30 or more games since Hall of Famer Duke Snider accomplished the feat in 34 straight games in 1955."

How does a fielder's choice count for an on-base streak? Is that different than a reached safely streak?

325
I've been to a 30-minute research presentation on long streaks of reaching base safely at a SABR convention by the guy who researched the longest streaks in history (including Snider's), Herm Krabbenhoft. Lots of people asked questions about what it meant to "reach safely." The accepted ways were: hit, walk, hit by pitch, and catcher's interference.

The Sporting News uses that definition. I would assume Elias would also.

If you want your kid to join SABR someday, name him "Herm Krabbenhoft"

So Furcal's streak was extended one more game after that, right? And then he didn't play last night. So it ended at 32 games. Well played, sir.

327 Do you picture him saying "was it the hoyvin or the maving or was it the whole GA-HOW-VING! thing that I do?"

Don't invite Herm and Bill James to the same party however.

322

LA Woman -- Light my fire!

Of course, it's an older smaller fire.

Happy Birthday BH.

319 Um, Bob, I think its kind of your job to read books like that for us. You could probably polish it off on a lunch break.

By the way, for the benefit of my employer, or anyone who is associated with my employer, from around 11:30 to around 4 today, I'll be at a Dr. appointment. Got that? A Dr. appointment.

329 - Bob - Who ws the last Dodger to hit an Inside the Park HR at Dodger stadium? I know Roberts hit one 5 years ago in Chicago, but Dodger stadium really isn't a park that lends itself to ITP HR as the gaps are not as wide as Coors field or the Phone booth in SF or Petco in SD. I was at the game last night and felt I saw something really unusual. I know the Dodgers gave up one last year when Kemp crashed into the wall at Dodger stadium.

Hitting streaks and such aren't stopped if you don't play. Consecutive games played streaks are stopped if you don't play.

There are lots of streaks with starts and stops. The record for consecutive games with at least one RBI is held by the famous Oscar Grimes of the 1922 Cubs at 17 games and he took close to a month to do it.

333 I believe Roberts' inside the parker was at Dodger Stadium.

Roberts hit his inside the park homer at Dodger Stadium.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200308090.shtml

332
I hope the colonoscopy goes well.

Hey, I've beaten Bob at quick draw twice now in the last 3 days! (The last time was someone asking for a definition of Mello Roos, among other scintillating topics.)

337 My doctor is kind of far away.

339
Like the specialist that the disembodied head in the Blue Cross commercial has to go visit?

334 - Duh. For some reason I decided to type something before having any coffee. Yes, now I see that the streak is still alive. Well played sir.

Okay, time to be productive for 2 hours and 45 minutes.

341
The streak is alive only in the mind of the Dodgers PR department.

Idea: since Dodger Stadium is not in Chavez Ravine, we can refer to games at DS as being played "by the ravine."

So for example: today the Dodgers have a matinee game by the Ravine vs the Mets.

Makes sense, no?

I'm fine with the streak living on despite a DNP. I don't know about this on-base streak including fielder's choiceses business.

343 Anybody here ever actually seen a ravine? Once I get a picture of it, I'll endorse your idea.

I love this photo of DeWitt and Bowa:

http://tinyurl.com/5yggy9

344
The more I think about it, I wouldn't even extend a reaching base safely streak for catcher's interference. I think that you have to do something that counts in the numerator of OBP.

CIs are ignored when figuring out OBP.

"That second left-hander in the bullpen ... that's important."

http://www.lolcats.com/view/8815/

That's the rule that cannot be named or numbered lolcat.

I'm trying to wrap my head around Grand Theft Auto IV racking up $500 million in sales in its first week.

I've never played, or even paid any attention to that game, but I will admit that this review of GTA IV makes it sound enormously rich and complex. I had kind of assumed it was just a big sexy bloody shooter game, but that's obviously not right.

http://tinyurl.com/43cpnd

345 Funny you mention that -- I was just pointing out a ravine to my scouts last night as we took an orienteering hike. Basically it's a small valley carved out by the erosion of a stream over time.

349 - Yes, but it's an lolcat, and you have to go to a separate page to see the violation. Does the URL count as an acceptable proxy, like the phrase "intersting game"?

336 - Then the Dodger scoreboard was wrong last night. Aftr Dewitt's homerun they said the last ITP HR that was hit by Dave Roberts was at Chicago.

Facts research guy for the Dodgers was not up to the task last night!!

351 Understood. I just wonder if anyone's actually seen Chavez Ravine.

352 - I say no. But you can only learn the rule by breaking it or witnessing the breaking of it, I suppose.

Sam - Capitol Punishment is shutting down?

http://dcbb.blogspot.com/2008/05/tonights-night.html

323

Not sure what you are saying.
Most of the students are theoretical. Therefore proof is a major issue.
Most are working on the LDC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN on the Swiss/France border.

Back to Baseball -Support the old guys!

I understand that Andy LaRoche may be a better prospect. But I also operate under the whole "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy. And um, Blake DeWitt is OBPing .398, and playing some fierce D. Not to metion he's beloved by teammates and fans.

So....

bison on rome right now

Maybe this is old news (no way I can keep up with the deluge of comments and keep my job), but I just filled out an All Star ballot, and Matt Kemp is not on the ballot, you have to write him in. Pierre, Ethier, and Jones are the Dodger outfielders.

This seems extremely unfair, considering that not only is Kemp a full-time starter now, but also potentially a legitimate all-star candidate.

We have this web filter (barracuda) at my work, and Molly Knight's site is blocked. It's listed in the "Personals and Dating" category.

354
You can go on Google Maps and get the street view for Stadium Way that goes by the old Naval Armory and you can see Chavez Ravine.

It would be hard to play baseball in one of these:
http://www.hyperborea.org/photos/full/ca/ravine.jpg

In case you've missed it, a radio station in Sikeston, Mo., has joined the Dodgers radio network. Sikeston is about 100 miles south of St. Louis, smack in the heart of Cardinals country. Apparently, folks wouldn't shell out the $15 for MLB radio to get their nightly Blake DeWitt fix.

And on a personal note, my 7-year-old son hit a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double last night, his first hit of the season. I wish you could've seen his smile coming off the field after that.

blake is second on the team in OPS+ after Furcal.

Two corrections to 363: I failed to mention that Tony Jackson's blog is the source for the radio news. And Sikeston is 146 miles south of St. Louis, not 100. Those last 46 miles are brutal.

Darn, I missed Kemp on Rome. He say anything interesting?

Exhibit 2456 on why you shouldn't be me:

I have the theme song to "Quincy" stuck in my head now.

366 - just that he had learned that he'd been traded to the Angels for Chone Figgins

(joking, really)

355 - Fair enough. The lolcat does tame one of the primary offenses - that the phrase is disgusting, but it is not my place to make the rules.

355 Yup, a real loss. There are a lot of Nationals blogs out. Good nationals blogs, on the other hand . . .

369 I'm guessing a team can only submit 3 OFers and while Kemp is clearly better than Pierre, he along with Ethier and Andruw were starters last year and have established themself on the ML level. It's not really a slight to leave Kemp off, while it really would be to leave the others off.

so, a fifth of the way into the season, DeWitt is arguably the third best hitter on the team (behind Furcal and Kemp)... third in BA, third in OBP, second in SLG, tied for third in RBIs.

Is it too soon to start the DeWitt for Rookie of the Year Campaign?

371 should be for 359

I have two cats and neither of them have ever lol'ed. I want my money back!

367 - You're pullin' a Quincy on me, and you ain't Quincy!

I've always wondered why there's less Dodger blogs than almost any other team.

I am flirting with the idea of paying for MLB.tv What are the reviews? Is it worth it for someone without any cable/satellite?

375

Because its hard to compete with this one.

quick question, are IBBs included in the BB total on the stat line? For example, Martin has 27 BB and 3 IBB, does that mean he's got 30 total walks or 27?

370 Is it appropriate to send an "I'm sorry for your loss" card in these circumstances? I can't imagine what I would do if Jon decided to drop DT.

376
I feel about MLB.tv the same way I feel about Frank Robinson and Roger Kahn.

However, most people would disagree with me on all those topics.

don't be surprised if pitchers start paying more attention to DeWitt & he goes on a little slump, little price you have to pay for beeing awesome I guess, hopefully he counter adjust...

I have never seen Quincy nor have I heard its theme song. I am immune from being like Bob!

382
http://www.televisiontunes.com/Quincy_M.E..html

By mentioning theme from Quincy, you got theme from CHiPs in my head. Thanks.

Gentlemen, you are about to enter the most exciting realm of police work. The world of forensic medicine.

381 - it's going to be interesting, if guys continue to get on base in front of him, pitchers are going to have to challenge him; if the guys in front of him (coughAndruwcough) aren't able to get on, DeWitt will likely start seeing a bit more junk.

This is the fun part of the game.

379 I was just thinking about that too, I swear!!

383. Aw rats. You should have tiny-url'd it and told Daniel it was an audio file of a boy scout camping song about Linux.

380

Ummm. Thanks?

385 you know it KG16, I live for it!!

Based on THT's PrOPS

LaRoche 2007: .257/.363/.391
DeWitt 2008: .248/.335/.379

DeWitt has done a comparable job to LaRoche, walking a bit less. But let's face it, we're being fooled by luck. DeWitt is much luckier (.348 BABIP with 8.5 LD%) vs LaRoche 2007 (.298 BABIP with 18.6 LD%). Either DeWitt will suddenly hit the ball harder, or his average will collapse in an ugly regression to the mean.

Also interesting is the pressure on each. LaRoche was competing with Betemit, Nomar and Abreu for playing time and was on a short leash, whereas DeWitt has been handed the job and everything he does is appreciated.

Speaking of unearthing old TV shows, my g/f had a burst of nostalgia and decided to rent Season 1 of a show I'd completely forgotten ever existed: Dinosaurs.

She had some affection for the show but we both discovered that it really hasn't aged very well, although there's something charmingly archaic about it. It was sort of like The Honeymooners + Flintstones meets Jurassic Park meets The Muppets. Any show where Sally Struthers voices one of the kids and there's an annoying baby dinosaur is going to irritate, but it did have a few charms and inspired moments along the way.

Still, I'm glad it was a rent and not a purchase.

I did buy Taxi Season 2 this week though, which is definitely worth every penny.

Sorry -- Xei's not here right?

384
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08cXyrDewlQ

SFW, or at least it was for prime time TV in the late 1970s.

391 What do you do when you get to a yellow light?

Kershaw is pitching out of the bullpen this afternoon or morining out here in PDT.

357 I prefer Greg Brock's description of DeWitt on defense. I liked Edward Scissorhands, but I think Sweeney Todd may be a better fit. The guy definitely has issues defensively.

When I was a kid and my dad would take me to the track, one of my favorite things was seeing Jack Klugman who was always around.

I mostly with Jon's post here, by the way. If we gave LaRoche the job tonight and he started off 0 for 8 or something, the crowd would want his head.

On the other hand, DeWitt will regress and do we really want that kind of production in the lineup to keep LaRoche from getting his feelings hurt? It's a tough decision.

re:378 kg16, here's what I found in a quick search:

"Though intentional walks are recorded as such in the records of the official scorer, they are combined with standard, non-intentional walks when calculating a player's on-base percentage, and are almost never given a separate column with a player's statistics."

So I'm guessing Martin has walked 27 walks, with 3 being intentional.

I also saw IBB regarded as a subset of walks, which further makes me think 27 is the right number.

393 - Happy birthday :)

393 Slow down!

yep, that's on there; one of the reasons I picked Season 2. It was also the first season where they realized Randall Carver's character shouldn't be on the show.

--
Look people, I have work to do before the game. Stop distracting me!

Oh that ravine. The little drain/depression thing that goes down the middle grassy part of Elysian Park? You learn something new every day.

And, BTW, that Google street view thing is awesome, if a little creepy. I was extremely relieved not to see my kids on the view of my street.

390 I like to look at it as more like DeWitt has risen to the occasion and taken advantage of an opportunity.

LaRoche did get the opportunity last year, and he had the "deer in the headlights" look all year long.

387 That was funny.

Oddly, my wife's iBook keeps getting slower and slower. Takes a minute just to load Firefox. I don't have this happen with my Linux laptop (ahem!) so if anyone knows how to fix this, I'd be grateful.

395 Oh yeah? Top this one - when I was about 10, I saw Jack Klugman at the Western Wall.

396 - In my mind, it's not as much about LaRoche's feelings as preserving his chance of getting an extend look.

394 - DeWitt's defense has been pretty good thus far. While I know defensive stats aren't the best, his fielding percentage (.946) is better than David Wright's (.926), he's got fewer errors (5 to 7)... and DeWitt probably saved a run last night when Kordura threw high on a force play at third (and he almost tagged the runner out anyway).

From MetsBlog:

What's amazing to me is that if the Mets win this afternoon, they will have gone 3–3 on a West Coast road trip against the two hottest teams in the National League, all while being three games over .500 and an inch from first place all with roughly 80 percent of the season left to be played.

Meanwhile, if you peak in on my e-mail's inbox, talk with fans on the street, listen to talk radio or read the newspaper, you'd think – without looking at the standings – you'd think this team was 10–30.

There appears to be a a huge disconnect between what is happening on the field, in the stands and in the division. ...

http://www.metsblog.com/2008/05/07/question-what-do-you-want/

404 if DeWitt can keep it up offensively and defensively, or anything close to what he is doing, LaRoche may have risen as high as he can go in the Dodger organization

403
They moved the Western Wall to Santa Anita?

What do you do when you get to a yellow light?

Go really fast.

406 Vin kept talking last night about how listless the Mets looked, along with how crummy they were with RISP.

410 he said the same things about the Dodgers 2 weeks ago.....

Paul Bako has matched a career high with his fourth homer of the season.

I hope Andy plays his way back into the lineup as he said in the article. It seems to be mixed with bitterness and accepting the situation.

I see nothing wrong with Andy spending a few weeks at AAA to see how DeWitt handles the adjustments pitchers will make. I agree that taking him out now for Andy would not be a popular decision. I'm not saying that it makes it right, but that is just how it is. This is a great problem to have!

any word on the line up yet, hour and a half from game time

399 Was Rev. Jim a precursor to Kramer? I ask that knowing that Kramer is based on a real person that Larry David knew in New York.

After watching DeWitt play for a while, I think he just needs some more time to work on his defense. He seems like he has good instincts and reactions, but some plays he just looks absolutely lost. Some more time in the minors should correct a lot of that.

Speaking of old TV shows:

I watched the pilot episode last night of "The Tick"

Does it get better from there?

415 - Do you mean spiritually or literally? There's no connection between Jim and Kramer.

417 - You mean the non-animated version. I actually liked that show.

416 Why couldn't that be cured with a lot of infield practice between games?

402 I think I've figured it out -- she needs to have more than 1 GB free disk space. Thanks for everyone's suggestions! ;-)

When my brother in law came to LA about 7 or 8 years ago, he was very hot to see a star. And around and around we went and I couldn't find him one. I'm not really a Viper Club kind of guy.

Finally , on the morning of his flight out, all I could come up with was John O'Groates. I'd seen Phoebe Cates there once (talk about your heavenly combos).

Leonard Nimoy!

416 he is working with Larry Bowa on his defense daily, from what I have been reading...

he is a steady player at a key position, you don't just move him out for another prospect...

we all forget, its not like DeWitt took a spot from an established producing veteran...before the season, we all knew one of our issues was at third base...right now, it's not one of our issues...

420 Because I'm thinking something like that really takes a couple years to iron out.

422 Living here all my life, if someone asked me where to see a "star" the only place I am pretty sure a celebrity goes to on a regular basis is Larry King who eats at Nate N Al's in Beverly Hills every morning.

418 I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that.

419

Yep. I remember liking it too, but the pilot was rough. I guess that is to be expected. I will keep going with it.

After reading the latest post from Diamond, do you think the Dodgers should include a no booing pre game announcement with their fan conduct video? Maybe Matt Kemp can say it hurts the player and the team?

425 try any market in Agoura or Westlake Village...but you don't recognize them as they aren't made up when running errands near their homes...

423 I've already made my case several times about why DeWitt will regress. There's nothing else I can do to argue the position.

427 - It's a Rule 8 violation for me to talk about Dodger fans booing.

429 but why does he have to? where is it written that he must regress?

Btw, LaRoche went 2-4 with a run and a walk last night for Vegas.

Speaking of LV, Meloan starts for them tonight.

431
The mean is like the house in the casino.

It always wins.

429 I'd be surprised if he didn't regress (wouldn't most of us?) but I'm still excited to see if he can somehow defy expectations and produce at this level. In the meantime, hopefully LaRoche plays great and can step in when/if he is needed.

431 Because you can't be a productive major leaguer with an 8% line drive percentage. It could get better, but DeWitt's stellar performance so far is very luck based.

But what do lolcats say about booing?

Buster Olney writes on his Insider blog that Juan Pierre has changed his hitting approach, raising both the number of pitches he sees per at bat and also raising the percentage of good hitting counts (2-0, 3-1) he is seeing this year.

A scout opines that the competition for playing time may have spurred that improvement.

433 you might also make the argument that he is finding himself at just the right time and opportunity...at least over drinks you might make that argument

405 Did you see that play David Wright made on that ball Loney hit down the line? Blake DeWitt made an error on a routine one hop groundball that went right off the palm of his glove. That was pretty bad.

And that play at third where Kuroda threw a tad high was basic. Mo Vaughn would have made that play 10 out of 10 times.

Jacksonville up 4-1 in the first inning, setting Kershaw up for the three-inning save.

http://tinyurl.com/4zl8zb

430

I understand, but it is interesting that a number of Dodgers have been saying the same thing. I think it is great that they are speaking up for him. Now I will let the topic go.

Having ripped the Natosphere, I'd like to pass on one very good site that would be of some interest to folks here. Nats Farm Authority tracks the team's minor league system and comments on prospects and affiliates a bit more broadly. Right now, for example, he is running a series on who the Nationals might pick in the June 5 draft, and is working through the top prospects available at each position. Today he looks at 3rd base.

http://www.farmauthority.dcsportsnet.com/

406 In that same MetsBlog thread (and would we have seen such a thing posted last year?):

>>

I want a team that is not frustrating to watch. The predictability in which they play is frustrating to watch. So yeah … they are clearly not having fun and we the fans are not having fun.

Anyone see how the players react in the Dodgers dugout when they score? Anyone notice the team chemistry there. Those guys are having fun.

That's what I want.
<<

439 and conversely, did you see that throw David Wright made, airmailing it...things happen, no one is perfect...

If you told fans before the game not to boo, that would only make them boo more. And then run on the field. And hurl garbage.

The constant knocks against DeWitt that certain people are making seem similar, to me, to something I read this morning on a Mets fans message board. A Met fan looked up Kuo's MLB stats on Baseball Reference after the game, and he said that they show that Kuo is a "crap pitcher," so it is a disgrace that the Mets' hitters couldn't slaughter him. That Met fan didn't seem to care about what he saw with his own eyes: A southpaw throwing 96-98 MPH fastballs that would have dominated any team's hitters. No, he cared only about a set of stats, and it never occurred to him that they may be misleading. Similarly, Regairfield has watched DeWitt perform and perform at a very high level. He has seen his great swing, and he even knows that scouts have long loved that swing. But he doesn't care -- not about what his own eyes tell him, not about what professional scouts say. He is determined to cling to a set of minor league stats for DeWitt that I, at this point, have concluded are every bit as misleading as Kuo's MLB stats, every bit as useless in showing the player's real level of present ability and future potential.

443 Our clubhouse chemistry hasn't been this good since Paul LoDuca was on the team.

447 winning does that...

439 - wow, one play and one play, can't get much better sample sizes than that. DeWitt's also made a few great plays.

And the throw by Kuroda was not "a tad high" DeWitt jumped two feet in the air, with a runner sliding into him, Mo Vaugh would have had a dislocated knee.

Nomar's LD percentage (2008) 30 balls in play, 8 line drives, 27%
Dewitts LD percentage (2008) 71 balls in play, 6 lines drives, 8%

446 Regfairfield (at least right now) is talking about DeWitt's LD% in the majors.

446 I wonder if that was the same MetsBlog commenter who said Billingsley was a "middling pitcher" judging purely by his ERA to start this season. I tried pointing out to him his great stuff, what the scouts say, his ranking as a minor league prospect, his success overall as a major leaguer, etc, etc, but it fell on deaf ears. All I got back was "his ERA was crap, therefore he is crap" and gave up.

366 Kemp did not say much interesting, usual cliches on Rome.

Druw is going though some things.
We are battling and having a lot of fun.
Torre just sits back and lets us do our thing.
Arizona is good.
Stolen bases are part of my game. Learn from Pierre and wills.

Still, he sounded good. It was nice.

446- So hypothetically, if he does regress, will it be because he has bad character? Doesn't want it badly enough?

So you don't see DeWitt rarely making solid contact? That the man simply does not hit line drives?

DeWitt has a good swing, yes, but that has yet to translate into sustained, solid contact. This is why I'm saying he'll regress, not just because of his minor league numbers.

Andy LaRoche 2007 LD% - 13 LD in 70 BIP= 18.6%

I like this part of the Capitol Punishment farewell post: "Thanks to everyone for reading. Thanks for all the comments -- even the stupid ones!"

I can't remember the last time Jon thanked me for saying stupid things on his blog. . .

455 or are there those on this site who are so enamored of LaRoche...to the exclusion of others

436 - Don't know, but here's one we might apply for Andruw:

http://n00.be/images/posts/lolcat.png

In addition to winning, playing together for a long time in the minors has to have an impact on how well these guys get along together.

don't get me wrong, LaRoche may one day be considered the greatest 3rd baseman ever to play the game, but from what I have seen so far, I just don't think, because he has hit a few more line drives, he becomes the heir apparent

458 I'm just putting up numbers, I was there last night and it was pretty exciting.

But I also believe that a player who has performed at every level should be given an opportunity.

how about moving LaRoche to 2nd base...

458 regfairfield is making a perfectly reasonable argument. DeWitt's LD% is something to be cautious about. Just because he's making it against the man of the hour (and deservedly so) doesn't mean he's out to get DeWitt or he's blinded any preferences to LaRoche.

463 I'd love to try having LaRoche and DeWitt split 2nd and 3nd.

I've also noticed that Pierre is taking more pitches. Think Torre might have something to do with that? Still, that oversliding the base BS last night was the same old Pierre. This year's team appears able to overcome his mistakes, though.

regairfield is just guarding against irrational exuberance in the DeWitt market. He fears a DeWitt bubble.

461 - Well there's also their career minor league numbers.

460

I just noticed that Pierre and Jones have started doing the celebratory "body jump and bump" at the end of games. I like seeing that after all the crud we heard about the youth/vet split last year.

I'm purging the word "DeWitt" from my vocabulary for the next couple weeks. It only ends in tears.

444 We're not talking about perfect here. We're talking about making routine Pony League level plays.

With a staff that includes Lowe, Kuroda, and Bills (all of the sudden getting ground ball outs), DeWitt's defense is definitely an issue.

463/465 -- Some people have not been reading underdog comments over the past few days. ;-) But I don't want to violate Rule 8, so I'll just say, yes, I have suggested that idea as well. At least for a next year thing when Kent is gone.

467 What about a Joyce DeWitt bubble?

Canuck if you are going to be critical of a persons comments at least read and understand the comment before making your point.
Everyone here understood that Andrew was talking about DeWitt's Line Drive Rate in the major leagues so how did it escape you?

401 Where does stuff like that come from? He had a "deer in headlights" look? What, was his lip quivering when the pitcher would up?

472 I've been making the same suggestion!

in all my years, I have seen alot of good players come and go...I think we ride the wave of good fortune

474 exactly!!

450 that's scary

Pierre, LF
Ethier, RF
Kemp, CF
Kent, 2B
Loney, 1B
Martin, C
DeWitt, 3B
Hu, SS
Penny, P

per Diamond Leung

I think our bigger worry is Furcal's health...

I just don't get the rationale behind LaRoche over DeWitt right now. If his minor league numbers are predicting a regression, let him decline before we hand Andy the job. LaRoche is still less than 100% and could benefit from an extended stay in Vegas. It seems to me that if you bring up LaRoche immediately and hand him the job, you do 2 things:

1. Send a terrible message to all non-blue-chippers in the organization
2. Set LaRoche up failure at the ML level.

LaRoche needs to get his game legs and DeWitt just might be progressing as a young player despite what his track record says. Only time will tell and we still have plenty of it.

Um, didn't Joe Torre say he was going to rest Martin sometime?

455 -- DeWitt is not striking out much, so he is making contact, and as far as how solid it is, look, I think any 22-year-old position player is bound to add more strength in future, and I am not someone who has a problem with groundball singles anyway. Like I said in my post about DeWitt and LaRoche yesterday, I am not saying that DeWitt won't tail off or slump, but I have seen enough that I like his future -- a lot. And as much as I like LaRoche's talent, I am really worried about his ability to stay healthy and translate his considerable talent into MLB performance.

FWIW, I agree with regfairfeld (Re: LD%) and don't wish to rehash everything I said yesterday.
vr, Xei

NPUT

479. Martin starting at C? I need to resim.
vr, Xei

475 What Fanerman said!

But, wait, NPUT.

439 - I spent my lunch hour listening to two WFAN hosts were complain that although David Wright makes some spectacular plays, he makes too many errors on the easy ones.

LaRoche is a hot prospect.
I'm sure having fun watching DeWitt. He just keeps responding and improving. I want LaRoche to succeed, at the same time, I respect what DeWitt is doing. Saying that DeWitt isn't hitting the ball hard? Check out his stats this morning. Furcal, Kemp, Dewitt. If what DeWitt is doing is all luck, wow he is one of the luckiest dudes around.
As the old saying goes, don't confuse me with facts, my mind is already made up.

473 -- I understand Andrew perfectly, ToyCannon. I was addressing the tenor of a whole series of comments from him about DeWitt, many of which complain about his whole minor league record, and since that apparently escaped you, perhaps you shouldn't have bothered replying to my comment?