Sorry, I keep hearing this strange chant, don't know where it's coming from.

Will he conveniently join the DL like his poor performing predecessors (Nomar, Loaiza, Bennett, Jones)?

Jason Repko.

They would have a bench of either Maza/Hu, Tiffee, Young, Sweeney, Ardoin. If Furcal is able to come back by next week, they could just switch out Furcal and Kent if it came to that.

Hu will go down when Furcal is activated.

Gallagher's hand got hit by the baseball.

This just in:

Upon returning to Los Angeles, Blake will purchase a country music CD and give it to Matt Kemp as a gift.

More updates as events warrant.

32

Cubs announcers stink.

Is it Berman and Steve Phillips?

You would think we could find back-up catchers that could do these simple things.

fair.

2 straight great defensive plays. We probably should have scored at least 2 runs this innings.

Lee dove and took a double away from Maza. Ethier hit a shot to right and Fukudome cut it off and made a great throw to hold Ethier to a single. Ethier got nailed on a perfect throw.

Hu swings at absolutely everything.

but all that other stuff seems like it may outdo the good.

"They fixed what they thought they had to fix," Manager Joe Torre said before the Dodgers' game against the Chicago Cubs. "He'll start in the next day or so with the rehab that he's going to have to do."

Torre added that there was no additional damage found in Jones' knee during the procedure.

Lou Pinella hasn't been told that Edmonds sucks.

See also: Ryan Theriot.

http://tinyurl.com/5xl2q2

But I am now officially on board the Andy LaRoche for second base campaign.

Booyaksha, and all that.

I can't believe I spelled booyakasha incorrectly.

121 Not that I ever liked him, but I've seriously had it with Rick Monday. After 15 or so years on the job, is it to much to ask that he improve?

But I saw the Dodgers' scoring inning, which could've been 3 runs if not for the great defense, and saw Ardoin do something Bennett couldn't, and heard Chris Berman make me a little queasy with his sentimental spiel on Jim Edmonds.

And good news, I think, re LaRoche and 2nd. Better that experiment than just playing him at 1st.

Good point Bob but you gotta wonder if the extra pounds had something to do with it, what ever, I'm just happy he has time to clear his head, I really mean it...

Squee! I love Joe.

Speaking of which, I want everyone to know that the minute Juan Pierre's OBP dips below .350, I'll be lifting my voluntary "not complaining about Juan Pierre" moratorium. Might happen soon.

Why teams don't do MRIs before signing free agents, I don't know, it appears to be pretty standard practice that don't do one.

Jones himself said that he would get aches during the year but you learn to play through it. This time, he couldn't so they did the MRI.

My hunch is that the CBA only allows a physical to be taken as a condition to final approval of the contract and that an MRI is not considered part of that physical.

Ridiculous.

I wonder if managers ever really even think about such things, or if they just automatically assume that the #2 hitter can't be all that good or have much power.

Dude, it's Lou Pinella. I doubt he thinks about much at all.

I know I am considered a pessimist in some quarters. But this night will at least demonstrates the depth of our pitching.
Should Schmidt actually make some kind of recovery, it will be even better.

So Kurodas' consistency is a marvelous sign, whether we win or lose.

Brought it home, unhooked the RF Modulator from the broken one, hooked it up to the new one, put in "The Last Waltz" and saw the initial screen come up.

What's that screen say? "Caution. This film should be played LOUD!"

That worked out well for the Mets.

I doubt that there is ANY professional baseball at ANY level who would not have some sort of knee damage. It's all a matter of degree. And the teams all just factor in how much risk they want to assume.

Are the MRIs typically performed before or after the contract is signed?

This is from a story about Randy Wolf in the offseason:

"Randy Wolf's stint with his hometown Dodgers proved short-lived.

The free-agent left-hander has agreed to a one-year contract with the San Diego Padres, pending a physical, a major league source said."

When I got hired for civil service, I was hired, pending a physical.

My physical wasn't particularly thorough.

It's a conspiracy!

"J.D. Drew and the Boston Red Sox reached a preliminary agreement on a contract that could bring the former Dodger free-agent outfielder $70 million over the next five years.

Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein said the deal was not done because Drew has not yet taken a physical."

He's got a .399 OBP, so he's doing something right.

Boomer pulls a Steiner.

That was a nice play on the one before it by Pierre even if he did indeed take "a long circuitous route."

Baseball players are just like about everybody else who gets a physical connected with a job. You get offered the job, pending a physical. If the employer doesn't like the results, then you don't get the job.

It's just that with athletes they are looking for different things. It's not like they are worried about making ADA accomodations.

also, Johnny Damon. I know you're on it...

If I'm a person thinking about signing a person to a multimillion dollar deal, I make them go all over hither and yon getting MRIs to show my team that he has good knees.

ESPN said twelve also.

...and now Berman drops the "Hu's on first".....shtick-itis...

Same two teams, but in a different park:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA200207020.shtml

AKA "the physical ringer"

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1987/B10010HOU1987.htm

Of course, this is what happens when you can only score one run for your pitchers. Then every at bat and baserunner becomes nervewracking.

Meanwhile, the Lakers are up 10.

This is a good team the Cubs have this year. The Mets will seem like pattycake by comparison.

At least. even though I'm not anything another than baseball fan, that's cool to here.

I was a closet Cubbie fan during there miracle run a few years back but it just sucks when there beating my team.

It's like they're saying their cars aren't enough, so wouldn't it be nice if our dealers could perform psychic miracles for you.

Last year, the Dodgers won 3 of 4 in Chicago.

I still think Torre should stick to his guns & rest him though...

Okay, weak shot at Johnny B.

Or as Spongebob would say, "Tartar sauce!"

Feh.

Bleh.

Ptooey!

The last couple of days have been absolutely maddening.

Is he in your "Roto League"

That is all.

- Smacking a meat thermometer into your ear with a ballpeen hammer ...

- Diving into a swimming pool filled with double-edged razor blades ...

- Listening to Billy Ray Cyrus's "Achy Breaky Heart" ... (well, maybe that's going a little far)

What did he do?

4 out of 40

And now Sweeney-the perfect statement of where we at.

Thought the 1-0 lead might hold.

Well, the fans in Japan must be thinking their players can come over here and kick US butt. Fukudome and Kuroda played great.

And Sutcliffe, earlier, mentioning the Dodgers don't have Jones and Nomar available. For all the good they've done, who cares?

Right now, in the eye of the storm (or the anti-storm), it is very maddening though.

Did I mention that they miss Furcal?

I'm imposing a Brady Law waiting period before making angry posts.

That non-call on the clear traveling violation by Duncan was particularly ludicrous.

Furcal's the guy they miss. The other guys just have to pick it up a bit. Having a non-sucky Jones this season certainly would've been nice but I guess you can't miss what you've never had.

David Price vs. Pedro Martinez

One we should have kept and the other we almost had.

Although it's amazing that with the scrap in our lineup, we weren't blown out by 10+ runs. Oh Andy, how I pine for thee.

Josh Wolff > Jozy Altidore... grumble grumble grumble.

http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_6422546.html

Clarke's game was in 1894 and Travis had his in 1933.

--

Gack it pains me to say... "Go Giants..." but... "Go Giants..." (he says in meek, John Fiedler-esque voice).

327 Which Fukudome vis-a-vis Berkman? The home Fukudome [.376/.487/.528] or the away Fukudome [.207/.300/.276]?

Get him some reps around the infield, hit him some flies in the outfield, and let's move on with Andy LaRoche. It'll all work out.

414 Sorry man. I was annoyed enough by them just watching on TV.

398 And, d'oh. I didn't realize that at all. Oh well.

Okay, back to the Lakers.

LA: 10-12
SA: 24-26

LaRoche's box score line: 5 4 3 4

http://tinyurl.com/67sebm (Live box)

A.J. Ellis is at 4 1 3 8
Angel Chavez is at 3 4 1 0

A more experienced player would have opted for a basehit in that situation.

http://tinyurl.com/69xrth

Note that the TinyURL almost spells out "earth."

I apologize for the jinx.

1. He's up in the air
2. A player from the opposing team jumps up into him

A disgrace? That's a little harsh, don;t you think? Tell me that Kobe Bryant can go a whole game without shooting a free throw and I'll show you a disgrace.

Now close them out, Lakers.

464
D4P, Fisher didn't jump straight up (if he did, I'd agree with the no-call). He jumped in one spot and ended up about a few feet from where he started, into Barry.

Nice pitching by Tucson tonight.

And Jason Johnson's on his way to being 7-2!

6 games against Utah - 96 FT
4 games against Spurs - 6 FT

I'd kind of like to see the Dodgers do that on a fairly regular basis

Argh, that came on the one comments fold I missed in this whole thread. I even searched!

Hey, did you guys hear that Sidney Pollack died? And Kershaw pitched a great game on Sunday. And Buckwheat has been shot?

446 I busted up reading that comment.

http://tinyurl.com/5gd6a6

2006: 8 GIDP in 111 PA
2007: 6 GIDP in 375 PA
2008: 10 GIDP in 206 PA

>|

516 Without being sued by an angry giraffe?

--

I think the 9th inning of that 51s game might feature the first time in baseball that two players named Wilkin each entered the game for both teams in the same inning.

Kobe shot no free throws tonight, Lamar Fish were both in foul trouble early and Pau was getting hacked and getting no calls all night.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I'd rather drive a classic Trans Am than an 'X-earth'."

"After Delwyn Young's pinch-single in the ninth inning Tuesday night, Torre might feel compelled to give Young a start at his former position of second base if Kent is unable to play Wednesday."

I thought they should of done the dodger script logo with the ball going through it, kind of like they did for the braves tie.

http://tinyurl.com/5jvvcm

And left field:

http://tinyurl.com/6zlqju

Though I think Dylan's article mistakes LaRoche's experience at second base for DeWitt's.

I do find it interesting that Torre already sees Andy coming up to platoon with Loney.

Eric Ender's scenario may play out after all.

http://tinyurl.com/52mh9y

I hurt my back two weekends ago pushing a garden tiller through Alabama clay, but the Dodgers can't be gardening that much.

They don't even go yard.

Creepy WGN eyes, the backstory:

http://tinyurl.com/5zrlhx

"Similar to Torre, Bowa didn't question the effort of the young players. But Bowa said he was becoming frustrated that the Dodgers were dropping games because of fundamental errors.

"We lose games because of little things that are happening," Bowa said. "Just by executing these things, you very easily could have three or four more wins. We're not the kind of team that's going to blow people out."

Bowa said he thought that would remain the case unless the Dodgers added help from the outside."

http://tinyurl.com/3hysx7

"The 28-year-old first baseman, who made his Major League debut on May 6, 2007, also plated five runs for Class A Advanced Vero Beach on July 27, 2004."

Among the problems with this kind of thinking is the fact that our opponents can problem say the same thing. If our opponents had executed the little things better, we very easily could have three or four more losses. I tend to think these things even themselves out over time. Which is why

"We're not the kind of team that's going to blow people out"

is a problem. If you have to rely on doing little things well to be a good team, you're probably not going to be a good team.

"I really don't think that of all the kids that are here, you have a prolific home run hitter," he said. "I think they will be good baseball players, solid major leaguers, but I don't think, 'This guy's going to hit 40 home runs.' I don't see that, which isn't bad. You don't have to hit 40 home runs to be successful."

To what extent are you essentially saying "If we were a better team, we would be a better team"...?

None, Im saying that Bowa sais "fundamental mistakes" (I assume he means errors, not advancing runners, base running etc... )are costing us games and I don't see that as the major flaw lately.

With very little home run power, this team has to almost always do the "little" things right, and even get some luck with RISP to score runs.

The PVL's too old, the youngsters arent yet in their primes and their upsides (outside of Martin/Billingsley/Kershaw) are problematic.

It's just a team that doesnt have the right mix on offense for sure. Too old, too young, and not enough in their prime type players. Plus Juan Pierre.

The bright spots to the team are building around Kershaw/Billingsley/Kemp(in CF)/ Laroche(at 2b)/Martin going forward. The dark spot is that Ned is still in charge of building around those players.

I'm not saying he won't eventually hit for power, just that his power potential is based almost entirely on his body type, not his minor league numbers.

I agree with Bowa actually, I don't mind if Kemp turns out to be a Pedro Guerrero type hitter not at all.

Guerrero was a 30+ 300 BA 100 RBI plus Kemp has a few more tools like speed & a great arm to bring to the dance...

You can say the same thing for his expected superstardom.

You left something out...

Sorry if it was misleading.

They're either too old or too young,
So, darling, you'll never get stung.
Tomorrow I'll go hiking with that Eagle Scout unless,
I get a call from grandpa for a snappy game of chess.

I'll never, never fail ya,
While you are in Australia,
Or off among the Rooshians,
And flying over Egypt.
Your heart will never be gypped,
And when you get to India,
I'll still be what I've been to ya.
I've looked the field over
And lo and behold!
They're either too young or too old!

They're either too bald or too bold,
I'm down to the wheelchair and bassinet,
My heart just refuses to get upset.
I simply can't compel it to,
With no Marine to tell it to.

I'm either their first breath of spring,
Or else, I'm their last little fling.
I either get a fossil or an adolescent pup,
I either have to hold him off,
Or have to hold him up.
The battle is on, but the fortress will hold,
They're either too young or too old.

On the same day the Bulls center was arrested for possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and having an open container of alcohol, he also was issued two traffic citations.

Noah, 23, was issued citations for driving with a suspended license and for not wearing a seat belt by the University of Florida Police Department on Sunday.

Noah's speeding Hummer was stopped, which led to the officer learning of the suspended license.

It made everybody want to go to Frank McCourt's office with a torch and a pitchfork.

That was back when we liked James Loney.

Dodgers ranking by OPS:
Ethier 23
Kemp 31
Pierre 65
Jones 77

The team we have is the team we have. It can be tweaked certainly--Ardoin and Kershaw are certainly upgrades on Bennett and Loaiza, as LaRoche will be for Sweeney or Tiffee. But on the whole, Jon was right the other day. It's a young team, it's mostly the team we wanted, and as hard as it is we need to wait them out.

Two games in a row, Loney misses a grand slam by less than 20 feet. Remember the 3 run home run Ethier hit last year in Wrigley? Think of how different that series would have been if he just missed? I can only imagine how different the mood would be if Loney connected both times.

Left Field
Pierre - 303 innings (36 starts)
Ethier - 145 (15 GS)
Sweeney - 1
Young - 1

Center Field
Jones - 307 (35 GS)
Kemp - 142 (16 GS)
Pierre - 1

Right Field
Kemp - 226 (24 GS)
Ethier - 222 (27 GS)
Young - 2

Total OF innings
Kemp - 368 (40 GS)
Ethier - 367 (42 GS)
Jones - 307 (35 GS)
Pierre - 304 (36 GS)
Young - 3
Sweeney - 1

So Kemp will be the 4th OF despite having played the most defensive innings in the OF. Ethier, who has been the 4th OF for the past few weeks mostly because of his splitting time between LF & RF, was also the leading innings man when he was displaced in LF by Juan Pierre.

This doesn't really mean anything. Just an interesting quirk of BB-Ref.

Of course pretty much every 51 in the lineup had a pretty good day...

http://tinyurl.com/67sebm

He has appeared in every game so far this season, and has caught in 49 of the 51 contests.

The Dodger record for most games played by a primary catcher is 152, by Mike Piazza in his 1997 MVP season (prove me wrong!). Martin played 151 games last year, and is on pace to finish well ahead of that this season.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/q8Vr

Dodgers to catch 140 games in a season
Campanella (1951) - 140 (out of 154; 147 in a 162-g season)
Campanella (1953) - 140
Piazza (1993) - 146
Piazza (1996) - 146
Martin (2007) - 145

In Russell Martin's young career, he has appeared in 323 of 346 team games (93.4%), and has caught in 311 of those games (89.9%).

Piazza appeared in 89.1% of his games as a Dodger, and caught in 85.9% of them.

http://tinyurl.com/6f7sma

A few notes though:

1) Wallace Johnson was playing 1B when Sutcliffe stole second, not Andres Galarraga
2) It wasn't the only SB of his career (it was the first though). He would add three more over the next two seasons.

231
Are you near Huntsville? I've got a brother who moved there several years ago and is a huge Dodger fan and has no one to commisserate with. Not sure how many of you there are but you might want to hook up to watch the Suns when they roll into town.