Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
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
He's just a man, like any man you might find in Greek mythology.
- Diane Chambers
* * *
Family permitting, I'll be live-blogging the opening moments of Clayton Kershaw's major-league career.
Cardinals at Dodgers, 1:10 p.m.
1:01 p.m.: "It's time for Dodger baseball." Fans on the field for Photo Day frame Vin Scully in a pretaped segment. Scully tamps the hype, focusing on the Dodgers' need to avoid being swept by the Cardinals before mentioning Kershaw's debut.
1:05 p.m.: In another pretaped interview, for "Torre's Stories," Joe Torre is making a rather emotional appeal to renew interest in baseball among black players. Kershaw fever remains on hold at Fox Sports Net.
1:08 p.m.: "We know where his mom is sitting. She's directly below us in the second row, so we can watch her expressions and emotions as her son begins to crank it up." Vin then runs down Kershaw's vitals and names some other pitchers who have debuted at Kershaw's age or younger, some examples more encouraging than others (David Clyde!), all the way to Joe Nuxhall.
First inning
Skip Schumacher
0-0 94 fastball high and inside, ball one
1-0 94 fastball strike
1-1 94 fastball fouled back
1-2 75 curveball grounded foul
1-2 95 fastball fouled back
1-2 74 curveball grounded foul
1-2 95 fastball shoulder-high swung on and missed (wild applause from mom) "fastball that just exploded around the letters" Ball goes to the dugout to save, Kershaw smiles, everyone giddy.
Brian Barton
0-0 95 fastball high
1-0 94 fastball very high
2-0 93 fastball just outside
3-0 93 high and outside "And maybe Kershaw overthrowing a bit following the emotional strikeout of Schumacher.
Albert Pujols
"Mr. Kershaw, Mr. Pujols. Mr. Pujols, Mr. Kershaw."
0-0 93 fastball high and inside
1-0 72 curveball drops low
2-0 94 fastball swung on and missed
2-1 94 fastball called strike
2-2 73 curvevall down and inside
3-2 96 fastball fouled away
3-2 96 fastball fouled away
3-2 73 curveball pulled just inside third and down the line for an RBI double
Ryan Ludwick
0-0 74 curveball called strike
0-1 97 fastball low
1-1 98 fastball ignored Pujols running, pitch fouled away
1-2 75 curveball grounded foul
1-2 97 fastball fouled back
1-2 95 fastball very high
2-2 73 curveball grounded foul
2-2 96 fastball low and outside
3-2 97 fastball at the knees swung on and missed
Troy Glaus
0-0 95 fastball outside corner called strike
0-1 73 curveball lollipop high
1-1 96 fastball swung on and missed
1-2 75 curveball right in there strike three called "Clayton Kershaw strikes out the side in his major league debut, albeit he did allow a run."
First inning pitch count: a whopper - 32 pitches, 12 balls, 20 strikes.
Bottom of the first: Luis Maza hits his first major league home run and only the second by a Dodger second baseman since April 15. Cardinals 1, Dodgers 1.
Second inning
Jason LaRue
0-0 93 fastball low
1-0 93 fastball groundout 6-3
Cesar Izturis
0-0 93 fastball outside corner called strike
0-1 83 changeup outside
1-1 94 fastball fouled back
1-2 74 curveball grounded foul
1-2 93 fastball inside
2-2 95 fastball high
3-2 94 fastball grounded to Loney unassisted putout
Todd Wellemeyer
0-0 92 fastball called strike
0-1 93 fastball called strike at knees
0-2 74 curveball swung on and missed, putout 2-3
Second inning pitch count: 12 pitches, 4 balls, eight strikes
Two-inning totals: 44 pitches, 16 balls, 28 strikes, one hit, one walk, four strikeouts
Bottom of the second: Dodgers go down in order.
Third inning
The sun has broken through the clouds.
Brendan Ryan
0-0 93 fastball fouled back
0-1 84 changeup low
1-1 95 fastball fouled back
1-2 73 curveball hanging, grounded to the hole in short for a clean infield single
Skip Schumacher
pickoff attempt #1
0-0 93 fastball low
1-0 93 fastball just low
2-0 92 fastball called strike
pickoff attempt #2
2-1 91 fastball chopper to short, 6-4-3 double play
Brian Barton
0-0 95 fastball high
1-0 93 fastball popped to right field, Andre Ethier catches.
Third inning pitch count: 10 pitches, four balls, six strikes
Three-inning totals: 54 pitches, 20 balls, 34 strikes, two hits, one walk, four strikeouts
Bottom of the third: Kershaw bats with one out. He twirls the bat in a fashion that calls to mind David Letterman twirling a pen on his fingers. He grounds to short. Dodgers go down in order. Cardinals 1, Dodgers 1.
Fourth inning
Albert Pujols
0-0 86 changeup low
1-0 94 fastball fouled back
1-1 84 changeup grounded foul
1-2 86 changeup grounded out to short
Ryan Ludwick
0-0 73 curveball called strike
0-1 94 fastball swung on and missed
0-2 95 fastball at shoulders swung on and missed
Troy Glaus
0-0 95 fastball outside
1-0 85 changeup called strike
1-1 73 curveball just high
1-2 95 late swing, popped to short right, Maza with a catch looking into thte sun.
Fourth inning pitch count: 11 pitches, two balls, nine strikes
Four-inning totals: 65 pitches, 22 balls, 43 strikes, two hits, one walk, five strikeouts
Bottom of the fourth: With one out, Either singles and Martin doubles off the top of the center-field wall (less than four inches) to drive him in. A Loney groundout moves Martin to third, but a Kemp groundout strands him. Dodgers 2, Cardinals 1. Wellemeyer has thrown 67 pitches.
Fifth inning
Jason LaRue
0-0 93 fastball late swing but a single to right field
Cesar Izturis
0-0 92 fastball outside corner called strike
0-1 83 changeup grounded to second, Maza to Hu for the force, relay to first too late
Todd Wellemeyer
0-0 90 fastball showing bunt, taken for a strike
0-1 91 fastball bunt foul
0-2 92 fastball just outside
1-2 73 curveball bunted to Kershaw, throws to Loney for the out, Izturis takes second.
Brendan Ryan
0-0 85 changeup fouled off
0-1 74 curveball pulled sharply foul
0-2 96 fastball swung on and missed
Fifth inning pitch count: 10 pitches, one ball, nine strikes
Five-inning totals: 75 pitches, 23 balls, 52 strikes, three hits, one walk, six strikeouts, seven groundouts, two airouts. Kershaw has thrown a total of 43 pitches (11 balls and 32 strikes) in the past four innings.
Bottom of the fifth: Dodgers go down in order. Dodgers 2, Cardinals 1.
Sixth inning
Skip Schumacher
0-0 72 curveball called strike
0-1 95 fastball outside
1-1 93 low fastball fouled away
1-2 95 fastball called strike three
Brian Barton
0-0 84 changeup swung on and really missed
0-1 95 fastball called strike
0-2 94 fastball popped up behind first, Loney loses in sun, ball hits him in the head in fair territory
Albert Pujols
0-0 85 changeup grounded foul
0-1 96 fastball high
1-1 94 fastball strike at the knees
1-2 73 curveball misses
2-2 72 curveball lollipop high
3-2 95 fastball hit-and-run single to right field
Ryan Ludwick
Rick Honeycutt visits the mound. Cory Wade gets up in bullpen.
0-0 83 changeup high and outside
1-0 95 fastball grounded to third. DeWitt charges and fields. He throws home. A good throw gets him at the plate, but the throw is high and away from the runner, and Barton slides home. Fielder's choice, game tied 2-2.
Troy Glaus
0-0 95 fastball swung on and missed. Vin: "Good fastball. He's still throwing nice and easy."
0-1 95 fastball swung on and missed. "He's got plenty left in the tank," though pitch count limits will make this his last inning.
0-2 95 fastball high
1-2 95 fastball smashed foul, broken bat
1-2 75 curveball in dirt
2-2 95 fastball popped up to short right again, and again Maza with a tough catch
Jason LaRue
Kershaw at 96 pitches.
0-0 95 fastball strike
0-1 72 curveball called strike
0-2 94 fastball low
1-2 75 curveball barely fouled off
1-2 95 fastball inside
2-2 94 changeup hanging, fly out to left field
Sixth inning pitch count: 27 pitches, nine balls, 18 strikes
Six-inning totals: 102 pitches, 32 balls, 70 strikes, five hits, one walk, seven strikeouts, seven groundouts, four airouts.
Two hits came off curveballs; two hits came off fastballs.
Five strikeouts came on fastballs (four swinging); two strikeouts on curveballs (one swinging).
Bottom of the sixth: Pierre singles, and Maza sacrifices him to second base. Ethier flies to left field, but Martin goes down and drives an RBI single to left. Kershaw gives Pierre an intense high five in the dugout. Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2.
And the young lefty is done for the day.
Kershaw to Martin: "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship."
Top of the seventh: A walk, a stolen base, a throwing error and a sacrifice fly against the Dodger bullpen takes Kershaw out of the decision. Cardinals 3, Dodgers 3.
* * *
I stopped live-blogging this game after Kershaw left, and it went into the 10th inning. Relievers Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito combined for eight strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings, and Joe Beimel struck out the only batter he faced, giving the Dodgers 16 strikeouts in 10 innings.
Ethier drives in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th, and the day ends happily for the Dodgers and their fans.
I say 96.
It's a 3930. Lower profile and all.
You must be blacked out of Yankee games. Yankees-Mariners are on the same channel as Kershaw, and it's still in the bottom of the 8th. Yanks lead 6-5.
Go Kershaw!!
What is Terry Tiffee's number?
Looking for an infant to punch.
That has always worked, but it's not working now.
Gameday said 96.
Joe Girardi has a special place in the inner circle of Hades because rather than start the 9th with Rivera, he waited until the 1st batter was announced, ensuring one more commercial break.
This is fun
5 straight fastballs above the strike zone.
It's a celebration of the Yankees triumphal return to .500 after sweeping the worst team in the American League.
THANKS EXTRA INNINGS...THANKS FOR NOTHING!!!
Thank you for that because this would not have been a true Dodger game without a Pierre complaint.
Way to go Maza!
This is Kemp's 7th straight game batting 6th. I've stopped trying to figure it out. As long as he's in the lineup, it's cool.
Geez.
He left a game against Washington early and was taken to a hospital in New York when he got back.
I feel like a marathoner about to pass out after the first mile.
At least you get to see him in person presumably Friday!!
Here we go!
Actually MLB or Extra Innings might hire a person just to put their hands in front of your face every time you try to look at the field.
I suppose sometimes the server for MLB.com could get hung up, but it's more often human error than machine error.
You won't be as thankful when Satan comes to take your soul. Say hi to Robert Johnson for me.
The thing is, like 50% of the time EI will switch the game to another open channel. It just so happened that the one day I really wanted to see the first part of the game EI refused to cooperate.
I'm pretty sure Vin already has.
getting up at 3am and finding a broadband connection fast enough to stream mlbtv in Bangkok.
That cb to the pitcher was totally unfair.
Now I'm going to be like the mom in Rookie of the Year when Kershaw goes up to bat.
"HE HAS TO HIT NOW!?!? OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD" X10
However, its the position we hoped it wouldn't be.
Nobody ever says it??? Maybe on the Giants Grunts blog. :)
activate the Omega-13!
You're going to date Timothy Busfield?
Gary Busey.
Busey was the pitcher on the Cubs, wasn't he? Not the boyfriend.
I stand corrected. I blame Andrew.
He became the mom's boyfriend by the end of the film.
The first boyfriend was Bruce Altman, who by the rules of Hollywood, had to be an evil jerk.
Are you trying to curry favor with me?
I've never seen the movie, but I assume I know what you're talking about. I'm always insulted by these scenarios because there's never any reason to believe that the person would have been with the jerk in the first place.
I figured it was thyme to do so...
Book it.
We'll have to invoke the Bugs Bunny pitching style.
"Kid, you have to bat next inning ..."
If you're watching "Rookie of the Year" to see a real-life situation, you might as well learn about science from watching "Star Wars."
Can't both be true?
Bob, in answer to your last comment on Loiaza, I was actually probably in violation of Rule #7, and I'm sorry if I seemed to be encouraging "when did you stop beating your wife" type questions.
I recognize the intense pride these players have. That's why players like Pierre and Garciaparra agitate to start even though they get paid either way, or why a guy like Schmidt keeps trying to get back, why Jones has played through what appears to be a hobbling injury and why Piazza waited til this week to retire, and Bonds has yet to do so. I'm sure Loiaza earnestly hopes he'll catch on with another team.
I just found the question to Torre about how Loiaza took the news, and then Loiaza's answer, to be kind of funny in ways that would be too boring to explain.
Would it be superfluous to say Kershaw looks really good out there?
I will not trust him again.
From Kevin Pearson (PE blog)
>>If you think its just the front office brass and fans who are excited about Clayton Kershaw, you're wrong.
Even the Dodgers players are excited about seeing Kershaw today and looking forward to playing with the much-hyped phenom, who dazzled them in the spring.
Chad Billingsley said he spoke with Kershaw on Saturday and told him to just do what he has been doing and not try to do too much, which would be easy to do. Billingsley also said he's excited about the potential 1-2 combo he and Kershaw will make in years to come.
"Everyone has heard all the talk about him and we wish him the best of luck and I hope we will be pitching together for years to come," Billingsley said.<<
LOL, Billilingsley is the elder statesmen of the staff.
Dodgers are currently 2nd in the league in total attendance but are averaging 45,198 per game (not including today).
Last year they averaged 47,617, tops in the NL.
Except that its a circle change.
MYSTERY CONTINUES!
And the Cardinals could be sending Chris Duncan out to left field. Hijinks would ensue.
He only has 3 pitches. anything in the 90's is a fastball, mid 80'2 is a change and 70's is a curve.
Russell! there's that extra base power!
Martin's hit is like a sneeze that's been sitting in your nose for three days.
Offense. A lead. Kershaw not tragically pitching from behind. Yesssssss.
That is what we truly wanna be
Cause if we were all Wellemeyer winners
Everyone would be in love with me!
(How's that?)
232
Vin usually isnt the best to rely on for pitch type. Clayton has thrown at least 7 changes today.
Weird.
There have been some very hot day games this year and some night games have a lot of unused seats because school is still in session.
Or like Friday and Saturday night, the weather was bad.
Weren't the Angel games in Anaheim?
It's got to be Connie Mack vs. almost anyone for that record.
Probably Connie Mack vs. Joe McCarthy during some game in 1950. McCarthy resigned midseason.
I tend to lean toward a holistic approach to analyzing baseball, if it's even subject to analyzing. While it's a very individualized game, the actions of each player are interconnected, and you can't understand what Ethier's line means without knowing about Martin's line, and then Loney's line, and so forth. So, looking at an individual player's performance takes things a bit out of context.
Beyond that, as I said, the analysis only tells us what has happened, not what will happen; particularly in a specific at bat... the old joke of Rick Monday saying that "Loney is hitting .457 with runners in scoring position in day games on the road after the fifth inning" is useless for the at bat. In fact, even saying he's hitting .323 for the year is meaningless for that one at bat. It's even meaningless for the 4 or 5 at bats that he'll get in the course of the game.
But then, I'm a social scientist by training, so numbers only tell me half (if that) of the story.
good point!
but still, not too many match-ups involving managers with 2,000+ wins
... I would imagine that some early season matchups in 1950 between Philadelphia (Mack) and Boston (McCarthy) rank up there with anyone.
Kid, you've arrived.
... That's exactly who I thought of, Eric.
Hated 1994.
Bob, aren't those games managed, not wins? There are only 10 guys with 2000 wins.
I've always considered you the Mayor McCheese of Dodger Thoughts.
Gameday has him at 74 pitches.
that must have been a rerun ....
That what a Minotaur do, Schumaker has fallen in the labyrinth twice.
Jason Giambi would have tripped over himself trying to get to it ...
Ah, thanks.
Barton was credited with a single.
A double play would be really nice right here.
You usually don't get an error for losing a ball in the sun.
That was a home run.
And what is Ethier doing on those popups to shallow right? He needs to run and try and get them instead of letting Maza take them. He's gonna drop one eventually.
The roller to DeWitt was hit too softly.
http://tinyurl.com/6gs39q
Maybe Pierre can freak out their pitcher.
I think Maza is going to be the next Tripp Cromer.
Unless Tiffee takes that crown from him.
Should have been 12 strikeouts but whateverrrr.
No, Kershaw has been put into a position where he can have some success.
Yes, Hertz and Honeybaked Hams.
And now its gone anyway
He threw his change a good amount. Some swings and misses, a few ground balls of of it. He only has to throw it 10-15 times a game because his other two pitches are that good.
... Whatever. I guess everything counts as a jinx here.
We pray to thee in the name of Robinson, Koufax, and Drysdale, Amen.
The AL record is 6.
It has LaRoche's Las Vegas OPS at .962. Just wondering if that includes today.
They haven't that had that rule since the 1970s.
Yeah, I don't know whats up. He really has not been very good throwing guys out so far. But we got one out. Hopefully Ox can strike out the next two.
They have to wait for the inning to finish now?
There is never any "going back" to the last completed inning. If it had kept raining Friday night, the game would have just been declared over with the Cardinals ahead 2-1.
Or the manager in the 1B dugout.
Still.
Also, in LA sports related news, there's a rumor that the Heat might take OJ Mayo.
... I don't see how you couldn't.
Also, seeing that clip about Pitcher Mike Marshall, you kind of have to wonder how many games he'd pitch if he was on Torre's staff
Thanks to EI, I didn't see the play but I hard Vin's call. It seems Barton scored because Pierre bobbled it, and he most likely wouldn't have been running with a suitably armed LF.
The same reason they are 2 wins away from the Finals: the Gasol trade.
Geezus, this team's management is absolutely hopeless.
What we learned in that AB: Ox wouldn't be a good track runner.
Replay appeared to show he was out. But ohhhhh so close.
A gold star from Gold Star for Robot Boy? :)
Randy Johnson 5IP 6H 5K 3BB 3ER
Warren Spahn 6IP 7H 4K 2BB 3ER
Steve Carlton 1BF, walk
Sandy Koufax 2/3IP 5H 1K 1BB 3ER
To illustrate my point, Kemp has 1 extra base hit (a double) since he hit a home run on May 5. Thats basically 3 weeks of just signles from a guy 6'3 230. When was the last time he hit the ball hard to left field? I really cant even remember.
If you got Billingsley with a mid 20s pick and Kershaw with the 7th overall pick, you should be able to get someone who is better than Billingsley but not as good as Kershaw with the 15th pick. Oh, and make sure he is up in the bigs by no later than 3 years.
KthanxBye,
Nate
... At this point, I've got to wonder whether hitting coaches exist purely to turn power hitters into punch-and-judys.
he likes the torture.
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/05/louis-armstrong.html
But Levski is a Snakes fanboy who does the work of 10. Seriously, he's something.
You know, the stuff nobody should care about. The important stuff.
13 k's, 8 walks coming into today. I'd rather have the crummy ratio and power than a decent ratio and another Juan Pierre.
It really looks to me that his bat speed has slowed down big time. He's just trying to hit the ball and not do anything with it. He's making more contact nad walking more, but at a really really high cost.
I'm down with the current approach by Kemp.
... Absolutely. Who needs that "power" stuff, anyway? That doesn't win any games.
He's not really hitting the ball to all fields. He's taking EVERYTHING the other way and only rolling over on offspeed pitches. Its an incredibly defensive approach that Juan Pierre should be using, not Matt Kemp. He has not pulled a ball with power the entire year, and i find that extremely concerning. His swings are not aggressive at all, and it shows in the power department.
Get rid of those breakaway bats!
Dodgers win 4-3. One batter in the 9th.
The way his approach is now, no, not with power. I'm concerned about his regression in that department. His approach has taken a complete 180, and its not a good approach for Matt Kemp to take. His aggrression at the plate is gone, and his emphasis on making contact, even weak contact, is not helping the team. Even with the new approach, he's still striking out almost once a game, but theres not even the power reward to go along with the strikeouts. Matt's my favorite player and has been for a while, and I've watched his growth for a long time. The guy at the plate for the last month or so looks nothing like the dynamic hitter I've gotten used to seeing.
Matt has had plenty of fastballs over the heart to do damage with. Even today he had a hanging breaking ball over the heart that he just rolled over.
DeWitt has had two hits taken away by the defense today.
spindoctors on the job there @ ESPN
Of course, according to Joe Morgan, "Wins and losses are how you measure pitchers" (Baseball For Dummies, p. 289).
I want to see a bat flip.
Neither do I.
Re: Kemp and Loney. Calm down! This Dodger team is not going to the World Series! It is a young team, a gifted team, but still developing. This year is going to be a roller coaster -- it has already. Some weeks we look like the best team in the NL. Other weeks we ... don't.
I'm much more annoyed with Brad Penny and Jeff Kent. But there's nothing you can do there but hope they stop stinking up the joint.
Sweeney can't be sent to the minors without his consent.
Nice, Juan.
And we've done it twice, today.
something. Really, Pierre's speed would be more valuable if he got somewhere before the outs or wild pithces happen.
Let a pitcher with 2 career AB hit for himself with a runner on after not double switching.
Have a .167 hitter (Jones) hit with 2 outs and a runner on 3rd when you have other options on the bench.
Joe who is managing?
You seem to be reminiscing quite a bit;
especially about this Bogut.
Oh, I like this Kershaw kid.
... This is the Joe Torre we got, sadly. I think if you'll take a look at some Yankee fan sites, like No Maas, you'll see that Joe was messing up games and situations for years before he came here.
I don't think anyone who actually has watched Torre has ever regarded him as a good tactician; his main attribute was his apparent ability to bring together talented players from other organizations and form a cohesive whole. Another attribute was his ability to deal with Steinbrenner well enough to keep his job as manager of the highest-paid team in the majors.
Perhaps the heat of not trading for Texiera is building as Loney struggles a bit.
Otherwise it would make more sense to let Lowe walk and pick up the draft picks.
Eric or Josh.
And I still can't believe the Jays gave BJ Ryan 40 million dollars.
I'd rather we be agonizing over Kemp's lack of power as he tries to learn other facets of hitting than the alternative: speculating whether Kemp will ever "figure it out" like other notorious budding stars who became hackers... Beltre, Francoeur, etc.
Loney looks bad right now but so did David Wright when we played him. whatever.
Clay K is awesome. love how frequently he gets ahead of the count and how willing he is to throw his changeup to a premiere hitter like Pujols. so mature.
I love that the Dodgers seem like a family now. We have seen guys like Bison, Chad, Lonestar, Bull, Russ, Dewitt, Clay, Hu, Young, and Kuo grow up since they were drafted or signed. Ethier is an adopted son. 3 years ago this team was full of loveless mercenaries.
Besides, we all want to see LaRoche and DeWitt together in the IF next season.
Much more entertaining team with the current group. The Young Blues seem like a team that enjoys playing together. Always a threat to win.
Not certain Jeff Kent is a clean-up hitter anymore. I guess the Dodgers will be more like the D-Backs last year in the runs scored dept.
>> "For the most part, Terry doesn't swing at any bad pitches, and when he gets a pitch to hit, he hits it," Bundy said. "He's just locked in, and I've never seen a player be this locked in for that amount of time."
• NOTES -- Sergio Garcia started at second base Saturday for the 51s. It was Garcia's return from a 100-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance for a second time. ... <<
http://www.lvrj.com/sports/19245944.html
We keep Lowe and take the picks.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/268/5210/569
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/
At the moment it looks like they're waiting for the first photos from Mars. It's been on the surface for upwards of 16 minutes.
Cool photo.
My Dad was at JPL for the landing.
Memory is a deceptive thing.
Have you even seen Peter Gammons before?
Let the reign of the Minotaur begin!
And free LaRoche!!!
Kershaw's debut went pretty good. He didnt have a dominant fastball or curve today, but he spotted his fastball perfectly this game and was very efficient.
I didn't look up at what they were wearing until I heard that, but it didn't look like it matched particularly well. But I guess wearing something that Sager might wear is disconcerting regardless of degree.
(and Harang relieved in top of 13th and has 8 Ks already)
Games lasting more than 16 innings, with losing team giving up at least 10 runs (since 1956)
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/3um5
>>"The one thing we told him when we sent him out to Double-A," Torre said, "was that we wanted him to use his offspeed pitches. We wanted him to be a pitcher and use everything as if he was getting himself ready for here."
Mission accomplished as catcher Russell Martin found out quickly.
"He shook me off once because he wanted to throw a changeup. I guess he wanted to prove to me that he had a good one. I started calling it more after that. He proved it."<<
weren't the Lakers down 20 just a few days ago? ....
The Rick Camp Game!
yes .... the classic game .... where they STILL had the fireworks show ... at 3:30 in the morning.
Fatherhood convinced him to stop making edgy movies and start making "safe" ones ...
In my mind, Murray never died out. He went out after hitting #500 in 1996.
Oh wait, you must have meant the placekicker.
Someone needs to explain to the young man about the concept of DIPS. That, along with the Dodgers' defensive performance today, ought to be enough to change his mind.
Yes very much so.
I looked it up on Baseball-Reference.com, and the next day (June 5) was a doubleheader! That's 53 innings in 3 days.
Eddie Murray is teaching Mark Teixeira what it means to be a hero. :)
What, was I going to not say anything?
Or at least that's the way I remember it. I think John Wetteland was also called up to start the other end of the doubleheader, although I'm less clear on that part. I do remember watching the games on TBS.
Wetteland was already on the club, and pitched 2 innings in the marathon game. He started and pitched 5 IP in game 2 of the doubleheader in Atlanta. Tim Leary, who started the marathon game and went 5.2 IP, pitched 3 in relief.
yeah .... 17-33 now!
He did located it perfectly on the low outside corner to the right handers though.
one more thing that stud out for me, is that my friend goes to PLENTY of Dodger & Halos games & he says he always feels more at home at Dodger games then at Angels Stadium (just thought I sneak that in there) but overall it was really fun, thanks BH for the ticks!!
Also should Clayton Kershaw ever have a bad start or get hurt (I know, I know, it will never happen), I hope we don't see the headline, "Clay Achin'".
Serious question: how do you know which radar guns are accurate and which are not?
I really fail to understand the rationale behind playing DeWitt over LaRoche. As articulated by Jon and others, the argument is that DeWitt should get to play until he shows he can't handle the major leagues.
I have DeWitt's equivalent wOBA's for 2005-2007 as .254, .273, and .271. His wOBA in 148 PA in 2008 is .352. Let me reiterate the 148 PA part. If DeWitt, who has 21 hits on 63 groundballs (Ichiro, widely known as baseball's best GB hitter, has a career batting average of .301 on GB's), had just three fewer singles, his wOBA would be .333 (league average).
If we were to aggressively age retro-adjust DeWitt's numbers to give him .20 points of wOBA for each year removed, that gives him .314, .313, .291. Let's just get silly and say we would expect him to be a .315 hitter coming into the year. His .352 this season would then be enough for us to call him a .325 hitter.
LaRoche has equivalent wOBA's of .322, .356, and .336 the last three seasons, with .372 so far in Vegas. So even if we don't age adjust at all, LaRoche has a .339 projection coming into 2008. Even if we discount his 2008 by half since it is not in the majors, it still improves his projection to .343. So giving DeWitt the benefit of every doubt and LaRoche the benefit of none, I have him as 9 runs better per season with the bat.
So what does DeWitt's seasonal line have to look like to make the switch? Does dropping below league average cut it? If that's the cut-off, then if DeWitt is the .325 hitter that we've generously made him out to be, it will take him 352 PA to do that. So if DeWitt is consistent and not a cipher, then you lose more than 5 runs by not replacing him with LaRoche under the above ridiculously DeWitt-biased assumptions.
If DeWitt slips under league average because he has slumped (that is, hits very poorly in a small number of PA), then obviously it would have been much better to have LaRoche playing during that time, and I hope I don't have to elaborate this point. So if DeWitt slips under .333 with 100 PA of .304 hitting, then not using LaRoche for those 100 PA costs (again, using an anti-LaRoche LaRoche projection) three and a half runs. If it's 40 PA of .262 wOBA, then it's 2.8 runs.
To avoid disturbing anyone, I will refrain from crunching the numbers on the two hitters' actual projections.
Consider the logical circle created by a remark I saw earlier (I don't remember if it was at DT or elsewhere). A poster argued that calling up LaRoche to platoon with DeWitt makes no sense because DeWitt has hit better against LHP this season. If DeWitt's .394/.500/.697 line against LHP in 40 PA is enough to base a decision off of, then surely his .277/.324/.396 line against RHP is indicative of his talent against RHP, right? Perhaps we should have a reverse DeWitt/LaRoche platoon! The point is, just as his platoon split is based on a tiny, tiny amount of data, so is his entire season.
I am fine with those who think it is not worth complaining about because the Dodgers will not change it and are old school etc. But I am only fine on condition that people acknowledge it is a BAD move. Whenever DeWitt hits his slump, I do not want to hear that the Dodgers made the inevitable move; I want to hear that they made the WRONG move in not giving LaRoche the job that he has earned twice over and instead giving it to someone who hasn't earned a quarter of it.
The Dodgers are using ridiculous conventional wisdom (DeWitt is hitting well now!) to drown out more sensible conventional wisdom (players should not lose their jobs because they missed time to injury). Are they supposedly doing this on the basis of actual scouts? Not as far as I've heard. If they are, who are these scouts, and what is their track record? I think they're doing it based on THE NUMBERS. Blake DeWitt's numbers, to be precise. In doing so, they are revealing that they are highly ignorant about how to interpret and regress baseball statistics (obviously, this is not exactly a new revelation).
This really irks me. If you are going to marginalize actual statistical analysis in player evaluation, you do not get to use cockamamie statistical factoidism to negate scouting data! Period. Or exclamation mark. Some form of punctuation indicating the end of the sentence.
Plus, if you think that DeWitt is good and want him in your lineup, then it is obvious that he should be taking reps at 2B in AAA unless you really think he can't handle it defensively. And if you think he can't handle it defensively, you either a) think he is a bad fielder at 3B or b) have a very distorted idea of the difference in skill level between fielding those two positions. If it's a), then that's just one more reason LaRoche should be starting over him.
Why DeWitt at 2B instead of LaRoche? First, he has a smaller frame and will probably be the better defender of the two at 2B. Second, he has played there in the minor leagues, and not long ago. I have no idea why many on DT think LaRoche has played 2B in the minors - can someone explain this to me? Third, and this one is pretty big, he is a left-handed hitter. DeWitt/Kent is a reasonable platoon; LaRoche/Kent is not. I guess you could do DeWitt at 3rd and LaRoche at 2nd against RHP and LaRoche 3B / Kent 2B against southpaws, but what exactly would the point be? If the goal is to make the 2008 team better with DeWitt, then 2B is the obvious destination. Fourth, I don't know why you would want your elite prospect whose biggest demerit is health concerns to switch positions and increase his injury risk. Fifth, DeWitt can always move back to 3B. If ultimately LA doesn't think he can handle 2B, why don't they keep that to themselves and get better trade value out of him by giving him more time at 2B?
The Dodgers are betting heavily that DeWitt is much better than we have any reason to expect him to be. DeWitt is talented enough that that's an intriguing bet with long odds. But the odds are even - so why?
p.s. Question for Bob or anyone else: can you name any previous battles for playing time between two players with last names (in their anglicized variants, anyway) where the third letter is capitalized?
p.p.s. It is cringeworthy enough to hear one of my favorite bands ever, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, in a commercial, but what the heck does "Express Yourself" have to do with 'letting' Dodge pay part of your gasoline bill?
I don't know what gun you were watching but the Dodgers telecast and gameday both had Kershaw touching 97 and 93-96 almost always. That, combined with the movement and location, is a dominating fastball.
What starting pitchers do you know regularly sits in the high 90s? (97+)?
Felix Hernandez...who else? Maybe Verlander but not this year. Kershaw's fastball was excellent today, his curve was just decent, as he couldn't throw it for strikes as much as he should have. He was very bold throwing his change up so much, especially when it clearly lacks behind his other two pitches. Its going to be a good pitch though...my God, he is only 20 years old.
LaRoche, by the way, is slumping at a 962 OPS clip in Vegas. So much potential, so little production.
Lincecum in the 6th inning: 90-94
Chad can manipulate his fastball more. He cuts it a lot, and he 2 seams it a lot.
Clayton throws the straight cheese with natural cutting and late sinking action.
That class is insane if you look at all the college talent already up in the majors. Preston...Bryan...stop goofing around in the low minors and hurry up.
To me, I would start giving Blake starts at 2B with LaRoche at third. I know this really aggravates some people who feel it's a dumb or disrespectful to move Blake off a position he has earned, but as I've said before, if the Dodgers and their fans just have the attitude they've shown themselves capable of with DeWitt and Martin at third base - "we'll just take what we can get" - then there should be no pressure on DeWitt as far as the transition. Because there's a real issue at 2B with Kent. DeWitt has just the kind of moral support to help address that problem, even if just a temporary solution.
I'm not opposed to LaRoche trying at second, but the reasons Tom outlines are more or less the reasons I think DeWitt is a better choice.
Why is that? I've never understood that.
Canuck, you still want Aaron Hicks or Tim Melville?
Have you been to the projectprospect.com forums? There is a guy there who has followed Melville and Ordorizzi all season, giving updates after every start.
Melville has been well...extremely inconsistent while Ordorizzi has been lights out every single time he goes out there.
YES THAT SORT OF THING MATTERS!
They're all three-quarters arm slots and silly off speed stuff. They're not like us, Jon. They're just different.
I was pleased to see Tiffee wearing #13. Great number for a guy who likely won't be up long.
Kershaw's going to graduate and so is Laroche. It looks kind of barren...depending if Elbert comes back from injury and pitches at all this year.
McDonald
Meloan
Morris
May
DeJesus
Bell
Lambo
Withrow (wish he would start to pitch professionally)
Ordorizzi....heh
Why?
What teams need a starting pitcher for the stretch run? Purely hypothetical because I can't see Colletti trading away a PVL like Lowe, but humor me...
Cardinals
Braves
Philly?
Chicago (AL)?
As significant as our ability to jinx no hitters?
Stop asking questions.
I suspect Loney will be getting one or two days off soon to get his groove back.
Twenty year old blows away some very good St. Louis Cardinals batters. First MLB GAME! Wow!
The phenomenon that is Clayton Kershaw is just beginning.
BA still ranks Melville higher than Ethan Martin and Odorizzi. Melville reminds me of Phil Hughes. Just the perfect size. If he is a bit raw now, fine, that is what the development part of our organization is for. And I'll say that I like Melville's delivery better than Odorizzi's too. Odorizzi looks more like second round material to me. Physically he seems a bit "stiff." Remember, scouting high schoolers is about projecting into the future, not looking at who is having the better high school season.
On Hick, yes, I fear he MIGHT not hit, so there is that downside, but if he DOES hit? Wow. Five-tool center fielder.
What I am saying is that I think we are in the perfect position, with all our young talent, to avoid playing it safe in the draft. To gamble a bit. Plenty of other teams couldn't do that. The Dodgers can.
already a mechanics analysis on Kershaw. he grades out as excellent in every category except a "poor" in tempo, a category that author admits is least important and probably not worth correcting considering Kershaw's already outstanding mechanics.
drivelinemechanics is run by KyleB, who I know from the poker forum twoplustwo, he is quite smart. Huge stathead and he is trying to analyze pitchers using less traditional influences such as the Mike Marshall school, its interesting. He has done an analysis on Kuroada earlier. I emailed him a request for Billingsley.
despite all the medical/mechanics jargon that I cannot understand, I am quite excited for his prognosis. :)
Tom, let me say I love reading your stuff, and I'm glad you've been commenting so often lately. It really increases the class of this already first-class site. Thanks.
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