It’s been 48 hours since the last post and there’s been plenty of rain. Chicago, normally a great town to visit, is tough to enjoy in this weather. It seems like the rain has stopped for a little bit, but it could be pretty rainy throughout the night and next couple of days.

Last night, we enjoyed a nice dinner at Sullivan’s Steakhouse and I’ve mostly been running around trying to catch up with old friends living in this city.

My sincere apologies that one bad apple continues to try and post under names @dodgerthoughts.com. We’re in the process of eliminating them, but you can disregard anything that’s posted under that name. I think everyone pretty much knows who the culprit is and I have to say, it sad that this is his idea of entertainment.

For today’s game, we’ll have:

Furcal, SS

Lugo, 3B

Nomar, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Ethier, LF

Kemp, CF

Martin, C

Lowe, P

Here’s the lineup:

Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Nomar, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Anderson, LF

Betemit, 3B

Martin, C

Stults, P

Yes, I mean that Pedro but no, the Mets didn’t switch their starter. Right now, as I type this lineup, the Mets postseason hopes are being played out before their very eyes, as Pedro Martinez is throwing a simulated game down on the field. I’ve never seen so many people watching a simulated game in my life. Even when Eric Gagne was coming back from his injuries, there were tons of media, coaches and front office types down on the field holding their collective breath, but there’s got to be 100 people downstairs watching this right now. And I’ve got a bird’s eye view of it from the press box. And I can hear the national anthem, too, as the singer is practicing it while Pedro throws. It’s a little strange, actually, watching this all take place.

Getting to watch Pedro and then Maddux on the same day is quite a treat. If only Clemens hadn’t hurt his groin, we might get to see the best three pitchers of this era all on the same day.

Of course, you can’t mention Pedro without thinking of Delino Deshields and where he is today. Or Grady Little and where he is today. Well, I guess we know what the latter is doing. The former – not so much.

Still, for every Pedro for Delino deal that doesn’t quite work out (okay, that’s an understatement), there’s an Ethier deal that could change the course of the franchise. Just think where we’d be this year if we didn’t have him. Will he be a Hall of Famer? We’ll have to wait to find that out, but he’s certainly got talent and drive to go a long way.

I’ve got to head downstairs for a press conference we’re holding for Hong-Chih Kuo, who has throngs of Taiwanese media coming out today to talk to him. Anytime I can use throngs in a post, it’s a plus. Kuomania…somehow it doesn’t quite a ring to it yet.

Here’s the lineup for today:

Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Nomar, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Ethier, LF

Betemit, 3B

Martin, C

Maddux, P

For those clamoring for a day off for Andre, he gets it today, with Marlon Anderson getting a start. Andre and Russ went on Cold Pizza today, too, here in NY and in the green room, former NFLer Ray Buchanan asked if they were from the X Games. I guess they were wearing too much Ed Hardy clothing and both look pretty young.

Anyway, here’s the lineup. We’ll see if we can get some of those old Brooklyn Dodger fans back on our bandwagon (including my father-in-law, who will be at tonight’s game). And, in the craziest twist of fate, tonight happens to be Taiwanese night at Shea Stadium, so 3,000 of Hong-Chih’s countrymen and women will be here to root him on in his first big league start.

Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Nomar, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Anderson, LF

Betemit, 3B

Martin, C

Kuo, P

For those of you who have not heard, Pepe Yniguez, one of our Spanish language broadcasters, had to return home from Milwaukee after a tumor was found in his wife Margarita’s brain. After several days of worrying on everyone’s part, she underwent surgery last night to remove the tumor and I’m really happy to pass along the news that everything went extremely well and that she’s recovering now.

Pepe called me a little while ago to make sure I gave everyone his most sincere thanks for all the calls, emails, well wishes, prayers, etc. that he has been receiving. He said that he could not put into words how much that has meant to him and his family through this tough time.

As I sit here in the press box at Shea, I’m truly breathing a huge sigh of relief. When you spend as much time with these people as we do in this traveling party, it’s hard to explain how much of a hit something like this has to the team. Pepe is one of the most sincere people involved with this organization and though I’ve only met Margarita one time, we’re all feeling much better today than we have been since Tuesday night.

You’d think I could remember to change my watch from central to eastern time. That’s okay, though. I got here to Shea early after having a meeting and lunch with some colleagues from the league office here in Manhattan. Took the 7 train out here to Flushing with the rest of the tennis-going crowd and settling into this very fine city…at least in my opinion.

Today’s lineup:

Furcal, SS

Lugo, 3B

Garciaparra, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Ethier, LF

Kemp, CF

Hall, C

Penny, P

We could use a win today. Here's the lineup:Furcal, SS
Lugo, 3B
Saenz, 1B
Kent, 2B
Ethier, LF
Martin, C
Kemp, CF
Repko, RF
Lowe, P

We just got finished with Ned’s live chat from here in the press box at Miller Park.

Here’s the lineup:

Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Nomar, 1B

Kent, 2B

Ethier, LF

Kemp, RF

Lugo, 3B

Martin, C

Hendrickson, P

Speculation in today’s L.A Times was correct and Delwyn Young and Oscar Robles have both been recalled. We’ll have a lineup shortly, but in the meantime, if you want to talk directly to Ned Colletti, now is your shot. He’s having a live web chat in about an hour (2 p.m. PT/4 p.m. CT).

Also, Dave Van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune wrote a great article about Greg Maddux and his time with the Dodgers. Take a look.

Finally, a hearty congrats go out to James Loney on winning the Minor League batting title. He had already locked up the PCL crown, but it’s official today: he led every minor league player at every level in batting average. That’s pretty impressive and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Sitting here in an empty Miller Park with about three grounds crew members on the field and not a sound to be heard. Kind of eerie and from what I understand, much better than last night.

Fortunately, I took the red eye to Milwaukee, as my former boss at the Dodgers, Brian Reisner, got married last night. But when I got to the hotel at 7:30 a.m., I could tell it must’ve been an interesting night for the rest of the team and staff members.

There was some sort of youth convention at our hotel last night and judging from the teenagers still awake when I got there at 7:30 and scattered throughout the halls with empty bottles, I got the sense that I got more sleep on the red eye stopping in Kansas City than some of the guys on the team. It’s kind of ironic how serene it is at the ballpark right now vs. what they’re telling me it was like last night at the hotel.

Nonetheless, it’s Labor Day, so let’s get to work.

Here’s the lineup:

Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Nomar, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Ethier, LF

Betemit, 3B

Martin, C

Maddux, P

Also, Giovanni Carrara and Tim Hamulack are back with the club, and there was a surprise addition today, too. The team purchased the contract of Eric Stults, who was with us in Spring Training and spent the year at Triple-A Las Vegas. He went 10-11 with a 4.23 this year, which is pretty impressive in the Pacific Coast League, a hitter’s circuit. I rode over to the park with Aaron Sele who had great things to say about Eric’s mental makeup and ability to pitch.

There could still be more guys coming up later this week, so stay tuned.