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Tuesday, November 08, 2005 |
Pickoff Moves, Morning Edition
Murray Chass On The Dysfunctional Dodgers
New York Times baseball columnist Murray Chass, who proved himself capable of cheap-shot, revisionist history before, today has a less objectionable piece about the present-day Dodgers and their front-office mess:Rupert Murdoch and then Frank McCourt turned the once-stable O'Malley kingdom into the Dysfunctional Dodgers. After winning nothing in the six years of the Murdoch reign, they finished first in McCourt's first year, but then McCourt's general manager shredded the gang of warriors, and the Dodgers won 22 fewer contests in 2005 than they did the previous season.Chass betrays his baser sensibilities when he closes with the sentence, "[Hiring Jim] Bowden would be a smart move." Compared to what? Self-immolation? Contraction?Today, McCourt seeks a new general manager, but he has already bungled his search. Changing general mangers became a popular sport this off-season, and most of the positions have been filled. McCourt waited until four weeks after the end of the season to fire Paul DePodesta and was instantly behind in his search for a replacement.
Valentine A Free Agent
Friend-of-Tommy's Bobby Valentine has no deal signed with Chiba Lotte or any other ballclub, MLB or Japanese, reports ESPN. The pieces fall into place...The Keister Moons Long Beach
Shut up, Bob:When you've been around the business for more than three decades, one learns that many people out there don't need any help hanging themselves. In this case, DePodesta knotted his own cord.He goes on to make the same meritless charges against DePodesta all the other hacks have, including -- can you believe it? -- the one that one of his principle mistakes was not re-signing Beltre, Finley, and Jose Lima. Um, Bob, were you hoping we didn't look at their 2005 records?Even if you were one of those who found Jim Tracy annoying and believes in DePodesta's schemes and Hee-Seop Choi, it's hard to look at DePo's resume and not conclude the wrong guy got fired.
Update: Bob Timmermann in the comments points out that this article is a bit old, despite the November 8 timestamp at the top. Weird.
Rookie-Of-The-Year Awards
The Rookie-of-the-Year awardees were named, and Huston Street of the A's and Ryan Howard, the first baseman who replaced Jim Thome, were the winners.Disney Had The Right Idea
But was it getting cheerleaders onto a baseball field? Or getting rid of them? Either way, I eagerly await the punning title of the inevitable porn video made based on this incident. Hat tip: Pearly Gates.Free Agency Preview
Rich Lederer and Bryan Smith preview their second round of free agents, and provide predictions for their contracts. (Part 1 is here.)Bowden To Talk To Boston
Reader cedarville in the comments mentioned this and I forgot to -- Jim Bowden will talk to the Red Sox about their open GM job.Dean Chance Likes Colon's Chances
Dean Chance, the only Angel to ever win a Cy Young Award, likes Bartolo Colon's chances to win it this year:"If it wasn't for Bartolo Colon having a chance to win the Cy Young, you wouldn't be calling me. Nobody would be mentioning my name," Chance said. "I'm really rooting for him."Colon has yet to start throwing after getting pulled from the ALDS Game 5, even though his shoulder strain is feeling better.
Comments:
On Cold Pizza this morning, Jim Bowden acknowledged that he will be meeting with Red Sox officials to discuss their g.m. opening.
# posted by 
: 11/08/2005 07:58:00 AM
: 11/08/2005 07:58:00 AM
Something's up with that column by Keisser because the link goes to his "Tracy gets fired" column but it has today's date on it.
Maybe that's why Bowden abruptly announced that he wasn't a candidate for the Dodger job. He's focused exclusively on landing the Beantown job.
# posted by : 11/08/2005 08:29:00 AM
: 11/08/2005 08:29:00 AM
The 2004 team was a "gang of warriors"? I thought DePodesta traded away all the heart, or something.
It still shocks me that people can look at the 2004 team and think it was capable of anything more than it accomplished. I guess the non-LA people didn't see them every day, but it boggles the mind that anyone with any knowledge of the team doesn't think, "Man, they were lucky as hell to win the division."
It still shocks me that people can look at the 2004 team and think it was capable of anything more than it accomplished. I guess the non-LA people didn't see them every day, but it boggles the mind that anyone with any knowledge of the team doesn't think, "Man, they were lucky as hell to win the division."
# posted by : 11/08/2005 09:11:00 AM
: 11/08/2005 09:11:00 AM
An eight-game win streak. An eight-game losing streak. A six game win streak. A six game losing streak. They weren't that good. Those believing that players should be retained based on "heart" and garbage like that need to explain their position. What, exactly, is "heart"? Can you quantify it? How many RBIs does "heart" drive in? How many homers does it hit? If it can't be measured, why should we pay attention to it?
Funny how perceptions are. Imagine if Penny hadn't gotten hurt. The Dodgers probably would have won the division a little more comfortably. If they still got creamed in the playoffs, we'd probably hear about how they underachieved. And Lima probably wouldn't have gotten to start a playoff game, which means we wouldn't have to hear about how we should have kept a guy who just turned in one of the worst years in history.
# posted by : 11/08/2005 09:46:00 AM
: 11/08/2005 09:46:00 AMNewer› ‹Older
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