Vin Scully to Fenway Park…
In case you missed the news, Vin will make the trip to Boston later this month and call a game at Fenway Park on Friday night against the Red Sox.
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Inside the Dodgers 
Well at least the batting slump is over and the Dodgers put up a great fight in the end.
I’ll be at Fenway on Saturday afternoon with Truebluewill.
That is Saturday June 19th.
Bill Walton: Former UCLA coach Wooden hospitalized
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ap-woodenhospitalized
Time to pray for former UCLA coach John Wooden probably the greatest coach in college basketball.
I like how the next pitcher came in and got 1 strike and got credit for Saito k’s.
Thanks Eric for the link since I forgot it. I think mine is a bit different.
Good Evening ITD readers and writers!!!! Well, we can’t win them all with a walk-off/balk-off, but it was nice to see them put up some runs and give up a fight.
Question? – When was the last time we have seen Reed Johnson in the lineup? He didn’t even show up in the 14 inning game yesterday.
Rats®!!!. LOL Dad/Eric. Great to see you my friend!!! Tough loss tonight. Shoddy defense cost us this one. Manny is an albatross in left and his bat no longer makes up for it!!!!
Let’s whip’em tomorrow!!! Goodnight All!!!!!
Hello and Good Night Jhall!!!! Have a wonderful tomorrow. One more wake up for me, and it’s officially summer vacation – yeah!!!!
In light of the Galarraga Incident, I was writing a comment on my views on Instant Replay. I wanted to link to the Murray Ross essay “Football Red and Baseball Green” so I did a Yahoo! search. The 12th result was an October 2007 entry on our own beloved insidethedodgers.mlblogs.com. So I opened it to see who had cited the essay. Lo and behold, it was me.
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I decided rather than writing another comment, it would be appropriate to repost that 2 1/2-year-old post:
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In an L.A Times article Bill Dwyre makes an argument for instant replay review in baseball.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dwyre3oct03,1,120684.column?coll=la-headlines-sports
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I responded.
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Bill,
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Why shouldn’t baseball go to instant replay review? Why shouldn’t baseball follow the lead of football, basketball and other sports?
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Why? Because baseball is different than other sports. It is more human and more natural than football certainly. In his 1971 essay “Baseball Red and Football Green” Murray Ross called baseball “pastoral”. Baseball is rooted in a different era, even if it may be that era exists(ed) only in our imagination. A slower era, one more rooted in nature and the countryside. An era before the production line, the automobile, the computer, and the instant replay.
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The intrusion of excessive technology into baseball can only detract from the beauty of the game.
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The supremacy of baseball as the national pastime has been challenged in recent decades. Foolishly in my opinion, baseball has attempted to simulate other sports. Basketball is a high-scoring game, so baseball has attempted to induce higher scores. Basketball arenas and football stadiums have long featured a lot of loud music, so basebal has followed suit.
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Ironically and tragically baseball’s attempts to be more like other sports has led to its biggest scandal, or at least its biggest scandal since the 1919 Black Sox. In its pursuit of the higher scores of basketball, baseball turned a blind eye to rampant steroid abuse.
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George Carlin also explained the difference between baseball and football:
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“Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game. Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.”
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Keep the technology out of baseball.
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Because humans are susceptible to error, baseball must remain susceptible to error, even including the errors of those who officiate it. There are no instant replay reviews in real life, and there shouldn’t be in baseball. It just wouldn’t be human.
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I would bet that even hardcore Cardinals fans who suffered — and no doubt continue to suffer — at the hands of Don Denkinger would agree that baseball is best left in the hands of human beings and not in the technological clutches of the instant replay camera.
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Baseball fans know that ultimately all things will be made right. Sometimes it takes decades. In the case of the Rockies and Padres it only took six innings.
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Regards,
I will add that the way the aftermath of the Galarraga Incident turned out was from human and historical perspectives even better than if Jim Joyce had made the right call.
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The situation set up an opportunity for humans to react to a difficult situation. In this case, both Galarraga and Joyce reacted with tremendous humility and dignity. It is ultimately a wonderful story and a beautiful example to fans of all ages.
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And it will work out well for Galarraga in the long run too. His Imperfect Perfect Game will likely be remembered long after the Perfecto by Dallas Braden fades from memory. As an example, I know that Harvey Haddix pitched a no-hitter through at least 9 complete innings in the 1950s only to lose the no-hitter and the game in extra innings. But I can’t name anybody who pitched an official regular season no-hitter any time in that decade.
Why, oh why, does Joe prefer Haeger over Schlicting? And, where, oh where, has Reed Johnson gone?
trublue, it’s the same answer as always…Schlichting as options left, Haeger does not.
On a related note, Ned and Joe’s PVL infatuation means player trips to the DL and/or major time off, resulting in timing problems at the plate. LA Times talked about it this morning concerning Furcal, Manny, and Ethier (though Andre is certainly not a PVL). In this post-steroids era, PVL health will continue to be a major problem, whereas it wasn’t before. It seems Furcal and Manny are ALWAYS coming off the DL in search of their timing. The post-steroids era is also producing a lot more no-hitters/perfect games/shut-outs/low ERA. I remember the mantra on this blog being “play the kids.” That seems long ago….
But, Kahli, Haeger sucks! What’s worse is Joe will use him on Sundays (or maybe a Saturday, if it’s a day game after night game) when Joe must rest his regular players. The way we are playing right now, we don’t need any throw away games.
Good morning ITD.
I learned that if you put anything between it will not show. I did that yesterday when I posted something another blogger had posted so here it is again:
“Consider this…
There actually IS a precedent for league executives to overturn umpires’ calls. Remember the famous pine tar incident in 1983? George Brett hit a homer, but the home plate ump called him out for having too much pine tar on his bat. American League president Lee MacPhail eventually overruled the ump and reinstated the homer, and the rest of the game was played 25 days later. And hey, you know that official scorers are allowed to change their minds and reverse their decisions for up to 24 hours after the game, right?
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Bud Selig, are you listening?! ”
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VIN SCULLY!!!
My friend Lore who kept going to the Top Deck gift shop to watch the Lakers, texted me about Vin Scully being at Fenway.” I texted here back “WOOHOO!”
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OBF and True! That is awesome you will be at Fenway! Maybe we can see each other. Not sure if you have my number OBF. I think I have your email if not leave me a message in my blog and I’ll send it to you.
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I have talked with fans at the stadium who will also will be there. Roberto of Vinscullyismyhomeboy is one of them. Some will be there Friday or Saturday.
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I along with my friend Lore and her niece will be part of the Dodgerlife group so we will be there for all three games. 13 days till we take a red-eye there Thursday night!
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Get well coach Wooden! We are praying for you.
Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com
Absolutely, please rise from that bed, Coach Wooden! You are beloved.
Ok, what I meant in my prior post is that if you type anything between the Less than sign and the greater than sign, you get nothing, nada. BTW, is there another name for those signs?
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to the fan that sit in club level 237 that posted here:
I’ve stopped a couple of times to see you there but maybe I’ve gotten there too early. I have only seen a couple sitting in row a. Maybe one of these times I’ will get to meet you.
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Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com
Coach Wooden you are beloved…….keep fighting, our thought’s and prayers are extended to all………….
“The situation set up an opportunity for humans to react to a difficult situation. In this case, both Galarraga and Joyce reacted with tremendous humility and dignity. It is ultimately a wonderful story and a beautiful example to fans of all ages.
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By lny4loney on June 4, 2010 1:57 AM ”
Well said Lny. I wake up with KABC talk radio and Peter Tillman who does not cover sports, was talking about the very same thing this morning. I have also heard it from others that do not cover sports and don’t know much about baseball. At the end it ended up being a wonderful story of humility and dignity.
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Man, I am dragging today. All of of a sudden it hit me. It is the combination of work and going to all the games.
Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com
I have a concern about the D’s hitting woes. Manny is right in the middle of it all and it seems to be that he is beginning to go into Boston ’08 mode. He is beginning to play without care, he really has become non-chalant in the outfield, he takes strikeouts like they don’t matter, especially in crucial situations, and he’s had a few the last 10 days, and his demeanor is certainly not what it was before. I get the feeling that with the emergence of Kemp and Ethier and the veteran leadership in the clubhouse of Blake and even Ausmus, he would rather be elsewhere. I am a fan of Manny, but i get the feeling that this will not end well. Anybody????
Schlicting wasn’t supposed to be on this team in the 1st place and Haeger won the job out of ST or did he really win it? Well let?s just if Schlicting would?ve gotten bomb than it would?ve been a problem in the 1st place and we would?ve even come to this talk and if we did sign Garland over Padilla than this conversation would end. It funny how he pitches so well last year and this year against the Marlins and Brewers other than those 2 games he has been crappy.
I miss say in between just and if.
DODGERS NOTEBOOK: Torre willing to discuss replay issue
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_15224758?source=rss
Dodgers say lawsuit against Jon Lovitz resolved
58 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES (AP)?The Los Angeles Dodgers say they?ve resolved a dispute with comedian and actor Jon Lovitz over nearly $100,000 in unpaid tickets.
The Dodgers sued Lovitz and others last month over nonpayment for the 2010 season seats, which are located behind home plate. In a statement released Friday, the team says it resolved the case ?very quickly, very amicably, and to the satisfaction of both parties.?
The Dodgers also say Lovitz is a friend and welcome back at the stadium any time.
Attempts to contact Lovitz were unsuccessful.
Nice bear!!!!!
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I still believe though!!!!
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GO DODGERS!!!!!!!
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SELL THE TEAM FRANK!!!!!!
What the heck? Everything should be free until McCourt sell the team.
I just seen DeWitts slide at home…..That was sharp!!!
I totally agree (as I most often do) with bear’s assessment of the team. I’ll add that it wasn’t put together to WIN, it was put together to COMPETE as cheaply as possible.
Isn’t it odd that COMPETE is oh, so, close to INCOMPETENT?!
No one person with authority in this franchise has a vision. Joe wants PVLs, plain and simple, despite the fact they break down and rarely produce on a consistent basis. It’s all about that one key at-bat in October. Ned acquiesces to Joe because he’s Ned and keen insight isn’t his forte…PR is. Frank just wants more parking spaces and less alimony. So the youth movement lies fallow. Youth doesn’t go on the DL very often. Youth doesn’t need every day game off. Youth seldom gets back spasms. Youth pitches lots of innings (notice Kershaw, Bills and Ely are the guys stretching games right now.) And Frank, hear this: Youth is usually CHEAP. Sometimes I want to vomit.
Absolutely fabulous post lny4loney!!!!
Messagebear – yours was fantastic too!!!!
My school year is officially over – whew!!! It was a long year of behavior issues with not much fun in between. Last year’s class had its headaches too, but they were just a fun group of kids to be around (they had great personalities).
GO DODGERS!!!!
How my mind works: My first reaction upon hearing that Juan Samuel had been named interim manager of the Baltimore Orioles was that I would have thought the way he stunk things up in the second half of the 1991 season for the Dodgers would have disqualified him. Obviously, though, that’s not the case. Congratuations, Juan, and good luck.
Xavier Paul returned to the Albuquerque Isotopes just like he left: with a three-hit game.
Kahli – I remember those “Play the Kids” days as I was just a new blogger back then. It really wasn’t so long ago.
Torre and Mattingly want Dodger batters to slow down to get better
http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/dodger-thoughts/post?id=5557
I just took the last part of that article.
The unfortunate by-product of this year’s team being “competitive” is that as usual, we’ll be buyers of PVLs at the trade deadline instead of sellers.
Ned and Frank have raped the farm so that they can acquire these PVLs for no salary and bring in a “name” that’ll surely get us over the top, but that never does. What needs to be done is the selling of Blake, Manny, Furcal and even Kuroda to replenish the farm as best you can with as worthwhile of prospects as you can get for them.
Lny4loney, Haddix carried his perfect game into the 13th inning. I don’t know how it broke up nor who broke it up, but I know he lost his perfecto, the no-hitter, the shutout and the game in the 13th, final score 1 – 0. And both he and the opposing pitcher went all the way.
The aftermath of the imperfect perfect game was the best act of sportsmanship I’ve seen since that college softball game ended with the opposing team helping that hitter around the bases to beat them.
Paul can mind the store until this guy gets here:
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=NON_P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=457726
Too late…….gotta go……..
bear, a far more interesting move would be a swap of PVLs with large contracts in the middle of their “walk” year. A team that needs pitching mates with a team that needs hitting: Manny for Cliff Lee.
Bear, I suspect Manny will be in the lineup as long as he is physically able to take the field and hold a bat even if his production declines. Not saying I agree or disagree but it just seems the way things work with a player of his stature. I think we should be more concerned about getting better at bats from Kemp, Loney and Martin on a more consistent basis.
And while I also believe we need to concentrate on this season more and worry about next season less, I share the concern that it seems the Dodgers best minor league talent is in the lower leagues, similar to not that long ago when the Kemps and Loneys, etc were in Double A ball. So unless the Dodgers are willing to trade players currently on the major league roster, it may be a while before we see anything. That could be made longer it the Dodgers actually try to keep the current core beyond free agency.
Finally, if anyone can ever figure out why multiple players seem to go into slumps at the same time or how to get them out of slumps, that person will be quite popular.
Think we’re all gonna have to face the fact that as long as Frank owns this team and Ned compiles the players, it will NEVER win a championship.
…….and to think if they just stuck with the mantra “Play the kids” we would have Martin,Loney, DeWitt, Furcal, LaRoche, Paul/Hoffman/Repko (possibly still with JP though), Kemp and Ethier as your position players. Is that better or worse than what we have now?
Nelly, hard to say but my gut feeling is no, the Dodgers would not be any better but probably not all that worse. Blake has been mostly o.k. at third and I don’t consider him a PVL because he has been productive. To the best of my knowledge, Repko is still not starting on a major league team and I think is still in the minors. The question to ponder is how much better this team would be with Werth, Kemp and Ethier in the outfield but that probably would not have ever happened.
The fact remains current Dodger management still favors experience over younger, unproven players. This means a younger player has to force management to not only give him an opportunity but also to make the most of that opportunity.
Wow very impressive streak.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5252319
lbirken ~ you are right about that. Joe has proven over and over again he likes the oldies. Even when the younger players seem to earn the spot during ST. You mean to tell me, the signing and playing G.A. is a better move than have Paul as our back-up outfielder?
Gonna break out the bagpipes………..It’s A Long Way To The Top If You Want To Rock and Roll!!!!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1iR2Wi3u5o&feature=related
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Good Rythym Tonight Boy’s!!!
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GO DODGERS GO!!!!!
Tru, it would be interesting to sit down with Joe and Ned ask those types of questions. It can’t be about money because the younger player usually earns less. My guess is they discuss a player such as Garrett Anderson and look at his body of work, his knowledge of the game and how he approaches things. They don’t have to teach him anything and I am sure they talk themselves into believing he and others like him still can contribute. In Anderson’s case they have asked him to do something he has never done before and obviously things are not working out well. With Paul, they really don’t know what to expect. And let’s be objective; what has Paul done to make everyone sit up and take notice. And as others have mentioned, the Dodgers control Paul which gives the team flexibility. I think most teams would rather have a back up player who has some experience. Just look at all the marginal players on major league rosters who continually find jobs every season. Obviously many other baseball people have outlooks similar to Joe’s.
lbirken ~ You have my permission to request a sit down talk with Joe and Ned 🙂 I will come with you!
Bear, you may be right but I suspect all organizations are guilty of this because the system lets them. Do you really want a young player sitting on the bench or playing on a regular basis? Anyway, enjoy the game everyone.
You guys know the minor leaguers much better than I do…I was kind of using Paul as an example of somebody who is tearing it up at ABQ. I do think that by be constantly sent up and down has to have an adverse affect on the player. I am at the point right now, of keeping Dre as my main guy of the future, and bringing some of our younger guys up and see what they can do.
Top Division I Hitting Streaks
FIU’s Garrett Wittels’ 55-game hitting streak is just three games shy of Robin Ventura’s NCAA record, which he set with Oklahoma State.
Streak Player
58 Robin Ventura, 1987
55* Garrett Wittels, 2010
47 Phil Stephenson, 1981
45 Roger *******, 1971
42 Chuck Abbott, 1996
gosh at the time warp killing me. I was trying to post this.
Wow very impressive streak.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5252319
They bleep the last name S c h m u c k and I wonder why?
Well it look like I post at the right time with that link and I’m off by 1 hrs this time.
Hi Folks.
I hope Kershaw brought something with him tonight and rubbed it in his glove.
Bad enough we have to face the Braves, but while they’re hot?
The Dodgers gave it their all last night, now let’s see what they can do against Kenshin Kawakami
GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!!!!
Padres lost 3 – 2…..LET’S GO DODGERS, LET’S GO!!!!
I’m having page loading problems.
So congrats to ETHIER & BELLIARD on their RBI.
If this gets through.
The pods gave us back that 1/2 game we dropped last night eh?
Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden dies
By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES(AP)?Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden has died. The Wizard of Westwood was 99.
The university said Wooden died Friday night of natural causes at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized since May 26.
In the history of college basketball, no coach or school has come close to Wooden?s 10 NCAA championships.
Wooden?s career record at UCLA was 620-147, not including 47 NCAA tournament wins, and his overall mark for 40 years as a college coach was 885-203, an .813 winning percentage that remains unequaled.
He won his 10 titles over a 12-year span from 1963-75. During that time his teams were 335-22, including four 30-0 seasons. His UCLA teams also had a record winning streak of 88 games, and won 38 straight games in NCAA tournaments.
Alright Andre and Ronnie!!! Andre with 38 RBIs. He’s going to be back on top before too long.
Now that is sad news Shad!!
Great points lbirken, and I would love for you to have a sit down with Ned and Joe. They need to listen to your two cents 🙂
O.K. FURCAL
AND KEMP.
Glad to see us off to a great start. I guess our ills can be cured with the confidence the team has in Kersh, combined with a guy pitching some version of batting practice! Let’s put up 10 tonight!
I was hoping he would’ve live for the next 4 months 10 days to reach 100. Yep terrible news indeed and I once read that the Lakers offered him the next head coaching job at a salary 10 times what he was making, but he refused.
RIP John Wooden. Great man and coach! Glad he’s back with his sweetheart!
Come on, Kersh….get it done!!!!
Hey, I have an idea! Every time you’re at the stadium and they say “Let’s go Dodgers! Clap clap clap clap clap”, we should chant “Sell the Dodgers! Frank Frank Frank Frank Frank!” I know that would make me smile! 🙂
Good idea, Perumike!
I think Bear and BPB1 would lead the chant!!!!
Well at least tonight we’re putting up a fight.