On the ocean…
As bad as yesterday was for Brad Penny on the mound, it didn’t stop him from spending quality time in the community today, as promised, during his second annual fishing trip.
We left from Long Beach at noon with about 40 kids, many of whom have never had the chance to go fishing before, let alone meet a big leaguer. This was an idea Brad came up with last year and he’s teamed with Dan Hernandez Youth Foundation and the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation to make it happen.
The kids seemed to really enjoy themselves and there should be a recap and photos on the front of the site shortly.
Of course, we all would have loved for him to throw a no-hitter before heading out on the boat, but such is life. Even a two-time All-Star has a bad day from time to time, but in this case, he followed it up with an even better one.
We’ll know our transaction tomorrow to correspond with Loaiza going on the DL. Until then…
Inside the Dodgers 
Someone was criticizing Penny’s status as a #1 pitcher because he’d never won more than sixteen games. Last season was one of those, but he also lost only four games! He made 33 starts, with thirteen no-decisions. Not that W-L is the most insightful thing, but doesn’t that mean he put the Dodgers in a position to win in 29 of his 33 starts? Along with his 3.03 ERA, he put up a #1-type season last year.
Particularly for Joe Pierre:
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Dodgers in day games:
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2008: 4-7, 3.98 ERA, batting: .210 / .285 / .316
2007: 25-22, 4.33, .272 / .335 / .409 [82-80 overall, other overall numbers very similar to day]
2006: 27-22, 4.42, .280 / .354 / .439 [88-74 overall, other overall number slightly lower at night]
2005: 20-25, 4.34, .246 / .319 / .382 [71-91 overall, overall ERA about the same, batting slightly higher at night]
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So for the previous three seasons, the day/night performance is about the same – or at least not drastically different – than the overall season’s work.
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Maybe that means we’re due to see a good run of day games for the boys in blue.
My guess at Friday’s starting lineup/batting order. After a day off, Torre should be starting his most preferred lineup. (Houston starts a journeyman righthander.)
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Furcal – SS
Ethier – LF
Kemp – RF
Kent – 2B
Loney – 1B
Martin – C
Jones – CF
DeWitt – 3B
Lowe – P
old fogey;;;;
I guess we remember the loses better.
My daughter and I go out on Sunday afternoons and if we don’t go to the ballgame it’s somewhere else.
It seems when ever I come home to check on the game or the score they’re losing or they lost, most of the time.
I really hate to be a pest but how’s the Sunday record?
I hope your guess is right with Ethier starting over Pierre.
I don’t care too much for the big salary players getting all the playing time recently.
Granted Pierre is playing well and it’s Jones that should be feeling the pine, but regardless Ethier is too good a player for a fourth outfielder.
Most people don’t like to read it but it looks like to me that Jones especially and Pierre have their spots nailed down.
I think Torre and Colletti feel that they are the regular starting CF & LF, no matter how anyone else feels.
“For a young kid, the way he adjusts in at-bats is pretty impressive,” Torre on Kemp
I have Ethier starting tomorrow he’s 3 for 3 against Brian Moehler. Kemp is a must start. The rest…whatever.
I know I am jumping ahead, but I get to go to the Friday Dodgers/Angels game the following weekend. There has been discussion about pitching because of the 5th spot, but any ideas who might DH? (Kemp, Kent, Ethier, Sweeney, Young) I can see Torre having some fun with this – back in the days of being an AL manager 🙂
Good point dnelson. I guess during Interleague play we don’t have a 4 OF’er problem.
I hope you are right Alex. I saw those stats last night. Torre did play Ethier against Young (SD), knowing that he hits well against him so you would hope he has the same thinking this time against Moehler.
This interleague play coming up will definitely get Jones his ABs (to work out hose kinks) and allow for some others to get some quality ABs as well.
Derek Lowe vs. the current Astros:
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**PA** AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
Jose Cruz 39 36 15 4 2 4 11 3 6 .417 .462 .972 1.434
Darin Erstad 32 29 9 4 0 0 3 2 3 .310 .375 .448 .823
Miguel Tejada 32 30 9 0 0 2 5 2 6 .300 .344 .500 .844
Carlos Lee 28 28 10 2 0 2 4 0 2 .357 .357 .643 1.000
Geoff Blum 25 23 7 1 0 1 1 2 2 .304 .360 .478 .838
Mark Loretta 24 22 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .182 .250 .182 .432
Brad Ausmus 20 20 4 3 0 0 2 0 2 .200 .200 .350 .550
Lance Berkman 20 18 4 1 0 0 1 2 3 .222 .300 .278 .578
Kazuo Matsui 9 8 4 1 0 0 1 1 0 .500 .556 .625 1.181
Ty Wigginton 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000
Shawn Chacon 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
=================================================
Total 236 221 66 16 2 9 28 14 27 .299 .343 .511 .854
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Jose Cruz Jr.? Really?
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I wouldn’t draw too much from 3 PAs of Ethier’s against Moehler. Plus one of those hits was an infield dribbler.
“I guess during Interleague play we don’t have a 4 OF’er problem.”
By northstateblues on May 8, 2008 11:20 PM
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My friend, are you really suggesting Juan Pierre DH????? (He actually has never DHed in the majors.).
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I’ll lay money that Russell Martin DHs at least once in Anaheim.
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(Chris Young is the pitcher Andre Ethier has faced second-most in his career – 22 times. Peavy is the most with 27.)
Joe Pierre – I’m not sure how to find the Sunday record easily, but when I do, I’ll let you know.
Need Lowe and Penny to pick it up and start pitching like #1 and 2 guys or it is going to be a long summer.
Like I’ve said before; We’ll go as far as our starting pitching.
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_9200717?source=rss
Good read.
While McCourt is unlikely to be reading this blog, I hope he reads THE article in Sports Illustrated about his boy Ned’s team decisions. What a screw-up Ned has been for this team.
LOGAN WHITE , or anybody but Colletti in 2009 or sooner!!!
Yep Bear, that was a good article. Really shows what we have all been saying for the past year or so. We’ve got the box of hollow points right there but Ned and Joe keep loading the gun with blanks.
The “transaction” Josh was talking about is Brazoban coming up.
Here is the current bullpen:
Saito
Broxton
Beimel
Proctor
Brazoban
Park*
Wade
*I expect him to start on May 17 vs. the Angels. It is too soon for Kershaw.
I wonder if you can put somebody on the DL with a “messed up head” and see what 15 days with a sports psychologist would do for Andruw. At least he’d be out of the lineup for a while, and we can see how far we can go in two weeks with our best players in the OF.
Martin DHing means Bennett is on the field – BAD.
We should use the DH to get an extra bat in the lineup, not an extra stiff. There’s plenty of days off. I would use days that we have big leads (or big deficits like Wed.) to rest Martin a few innings.
Don’t forget Kuo. I would rather see Kuo start on the 17th than Park. If Park gets lit up I imagine Kuo will be the one to come in and right the ship.
Brad Penny is a good pitcher, but he’s no number 1 that’s for sure. Brandon Webb, Jake Peavey , Johan Santana, they are number 1s. A number 1 starter doesn’t give up 10 runs in 5 innings. I doubt the above mentioned along with Koufax in his prime has ever given up 10 runs in 5 innings. Those are number 1 starters. Bills and Kershaw maybe number 1s , but that has yet to be seen.
When I brought the topic of DHing up last night, it made me realize how many good bats we have (Furcal, Kemp, Martin, Loney, Ethier, DeWitt, Young, Kent). It will be a matter of who we need out there for defense for that particular night I would guess. Has anybody heard how Furcal is doing? It might even be a good spot for him if he needs to get a couple of days rest on the field without losing his bat.
Penny and Lowe are at best 2’s in my opinion. They have streaks of 1-ness but are not consistant or dominate enough to be called true aces.
Billz, Kershaw, and even Kuo have the stuff to become true aces. All we need is one and it makes everyone else better.
messagebear,
Up here they kind of did that for Zito (it was called the bullpen, and he did have a much better outing even though he still lost). We don’t have places like that for struggling hitters – maybe DHing could be a spot for him so he could just work on batting and he would get extra rest in between innings. Just thinking outside the box, I suppose. I am an Ethier, Jones, Kemp supporter so I want Andruw to come out of this. Close games are going to come down to defense/pitching, and I want Ethier, Jones and Kemp out there when we need them.
That was an awesome article in SI. It spelled it out analytically and there is no refuting that Ned is incompetent as a manager. Ned could not see that Andruw Jones strikes out too much and his OBP is dreadful while playing for Atlanta before he signed him to 18 million per year. If Scott Boras (the antichrist) could fool him so badly he has no business to be a big league manger. As the SI article states “Colletti seems more and more like someone promoted past his level, the Peter Bavasi Principle in action.”
Dodger fans are not doing themselves any good by booing Druw, not that he doesn’t deserve it. Andruw might hit, and he might not, nobody knows for sure, but he’s only played in 1 place his whole career and LA is a big change for him. He might do better if he’s more comfortable and booing him is not the way to make him feel at home.
Ned is definately in way over his head.
I believe Mr. Winston Churchill must have been speaking of our beloved Andruw when he said, “A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” If not, maybe he was speaking of Frank’s hiring of Ned…
Thanks for the link to the dailynews,com article you posted at 6:48 a.m., jhail.
It talks about Joe Torre’s managing style of patient and selective hitting.
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I have been very frustrated with Torre’s benching of Kemp and Ethier, and for those reasons have compared him to Grady Little. But this article shows that Torre has redeeming qualities as well, whereas Grittle had no redeeming qualities as a major league manager that I ever noticed.
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You’re still in my doghouse, Joe. But as long as Matt Kemp continues to play virtually every day and you don’t make any other inexplicable moves I might just let you out. (As if you care about my opinion.)
kahli,
To parapharase somebody, I thing Andruw is more like a riddle wrapped in a doughnut.
Make that a Twinkie wrapped in a doughnut.
LOL
jhall, thanks for that link. It explains a lot. I also agree about our lack of a true #1 starter. There are times when Penny looks like one, but when you’ve seen a Koufax or Hershiser or Valenzuela – there is a feeling of anticipation that a #1 gives you as he walks to the mound in the 1st inning. We don’t have that yet. I do think Billz is getting there.
fliegel, I agree with you about booing Andruw. I’ve said before that I yell and scream at the TV all the time, but when at the ballpark I won’t boo our own. I certainly understand everyone’s frustration. I’m right there with them. I was very excited when we signed him. I’ll let the umps have it when they deserve it and the other team is fair game, but I just don’t feel it’s right to boo a Dodger on the field. They’re trying their best and could use our support. Perhaps if I could do better myself I would feel different, but never on my best day could I ever do what they do. I wouldn’t deny anyone else their right to do as they wish – this is America, after all. That’s just the way I feel.
A true #1 is worth his salt come playoff time when a short series demands excellence. That said, Jose Lima is our true #1 over the past 20 years. Kudos to ALL the Dodger GMs and scouts over that time period. Job NOT well done. But like Hersheiser, Koufax and Fernando, you have to grow your own. Billingsley?????? Ummmm, hurry up, Clayton!!!!!!!!!
Look for the 500,000th error in major league history this weekend. According to baseball-reference.com, there have been 499,921 to date.
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My wild guess is a throwing error by the National’s Lastings Milledge in the fourth inning against the Marlins Sunday afternoon.
Mine is Pierre making a throw to the infield and the official scorer mistaking such a lame effort as an error…
Can’t argue with that, kahli.
I know everyone is not pleased with the way Druw is swinging the bat right now, but maybe if he feels more comfortable and accepted, it will help him find his way back to what he was. It’s true he’s fat and out of shape, but as the season progresses he might lose some of the weight, either way it’s not helping him, or the Dodgers by the way the fans are reacting. Druw’s here for 2 years, so as fans we should do everything in our power to help him be productive, which is not booing him. He knows he’s not getting the job done now , and booing him is just added pressure that he doesn’t need. Just think how good this team will be if Andruw becomes himself again.
I’m sorry, but if you don’t want to get booed making 18 mil/yr, why don’t you get your *****. in shape in the offseason instead of coming to spring training looking like you’ve been spending all your millions at Krispy Kreme.
He’s only 30!!!! He’s too young to be so fat and out of shape.
Show us some will power and fight and slim down!!
Boos deserved I’m afraid.
Unfortunately fliegel, this may be Andruw being himself. No one can be that maladjusted to a change of scenery. I moved from CA to NM – there’s a culture shock. I do think Druw will make it back to at least .200 to .225, but it does seem like another bad Ned move at this point in time.
I also have to defend peoples right to express their displeasure with their own. You get something bad at a restaurant, you send it back. Since you can’t send Druw back, the only outlet is booing. Yes it probably puts added pressure on him mentally, but he can find solace in the $18 million ($30K per PA based upon 600 PAs) he’s getting. As a big leaguer he’s paid to perform, and as a paying customer you have the right to express displeasure when they don’t. Seemed to me Bombko got booed rather lustily last year (I wasn’t blogging last year – did anyone care?)
BTW all, not trying to pick on fliegel as a person or his opinions (he’s one of the best posters on here), all above just my opinions.
Right, fliegel is just trying to be nice, no problems with that.
I think the problem with these high priced under producing players is GM’s (Colletti mainly) handing over huge contracts without any bidding taking place. Was anyone else going to offer Jones anything near 18 mil/yr? Pierre 45 mil/5yrs?
Nomar 9 mil/2 yrs?
Patience, Ned, patience.
I still might be willing to risk Andruw (over Pierre) becoming himself at a mere .220 average if the glove doesn’t deteriorate with the batting -then I would be having problems. I am not one to boo at Dodgers either (man everytime I try to spell that word, I spell ethier instead – lol!), but is it possible most are booing at the signing of the player vs. the player himself?
I sat in left field on a night Pierre was out there. They aren’t so nice to him either (ethier – lol).
I actually prefer Ethier, Jones, Kemp and just bat Jones 8th until he picks it up. His defense is better than Pierre’s no matter how much he weighs or doesn’t hit.
I don’t like Pierre’s game. He’ll have a good game here and there and help a little, but in the long haul, we need someone with a more all around game.
I agree E. I think he will at least get it turned around to his performance last year. Never thought I would wish for a .220 season with 20 bombs but right now I would take it from Jones. I just hope Joe ditches this batting him in the 2 hole crap. If he is still batting a buck and a half with no power in June, well, Dodger fans, we’ve got a problem!!
Aces have a whips below 1.10
Good point Jungar. That just about says it.
I believe Druw’s contract has a huge part in the fact people boo him – here he makes more money in 2-3 plate appearances than most of the fans do in a year, and he’s overwieght, out of shape, and can’t hit the broadside of a barn. Disappointment + fat contract = booing. I do think that anyone that “performs” as Druw is right now gets booed no matter what the contract, but someone with a lesser contract would either be cut or optioned to the minors by now.
well said enchanted!
Sure wish there was a way that Dodger fans could publicly boo Ned the Furter.
Let’s shade the Druw booing somewhat differently. Could it be that fans are expressing their displeasure with Ned for signing him to such a huge contract that is not paying off – as usual. The other thought related to Druw’s age, supposedly 30, is that this would not be the first time that players’ ages from the Carib islands have been misstated. He could just as easily be 32 and closing in on being on the backslide of his career.
BOO BOO BOO BOO BOO BOO BOO
That was for Frank and Furter. Frank for hiring him, and Ned for, well you know, everything.
Could be Bear. He looks around 40 right now.
Age and waist. LOL
Beanie and weinie.
The name game…
Let’s do Ned.
Ned Ned dope head
Frank”s fun money’s been bled
Free Agents always play dead
Yet nothing ever get’s said
NED
Sorry for leaving Kuo out (I’m used to 7 names only).
LOL
YIKES! messagebear,
I have overlooked that possibility. Man, if he is really older, than we are screwed. Makes you wonder how plausible it was for a 19 year old kid to come out of nowhere and hit 2 bombs in his first 2 WS ab’s….
enchanted, once again!! lol!
messagebear might be on to something
We kid because we love…
Dang, my nose just grew.
We’re about due for one of the people who don’t routinely chat here to drop in and tell us we are haters and whiners in a arrogant, snide manner.
I was just thinking the same exact thing, jhall – lol!
This group definitely thinks alike. We are just using our own versions of saying the same thing.
Play the best team!
As much as I hate seeing Druw flailing away, its time for JP to disapear again for awhile. He’s much better as a spot starter. Play him too many games in a row and he reverts back to being Slappy.
Did anyone see that Mariners-Rangers fight, and Milton Bradley was the peacemaker? I think hell is about to freeze over!
Right on E!!
Hopefully Melton has grown up some. Talk about self-destructive behavior.
I demand equal time for Parker Bros.!!
LOL E. Sure wish this was like surviver and we could vote Ned off the island.
They were having fun with that on ESPN this morning – MB being the peacemaker.
have you guys seen this? it’s a pretty funny analogy about the andruw jones situation =)
http://www.sonsofstevegarvey.com/2008/05/requiem-for-1977-ford-mustang.html
lol sara
http://mlntherawfeed.squarespace.com/minor-league-baseball/2008/5/9/los-angeles-dodgers-minor-league-report-mlbmilb.html
LMAO!! Thanks Sara.
sara,
read it the other night – lol!!
Of course we’re going to leave the 69 Chevelle SS parked in the garage while we drive the Mustang and beater.
Thanks Sara – funny stuff !!
Since we’re on the subject (kinda), its time to vote for Ned’s all-time worst acquisitions:
Outfielders:
A) Gonzo
B) JP
C) Jones
D) Clark
E) Other
Infielders:
A) Nomore (redux)
B) Hillenbrand
C) Mueller
D) Martinez
E) Lugo
F) Other
Catcher:
A) Hill
B) Lieberthal
C) Diaz
D) Moeller
E) Other
Relief Pitcher:
A) Baez
B) Carter
C) Proctor
D) Hamulak
E) Other
Starting Pitcher:
A) Lurch
B) Sao
C) Bombko
D) Schidt
E) Erikson
F) Bloaiza
G) Wells
H) Other
Like the all-star ballot, vote early and vote often.
Gee, I had already forgotten most of those listed. Can we get McCourt’s vote on the above, enchanted?
1. B
2. C
3. A
4. B
5. C
Jones , so far is the worst acquisition followed closely by Proctor & Bombko. However, jones does have a chance to right the ship before it completely rolls over. Any more weight and even it can’t be saved.
E-All the above.
Ned gets my vote for all time worst acquisition by the Dodger organization.
What’s really frightening is that the list of bad acquisitions could actually be longer…
B – what hasn’t been covered here in the last year and a half?
E – just the sheer stupidity of that one makes it my choice
A – the others never got a significant chance to whine and underachieve
A – but Proctor’s making a real run for it this year
C – even his own mother would’ve booed him.
Bombko and Schidt are a toss up. At least Schidt is on the DL not blocking someone better from getting a shot.
If you believe in the theory that the first two months you identify your needs, the next two months you address them, and the last two months you attempt to win a championship…then we are close to completing phase 1. Personally, I think the bench is a mess…not so much in talent but in make-up. It’s like a little conglomerate of odds and ends with no real focus…you know, a guy out of options here, an salary-killing vet there…and the real horror is that the man who assembled this mess will be charged with rectifying it. Fasten your seat belts.
Or bend over…
Can I say that???
I’m with Jhall.
It’s interesting, if the Dodgers were a publicly traded company with Ned as the CEO. The shareholders and board of directors would have fired him long ago. He also might face indictment for gross negligence and misappropriation of funds.
Outfielder – A B and C, but if I have to pick the best answer – my answer would be B – it’s been said over and over and over
Starting Pitcher – F – I saw what he did in Oakland and I didn’t like him then. Oakland didn’t lose anything on that one.
The more I think about it the more I think they are all awful!
That’s a darn long list of bad acquisitions for a 10 year career much less 2.
Enchanted’s ballot:
Gonzo (blocked Ethier and was a crybaby)
Lugo (complete flop…I’ll always remember him as the guy who finally made out after 4 consecutive home runs)
Bennett (E:Other…just the way he throws the ball back to the pitcher…Mackey Sasser 2)
Carter (he get anybody out in the few days he spent here before being demoted?)
Sao (no track record and crummy to boot)
Yep, Lugo was a total waste and even had the audacity to b*tch and whine about everything. “I’m a shortstop”. Whah!! “I should play everyday”. Whah!!! I still detest that t*rd.
Haven’t Gonzo, Pierre and Jones all blocked Ethier in some way. As we are finding out now, Kemp could be playing CF.
I went with Mueller because Ned signed him for alot of money knowing his knees were toast and he played about 3 games. What a waste. And that kept us from getting a legitimate 3B.
Nelson, Yes!! And add Nomore to that list.
B Tomko
KC 1 3 4.98 7 6 0 0 0 1 34.1 39 20 19 2 0 11 21
Much to my surprise, only 2HR allowed.
M Hendrickson
FLA 5 1 3.56 8 8 0 0 0 0 48.0 46 24 19 3 3 14 20
BTW, did anyone in management think of having Hendy’s eyes checked at any point in time? Lasik surgery seems to be doing the trick for him. Might’ve come in handy as a 5th starter this year – better than Esteban and Chan Ho.
Oh sorry, I forgot. We have Stan Conte.
Shea Hillenbrand is the epitome of Ned’s signings. What a total piece of garbage and everyone in the world knew he was worthless – except Ned somehow. He’s not even on a roster this season.
The fact that Ned was eyeballing Juan Castro, Wes Helms, and Brandon Inge are testimonies that he hasn’t changed a bit this year.
Best Ned acquisitions:
Infield:
A) Furcal
B) Other
Outfield:
A) Ethier
B) Lofton
C) Other
Catcher: Anyone?
Relief Pitcher:
A) Saito
B) Other
Starting Pitcher:
A) Kuroda
B) Maddux
C) Other
Not a very long list eh?
Check Hendy’s stats at the end of the season…he’s had decent runs before early in the year – that’s why Ned was suckered in to trading for him.
Yep, I can’t figure Hendry. He did alright out of our bullpen but when he started it was almost Bombkoesque. Perhaps it goes back to something we have all thought about before. Rick Honeycutt. I’m not impressed with him.
Good point Scott. It will be interesting to see where Lurch finishes.
LOL. That is a short list.
Ferk
Ethier
None
Saito
Maddux so far, but most likely Kuroda by mid season. Wells also worked out well.
JP, AJ, Schidt, Bloaiza, Nomore, Mueller, Gonzo…
Ned misunderstood Frank’s mandate to “Go for broke.”
A
A
E
A
D
My comment on enchanted’s list is that even when Ned made a decent pick with Lofton and Maddux, he didn’t follow through and sign them for another season (in Lofton’s case) or two in Maddux’. Had he done so, we wouldn’t have had to sign Pierre nor probably Bloaiza. Ned just doesn’t know which end is up even when he stumbles into a decent pick.
Wow, going thru that list and really thinking about it, it is amazing how inept Ned has been. My god. If he had just decided to do a deal or not by flipping a coin, he would have come out better.
You’re right Bear. He had the answers right in front of his face and he just didn’t see it. Basically he just needed some players to keep us competitive for a couple of years until the kids were ready from the start of his tenure. Lofton and Maddux would have done the trick and saved tons of dough and this current mess.
Enchanted’s lists are very sad. Maybe those that drop their once-in-a-while two cents will see that list and realize there is reason for the whining/b*tching that goes on here.
Trying to play catch-up here. Just bought a ’72 Chevelle.
That list is something to behold. I cannot vote anything bad for Hamulak. Anyone who drilled Barry Bonds is OK in my book.
Yep, the more you ponder it, the more unbelievable it becomes. Right now I am not sad or angry about it. I am just kind of numb and absolutely dumbstruck at his shear incompetence.
Did you really just get a 72 Chevelle Eric? Great car. My first car was a 69 Chevelle Malibu. I am contemplating getting another one.
2-1 Cubs, bottom 7. Let’s go Cubs!!!
Pierre is the worse easily. A year after 50 million (first off, 50 million for JP) you don’t even think he can play CF anymore. God forbid if Kemp and Jones were out, would Ethier be next, how about Repko, heck how about Furcal.
question, has any arm Ned has ever traded for last in the rotation or the season? and gosh those PVL infilders are all a toss up.
Yeah, jhall. I bought a ’68 Chevelle back in ’76. I think we all have at least one car that we wish we still had. That one was mine. I just fixed that regret.
I just had it looked at by a really good shop and they like it. I have the check in hand (it’s still shaking, by the way) and I’m picking it up in about 5 hours. The body is straight and clean, cherry red with the wide white stripes, 350, Edelbrock manifold and carb, Hookers, dynaflow. I’m 21 again.
Totally Awesome!!!
Is it an SS?
Way to go Dodge!!!
Hey I saw I guy with a tricycle motorcycle this morning of which the two seat back end was made from the back half of an old Mustang. Its the desert, what can I say.
My favorite car was my ’93 3000GT. I missed that car so I bought another one a few years ago but it wasn’t the same. Somewhere along the line I got too old for getting in and out of a sportscar.
BTW 3 to 1 Cubs now, bottom 8.
nice…eric!
I’ll trade you my Hyundai Accent straight up.
3000 GT’s are fun.
Dated a girl with one.
Bases loaded, 2 out, bottom 8. Go Cubbies.
Man that stock engine could fly. Had it up to 115 once, but kinda chickened out after that.
We need pictures Dodge!!!
Thanks guys. No, it’s not an SS. I can’t afford those.
Yea, I know what you mean. I had the Chevelle up to 125 once and it scared me. I don’t believe I ever went over 100 again. Now I don’t even care about going fast. Just rapid acceleration. I also had a 89 Mazda MX-6 GT Turbo. That care would fly and handled great. Much better than the old muscle cars.
Congrats on the Chevelle, dodgereric.
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For all the bad signings Ned has made, he has resisted the temptation to trade the kids. A lot of GMs would have sent our future to Minnesota or Florida for one pitcher or a fat third baseman. Ned didn’t. Despite all the Schmidts, Pierres, Tomkos, and Lugos, I’m just not that upset with him.
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If he had traded Kemp or Loney I would be livid.
Mine was a Malibu and also had the 350 automatic. Great cruising car. We do need pics!!
From Rotoworld:
Padres released outfielder Jim Edmonds.
That was quick. The Padres acquired Edmonds during the offseason and now cut him loose after 90 at-bats despite owing him $6 million. Edmonds has hit just .178/.265/.233 while showing decreased range in center field, but giving up on him this early is still plenty surprising. Jody Gerut has been called up to replace him on the roster and could see time in center field along with Scott Hairston. Chase Headley is still waiting in the wings at Triple-A.
It’s no Chevelle, but I had my little ’02 Mini Cooper up to 124 once. The only thing that scared me was Smokey.
Yep ML, he didn’t trash the future. Just delayed it some and wasted alot of Frank’s money.
Cubs Win!!!!!
And the D’Backs lose to the Cubs 3-1, we have a shot at 2 1/2 tonight!
Geez ML, you’re a wild man!!! LOL
I didn’t think they would go that fast.
Hey San Diego, we have a heck of a CF in Juan Pierre! Just look at the way he is hitting lately!
ML that’s insane!!!
Wonder if right now Ned’s contemplating the need for an over-the-hill CFer…
Trade Pierre to the Puds. Please.
Speaking of transportation, I have a 1989 Diamondback mountain bike–no shocks, no nothing–and it’s ride-to-work day next Friday. Yeahhhhhhhh!! Everybody ride. Trouble is, I work pretty far from home.
Padres release Edmonds? Wow. Maybe they need another high-priced outfielder (hint, hint) to augment their last place standing. “Edmonds has hit just .178/.265/.233” Please don’t show Andruw this article. Or better yet, maybe we should!
Injuries may have caught up to Jimmy Edmonds finally or it could be hard to play for a LAST PLACE TEAM…HAHAHHAH!!!
Difference between the Puds GM and Ned is: Ned would not have the foresight or nads to cut him loose and we would decide that he just needed to keep playing to get out of the slump.
I’m still thinking that Ned will find a need for him on the D’s. Seems like a natural – washed up and expensive.
Of course I’d take Edmonds over Sweeney as a PH anyday.
I like Jim Edmonds, but the Pad’s Gm has more balls than Ned to just cut him like that – I like it.
Maybe Ned will take a look around him and get the nads to cut Nomore and Sweeney. That’s two pretty big names (Thomas & Edmonds) with pretty big contracts in the last couple weeks to find themselves out on the streets.
Regardless, they still just wasted 6 million dollars and in San Diego that’s a whole lot more money to them than us. They also don’t have a very good farm system. So, that’s not good for them. I don’t see how that’s a good thing for their GM, even if he did have the courage to cut Edmonds. San Diego can’t afford to waste any money. While we can still win despite wasting over 40 million.
Call them up and offer Pierre for season tickets to the Zoo and pay part of Pierre’s salary.
Throw in a lower level (A,AA) outfield prospect to get the deal done.
Compare Edmonds’ stats to Jones:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/stats/playercompare?sort=22&cat=Batting&pids%5B5151%5D=1&pids%5B5681%5D=1
Dream on guys, Juanpy is not going anywhere and neither is Andruw. Ethier, as much as I hate to say this looks to me in his last days as a Dodger, since Kemp is doing so well.
My only hope is he’ll be traded outside the Division so he won’t have to face us too often.
I hope he’s traded for an established #1 starter who can give us at lease 7 innings, but the way Colletti works I can’t be sure what will suit him, since he is the cause of all this trouble.
Thanks havoc – both those lines are brutal, but I have to admit, I’d rather have Jones.
was iron man as good as batman returns?
Batman Begins i meant
Guys, I don’t care about Andruw or his feelings, you guys are right about his making big money so he should produce, and you’re absolutely right that it’s our right to boo a bad performance, but I see it as counter productive to what we hope happens for Druw and the team. Remember if Andruw starts to hit it will only benefit our cause to get to and win the World Series. That and we ‘re stuck with him either way for 2 years.
SCARY THOUGHT JUST CREPT INTO MY PSYCHE!!! What if Ned signs Edmonds so he can muddle the roster even more?!?!?!??!?!
Jhall, that’s a little low. We should get passes to the Wild Animal Park and Sea World too.
I don’t know Peru, that’s pushing it. LOL!! H*ll, I’d take a tank of gas.
POSTING A GREAT ARTICLE FROM SI.COM…YOU WILL LOVE IT!!…How true is this?
Unconventional Wisdom: Dodgers are really three teams in one Story Highlights
The Dodgers are a product of three different front office regimes
Each regime has had a different approach to team-building
The Dodgers have combined these philosophies into a 19-15 team
Matt Kemp is one of the Dodgers young stars who was drafted during the Logan White era.
Robert Beck/SI
By Joe Sheehan, Baseball Prospectus
The Dodgers have overcome a slow start thanks to a friendly turn of the schedule, a 10-day stretch of games against the Rockies and Marlins that they converted for an 8-1 run that pushed them within shouting distance of the Diamondbacks. A series win over the Mets has them within three games of Arizona in the division, and, as silly as this notion is on May 8, a half game out for the theoretical wild-card slot.
There’s no question that the Dodgers are one of the better teams in the National League. That’s because, like the Diamondbacks, they have a tremendous core of young players their system has produced. Unlike the D’backs, however, who have generally allowed their kids to play in the majors — with some exceptions — the Dodgers have spent the last couple of years throwing up barriers to giving their youngsters jobs. Even now, as they stride toward first place, they’re acting out the industry’s classic battle between veterans and rookies, a showdown that tore apart their team a year ago.
See, the Dodgers aren’t one team. They’re three teams, glued together by three men over a period of seven years. The first team, and the best one, is the Logan White Dodgers. White, the Dodgers’ assistant general manager in charge of scouting, is the man responsible for drafting and overseeing the development of stars Russell Martin and James Loney, as well as lower-profile, high-production players such as Chad Billingsley, Jonathon Broxton and Matt Kemp. Former Dodgers GM Dan Evans also deserves a share of credit for this group; it was Evans who hired White, and it was Evans who was in the GM’s chair for the team’s ridiculously productive 2002 and ’03 drafts.
Evans was unjustly fired in the winter of 2004 by new owner Frank McCourt and succeeded by Paul DePodesta. Largely due to the talent he inherited, DePodesta was the the GM for a playoff team in ’04. However, already held in ill-regard by the local media — a group McCourt effectively regards as a consultant — DePodesta was an easy target after the Dodgers failed to make the postseason in ’05, being fired that October. Despite his brief tenure and the manner in which he was treated, his impact on the Dodgers lingers; three players he acquired — Jeff Kent, Brad Penny and Derek Lowe — have been among the team’s most valuable players in the three years since his firing.
DePodesta’s successor, Ned Colletti, is the third architect of the current roster. Colletti earned his stripes working under Brian Sabean in San Francisco, and inherited Sabean’s approach to team-building. That means favoring veterans and using the farm system as a tool to acquire experience. Given a much larger budget to work with in Los Angeles, Colletti set to spending it, signing Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra and Kenny Lofton in his first offseason and subsequently investing in Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt, Randy Wolf, Luis Gonzalez and Andruw Jones.
Consider the production — particularly the production for the money, of the three groups (all numbers are through Monday):
Logan White Dodgers
AB AVG OBP SLG WARP $M $/WARP
462 .288 .366 .424 4.4 $2.5 $.57M
IP ERA K/9 K/BB WARP $M $/WARP
80 3.94 10.8 2.5 2.2 $2.1 $.95M
Ned Colletti Dodgers
AB AVG OBP SLG WARP $M $/WARP
472 .275 .367 .411 4.0 $51.1 $12.8M
IP ERA K/9 K/BB WARP $M $/WARP
122.1 3.68 5.4 1.9 4.2 $24.3 $5.8M
Paul DePodesta Dodgers
AB AVG OBP SLG WARP $M $/WARP
98 .286 .330 .459 0.8 $9.0 $11.3M
IP ERA K/9 K/BB WARP $M $/WARP
81.2 3.42 5.0 1.8 2.5 $17.5 $7.0M
Now, any analysis of this nature will favor the development guy over the GM, because the development guy never signs anyone to a six-year, $100 million deal, and all of his players start out at $400,00 a year. The gap here, however, is significant, and is probably understated by a number of factors. For one, the Dodgers’ playing time has not been distributed entirely on merit, and WARP is a counting stat attuned to playing time. Another reason is that a Logan White player, Andy LaRoche, has missed the season with a thumb injury and is therefore holding down that group’s numbers. Also, I have not included Schmidt’s $16 million in the count for Colletti’s pitchers, as he has yet to pitch this season. That’s more an accounting issue than anything else.
Then again, there are some things to note in Colletti’s favor. One is that the Dodgers’ best player so far as been Furcal. The three-year deal — Colletti’s first signing as Dodgers’ GM — has been a success for the team, as Furcal has been an above-average player during its duration. Another of Colletti’s early moves, trading Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez for Andre Ethier, has worked out well; we think of Ethier as one of the young Dodgers, but he’s not a Logan White product. More recently, the acquisition of Hideki Kuroda this past offseason has produced early dividends, as Kuroda has pitched well and carries a reasonable price tag for a mid-rotation starter in the U.S. Takashi Saito, another Japanese free agent, goes into Colletti’s plus column as well.
Let’s total up the data in the chart above.
GM WARP $M $/WARP
Logan White 6.6 4.6 $0.7M
Paul DePodesta 3.3 26.5 $8.0M
Ned Colletti 8.2 75.4 $9.2M
We’re still not completely accounting for the costs of the 8.2 wins above replacement that Colletti’s players have tallied. I’ve mentioned Schmidt, but Colletti has made some egregious trades for dubious short-term gain, giving away Dioner Navarro and Edwin Jackson, among others, for nothing. (The Ethier trade is, in fact, the only good swap Colletti has made in two-plus years at the helm.) While his players have produced more wins than either White’s or DePodesta’s, they’ve done so while consuming 75 percent of the payroll. Neither White nor DePodesta is contributing dead weight — Colletti’s players are all of the dead weight, on the roster and on the payroll.
In 2007 the internal conflict that occurred loosely between the Logan White Dodgers and the Ned Colletti Dodgers — with some help from DePodesta Dodger Kent — torpedoed a promising season. The young players were productive, the veterans were less so, and Grady Little’s inability to play his best players at the expense of those veterans was the critical factor in the Dodgers finishing eight games out in a competitive NL West.
Here’s the chart above for 2007:
GM WARP $M $/WARP
Logan White 29.0 2.9 $0.1M
Paul DePodesta 18.9 28.3 $1.5M
Ned Colletti 44.4 78.0 $1.8M
The $/WARP figures are lower because they reflect a season’s worth of performance. You can divide the 2008 numbers by five to compare them.
Once again, the White/DePodesta Dodgers outperformed the Colletti Dodgers outright, while consuming less than 30 percent of the payroll. Neither was responsible for any roster dead weight, whereas Colletti pickups Pierre, Gonzalez and Garciaparra combined a lack of productivity with a knack for creating problems in the clubhouse; again, DePo man Kent was also a contributor to the latter. Schmidt, of course, was terrible, and neither he nor Wolf was even around down the stretch other than on every second Friday. I’ve said this before, but I don’t think I’ve ever written it: Had the Dodgers sent Colletti on a six-month cruise starting Nov. 1, 2006, they would have won the NL West in 2007.
The case for the White/DePodesta Dodgers is strong again in 2008, as White’s players produce when they’ve given playing time, and DePo’s three veterans continue to play well. The gap between their production and that of Colletti’s guys isn’t quite as pronounced. Colletti did well to add Kuroda, and he largely avoided the second- and third-tier veterans, like Gonzalez, Garciaparra and Wolf, who did nothing to help him in ’07. On the other hand, the signing of Jones — which I praised — is a disaster as of today. Jones is hitting .170 with seven extra-base hits and striking out a third of the time. He has as many GIDPs (three) as teammates driven in. His $18 million salary, about 15 percent of the Dodgers payroll, looks like wasted money.
Many newly-hired GMs benefit from the work done by the men who came before them. DePodesta won a division title with Evans’ players, and Colletti’s first team went to the playoffs thanks to DePodesta’s guys. As his own players come to populate the roster, though, Colletti seems more and more like someone promoted past his level, the Peter Bavasi Principle in action. That the Dodgers may continue to succeed has little do with his efforts and more to do with the base laid by his assistant, White, and his predecessor, DePodesta. The more the players those two men brought to the Dodgers get to play, and the less Colletti’s signings do, the better chance the Dodgers will have of getting back to October.
For more cutting-edge player and statistical analysis, visit BaseballProspectus.com.
You’re right jhall, a tank of guys might be worth more than passes to all three parks combined! LOL
tank of gas, that is
Congrats dodgereric on the Chevelle. Old cars are fun , I have 2 myself. My first car was a 68 Malibu, but my favorite car was a 67 XKE roadster. Back to booing, Tomko was alright to boo because he was never good in his career, and we all knew he wouldn’t get better.
messagebear..
I didn’t see that you wrote about the article I just posted…Amazing isn’t it?….What a great article and so sad…If only we had Logan White as GM, I bet we wouldn’t have any of the problem players Ned has brought us…SCHMIDT, LOIAZA, JONES,PROCTOR, ETC…Who would have ever thought that Luis Gonzalez was better than Andruw?..lol…..What really makes me mad is we had a great outfielder that got hurt and the Dodgers let him go..Now he’s playing great for the Phillies and he doesn’t make anywhere near what Andruw does…remember Jayson Werth?..I’d love to have him….or if Ned had to spend on a free agent, Tori Hunter said he would have signed with the Dodgers but wasn’t contacted by them and the Angels went out of their way to get him…check his stats against Andruw’s….I think the people on this board could put together a better team than Ned…I know we could…the only reason we’re doing okay is because we have the young players Logan signed…and Raffie…the one good signing of Ned’s…..
I definitely am worried about our starting pitching…We’ll see how Lowe does tonight, but except for Bills ( and sometimes you don’t know about him) , I have no idea what we’re getting when a starter takes the mound for us…not a good feeling..and they’re wearing out the bullpen by not going deep in games…Let’s hope Kuroda isn’t a bust…One good game and noting after that.!!!
Dbacks lost!! 3-1
sorry jhall – didn’t realize you already posted that info 🙂
Great BP article drpdedblnd@aol.com It’s true Ned has made quite a few mistakes. I wish they had left Dan Evans as GM. I used to call him Do Nothing Dan, but he really wasn’t allowed to do much with the Fox ownership, but what he did do was good. He also had Vlady signed until Frank was scared off by his buddy Bud.
Drpd, that is a great article and basically puts in black and white what we have been saying and discussing for over a year now. Ned is winning because of White and DePo. Giving up on Werth was ashame. I liked him. And Tori Hunter would have been awesome. Can you imagine our lineup with Hunter in the middle of it right now. Wow!!! And you are right, our starters are going to have to pick it up a couple of notches or our bullpen is going to be toast by the end of July. Whatever lineup we use, we will only go as far as our starting pitching.
Of all of Ned’s misadventures. I’m still OK with Schmidt. Not sure ANYONE was down on it at the time unless he or she had a crystal ball. He’s gamer and a legit #1…if, and it’s a BIG IF, he can come back to form.
No problem Nelson, I enjoyed seeing it again. LOL
A ways back jungar asked, “was iron man as good as batman returns?”
I think they’re comparable. I liked Batman Returns a lot. I liked Iron Man a lot, too. It stuck pretty close to the mags, although updated. I recommend it. You going tonight?
fliegel
I just don’t like Ned as a GM…his decisions are awful..and agree about Dan Evans…Every off season Ned makes more mistakes than any other GM I track…If he did nothing, we would be better off….instead of going for a big name player, he would do better thinking a little “outside the box” like Atlanta or a team like that…Andruw left and they got Kotsay…who do you think is doing better?…The sad part is both Ned and Frank wooed Andruw like they were getting this great hitter..I don’t see him getting any better so far….it’s pathetic, and I don’t think his defense is as good as it has been…too fat I think and a bit older…We could have done much better with alot less.!!!
Schidt’s ace days are long gone. We’ll be lucky if he becomes a good #4 or 5. That would be fine though. A bit expensive for a back of the rotation guy but at least we get something and solidify the 5 hole. Most people were pretty skeptical of the Schidt signing as it was obvious that his velocity was down and had been decreasing all last season. If you recall, in the second half of last season we faced him a couple of times and we lit him up pretty good.
Yep, Repko would be a better option right now than Jones. And you are right, if Ned had done nothing except sign Ferk and Sammy, we would be much better off right now.
kahlifornia…
Don’t agree about Schmidt even before he got hurt…If you remember the last couple of years in SF, he wasn’t great..I remember when he pitched against the Dodgers then I thought he had lost alot…was very hittable….Too old to have given that contract, especially since his best years were behind him..
I just remember Schmidt and Maddox going toe to toe late in the season and Dodgers beating him 1-0. Schmidt might even have pitched a complete game. Let’s put it this way: say there’s a one-game playoff at year’s end. Who do you want taking the ball? An 80% Schmidt, a 100% Penny, a 100% Bills, a 100% Lowe, or a 100% Kuroda? Call me crazy…I’ll take Schmidt. Intangibles or what have you. The rest of them remind me of deer in headlights, with apologies to our beloved starters…
Ned came in here basically wanting to make a big impact. He swung for the fence and struke out.
I’d take Lowe. He comes up big in big games. Look what he did for the Red Sox. That’s what made his reputation. He is usually fairly mediocre during the regular season, but comes up big in the playoffs and WS.
Schidt is going to have to get back to at least 90-91 on his fastball to ever be very effective again. I’m not holding my breath.
drpdedblnd@aol I’m not a Ned fan either, I think the Dodgers would be better off with someone else. The only thing is , like the saying goes be careful what you wish for. You never know we might end up with someone even worse, if that’s possible.
PierreEW, I hope you are wrong about Ethier being traded. That would be a downright shame and I will be pissed. I would be happy for Ethier however.
jhall
Forgot about Repko…of course he would have been better…
But then Ned wouldn’t have had a big press conference to announce a signing….If you had to go big name…Hunter was the best….too bad we don’t have the Angels GM…he is good….and their farm system has alot of players ready for the bigs…especially pitchers…they’ve lost 2 top of the rotation guys this year, and they still have two pitchers who are 6-0 this year….now that’s pretty good! Saunders and Santana…
The best thing Ned did was not trade the kids…I could have done that..
Yeah I may sneak off and see it tonight at 10:30 after the Laker/Dodger games..I am a fan of Robert Downey Jr. (I am 37 so we go way back to Weird Science!) and I loved Batman Begins..I like Action/Sci Fi if it is done well..I don’t get to see movies much right now. I think as of now the only other I will go see is Indian Jones..
Schmidt is toast. And if he ever pitches again he won’t be at all like he was in his heydays.
And of course the New Batman…
jungar – don’t leave the theater until the credits are completely done.
If Ned had done nothing after getting Ferk and Saito. We could be looking at an everyday lineup of;
Ferk
Ethier
Kemp
Kent
Martin
Loney
DeWitt/LaRoche
Repko/DYoung
I don’t think an athlete with Schmidt’s drive and make-up is toast.
When I was a kid, I used to read Iron Man comics. He was my favorite superhero. Followed by Daredevil, Spidey, Silver Surfer and Batman all in 2nd. Comic books were 12 cents. LOL
Hope you are right Kahli. It would definately put us in a great position.
jhall, we can hope! Hershiser went 45-21 in three years with Cleveland after his injury (though it did take him a few years to get right)
Me too, jhall. I didn’t catch my mom tossing out my baseball cards, but I was able to stop her from throwing out my comics. I still have them. About 1100 of them, maybe 3/4 of them the 12 cent variety. I would drag the lawnmower around the neighborhood and charge $1 for mowing. That buck bought 8 of those babies. If I got 2 lawns I would get 8 comics, a bag of M&Ms and an RC Cola. My dad was ok with that, but I had to keep our 2 gallon gas can full. That took 50 cents when it was empty.
Good point. Anythings possible. I don’t believe Hersh’s injury was as severe and he was never a power pitcher. It is usually harder for a power pitcher to get back to what they were. However, we don’t need Schmidt to get back to his ace days. It would be great if he did but I’ll take a solid 4 or 5 type guy right now. Keep us in the game. ERA around 4 and go 6 or 7 each time out.
I feel the same way you do jhall
It’s just that the way things are going, especially with Andruw.
It looks likes Torre will play him forever, just waiting for him to come out of his slump.
AND when he does, What’s that suppose to mean?
He’s gonna get benched?
Ethier’s best chance to get some playing time in is for either Kemp or Pierre slumping.
I wouldn’t wish for anything else to happen, like an injury.
I hope I am allowed, I am one of the non daily posters….Great article about Logan White….Does anyone know if Dan Evans is still active in baseball….I have not heard his name, I thought he was working with someone.
As for the pitching, I would not be in too much of a panic….Penny, who in my mind is not a number one, it does not take number 1s 100 to go 5-6 innings, if you take away his 10 runs he gave up the other day he has been better than average. Lowe is consistent and as long as he is healthy is a great number 3. Billz is coming on, 2 great games in a row. Kuroda has been adequate and will be ok….Now that Loiaza is not in the 5 spot it, the rotation is alot stronger.
Kalhli, I want to think the same, but until we see proof in Schmidt, I have to go with the toast….3 major injuries to the shoulder is hard to overcome at 35-36 years old….but I hope you are right.
Dodgereric, that car sounds great!!! Enjoy it.
Those were great times Eric. If you recall, new comics came out once a week. I used to take a quarter of my allowance, go to the store and buy a comic book, bottle of pop (SunCrest grape soda), and a bag of chips. $0.24 with bottle deposit. After the pop was gone, I cashed in the bottle and got 3 pieces of penny candy. Jaw Breakers or Bazooka bubble gum. I bought Iron Man, Spiderman, Daredevil, and the Avengers routinely. Then you could trade with your buddies to read Batman, Superman, Thor, Fantastic Four, etc…..
I’ve still got my Iron Man comics.
By kahliforni@aol.com on Schmidts spirit may be great and so is his makeup, I just dolubt that his arm will ever be what it was.
Dodgereric that is a hecht of a comic book collection….you have a museum….very nice…
DodgerBoy, you’re cool. Enjoy your posts. The people that are irritating are the one’s that come on and whine about what we are discussing with a snide, arrogant attitude.
PierreEW,
Pierre is already coming back down to earth and should retake his rightful place on the bench.
Dodgerboy55,
Since our starters are averaging about 5 innings each.
Loaiza(before DL) and Kuo 3 innings as starters, I don’t think we have a genuine #1 starter.
Thank Goodness our bullpen is carrying the load nicely.
I realize that as much as we rail against Ned we may be but a small but vocal minority, but I’m wondering whether there is any other team’s blog that is consistently so negative about their GM. The only one that I could think deserves similar treatment would be the Giants, and guess what we have in common with them GMwise.
The bullpen is doing a terrific job but they will have a hard time keeping it up if the starters don’t consistantly get into the 6th or 7th inning. They will be crispy by August and we’ll get a repeat of last year.
I was just trying to stir you up a little….I really enjoy talking about the Dodgers and it is great to be around alot of knowledgeable fans….
I wish Ned had the balls to do what the Padres did with Edmonds…cut Nomar, he is a great person but he is too brittle to be counted on….Do it Ned, pull the trigger!!!!
Expectations for the Dodgers are much higher than most clubs. It is a storied franchise that was once a model of fundamentally great play and efficiency as well as winning championships. Right now our GM is proving to be the biggest impediment to getting back to that level. I believe that is why it is one of our main concerns and topics.
I wouldn’t mind keeping Nomore around to sub once in awhile for DeWitt and Loney and pinch hit. But playing him everyday over DeWitt is unacceptable. He’ll be back on the DL by July anyway.
Jhall
As long as Pierre keeps his OBP up, I don’t think Torre will sit him.
At least that is what it seems like to me.
It seems crazy because IMO I feel a healthy Furcal actually renders Pierre unnecessary.
Pierre would be very useful for a team that lacks speed (and the Dodgers certainly don’t), if you can find one.
In Furcal we have not only speed but power.
Kemp & Martin are not far behind.
they need to trade pierre to an AL team…he is a great fantasy player…I need the steals!!!!
Pierre won’t maintain that OBP. It will fall below .330 in the next few weeks. I just hope Joe has the sense to bench him when that happens. Also, the Puds need a centerfielder and they have no speed. It is actually a perfect match.
Messagebear,
I’m really not that knowledgeable about other GMs.
But I do feel if we didn’t have Colletti, who could be my paisan, I’m sure the D’Backs would be chasing us right now.
This is off the beaten path but the Great Lakes Loons have been struggling with the bats. I am happy that ALfredo Silverio has been called up form extended ST. This kid can hit, I saw him last year at the GCL and he hit .373 and line drives all over the place….In his 1st game he got a hit and 2 RBI to help lead the team to victory last night….
Busty, the manager, is one of the nicest guys in baseball and one of the most under the radar managers….If you ever checked out his record all he does is win…I hope Dejon is aware and Busty gets recognized!!!
Thanks dodgerboy, I kept them mainly to give to my kids someday. My daughter was never too interested, natch, and my son who’s almost 16 has never been too interested either. I guess with the video games and 250 cable channels, they’re too old fashioned. About 15 years ago I tried sell them as a group in order to buy my first computer without any luck. So there they sit, waiting for my grandkids, I guess.
A few weeks ago I had a lot of fun reading about everyone’s “worthless Dodger memorabilia”. Last night with no Dodger game to watch I prowled around in the junk closet and found 3 – 8″ x 10″ painted portraits (Jim Lefebvre, Jim Brewer and Don Drysdale) that they would give out at the turnstyles at games. Also found 8 – 8″ x 10″ photos of Lefebvre, Ted Sizemore, Tommy Davis, Wes Parker, Ron Fairly, Sandy Koufax, the 104th steal of Maury Wills and a team photo of the soon-to-be World Champion 1965 Dodgers. I thought they were long gone, but I found them in an old scrapbook I made of spring training in 1962.
Dodgerboy55
And so….
It doesn’t take a brain surgeon though to look at two ballplayers like DeWitt/Nomore and JP/Ethier and even without the stats tell who should be playing. Why can’t Colletti or Torre just play the better man? Does it need to become “fashionable” (i.e. Thomas and Edmonds) before they quit playing contract over substanance? Or are they just adhering to their stubborn antiquated philosophy? I wouldn’t be surprised, hell I’m half expecting Ned to decide we need Edmonds as a veteran “guiding influence” in the clubhouse.
Any halfway interested fan could tell you the first person that should go when Nomore’s ready to come off the DL is Sweeney. But I’ll be willing to be that DeWitt either gets sent down [again] or Hu gets optioned.
As long as Ned’s the GM this will continue to happen.
Dodgereric that is what I plan to do with all my baseball cards and memoribilia give to my kids who are 4 and 5…they probably will not be interested either. I collect everything Dodgers or any sports memoribilia….I have been really fortunate and have put together a pretty good collection over the years….
I am sure that collection now must be worth a little something, you are lucky no one took you up on it 15 years ago…
Pierre, I just wanted to give a shout out to the Loons who I have personal interest in. Sorry if I wasted 15 seconds of your life with that post….
Yes Enchanted
I’m sure everyone follows your drift.
I don’t know if it’s catering to veterans or does it go by who is getting paid more.
IMO Ned Colletti has put this team in such a bind I don’t know how it’s going to wiggle itself out of these predictaments.
Dodgerboy55
I was just trying to get the connection to what you were mentioning, to the Dodgers.
no problem Pierre I was just being a wise … it has been a long day at work…I love your posts and your stories..I did not mean to sound like such a smartarse..
They can’t wiggle off the hook. They have to nut up, tear away and jump off the hook. Eat some contract and trade Pierre. Bench Nomore and DFA Sweeney. Get DY some reps at 2nd. Stand pat at the trade deadline. That’s it. We’re in good shape now and up the road. Of course Ned is just going to sit and wiggle.
With all the bad press lately, I think the first step in the right direction would be for Frank to give Ned a vote of confidence 🙂
Hopefully we can get a few cases of good stadium mustard in a Pierre deal.
Joe Pierre – the Great Lakes (Michigan) Loons are the Dodgers lower A level team in the Midwest League. Andrew Lambo, hot prospect, is playing there. Check this out:
http://www.baseball-intellect.com/Articles/helium-watch-andrew-lambo.html
link was from Dodger Thoughts.
Lambo this season: .278 /.342/ .500/.842, 10 doubles, 4 HRs.
Interesting angle E.
I think he’s more of a spinner jhall!! LOL
Cool DodgerBoy, thanks.
Hey, if Frank gave Ned a vote of confidence, I’d feel encouraged. If things are at the point where a vote of confidence is needed, the next step for Ned is probably out the door. Couldn’t be too soon.
LOGAN WHITE, or anybody but Colletti in 2009 or sooner!!!
That’s O.K. Dodgerboy55.
I know now that you were plugging Alfredo Silverio and Buster the manager.
I just thought there would be more to what you brought up.
LOL E. I think he is a premature acquisitioner!!! Too busy with Mr Wiggly to do his homework.
That VOC usually precedes a swift boot in the pants out the door.
Oh no, bear and I are starting to think alike…
Just want to say, it’s been great chatting with you all today and I am looking forward to the game tonight. I’ve been working around the house all day installing a ceiling fan and doing some touch up painting. It was fun working and chatting off and on.
Nice article dodgerboy55.
We enjoy it too jhall!
We’re all just one happy bitchin’ family!!!
Yea, jhall. It was my day to get some yard work done. I’m getting ready to grill some burgers, and then pretty soon it will be game time.
Let’s take this series, Dodgers!!!
Bear,
The damage is done.
What’s worse is the management and ownership seems to go along with Colletti.
To us he messed everything up.
They think he’s doing a splented job.
Remember when anything good was either boss or bitchin?
That should be splended.
Thanks. Sounds great Bear. I’ve got some more painting to do and then a grilled burger sounds good for the game.
It’s funny, but bitchin’ used to be a big California buzz word didn’t it? Like before cool and after groovy or something. LOL. I’ll bet Eric’s Chevelle is bitchin’!! DeWitt’s inside the parker the other night was also bitchin’!!
Alright E. I was typing while you posted that. I thought so.
My life in a nutshell:
Groovy-far out-boss-bitchin-cool-choice-rad-bad-sweet
I doubt very many teams would havea team-run board that is just so merciless to the GM (and occassionally the manager, and usually 2 outfielders, and a popular but beat-up former SS, 1B, 3B). I guess that’s a credit to the Dodgers to put up with us. Given that, we should at least give credit where credit is due–Ned not making moves in the off-season like for Cabrerra (or even at the trade deadline last-year, like that silly Texiera rumor) which would have cost us the kids was a good thing, and a lot of GMs would have made those deals.
.
It’s also fair to acknowledge that some “bad” moves were not too bad–Gonzo was a 1-year only deal, so that we would not block Kemp and/or Ethier. And while it turned out that they were ready last year, it made sense. Nomar’s re-signing made sense–he had been the heart of the team in 2006, so a 2-year deal was OK. Of course, the problem was that he was inexplicably blocking Loney at First rather than moving across the diamond in Spring Training, but the worst case would be blocking LaRoche through 2008 (this season). And no one could have imagined that Jones would be this bad. And as long as you were willing to accept that the Pierre deal was not the right move and have him play off the bench, it made sense to sign him.
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I don’t think that these things exonerate him from the bad moves–as mentioned above, even understandable moves still have had poor execution–but we can at least acknowledge it if we’re ripping him most of the time, and the evidence is clear that his signings have not worked out.
.
But if we keep winning like we have the last 2 weeks, then all seems good.
It was my day to go to KeySpan for Brooklyn Cyclone tickets and to Staten Island for SI Yankee tickets.
But the weather was rainy and very windy here in the big apple. I don’t mind either climate but together I hate it.
The next chance I’ll get is Tuesday.
I use up Wednesday to get Amtrak tickets to Dodger games in Philly & Wash D.C.
That’s why I was here today on the blog so early.
Leek, I actually gave Ned kudo’s a couple of days ago for keeping the kids intact.
We need some good vibes for Andruw tonight…
My apologies to Brewer and Shipley (the singers, not the ex-Dodgers)
One poke over the wall sweet Andruw
One poke over the wall
Hit one downtown to the left field bullpen
One poke over the wall
Kemp’s waitin’ ona first to come home sweet Andruw
Hoping that your bat’ll come through
Waitin’ on first’s not his occupation
One poke over the wall
You’ve swung away a time or two
Now that your in there, show us what you do
We recall the good and we know about the bad
And we wanna see
For once that you come through
And open up our eyes
So now its
One poke over the wall sweet Andruw
One poke over the wall
Hit one downtown to the left field bullpen
One poke over the wall
One poke
One poke over the wall
If that doesn’t do it, nothing will.
Leekfink
It’s a good thing Gonzo was signed for only a year.
It was great that Colletti didn’t get rid of the kids for Cabrera.
But He should have left the outfield alone.
After Gonzo left, yes we were stuck with a weak armed, non power hitting CF, but we could have left it that way since it was very little we could do about it.
Then he goes ahead and signs Andrew for CF and blocks Ethier out again, just when the outfield was finally set.
All that had to be done was move Pierre to left and Kemp to center and the mess he created when he signed Pierre would have been eased.
But no he compounded his original sin.
New post…….
??????