LA County Fair
Hopefully you’ve all heard by now that it’s Dodger Day at the LA County Fair, and several Dodger greats will be signing autographs over the next five hours or so. If you print out a coupon from www.lacountyfair.com and wear Dodger blue, you get half off the admission and half of what you do pay will go to ThinkCure. Not a bad way to spend an off day or night.
Meanwhile, in looking through yesterday’s comments I could tell there was some anger over various players being rested. I love the lively debate and am glad that you don’t always agree with what Joe Torre does, but I can assure that no one here is trying to lose games. Reaching the playoffs and earning home field advantage is of the utmost importance and we’re trying to win every single game from here on out (and as it turned out, even while resting several regulars yesterday, we still won the game and swept the Pirates).
Anyway, it just seemed a little strange to have people so angry about guys getting rest. There’s no perfect recipe for success in the final weeks of the season, but my faith is in the guy with four World Series rings and more wins than all but four other managers in baseball history! He’s got our team leading the NL in victories, which must mean something, right?
Inside the Dodgers 
It sure looks that way, doesn’t it!!!!
Damn, I think we’ve been scolded…
JPG, whatever gives you that impression? Better you get mad at Josh than at me since I said pretty much the same thing at the end of the previous thread. You know I would never scold you.
I’m sorry for complaining so much about the lineup but, I would be very disappointed if I spent my money, drove all the way to LA to see my boys play and 5 of the regulars were out of the lineup!
I don’t live in the LA area and have to plan when I can attend games.
Doesn’t change my mind that Joe is an IDIOT!
JOSH – I may have something for a Think Cure auction I’d like to maybe donate sometime. Its baseball related, but no one I know can afford it, and its not doing me any good sitting in a closet. I’d be better salvaging some of my investment in it as a charitable contribution writeoff (heck, Frank may even want it for his office.)
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If you’re interested, let me know where to send some information to you.
No worries Birk – I’m Josh’s worst nightmare!!
Don’t mince words Bear, say what you feel!!! (You know I’m with you there 🙂
Trublue4ever, no need to apologize. I think you have a right to be disappointed when the players you want to see are not playing, especially when attending a game in person is a once in a while opportunity.
Nice JPD……Very Nice indeed 🙂
Thanks, lbirken 🙂
Thanks god I could see the lineup first before I attended a game.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SLM/1884.shtml
Their is a player by the name of Fred Dunlap and not only he was a player he was also a manager. He had a record of 66-16 in 1884 when he was only 25 years old with the St. Louis Maroons and also were leading the league in over 10+ offensive categories as a player. He was 2nd in saves with only 1 and was 2nd in singles with 125.
Wow, we’ve been spanked! Josh, I never commented on the line-up (I was working)…but if I had, I would have been a bit peeved, too, not because I felt Torre was trying to lose, but because he insists on resting mass human beings all in the SAME game. How intelligent is that? Yeah, the Dodgers won….so hindsight is 20-20 and the argument looks water tight. But come on, they got a grand total of 3 runs on 2 jacks. If Kuroda isn’t lights out, we’re having a VERY different conversation today.
Well he did get help from another manager that had a record of 28-3 in Sullivan and was 8 years older than Dunlap. I wonder who called all the shots when Dunlap played 2nd bases. Gosh freaking dead ball era. I wonder why these players never had a lot of homerun there and not like the stadium back than was much bigger than the current stadium now.
It probably could’ve been a lot worst if Manny, Blake and Furcal didn’t signed with us than you might have a bigger problem. I still think Dewitt could handle the job at 3rd or even 2nd but who would had played SS and the other IF position? If you signed the Odog to played 2nd base you moved Dewitt to 3rd bases leaving the SS spot wide open but to bad Hu can’t seem to hit major league stuff. Castro been so good for us but come on he’s not much of a hitter and I’d rather give his spot to Luna. Loretta had a good year last year but they seem to always suck when they played here in LA. I think this is why he’s struggling now because he used to be an everyday player and making the transition to an everyday player to getting 1 ab’s a game is tough. Loretta is a better defender at 2nd baseman than any other infield position and a waste having him on the bench is just wrong. I love the guy when he was a Padres/Red Sox/Astros but didn’t know him much when he was a Brewers and it was just wrong the Astros couldn’t find a way to get him in the lineup last year.
Ausmus C
Loney 1st
Odog 2nd/Loretta
Luna/maybe Hu SS not Castro
Dewitt/Belliard 3rd
? LF Anyone else over Pierre and bring back Jones/Paul/Hoffman or just 2 of them.
Kemp CF
Ethier RF
I still think this lineup would probably produce more than yesterday or this one. Ausmus/Loney/Loretta/Dewitt/Belliard/Blake heck put him in LF with all that experience/Kemp/Ethier
To bad you could’ve had the 2004 Thome maybe he could had played 3rd base but he hasn’t played that position since 1996.
Good evening ITDers!
No, I did not go to the L.A. County fair. I got to save my vacation days for early games for the playoffs and maybe a final road trip to SD for one game there.
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Josh** Don’t forget what I asked you if you find out let me know please!
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If you can and want, you can check my latest blog entry titled “Mr. Miracle, Andre Ethier: The King of Walk-Offs!”
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I can’t wait for the series with the Giants! Auction day tomorrow too! Jpd reminded me that I bought a wool jersey off the auction last year but I did not try it on and is huge and also I am alergic to wool. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bidded. I did not even see how big it was.
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When are we getting the playoff tickets!?
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Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/
Martin
Loney
Hudson
Blake had 1 game at SS (sorry Furcal)
Thome (believe it or not he has 93 career homeruns as a 3rd baseman and started 471 games out of 492 games there.
Ramirez
Kemp
Ethier
That would be one scary lineup. I’m going to try that on mlb the show instead of Martin I’m going to put Mauer or Martinez there.
Who cares about Loney hitting 30+ homerun and driving in 100+ rbi’s at the same time without those numbers by Loney that’s just too much power in the lineup.
I mentioned it last night and I will mention it again. There are not too many teams who can sit 2,3,4 or even 5 starters and still win games. That is something I am sure many teams envy. However, that being said………………..I remember August 1,2 and 3 of last year. I spent good money on tickets a month in advance, not knowing, at the time, Manny would be wearing Dodger blue. I sat the entire weekend and did not see a certain outfielder, #16 if you must know, play the entire weekend with the exception on that Sunday for an inning or two at the end of the game of the last game of the series against the dbacks. I realize our issues were different back then…………Andruw Jones and JP, but it still sucked not to see him play. I am just of the mind set if I had paid money to see that game on Wednesday, I would have been highly disappointed. So, the lesson I have learned between August 2008 and this season. If you are going to buy single game tickets, make sure you don’t buy them for a Sunday or a Wednesday day game because you probably not see the starting 8 you hoped for.
lol but the defense might be a problem there.
red pen – I screwed up that last sentence badly – sorry 😦
In Detroit, they are calling Andre a Walk-off Wizard.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.detnews.com/article/20090917/OPINION03/909170372/1265/SPORTS08/Dodgers–Andre-Ethier-is-walk-off-wizard&ct=ga&cd=NkQBopMSsSQ&usg=AFQjCNG9THgi76PbWWh3P79d1AENjDLWOQ
Also, I talked to our gnat fan head custodian this morning about our respective teams. I don’t see him as much as I used to since I moved rooms. I have Adolf now, and he is a Dodger fan. Anyhow, in his circle of gnat fan friends (and he has alot of them), he says they all worry about Andre the most when he is up to bat against them. Also, they were very happy when Andre wasn’t in the line up against Sanchez.
One day earlier, it was Kemp who hugged Andre Ethier at the plate after Ethier won that game with a home run. Wednesday was Kemp’s turn.
“It showing that we’re growing and learning how to play the game,” Kemp said of the clutch home runs. “Sometimes in those pressure situations earlier on in my career, I was a little too intense to try to make things happen. Now I’m letting the game come to me.”
http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kemp-game-run-2569958-one-home&ct=ga&cd=Ez0mx-XECgs&usg=AFQjCNHoW41tNErJelMnF2RiF0uP8P6P-g
Good Morning ITD
JOSH, yes our boys do need to rest, but just for one inning…LOL…No we all want to win and I sometimes do get carried away with my comments. GO DODGERS!
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Dodgers are starting the GIANTS series at home. For those attending the games…HAVE FUN! I will be watching from home with some family. And 2(two) of the members are GIANTS FANS (booooo). It will be fun.
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NELLY – ANDRE the Walk-off Wizard…LOVE IT! Giants are scared of ANDRE the GREAT! Well I guess ETHIER will be doing alot of walking. I just hope they put KEMP to bat right after ETHIER!
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OH YEAH BUCS were BEATen By L.A.
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LET’S GO DODGERS….LET’S BEAT THE GIANTS!
CPO – I am glad your mom is doing great and she is attending the Dodgers game….And ETHIER’s great success and walk-offs are sure good remedies to get better for an ETHIERAHOLIC! I have seen the lil’ Phillies Fan throwing the ball and the Dad’s reaction. LOVE IT! I guess Phillies do have great fans; the Dad and the Lil’ girl.
GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!
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BEATen by LA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BEATen by LA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just one more mention of the complaining about the lineups. I had said earlier and Nellyjune said it too, that when we go to a game, it is not an inexensive venture. We have to spend the night, pay for tickets, gas driving there and, I think we deserve to see the “A” team out there.
*inexpensive
Also, like Nellyjune said, if we do go, it won’t be on a Sunday or Wednesday. And, when the fans figure out that the regulars aren’t playing on those days, except for season ticket holders, the attendance will drop off by a substantial amount.
trublu, that last sentence surely caught the eye of Frank!!!
I confess, I’m a lineup complainer…So, Joe is a genius because his crappy lineup squeaked by 3-1 over the AAA Pirates?
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No rest for players under 30 if they’re not hurt.
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Listen up Josh, Joe & Ned: This is the Los Angeles Dodgers!! Most of us grew up watching Steve “162 games” Garvey before anyone ever heard of Cal Ripken. So don’t lecture us on resting players.
I’m not a stats person but I wonder how many days off Puhols and Howard had this season?
Or, have Puhols and Holliday been off the same day?
It’s not just a question of a day off, but Dodger fans have been put through the ringer. Ethier off today, Kemp off tomorrow, Manny off the next day, Loney and his .280 average and great defense benched for .220 hitting Loretta.
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McCourt is all about marketing and sucking every last penny from Dodger fans any way he can as evidenced by all the shameless Manny promo’s and ads.
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Even if the Dodgers win the Series, is Joe Torre really a Dodger? Ned Colletti? Frank McCourt? Man, I don’t know, something still doesn’t feel right…especially with that Boston chowderhead McCourt in charge.
If its true that baseball is part of the entertainment industry, then the people spending their hard-earned dollars on the game should expect to get what they pay for. You could easily rest 1 regular every other game and not see much drop off in quality. You pay for tickets to La Boheme and you get one understudy you grumble a bit, but you aren’t necessarily shortchanged because the rest of the cast were the regulars and the production didn’t suffer. You go and find that more than half the cast are understudies and it was average at best, then you’ve got a right to complain.
Or what Scott said 🙂
Pujols has had 5 days off for the season from his duties at 1st base, but only once since 7/23.
Two of those five he was a DH.
Holliday has had one day off since acquired by the Cards. Interestingly, it was the same day that Pujols was rested. September 5th, on the road, against the Pirates. The Cards won, 2 – 1.
In comparison, Kemp has had 7 days of “rest” and Ethier 10.
Even more interesting, comparing LaRussa and Torre, let’s review.
Since 7/23, I think we can all agree that both clubs were (or should have) been kicking into playoff gear. It was a week before the trading deadline. The Cards started it by getting Holliday.
Since 7/23, the Cards have rested Pujols and Holliday (both 29 years old) once each – both on 9/5 against the weak Pirates on the road.
Since 7/23, the Dodgers have rested Kemp (24) and Ethier (27) 3 times each – twice on the road (@ CIN and SF) and 4 times at home (against the Braves, Cards, Cubs and Padres).
The difference? LaRussa doesn’t have a Pierre to placate. He always says he’s resting these guys. He’s not resting anyone, he just wants to play Pierre.
It’s Torre’s choice, he’s (unfortunately) the manager. I just wish he would tell the truth about it.
Well laid out dodgereric. Thanks!
Everyone has great points about resting players. I do expect to see my fave players when I pay to see them.
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We are #1 right now and of course; have won 5 more than the Cards. How does our top two players KEMP & ETHIER stats (for this season) compare against the Cards top two players PUJOLS & HOLLIDAY (over all with or without the CARDs)?
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Are our players better players cause they are rested?
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What is keeping us in the #1 spot?
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How about against D. Jeter? How many times have he rested? Sorry I bring the Yankees in (I’m just thinking ahead….World Series).
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Now when Torre was with the Yankees how many times did he rest his top players???
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If it’s worth resting our players to keep winning then I say rest them….if not then play them….
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LET’S GO DODGERS, LET’S GO…..LET’S PLAY LIKE CHAMPIONS! WOOOOHOOOO!
Good morning ITD boys and girls!
Okay, let’s agree to disagree and give it (no pun intended) a rest. That’s what I love about ITD. We all know that not each and every ITDer agrees on everything, but that’s what makes this site such a great site! We all have our own opinions and thoughts, but we all love our Boys in Blue!!!
Thx msdodgersrule. Oh, and did I say that my mom is back home now! She went back home on Sunday night. My sister stayed with here that night, but she went back home. I’ve talked to my mom several times and she’s been doing well. Okay msdodgersrule, now I know I’m going to embarrass myself (so what else is new?) I know I should know, but didn’t you change your screen name? Isn’t this Rose?
Hey guys, have you heard anything about a Star Wars night at the Stadium on 10/3? On the website it shows calendar night, but I have seen stuff on the net saying it’s Star Wars night.
Tru makes a good point. When I mentioned last night about the expense, I wasn’t even thinking hotel, gas, etc. I was just talking tickets.
rose – Walk-off Wizard is a pretty cool name.
jpd – perfect analogy
Great stuff Dodgereric!!!
Yes CPO it is me, Rosie (Rose). It is a mixture of both my previous screen names (Dodgersrule1655 & MsRussyEthier). Show my support for the entire team and not just Martin & Ethier. I’m glad your mom is back home. And yeah this blog is great and the difference in opinions makes it fun. I learned something new every day. The others bloggers help me understand a lot about the game and why this or that…but I still don’t understand MR. TORRE…LOL FRANK is easier to understand ($$$$$$), but MR. TORRE (?????)
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Sorry MIKE I have not heard anything regarding StarWars night…should be interesting and if you find out more….please share!
Thx Rose! I thought as much, but of course, dense me, I did not get it right away and, well I had to ask. But thx for clearing that up for me!
As far as trying to understand Joe, I’ve long since stopped trying to understand him. I mean, you know, there are MANY moves he makes that are, shall we say, head scratchers at best? For me, I just chalk it up to he understands baseball a lot better than I do. I may THINK I know better, but I don’t. There may be small snippets of the game that I understand here and there, but I still have to believe that he knows a lot about baseball. I’m with Josh – my faith lies in Joe’s hands.
gooooood morning ITDers!
Looking forward to the series with the Jints!
I came to work early so that I could go to BP!
Go Vicente!
Go Dodgers!
Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/
Dodgereric ~ Thanks you so much for the stats. I knew they would be revealing.
Rose, some of your questions are going to require more time to research than I have to spare. But I’d like to respond to some of what you wrote.
This year, Jeter has NOT started at short 13 times. Five of those he DH’d. But since 6/28, he has either been at short or DH every game but one.
I posted some stats a few days ago that showed Ethier and Kemp having worse batting games the day after they were rested, particularly Kemp. Pierre hasn’t hit so hot when replacing them either. The number .211 seems to stick in my head.
We’ve won 3 more than both the Cards and the Phils, not 5.
What’s keeping us #1? Well, the Cards have lost 5 of their last 6 while we were winning 5 of 6 against SF and PIT. And although the Phils have won 5 straight against the Mets and Nats (while we were winning 5 of 6 against SF and PIT), they lost 6 of their last 9 before that. So don’t mistake us for being all that dominant. We’re still right around .500 since the All-Star break.
Let’s ask that again: What’s keeping us #1?
Answer: April and May.
CPO…Great advice…I don’t need to completely understand TORRE or the behind the scenes of the games (all the politics). I have noticed that getting to involve in the politics will make me enjoy the game less (well atleast for me). I am just going to keep cheering for our BOYS IN BLUE. I am also learning not to get attached to a player wearing the Dodgers uniform, cause they can be traded anytime (that is why I decided to change my screen name). I am still an ETHIERAHOLIC & a MARTINISTA, BUT first of all I AM A DODGER FAN! I am extremely happy that ETHIER exploded as a great player during his DODGER YEARS and he will always remember DODGER BLUE!
Oh, not a problem Rose. I just know that there is A LOT MORE going on behind-the-scenes and in the clubhouse that none of us are privy to. And we shouldn’t be privy to everything that goes on in the backgrounds. We have no idea what’s going on there, and I for one am not going to try to guess. Like you, even if I did know, I wouldn’t want to know because it would take away the enjoyment of the game away from me. For me, keep it simple regarding baseball – watch the game, cheer when my Dodgers do something good, and know that there is another game if they lose. At least until they play their last game in the playoffs! Well, there will be another game; it’ll just be months and months away. Well, I’ve gotta go. In the meantime…
GO DODGERS!!!
GO VICENTE!!!
Thanks ERIC your stats and knowledge helps me out alot and are very fun to read. I did check out the stats you had post-it about KEMP & ETHIER. Between you & CHAD I have been reading alot of stats. I don’t need all of my questions answers, I just wanted to see if it’s worth resting our best players. And I know we are not a dominant team (hey we lost to the D-backs…LOL) and every team has their ups and downs. Thanks ERIC
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I guess a lot of the wins also have to do a lot with LUCK! Angels last year had great stats but were elliminated at first round. And we barely made it over the .500 and yet se went further out in playoffs.
Nice points ladies.
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Growing up, I don’t remember being upset on a daily basis – maybe it’s this darn internet age we live now! But I remember a couple of times when I went to a game as a kid and Reggie Smith was not in the lineup and I was ticked!! But at least I could count on Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey to be there – barring injury.
SCOTT before instead of voicing our opinions here on-line…we just screamed at the TV or RADIO and just let the fustration out…LOL We are just die-hard Dodger fans and we want them to WIN! I have also notice that when you start betting (specially $$) the funs starts disappearing.
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LET’S GO DODGERS….LET’S HAVE FUN & WIN!
Good thing the old tv’s could take more abuse than the HD sets everyone has now!
LOL!!!! Yes, I am laughing at you dodgereric 🙂 BTW – I hear the Cheville is sick, yes? It was all the news yesterday in the house.
I remember listening to a game on my mom’s car radio while sitting in the driveway one night and getting so mad at something that I snapped the horn ring off the steering wheel.
That was the last time I was allowed to listen to a game for a while……….
Hey now-a-days you can text your comment and the next thing you know, it shows up on TV or the big huge screens they have on the games and concerts…LOL I would love to see what ERIC, ENCHANTED, & SCOTT will text to TORRE…LOL!
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I am out…..GO DODGERS…LET’S WIN!
I am sorry dodgereric. I got time warped – Crap!!!!!!
Rose, I’m sure the texts are reviewed. So I doubt most of mine regarding Torre would make it.
Junie, yep. She’s a little sick. The throttle cable shredded while Matt was going to school and jammed the accelerator down. Three hundred and fifty horses started roaring up the hill with a lot of traffic in front of him. Praise God, he had an escape to the left and no traffic in the other lane to keep him from going into it. I told him if it ever happened again he could simply shift it to neutral and he says, “Oh……yeah.” LOL!!!
Getting it home was fun. With no cable, I ran the throttle with my hand enough to get him about 20 feet to the top of a hill. From there it was down hill the rest of the way home. We were thinking it might have been fun to run a rope from the carborater through the window, but smarter heads prevailed.
I spent most of the day running one down and finally found one in LA. So it looks like we’ll be able to get her up and running again tomorrow.
Yep – that’s exactly how Mariya described it, other than her car terminology was very Mariya like – LOL!!!. It sounded pretty scary when she said what happened. I am glad she (the Cheville) will be better, and at least you got a father/son day out of it. Oh, she walked out of the house today like a Dodger nightmare……………..decked out in orange and black from head to toe. It is their football team’s first home game, and as you know, it just happens to be their school colors.
Also, it is crazy hat day here at school, and Gilbert, our head custodian, almost…………….almost wore a Dodger hat because that would be crazy to do as a gnat fan. Of course, he had to enlighten me of his plan, and I thanked him for not doing it. Giants fans wearing Dodger gear is just soooooo very wrong. I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing anything that has the gnats on it.
Nelly,
First I thought you meant crazy hot then I read some more. Is just that is hot today here in Chatsworth.
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Rosie,
i know what you mean about the betting and taking the excitment of the game. I remember a long time ago betting $100 and throwin myself on the floor because within seconds of me winning, I lost when the Seahawks came back and won against the Raiders. It did not help that I worked for a beverage company where many betted and the sister of a bookie worked there. The was the last time I betted on a game. I realized it was not fun watching the game that way.
Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/
I can understand why everyone was upset when there were only 3 regular players on Wednesday but I can see the reasoning behind it. The game the night before was four hours long!. I was tired just watching it from the stands. Russell definitely needed a rest. As everyone knows I watch Andre, Manny and Matty pretty closely and they looked tired. Andre, Matty and James all played. It was good to let Ausmus catch for Kuroda since they seem to understand each other. Belliard has been a hitting machine so it was good to rest Hudson. Raffy probably is feeling his back this late in the season so Castro played. Blake just is getting off DL so Blake DeWitt was a good choice. Manny doesn’t always play a day after a night game. He hasn’t been hitting all that well anyway so Pierre was a good choice. Remember, they were playing the Pirates, not the Rockies. It is better not to stress our regular players now so they will be good during the playoffs.
Cpompe1 I hope your mom is better, sorry she was ill. How is everything? If you ever have time take a peek at my blog http://catlovesthedodgers.mlblogs.com. The blog is mostly pictures.
Maybe Manny should make 15 mil instead of 20 if he can’t play a day game after a night game. He’s got the rest of his millionaire life to rest. These guys are in great shape, they get totally pampered with massages and great food and hot tub treatment. Geeze. Thursday was an off day.
Have a good evening everyone!
I am heading to the stadium now.
Let’s hope for more magic at the Magic Castle!
LEt’s go Dodgers
Let’s go Padilla!
Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/
cpompe1-glad your mom is home and doing well.
Look who got the lowest ba/obp this month and no surprise who it is?
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/split/45/league/nl
Good Evevning ITD, Dodger faithful and Our Beloved Boy’s in Blue……
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Well I made a bet on the series today…..When the Dodgers win. I will be enjoying a Baskin Robbins banana split, courtesy of one disapointed Giant fan, with a big smile, and whipped cream all over my face………:-)
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LET’S GO DODGERS, LET’S GO !!!!!!
BEAT THE GIANT’S!!!!!!
BRING THE RING TO L.A. IN 2009!!!!
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Enjoy the game everyone…..
Look who has the best pitching this month considering that the 2nd team has 1 fewer game and 10.1 innings less but the Giants are allowing a baa of .211 and that’s first but they do have 60 walks and we have walks only 39 and that hard to believe when we had Bills/Kershaw ranked in the top 5 in walks.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/pitching/split/45/league/nl
The Dodgers pitchers issued 2.6 walks a games this month while the Giants pitchers issue 4 walks a games and with the 21 fewer walks we now have a total of 527 walks to the Giants 526. The Giants had a huge lead over us in this category but not anymore. To bad espn.com won’t show the Starting Pitchers ERA and Relievers ERA this month but they do have it in the total.
Wow!!! It’s Billz out of the bullpen.