6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Bootcheck Blows It, Or, ALDS Preview: A's 3, Angels 2

Red Sox in four. Three, maybe, even. It's just miserable to watch this team at moments like this, because you know they're not going anywhere; the Red Sox have better pitching, better offense, and it's not particularly close. The Angels don't even have a single guy who hit 30 home runs on the club. Vlad is the only regular with a SLG over .500 (.547, actually). As Bootcheck showed today, the middle of the bullpen is just soft and creamy filling for the other club's offensive parts, so why bother showing up? And, speed? It would help if you got on base first. Remember 2005, anyone?

It's been a great season, Angels. Too bad there's too many obvious problems that need fixing.

Recap • Yahoo Box

Humiliation At Home: Giants 11, Dodgers 2

I watched the last couple outs of this game, as it was the final active game of the day, fairly expecting Vin Scully to announce his retirement. That didn't happen, but later on, Frank McCourt said he's going to stay the course, one of those phrases with a sorry history. Does he mean finding more inappropriate veterans to congest the lineup card for another half dozen years?

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Labels: angels, athletics, dodgers, giants, recaps

• The boos were loud at Shea as the Mets lost their final game of the year to the last-place Marlins, 8-1. Tom Glavine imploded for a seven-run first inning and that was the ballgame, as Dontrelle Willis gave up the only run in 3.1 innings; a string of relievers held down the Mets the rest of the way.
• The Phillies improbably won the NL East on a roaring crowd approving a 6-1 victory over the Nats. The Phils end their season 89-73; Jamie Moyer got his 14th win.
• In Milwaukee, the Brewers continue to show they're not going to play patsies for the guys going to the big dance. Brett Tomko was effective through three but fell apart in a four-run fourth. The Brewers piled on in the fifth and sixth to make the score 9-4.

  Update: 10-4 now on an Adrian Gonzalez fielding error that allowed Laynce Nix to reach and first baseman Joe Dillon to score.

  Update 2: Corey Hart triples a run in with Justin Germano on the mound. Bud Black is conceding this game with his choice of relievers, and must be hoping for a Diamondbacks win to clinch the Wild Card.

  Update 3: Francisco Cordero comes in to the game to seal the deal in the ninth and gives up a pair of one-out solo homers to Kevin Kouzmanoff and Adrian Gonzalez. 11-6 Brewers.

  Update 4: It's final, 11-6 Brewers. If the Rocks can win, there'll be a one-game playoff in Colorado.

• Ubaldo Jimenez is pitching a brilliant game in Colorado, striking out ten for a no-hitter through six. The only run of the game crossed the plate on a Brad Hawpe triple in the sixth that was misplayed by left fielder Alberto Callaspo. 1-0 Rockies.

  Update: Clint Hurdle pulls Jimenez after he surrendered a pair of one-out walks in the top of the seventh. Arizona ties it 1-1 on a Carlos Quentin RBI single against Jorge Julio. Hurdle brings in Brian Fuentes to face Conor Jackson, and as the Rockies crew goes to break, the broadcast team is heard to say, "He's bringing in the wrong guy."

  Update 2: Fuentes proves the announcers wrong by striking out a pair of pinch-hitters with men on first and second, Jackson and Jeff Cirillo. Still tied, 1-1.

  Update 3: Fuentes gets into a two-out, two-on jam with men on first and second in the top of the eighth thanks to a pair of consecutive walks, but strikes out Jeff Salazar to end the frame. Still tied 1-1.

  Update 4: Troy Tulowitzki reaches on a throwing error by Mark Reynolds that might have been caught by Tony Clark. Clark had been lifted for a pinch runner earlier in the game, with consequences when his replacement Robby Hammock can't reach Reynolds' throw at first, the leap taking him off the bag. The substitution bites the Snakes again as Hammock can't field a Matt Holliday liner, bounding off his glove and ending up in foul territory. Men on the corners and nobody out.

  Update 5: The Rocks open it up against the back end of Arizona's bullpen, putting up a three spot, one on an RBI single by Garret Atkins and two more on a line drive down the right field line — again just out of the reach of Hammock — by Brad Hawpe. 4-1 Rocks.

  Update 6: Manny Corpas makes it interesting by giving up a pair on three hits, one of them a double, and a sac fly, getting the final out on a very close play at first. 4-3 Rockies, final, and the Padres will play them tomorrow at 5:37 PM Mountain. It'll be Josh Fogg against Jake Peavy.

Labels: brewers, diamondbacks, marlins, mets, nationals, padres, phillies, postseason, rockies

• NL East: The Mets trounced the Marlins 13-0, with John Maine carrying a no-hitter through 7.1 innings. Combined with a 4-2 Phillies loss to the Nationals, the Phils and Mets are all locked up again for the division.
• NL West, Wildcard: The Padres lost 4-3 to the Brewers on an 11th-inning RBI single by Vinny Rottino off Trevor Hoffman. The Rockies are presently up 5-1 over the Diamondbacks; if they make that hold, they would be a game back of San Diego for the Wild Card with an elimination number of one. It would also put the Pads a game back of the Diamondbacks for the division.

  Update: In Colorado, the Snakes have already pulled starter Ed Gonzalez after three innings, and gone to reliever Jailen Peguero, who retires the side in order in the fourth.

  Update 2: Peguero gives up an RBI single to Garret Atkins in the fifth. 6-1 Rockies.

  Update 3: A Kaz Matsui walk with two on and two out chases Peguero, and Troy Tulowitzki blasts an opposite field homer for a grand slam off Dustin Nippert. 11-1 Rocks.

  Update 4: Bob Timmermann points out that the Diamondbacks clinched the division after today's Padres loss. Apparently this is under the rubric of Rule 33 Scenario #1; even with a tie, the best the Pads can hope for is the Wild Card.

  Update 5: Manny Corpas gives up a walk in the bottom of the ninth but staves off elimination for another day, 11-1 final. To stay in it, the Rocks need help from the Brewers tomorrow. Ubaldo Jimenez (4-4, 4.52) will go tomorrow with the Rockies' season on the line, and the Snakes will counter with Doug Davis (13-12, 4.25 ERA).

  Update 6: Brett Tomko will get tomorrow's start since the Padres are guaranteed no worse than a one-game playoff on Monday should they lose. However, I do have to question that from the standpoint that theoretically the Pads might be facing a much tougher opponent (i.e. the Rockies, Mets, or Phillies): why not go for the jugular against the Brewers Sunday? Bud Black provides an answer:

  Black said he'll stick with his plan of starting Brett Tomko on Sunday, preferring to save ace Jake Peavy for a potential one-game playoff on Monday.

  “We don't want to waste Jake if we don't have to,” Black said. “And if we need him for a playoff game, we have him right there – full rested, not on three days' rest.”

  Update 7: Baseball Prospectus now ranks the Padres as having a 75% chance of winning the Wild Card, with the Rockies getting a shot at the postseason via the four-way-tie 12.8% of the time. The Phils and Mets both tie at 5.9% for the Wild Card; BP's simulation shows the Phils as division champs 82% of the time.

  Update 8: And I hope this is the last one: Tiebreaker scenarios:

  If there's a four-way tie among the Mets, Phillies, Rockies and Pads:

  • The Mets and Phillies would play in Philly on Monday to crown the East champ.

  • The loser would then enter a three-game mini-tournament for which the Rockies, based on head-to-head records during the regular season, would have the option of trying to win at home and then on the road or just once on the road to advance.

  • If the Rockies choose to stay home, their opponent would be determined by the wishes of the team with the second-best combined head-to-head record; it'd be the Phillies if they're involved, but the Padres if the Mets drop into the three-way. That team could choose to play at the Rockies on Tuesday, but it's more likely that it would opt for a single game and travel to play the winner of Tuesday's game on Wednesday.

  • If the Rockies opt for the one road game, Tuesday's game would feature New York at San Diego, or San Diego at Philly, with the winner hosting Colorado on Wednesday.

  If there's a three-way tie among the Padres, Mets and Phillies: This scenario is possible only if the Padres and Rockies both lose Sunday and the Phillies and Mets both win.

  • The Mets and Phillies would play in Philly on Monday to crown the East champ.

  • Monday's losing team would play Tuesday to decide the Wild Card. The Padres would either host the Phils, or travel to New York.

Labels: diamondbacks, marlins, mets, nationals, padres, phillies, postseason, rockies

Fifty years ago today, the Dodgers lost their final game as Brooklyn to the Phillies 2-1, eleven games back of the red-hot 95-59 Milwaukee Braves; no other NL team that year even got to 90 wins. The 1957 team spent only five days in first place, once on June 8 and never thereafter. The team's core was aging, Jackie Robinson having retired in the offseason. Walter Alston, in his fourth year of running the club and fresh off two pennants and Brooklyn's only title, didn't have enough horses to compete anymore. The glory that was the Dodgers just evaporated, according to Glenn Stout's The Dodgers:

There was no yearlong celebration of what was about to pass, no long good-bye, just a slow, accumulating chill. Dodger fans stood on the porch and watched their ballclub slowly back up the truck. Some complained, wrote letters, signed petitions, or formed committees, but most just watched in silence, angry, and slowly drifted away. It had always been Brooklyn against the world, hadn't it? Well, guess what? The world won. Didn't it always?

The Dodgers had given up; on September 1, they put Sal Maglie on waivers. The Yankees picked him up for their stretch drive.

Tom Singer reviewed starter Danny McDevitt's 2-0 victory over the Pirates in the last game played at Ebbets Field. Here's another piece in time to honor the baseball dead, Jack O'Connell's tribute to the great move west. Finally, not to be forgotten in all the Brooklynalia is the recollection that the Giants used to play in New York, too.

Labels: dodgers, giants, history

Bob Keisser in the Long Beach Press-Telegram presents an alternate history of the Dodgers in which Mike Scioscia was retained by the club:

The franchise had been sold to Rupert Murdoch, then the CEO at News Corp. and Fox Sports who has since left the media business to become Vice-Premiere of China. In the clumsy change in command, the team fired G.M. Fred Claire and manager Bill Russell at midseason. There have been tidier transitions in South American military coups.

Tommy Lasorda, looking a bit Benedict-ish, was named interim G.M. and Glenn Hoffman was named interim manager. Scioscia was in his second season as the club's bench coach, one of the few coaches retained in the bloody transition.

All signs indicated that Murdoch and his henchmen were going to go outside the organization for a new G.M. and manager for 1999, with one-time Expos exec Kevin Malone, now selling cars and a volunteer sheriff in the West Valley, the top choice.

That's when Lasorda stepped up. He wanted to stay on as G.M., at least for another year or so before turning the job over to someone younger, like Dave Wallace. He beseeched Fox management, which had already angered Dodgers fans by trading Mike Piazza, to stay in-house and relaunch the concept of Dodgers tradition.

Stunning everyone in baseball, they acquiesced. Lasorda remained as G.M. and tabbed Scioscia, the longtime Dodgers catcher, despite no hands-on managerial experience other than guiding the Peoria Javelinas to the Arizona Fall League title in 1997.

"It doesn't matter," Lasorda said at the time. "Mike Scioscia is going to be a good manager somewhere, someday. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if he was hired by the Angels. I want it to be here, because he knows what it means to be a Dodger."

...

Scioscia has the Dodgers once again at the top of baseball as the consummate franchise. The Yankees have been in a malaise since Joe Torre was fired after the 2002 series. The Red Sox's great series win in 2004 was followed by chaos after the team was sold to a Boston parking magnate, Frank McCourt. The Cubs went into receivership after the Tribune Co. went bankrupt. The Giants are still reeling from Bonds' admission that he took steroids and his subsequent retirement.

Most interesting about this fantasy is the bit at the end in which he reveals that, in real life, Kevin Malone "told intimates that Scioscia would never be a major-league manager." Tit for tat: Malone's not a major-league anything.

Labels: angels, dodgers, front office

The Dodgers guaranteed themselves a .500 season with this win, one that came, oh, about ten games too late. With one more, they will lose the first-round draft pick compensation, but at least get to say they had a winning season. I have to admit that given how lousy this club has been, they should get some kind of a prize for it, and no, that doesn't include the loser's dividend.

---

In keeping with the let's-pile-on-the-kids meme that's been making the rounds lately, Steve Dilbeck got one in yesterday's Daily News that I somehow missed:

With a very limited free-agent pool awaiting this offseason, Colletti's best move would appear to move one or two of those highly regarded prospects for someone with power still in his 20s.

"Yeah, if we can pull it off," Colletti said. "That would be the optimum."

It certainly sounds like Colletti is actively shopping the kids, and if he is, shame on him. But what if that isn't the story? What if this is just some clever spin to get the fans talking about the Dodgers again after the team's been eliminated? That would be dirty pool... if it isn't a trial balloon. Fortunately, Ross Newhan is still around to slap the Dodgers upside the head and hopefully knock some sense into them. I'm hoping it takes.

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Labels: dodgers, giants, recaps

Great game by Lackey, but given the state of the A's offense (you did know they have the fifth-worst offense in the league — which represents a step up for them, considering they were worst for quite a while), it's not like it was the Red Sox or anything. Vlad, Juan Rivera, and Howie Kendrick formed the Angels' attack, with Mike Napoli getting honorable mention for a deep flyball out that might have been a double save for a nice running catch by Nick Swisher in center. Rivera's now hitting .282, which for him is impressive considering how abbreviated his season has been and the injury he's returned from.

Both Cleveland (5-3 over KC) and Boston (5-2 over Minnesota) won their respective games and now have a 95-65 record. This means that both those teams have at least clinched a tie with the Angels for best record in the AL and home field advantage; for the Angels to catch them, the other two teams would have to lose both their remaining contests while the Angels would have to sweep the A's. It's looking like the Angels will play the Red Sox in the first round.

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Labels: angels, athletics, recaps

And tear:

Foley, head shaved, running in the back yard and full of energy. His fur is starting to grow back on his muzzle, all white of course, but not on the top of his head where the radiation was the hardest. For about a month we thought we might have lost him, as he lost all interest in going for a walk or even greeting guests at the door. But he steadily improved, going for walks, haltingly at first, but of increasing duration. Now, he's almost as good as new.

Hannah is still going through once-a-week chemo, which means she does better or worse on a daily basis. Her lows aren't as bad as his, but her energy level is noticeably down from her earlier feisty highs. We're hoping she'll recover once the course of chemo is over, with about a month and a half to go.

Labels: offtopic

The Red Sox clinched the AL East with a 5-2 win over Minnesota to settle the final AL division in question. The Yankees lost 10-9 to Baltimore to help them out.

Labels: orioles, postseason, red sox, twins, yankees

The Cubs and Diamondbacks are the first to clinch playoff spots. The Diamondbacks beat Colorado 4-2, thus assuring them of either the NL West title or a Wild Card berth; the Diamondbacks are the first NL team to 90 wins. The Cubs walloped the Reds 6-0 with Bronson Arroyo taking the loss, and Carlos Zambrano getting the win. Combined with a 6-3 Padres win over Milwaukee, the Cubs have clinched the NL Central, the first of the NL divisions to clinch.

Update: The Phils beat the Nats 6-0 while the Mets lost to the Marlins 7-4 to give Philadelphia uncontested ownership of the NL East with a one-game lead, with a magic number of two.

Labels: brewers, cubs, diamondbacks, padres, postseason, reds

From today's UTK:

The Angels have a playoff spot locked up, but not much else seems to be going right for the team. Vladimir Guerrero got into the game, only to get hit by a pitch. Kelvim Escobar made it through a side session, putting him on track for a weekend start, though one observer called the session "uninspiring." The Angels will wait to see how Escobar pitches in game action before making a decision on where or even if he'll slot into the LDS rotation. Anaheim has been hinting that it'll go with a three-man rotation if needed, and then put Escobar back in the mix for the LCS should the squad advance. The Angels are also watching and waiting to see how Gary Matthews Jr. is a day after a minor knee injury. Combined with his recent ankle injury, it appears that Matthews is still a bit unstable out there. It's affecting his defense more than his hitting, so expect him to be rested leading into the playoffs.

Labels: angels, injuries

Since Jon's September 16 entreaty to get to 81 wins, the Dodgers have gone exactly 1-10. Clearly they're not listening, but there's more than just that at this point:

• If the season ended today, the Dodgers would draft fifteenth overall in 2008.
• LA has a winning record so far at 80-79, but there is still the open possibility that the Giants could sweep the upcoming homestand and give the Dodgers a losing season. If that happens, the Dodgers could sign a type-A free agent without having to surrender a first round draft pick.
• The Dodgers have been mathematically eliminated from finishing third; similarly, the Giants cannot finish fourth, so there is that small consolation.

The Giants may be bad, but they've won more games in their last ten (four) than the Dodgers (one). This could be interesting.

Tonight's game: Kevin Correia (4-6, 3.20 ERA) against David Wells (8-9, 5.53 ERA).

Labels: dodgers, previews

No, no, no. Bums are supposed to be LOVABLE losers. These Dodgers are more like aggressive panhandlers.

— Shooty in today's BTF thread

The Rockies hit the ball hard, pasting three over the fence that plated a grand total of four, and doubled in four more. When the dust settled, the Rockies had outscored the Dodgers by six, and the Dodger with the most blood on his hands wasn't punchline Esteban Loiaza, but Jonathan Meloan. I hate it when one of the kids gets beat up like that; he's now got an 11.81 ERA, but he doesn't have the loss. That was Loaiza's all the way.

The Rockies are an interesting team. Troy Tulowitzki, formerly Long Beach State's starting shortstop, is now picking it at the majors, and doing so brilliantly, as he did last night on many occaisions. He's one of a Rockies lineup that consists of almost all kids, outside of Todd Helton. Missing virtually all of their April starting rotation (the winner, Franklin Morales, made only his eighth major league start), they have somehow pasted together an eleven game winning streak, the longest in their franchise's brief history, and the longest in the majors this year, at just the right time. If only San Diego would stumble, just a little more...

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NL Races

• NL East: The Phillies beat the Braves 6-4, which had two effects: first, it eliminated the Braves from the Wild Card, and second, combined with a 3-0 Mets loss to the Cardinals, brings the Phillies to a tie with the Mets for the NL East, and Mike Carminati to orgasm. If the Phils take the division, it represents the first time ever that a team has pulled out a lead with their division leader ahead by seven games on Sep. 6.
• NL Central: The Cubs continued to lose, Chicago being swept by the Fish on the road 6-4. However, Milwaukee also failed to help themselves when the Padres smashed the Brewers 9-4, knocking one off the Cubs' magic number, to two. The Cubs appear to be backing their way into a pennant in a season stretch that looks like Groundhog Day.
• NL West: Arizona beat the snot out of Pittsburgh 8-0, to chants of "Tracy must go!" Their magic number is down to three. The Snakes play the Rocks in Colorado for the last three games of the season, with the Rockies' playoff hopes in their own hands: they're two games back of Arizona for the division with an elimination number of two.
• NL Wild Card: The Padres' victory yesterday cut their magic number to three. The Rockies' win kept them only a game back of the Padres for the Wild Card, and in a three-way tie with Philadelphia and New York for second place. It also eliminated the possibility of a five-way tie for the Wild Card. New York will try to get off the mat with a set of three games at home against the recently hot Marlins. The Phils also finish their season at home, with three against Washington, who played spoiler to the Mets with a sweep on the road.

Labels: dodgers, recaps, rockies

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that the Mariners have re-signed manager John McLaren and general manager Bill Bavasi for 2008.

Howard Lincoln freely admits he doesn't come out of this season fully satisfied with the Mariners' results.

"It's a year of mixed emotions," the club CEO said Thursday in announcing that general manager Bill Bavasi and manager John McLaren will return in 2008. "I'm very pleased with having a winning season. On the other hand, I'm very disappointed with what happened in mid-August."

That's when the Mariners, after getting to 20 games over .500, lost nine games in a row to kiss the playoffs goodbye.

Still, when the Mariners were eliminated from the postseason Tuesday, it didn't take long for Lincoln and club president Chuck Armstrong to determine that Bavasi and McLaren had done enough right to deserve a return engagement.

"The two best guys for us right now," Lincoln said, "are Bill and John."

...

Starting pitcher Jarrod Washburn said that under Bavasi's leadership, "things have gotten better and better."

"We didn't finish quite the way we wanted," Washburn said. "But we're in position now to have solidarity going into next season."

U.S.S. Mariner:

Regular readers of this blog will know our general reaction - this isn’t a surprise. The Mariners need an organizational overhaul, but they’re blissfully ignorant of that fact, just like they’re ignorant of every advance in baseball analysis in the last 50 years.

Labels: front office, mariners

Boy did I miss this one: today's Keith Law chat mentioned the Angels signing a Danish player, and I couldn't find any confirmation... without the help of Google, that is, which brought back a two-week old press release indicating the Halos actually signed two players out of MLB's European academy: 3B Ludwig Glaser (Germany) and OF Frederik Terkelsen (Denmark).

Labels: angels, minors

This is getting really crazy.

Bullet Point	Dodgers	Angels
Kids	Great minor league prospects, but the front office too often goes into hysterics based on today's press clippings. The GM acquires an inappropriate veteran supporting cast that blocks conspicuously better and cheaper young players, leaving outside observers to conclude there's no apparent plan for any of the kids.	Great minor league prospects, some of whom are blocked by stupid contracts, but fewer by long-term deals. Every grade A kid (with the possible exception of Kendry Morales) has a definite and obvious plan going forward.
Vetruhn abuse (contracts longer than one year with one or more years remaining to mediocre-or-worse players)	Juan Pierre + Jason Schmidt + Nomar Garciaparra + Esteban Loaiza = approximately $119.5M for up to four more years (for Slappy).	Gary Matthews, Jr. + Garret Anderson ($12M in 2008) = $62M, 4 years (Matthews)
History	Long history of postseason glory including two postseason appearances in the McCourt (2004+) era, but best times were before many of the team's current fans were even born.	Recent successes eclipse a previously weak product. Four postseason appearances and a World Series title in six years.
Ownership	In the Walter O'Malley and early Peter O'Malley era: unquestionably the best in baseball, as the O'Malleys were the game's hidden kingmakers. Post-O'Malley: Incompetent (in the case of News Corp.), and/or panicky and possibly underfunded (in the case of the McCourts), though this may not matter given attendance levels, which remain high despite recent turmoil.	In the Autry era: Panicky and, toward the end, underfunded. In the Disney era: It is no understatement to say that the Mouse turned the Angels around 180°. In the Moreno era: The best owner in baseball, bar none.
Beloved team symbol for whom the team strives for rings before he dies	Vin Scully. He's only going to live so much longer, and with every year, the pressure to have him see a Dodger World Series title before he rides into the sunset grows greater.	Gene Autry. Missed the timing on that one. How many times did the camera cut to his picture in the 2002 Series? Thank God we're past that now.

It doesn't all line up. But it's starting to.

Labels: angels, dodgers

According to David Pinto, in today's sparsely-attended Arizona/Pittsburgh game, a group of fans was audibly heard to chant, "Tracy must go!" But where?

It's currently 5-0 Snakes, who look to salvage a win from this road series, with Micah Owings on the mound.

Update: After a rain delay, Owings exited the game allowing one more hit than he himself got at the plate (five hits allowed, 4-for-4 at the plate). The Snakes took the game 8-0, thus making Pinto's five-way tie much less likely.

Update 2: Bob Timmermann points out that Owings is the only pitcher to have four hits and three extra base hits in one game over the last fifty years.

Labels: diamondbacks, ex-dodgers, funny, pirates, recaps

You begin to think the Dodgers, beset by all the recent negative publicity, have begun to believe the garbage printed about them in the press. But the list is rather long, and so it's possible to miss some things. I was so incensed at the idea that Ned Colletti was about to trade Matt Kemp that I completely failed to pick up on this bit in yesterday's Plaschke piece:

"We've still got a positive view of the kids," Colletti said Tuesday. "But I'm open to doing whatever we have to do for the right deal."

...

"The kids aren't perfect, they're not complete yet," Colletti said. "I will not trade them for a chance to win for one year. But for a chance to win for many years? I'd do it in a heartbeat."

Kemp, of course, is seventh in VORP among right fielders (19.2 VORP in 293 PA), an amazing feat considering that, among the top ten, every other player has more at-bats, even the Dodgers' number two man by VORP, Andre Ethier (15.3 VORP in 499 PA). So, who are these players Colletti is planning on getting to replace that production? If the rumors of a Kershaw/Kemp for Johan Santana deal are accurate, this team deserves to fail.

Moreover, what a great environment to set for your kids, both at the major league level and in the system still hoping to come up: not only have you told them you haven't enough confidence to keep them around and play them, but that they're merely chits for getting, in your view, actual "good" players that will give the team "a chance to win for many years" (as opposed to those rotten kids). The folly in the Dodgers' front office is increasing, and if the caller I listened to in last night's "Dodger Talk" segment is any indication, there's real lust for such an idiotic trade among a certain benighted segment of the fanbase.

As for me, Eric Enders — who sponsors Kemp's Baseball-Reference page — has said it all:

In honor of Ned Colletti and Grady Little, the men who sabotaged the Dodgers' 2007 season by propping up the decrepit carcasses of Juan Pierre and Luis Gonzalez so Bison Kemp and his 125 OPS+ could rot on the bench.

Matt Kemp isn't to blame for the Dodgers' season any more than he was for last night's loss — heck, he wasn't even in the lineup. Juan-For-Five went 1-for-5, and Chin-Lung Hu, owner now of 15 major league at-bats, went 0-for-4, thus continuing the tradition of harmless Dodger one and two batters. The only hard-hit balls came, not surprisingly, from Andre Ethier and Delwyn Young, and both of them ended up stranded.

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NL Races

• The Padres demonstrated the value of going down the stretch in first place (in the Wild Card) by eviscerating the Giants 11-3, with the Padres annihilating Patrick Misch. The game marked Barry Bonds' final appearance in a Giants uniform at home; he went 0-for-3 before being pulled in the sixth.

  The Padres finish their season with four in Milwaukee, and with both teams clinging (the Padres more successfully but still tenuously) to postseason hopes, the Pads will send Jack Cassel (4.00 ERA, 1-1) to the mound against Milwaukee's rookie phenom, Yovani Gallardo (9-4, 3.59 ERA). Speaking for the Cubs side of the house, go Padres.

• The Rockies' win gave them a franchise-best ten-game winning streak dating back to their home sweep of the Dodgers. The Phillies also won, a 5-2 win over Atlanta, so they remain tied with the Rockies in the Wild Card, and both teams remain a game back of San Diego. Atlanta's loss brings their elimination number to one.
• Of all the crazy things going on right now, none of them tops Arizona's 5-1 loss to the godawful Pirates, their second straight loss at the hands of a Bucs team that had come off a season-worst nine-game losing streak. That puts the Padres a game back, and the Rockies two games back, in the NL West.
• Incredibly, the Mets were swept at home by the Nationals, taking a 9-6 loss, and causing much panic among Mets fans; no team has ever blown a seven-game lead with 17 to play, but Willie Randolph is on the brink of doing just that. It would rank as one of the game's biggest heartbreakers in history. With the loss and the Phillies' win, the top two teams in the NL East are separated by only a single game.
• In the NL Central, the Cubs lost 7-4 to Florida. Luckily for them, St. Louis battered Milwaukee 7-3, finally whittling one off the Cubbies' magic number; it's now at three.

Labels: dodgers, recaps, rockies

Of the 16 games scheduled today, five of them have had three or more runs scoring in the first inning, including today's Angels loss, and an eight-run first by Toronto against Victor Zambrano, who didn't survive the first. Zambrano gave up a leadoff hit-by-pitch to Reed Johnson and things went downhill from there, getting only two outs while giving up all eight runs earned on a flurry of singles, walks, and a sac fly.

Seattle is batting first in today's home game against the Indians, a makeup game for the earlier snowouts (!). Not too often you see that.

Update: The M's got clobbered by Cleveland, who apparently brought their bats to a 12-4 wipeout. It's amuzing to see how many sites got this wrong, as ESPN claimed it was "Seattle @ Cleveland"; Yahoo Sports got it right, finally, but didn't have the box score updating intra-game.

Seattle won the second game of the doubleheader 3-2 for a split.

Labels: indians, mariners, weird

Football scores are bad, Mike, when you're on the losing end of them.

This is not giving me any confidence for the postseason at all. A sweep by Texas? Christamightydamn, Mike.

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Labels: angels, rangers, recaps

From today's UTK:

The nature of the news on Kelvim Escobar is all over the map. The swelling in his shoulder has gone down, and the team expects to start him this weekend, which confuses the playoff rotation a bit. To confuse matters even more, the team is going out of its way to deflect questions about the nature of the problem in his pitching shoulder is. As is, they've pushed his next start back from it's scheduled place in the rotation, making it unlikely he could go until Game Three of their LDS, no matter what the schedule. Don't expect much change to the postseason roster because of this, though—unlike the Yankees, the Angels have a deep bullpen and were likely to have had Bartolo Colon on the roster as a number four or long man anyway.

Labels: angels, injuries

David Pinto writes a farewell article at Baseball Prospectus; he'll be doing a weekly column at The Sporting News in the future. Good luck, David; I've enjoyed reading your ideas, even if I haven't always agreed with them.

Labels: blogs

Umpire Mike Winters was suspended by MLB for the rest of the season "because of his confrontation with San Diego's Milton Bradley last weekend." Good. Umpires who actively bait players should be punished.

Update: Via David Pinto, we find out what was said:

The decision was made following an investigation during which Bradley, Winters, San Diego first-base coach Bobby Meacham and Colorado first baseman Todd Helton were interviewed.

The key moment in the decision, according to multiple sources, came as a result of Winters calling Bradley a "f------ piece of s---" during the heated argument at first base.

That's ... wow.

Labels: padres, suspensions

From today's BTF thread about another worthless Plaschke article claiming the Dodgers are thinking about trading Matt Kemp:

The Dodger's problems are not just a "young-old" issue. Kent has hit well, but he is a statue at second base. Gonzalez is still a decent (part time) player, but can't run well in the outfield anymore. Garciaparra has completely disappeared as a hitter this summer, and doesn't have a position anymore ( although he is an adequate third baseman.) Furcal seems to be the only infielder who actually knows what he needs to do, but several times this summer it seems he ran to the second base bag to start a double play because Kent hadn't made it there yet. (and wasn't going to). Loney at first base made the 3-1 toss to the pitcher an adventure several times this summer as he rushed his throws. Russell Martin's (The Man Who Never Takes a Day Off) game (SB's, RBI, HR) has tailed off in the second half.

The outfield is even more of a disaster. Gonzalez, like I said, can't run too well anymore. Ethier and Kemp miss the cutoff man like they have never heard of the concept. Pierre in center field is the funniest outfielder I've ever seen. A ball hit in the gap is a double. I don't mean a ball that goes to the wall in the gap, but a ball that barely rolls to the warning track, is a double if Pierre picks it up. Furcal moves halfway out onto the outfield grass to take his cutoff throws from the wall, but Pierre invariably bounces the ball no matter how far Furcal goes out. All season long opposition baserunners never stop, or even slow down, in taking the extra base when Pierre has the ball in the outfield, and the league, it seems, doesn't respect the arms of the other outfielders, either.

Last night's game against the Rockies held the perfect example of this. Rockies runner on second, Matsui at the plate. Matsui singles to left, runner on second comes home. Ethier throws the ball over the cutoff man at third. The throw is a day late anyway, even a perfect throw would not have gotten the runner. Russell Martin comes out about 20 feet from home plate toward the mound to intercept the throw, since Matsui is heading for second. Martin's throw hits Matsui as he begins his slide. Kent isn't near the bag, Furcal is just getting there. The ball bounces into short center field, where Pierre has to hustle in to pick it up, since he is still standing halfway out in center. Matsui never stops running around third and scores easily, as Pierre's throw barely makes it to the pitcher's mound. The Little Leaguer in center field couldn't throw the ball from medium center field to home plate, and everyone in the park knew it. The third base coaches of the National League will take up a collection to send Pierre a Christmas gift this year, and for many years to come.

And, if you've watched the Dodgers all year, the missed cutoff by Ethier and the poor throw by Pierre could have been predicted.

That's why the Dodgers have fallen out of the race, and what Kent meant by the tirade about "playing the game the right way." Unfortunately for Kent, he can barely produce in the field, either. The other veteran position players may not make the mistakes in the field, but they aren't getting there to make the play, anyway. Mike Lieberthal has the best gig on the planet. Olmedo Saenz, anyone? Hillenbrand? Sweeney? I can't see Kent or Garciaparra taking on the "wise veteran" role in any situation. Derek Lowe? Brad Penny?

The issue for the Dodgers is this: will this team "rebuild" in Los Angeles? This is a major market team, and I can't remember the dreaded "Rebuilding" phrase ever being used in association with this franchise. When Kent and Gonzales go this winter, and the Ethiers and Kemps and Loneys go to spring training next year anointed as the Dodger starters, the pressure will pretty much be unrelentless for them to produce. They have had it easy this year, they only went around the league twice as a group. As the eminent Dodger old timer, David Wells, said yesterday: "They are going to get humbled by this game." Its what they do after that humbling, however it happens, that will count.

Update: I knew I could count on Jon for a good caning of Plaschke. How does this man hold down a position like this in a major metropolitan daily?

Update 2: Fox Sports claims there's actual rumors that the Dodgers are working a trade of Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw for Johan Santana. By VORP (10th with a 58.6 score) or by Win Shares (also 10th, with 18), Santana isn't even a top five pitcher in baseball anymore. If this is true, then Colletti is stupider than I ever dreamed.

Josh Rawitch confuses me:

Ned has repeatedly said for the last year that there aren't any untouchables and now we're to believe that suddenly in one week, the team is going to change course. It just seems a bit odd to me. I truly have no idea if we're going to trade a young player this winter, just as I was not involved in the trade discussions that went on around the deadline. But to characterize this in the fashion it's been characterized and to hypothesize that Matt Kemp is the kid that will be traded just seems really out there.

Boy, I sure seem to remember some reassurances being tossed out earlier. I'll have to break out the LAT archives to find those (and maybe MLB.com), but I coulda sworn that Colletti had all but labeled Kemp and Loney as untouchables.

Update 3: Frequent Dodger Thoughts commenter Molly Knight, apparently a personage at ESPN, gets in her welts at the Kamenetzkys' blog.

By defending themselves in the media after Mr. Kent's barbed comments, rookies James Loney and Mr. Kemp unwittingly cast themselves as targets in the media's assault on youth. For reasons unknown to Dodger fans everywhere, certain veteran newspaper reporters snuggled up to the curmudgeonly Mr. Kent with boxes of Kleenex and abandoned puppies, and sharpened their pens to eviscerate the very young players whose performances have kept the team out of last place.

The kids defend themselves against this baiting (Loney's "who said he [Kent] was a leader?" was a perfect rejoinder), and get pilloried in the press for it. STFU, Kent. That goes quadruple for you, Plaschke.

Labels: dodgers, stupid ideas, trades

Comatose: Rangers 3, Angels 1

The junior varsity squad showed up for this one, and with predictable results. Dustin Moseley pitched pretty well, but Darren Oliver took the loss, deservedly, for pushing the tying run across on a balk with men on second and third. Jeez.

Yahoo Box

NL Races

• The Mets suddenly looked all retro last night, i.e. like the Casey Stengel-era incompetents, losing 10-9 to Washington despite a big six-run rally in the ninth. The Braves pounded Philadelphia 10-6, so the Phils stay two back with an elimination number of four.
• That Phillies loss, combined with a 9-7 Rockies win over the Dodgers very nearly resulted in a three-way tie for the Wild Card. The Padres trailed the Giants 4-2 in the ninth inning, and with two out and the go-ahead runs on board, Brian Giles belted his 12th homer of the year, his first since September 11 against Esteban Loaiza and the Dodgers. The three-run blast eventually propelled the Pads to a 6-4 win over San Francisco, putting them in sole possession of the Wild Card, one game up over the Phils and Rockies.
• That win was even more important to the Diamondbacks, who lost 6-5 to the Pirates, snapping the Bucs' nine-game losing skid. The Snakes are only two games up over the Pads in the NL West, with a magic number of four.
• In the NL Central, the Cubs lost 4-2 to the Marlins and Milwaukee pounded on St. Louis 9-1 to bring that race one game closer. The Cubs are two games over the Brewers, with a magic number of four.

OT: How Desegregation Should Have Gone Down

Brown v. Board of Education is the much more famous case; eventually it led to the Little Rock Nine and the jackass Orville Faubus riling up the easily stirred. But Westminster, the city across the street from the one in which I grew up, provided a far less stressful example of how to deal with integration, and now the Postal Service is issuing a commemorative stamp for Mendez v. Westminster, one of the rulings that paved the way for Brown. No dogs or firehoses necessary.

Labels: angels, brewers, cubs, diamondbacks, dodgers, mets, nationals, offtopic, padres, phillies, rangers, recaps, rockies

Rethinking Brad Penny

I have thought for some time — really, since the Dodgers acquired Brad Penny — that the trade that brought him to the Dodgers was a wise one. Unloading an aging but much-loved catcher and the team's primary setup man for a young starting pitcher with postseason experience yet enough of an injury history to dull his value a bit struck me as (at least) a good idea from the pitching side. As it happened, Penny was a non-factor, the team got by fine without Guillermo Mota (who has subsequently turned into a penguin, or some other creature that can't throw), but the guys the Dodgers relied on from then out to handle the team's catching (Dave Ross, and Brent Mayne in his farewell tour) were acceptable enough, apparently, to get the team to the Promised Land of Postseason.

But here we are three years later: Penny had durability issues right from the start, missing the virtually all of the balance of his 2004 season, missed significant time in 2005 (and was ineffective for long stretches when he was available), and managed a horrible 18.00 ERA in one inning of relief work in the 2006 NLDS. (In his defense, this result wasn't surprising, considering he had made one relief appearance all year previously.)

But there comes a time when you begin to realize that maybe the best laid plans aren't working out. Penny has the team's best won-loss record, and is a close third in the league top five in ERA. Yet his performance in the second half (6-3, 3.65 ERA) isn't nearly as good as his first-half performance (10-1, 2.39 ERA); he's also having trouble notching quality starts, getting only six out of ten tries since August 1.

Allowance needs to be made, of course, for the second half; it's a grind, no doubt about it. Nevertheless, at some point you begin to wonder about whether Penny will really be that postseason difference maker even if he gets there. That was part of the calculation that went into Billy Beane's trade of Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson three offseasons ago; certainly, some of the same eerie parallels also happened in the ERA department as Mulder turned in a 6.13 ERA in the second half of 2004. Penny's nowhere near that level of catastrophe, but given today's performance, you do wonder what he's got left in the tank, and whether it's worth keeping him around.

The Kids

Once again, every single run was driven in by one of the kids, whether it was James Loney's three-run homer, Chin-Lung Hu's two-run shot, or Delwyn Young's solo shot. Reflexively, it was the veterans who lost the game, Mark Hendrickson in particular. I don't know if there are enough kids to make this team work. But until Furcal is healthy again, and until Slappy McPopup is cured of his strange mental disease that makes him believe he is a major league hitter, there would seem to be enough kids to go around in all the positions.

Update: And, oh yeah, this loss knocked the Dodgers out of any postseason contention whatsoever.

Recap • Yahoo Box

Labels: dodgers, recaps, rockies

To the Red Sox acquiring J.D. Drew and the Dodgers signing Derek Lowe and Nomar Garciaparra, we can add this personal note to the list of Dodger-Red Sox links: John Henry has purchased Frank McCourt's former Brookline, Mass. home, a seven-bedroom, 11-bath mansion built in the 1930's, with a 5,000 square foot guest house. Henry is planning on replacing it with an even larger home, after spending $16 million to purchase it. Such are the fortunes of real estate these days: McCourt's asking price was $25M.

Labels: dodgers, mccourts, red sox

Yes, they evacuated the bank down the street because of a bomb scare. Being near the Federal Building, which supposedly gets about one of those a day, this probably doesn't surprise anyone. Freaking about a misparked U-Haul trailer says a lot about the level of paranoia these days, not to mention the actual threat level.

No, it did not look like this.

Labels: offtopic

I was reviewing my Monday morning post when it occurred to me that Slappy McPopup beautifully captures the genuine uselessness that is Juan Pierre, a man with a superficially good batting average, but probably the emptiest .294 average you'll ever see in your life. Given his job is to get on base, his woeful .333 OBP has contributed heavily to the Dodgers' one and two batters having the lowest OBP in the whole 1-8 parts of the lineup.

Unfortunately, his page at Baseball Reference is already sponsored, and in the absence of a champion like (hold your nose) T.J. Simers or some other acrid figure in the press, a nickname like Slappy isn't liable to stick. Therefore, I suggest the following to my fellow Dodger bloggers who are so inclined (and I am already writing off Jon, though he may surprise me): it's time for a Googlebomb. Greetings, Slappy McPopup... not that this is a meme that needs a lot of help.

Update: Welcome, readers from Hardball Times, and thanks to Matthew Carruth for linking here. (By the by, the name's M-c-M-i-l-l-i-n, though I'm used to misspellings by now.) I cannot claim originality here, only propagation; the owner of this trope seems to be a commenter at Dodger Thoughts, but I haven't yet been able to establish who. Funny as hell, though.

Labels: dodgers, funny

Ervin Santana's line from last night's 8-7 loss to Texas: 5.0 IP, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HR
Today's ESPN Power Rankings:

Ervin Santana (3 ER in his last 21.1 IP) has gotten his control and confidence back. Just in time for the playoffs, too.

Labels: angels, funny

From Todd Helton, on the Rockies' sudden emergence as a playoff contender:

If we were any more relaxed, we'd need diapers and a bib, if that makes any sense.

The Rocks start a three-game road series against the Dodgers tonight, with Ubaldo Jimenez (4-4, 4.14 ERA) squaring off against Brad Penny (16-4, 2.93 ERA). You might not know it, but with their 84th win on Sunday (a 7-3 win over the Pads, marking a sweep of the three-game set), it marks the Rockies' best season in their history. The Dodgers could play spoiler (the Rocks will face Derek Lowe tomorrow night, with Thursday's pitcher TBA), or they could grease the skids for a hot Colorado team that might just be postseason bound.

Bad Altitude is nervous:

Here's the truth: I don't want to write anything about a certain baseball team because I've never before been in a position where I honestly believed in them and I'm half-convinced that it's my own repeated season obituaries that have made the team suddenly so good.

I'm watching the games. I can't think of anything to say other than that I wish more people were. Desperate last-minute regular-season runs are as much if not more fun than playoff campaigns and Denver baseball fans don't know that yet.

Apparently the Rocks have already printed up postseason tickets and mailed them to fans. Wow. I haven't gotten ours from the Angels yet.

Labels: dodgers, previews, rockies

Stirring Up The Animals: Angels R Better 'N Dodgers, No, The Angels Suck, Etc.

I pass along this Paul Oberjuerge piece published over the weekend because it represents a sort of fan-baiting that's been going on ever since 2002:

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim own this market now.

They are the guys who know what it takes to win and have the track record to prove it.

They are the team the Dodgers — their "betters" for, oh, so long — should study. Should try to learn from. Should attempt to emulate.

The team the Dodgers should bow down before as smarter, gutsier and classier than they are.

The Angels clinched the American League West championship on Sunday, the same day the Dodgers ended the seven-game belly flop of a losing streak that buried them over in the National League West.

That's three outright division titles in four years for the Angels, or two more than the Dodgers have managed in 12 seasons.

That's four 92-victory seasons in six years for the Angels, or two more than the Dodgers have achieved since 1991.

And don't forget the Angels' 2002 World Series championship, something the Dodgers haven't won (or even competed for) since 1988.

One of the fundamental tenets of this blog is that predictions of Angels ascendancy, and reflexively, of the Dodgers' imminent demise are, at root, hogwash, nothing more than stuff to sell newspapers. Turning the town Angel red would take a lot more managerial incompetence in the Dodger front office, maybe a couple more decades of no appearances in the postseason. The real battle is for the casual fan, those marginal seats not filled by season ticket holders. Neither team seems to have a problem with attendance; the Dodgers made it in to last year's postseason on the Wild Card, and I don't remember Arte Moreno getting thusly taunted, though that could be just my defective memory; there's always somebody. I will agree with Oberjuerge on this much: if the Dodgers' measure of success is getting to the postseason and winning once there, they could sure use a refresher.

Matt Welch On Dodger Front Office Foot-Shooting

Well, when Matt Welch makes kissy noises like this (this very blog, "fine"?), it's hard to resist.

The layman's notion of public relations is often akin to applying positive "spin" on a negative fact, or "putting lipstick on a pig." But the better PR professionals I've known take a different tack -- getting the correct story out (in as advantageous a way as possible, sure), and if the reality isn't good to begin with, work hard at changing that reality first.

The reality about the McCourt Dodgers is that -- unlike the playoff team down the 5 -- they have no organizational cohesion, no comprehendible storyline that the players, coaches and flacks all understand in their marrow. It's a team that goes through third basemen like potato chips, that can't figure out if it's young or it's old, that sends conflicting signals to its fans and employees almost every day.

Matt, of course, has had his issues with the McCourts, as have I. The Dodgers want to be an interesting team, but they just don't know how, and seemingly aren't interested in learning.

Nothing's Shocking: Rangers 8, Angels 7

Another crappy road outing (at Texas, especially) by Ervin Santana, bats that couldn't compensate, and so what. Just another road loss with Mike realigning his rotation for the postseason.

Elsewhere: Cleveland (92-63) had the day off, as did Boston (92-64), putting the Angels one game back of Cleveland in the loss column. The Yankees lost to Toronto 4-1, pushing them two games back of the Sox, and postponing the twin eliminations of Detroit and, yes, Seattle from the Wild Card.

Recap • Yahoo Box

National League Races

It was a quiet night in baseball, as most teams had a travel day. However, all three scheduled games in the National League had significance to the postseason, as the Nationals humiliated the Mets 13-4 in the NL East, slicing their division lead to two games. In the NL Central, Milwaukee crushed a depleted St. Louis squad 13-5 in the NL Central, keeping the Cubs' magic number held at four. Barry Zito led the Giants past the reeling Padres 9-4; the Pads have lost four straight, with no help last night from a shaky Chris Young. Short-handed (they're missing Milton Bradley and Mike Cameron), their chances are fading fast. The Pads remain three back of the Diamondbacks in the division, with an elimination number of four; in the Wild Card, the loss allowed Philadelphia to catch up with them. Since the September 1, 2005, according to Mike Carminati, the Phils have been in first place for a postseason slot only ten days, and all of them discrete (i.e., as soon as they gained the lead they lost it the next day).

Abreu Out

Tony Abreu strained his right hip Sunday and will be undergoing an MRI.

Thank You, David Wells

For saying the obvious:

"Some of the guys that you see around that are young are a little cocky," said pitcher David Wells, at 44 the oldest Dodger, yet one of the few who has moved comfortably between both sides in a split clubhouse. "But you know what? They're going to get humbled. And when they do, they'll switch their attitude. It's not my place and time to tell people how to act. But I pay attention.

"And if I feel the need maybe I'll say, 'Hey, maybe you want to try this approach.' Because I was told that."

Stephen Smith At Arizona Instructional League

Stephen Smith has a series of posts up about Arizona Instructional League ball, where Dallas McPherson recently homered (Windows Media video). The video of McPherson is like watching a silent movie, almost ghostly: there's nobody in the stands, and you can hear the umpires spit.

Labels: angels, brewers, cardinals, dodgers, giants, padres, radio, rangers, recaps

• Kelvim Escobar won't make his Tuesday start either, as the Angels try to get his shoulder extra rest. The Angels pitching probables page says it'll be Dustin Moseley tomorrow.
• Luis Gonzalez says he won't be a Dodger next year.
• Unverified reports say Milton Bradley has a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season following yesterday's fracas in San Diego. Also, Mike Cameron has a torn thumb ligament and will miss the last week of the season.

  Update: Cameron has also been lost for the balance of the year, but might be available for the playoffs.

• In related news, the Padres traded for Astros OF Jason Lane, for a PTBNL. Lane was hitting .178 for Houston this season.
• The A's have picked up options on manager Bob Geren and 2B Mark Ellis.
• Cardinals Yadier Molina and Mark Mulder both had season-ending surgeries, Molina for torn knee cartilege and Mulder for cleanup on his rotator cuff.

Labels: angels, astros, athletics, cardinals, injuries, padres

Dave at U.S.S. Mariner has a nifty piece entitled "The Danger of Veteran Entitlement", part of an ongoing debate about the relative merits of the kids. The Dodgers seem to be mirroring the Mariners in more than one way: both have a lot of older players, and though the Dodgers have better young players and more of them, the fear of displacing veterans pervades both teams. Nomar shouldn't have been extended and shouldn't have been playing over James Loney at first, just as Sexson shouldn't have been playing, let alone over Ben Broussard. Jeff Weaver, Horacio Ramirez, Miguel Batista, Jason Schmidt, David Wells, Esteban Loaiza, Randy Wolf, Brett Tomko, Mark Hendrickson — all mediocrities and/or veteran pitchers who had long injury histories that would have predicted a collapse.

Jeff Kent's recent comments about the kids were amusing; apparently, they "don't get it", "it" being how to play baseball:

"Especially when you have a lot of them, it's hard to influence a group of them. I don't know why they don't get it - professionalism, how to manufacture runs, how to keep your emotions in it."

"I'm angry and disappointed and perplexed and bitter."

This got Dodger Blues all riled up, and rightly so:

Jeff Kent can sit there stroking his moustache and criticize the rookies all he wants, but they're not the ones to blame. In fact, the young guys have done nothing but help. The Dodgers are in the position they are because of Grady Little and Ned Colletti, period. I think it's safe to say that Little cost the Dodgers at least five games (maybe even ten) with awful game decisions, and Colletti fucked the team from the start by committing $108 million in the offseason to injured pitchers, over-the-hill veterans, and centerfielders who couldn't throw out so much as the trash if the fucking can was two feet away. It's a shame they won't even have the opportunity to lose three in a row in the playoffs this year.

That goes double for Ned Colletti, who wasted $108M on useless veterans.

Labels: dodgers, mariners, stupid ideas

Oh You Kids: Dodgers 7, Diamondbacks 1

It's easy for me to go on about Grady and his lineup failures, especially now that the Dodgers are in competition mainly to find out who's going to be doing what next year; with an elimination number of two from the Wild Card, they only staved off the inevitable with this win for another day. What's funny, though, is to read Jon's recent piece quoting one from 2005:

The Dodger farm system has not promised more than it has delivered. It has not been highly rated for years. The rise of the farm system, both in perception and reality, is a recent development, and the prospects are arriving right on time.

That elicited a cranky response from me (one of my most heavily commented-upon posts ever — I should write about the Dodgers more often!) that the kids were overrated, perpetually receding into the future via the Logan White Time Dilation effect that had them becoming less useful as time moved forward. As evidence, I cited the fact that the A's had brought up Huston Street relatively quickly through their system. That is to say, a truly great farm system will have at least one superduperstar who rockets through the minors in a short time, bypassing a level or three. (Very rarely, you'll find a Dave Winfield, who doesn't spend a day in the minors and, like Athena from the head of Zeus, arrives fully-formed.)

I no longer think this is as true, but it does bear some watching, because it's not at all clear that what the Dodgers have on the roster now is all gold, either. Now that Andy LaRoche has been outed as less-than-diligent about doing his back exercises — even if only once — it makes him a question mark for future lineups. James Loney has his mental lapses at first, and hasn't proven himself to be much of a slugger. (Update: ... though he's showing some very positive signs this year — a .331/.381/.528 line in only 320 AB? That's [maybe] 20+ homers had Grady Little started him at the beginning of the season, production the Dodgers weren't going to get out of the heavily advertised Nomar. Sign me up.) Matt Kemp forgets himself on the basepaths. They are good players, yes, but so far, outside of Russell Martin, Jonathan Broxton, and Chad Billingsley, none of them have shown themselves to be difference-making stars, either. That could change, of course, and with time it likely will.

Whether the Dodgers start winning as a result is another matter, though; the BTF thread tracking a Tony Jackson piece about this year's Dodger squad contains a damned cogent comment:

LA leadoff hitters .278/.328/.363 32 SB/8 CS
#2 hitter .286/.328/.353 56 SB/12 CS

Quite literally the lowest OBP (and SLG) of any lineup spots. #7 hitters are hitting a combined .304/.363/.474

That is to say, Slappy McPopup is killing this team at leadoff, and this was wholly predictable.

But back to the kids, and the game: one of those we wish good fortune upon, Andy LaRoche, is hitting .217 now, but he drove in a run, going 1-for-3 with a walk. In fact it was the kids and only the kids who drove in the team's seven runs in this game. Chad Billingsley really kept the Dodgers in this one, unlike the string of garbage-time fifth and sixth and eighth starters Ned Colletti has acquired lately. The game snapped a seven-game losing streak, and who knows but Grady might learn something from it. Or not.

Recap • Yahoo Box

Bud Black Takes Down Milton Bradley

And on purpose, even! Bradley reached on a single in yesterday's 7-3 loss to the suddenly-hot Rockies when he started mouthing off to the first base umpire. Bud Black came out and tried to restrain him, but ended up injuring his knee on a takedown that looked a lot less friendly than you might expect. (The link is to the Padres' recap page, and you can get to the video from there; here's a direct link, but those things tend to be transient.)

Pennant Races

• Cleveland also clinched their division yesterday by beating Oakland 6-2. At 92-63 they are a half-game better than the Angels in the remaining race of interest in the AL, that for home field advantage.
• Edwin Jackson beat the Red Sox for Tampa Bay yesterday, holding them to three runs in five and a third innings; amazingly, the Devil Rays' bullpen held up the rest of the way, but it was definitely not the Sox' A lineup in the game, either, with Julio Lugo, Doug Mirabelli (catching Tim Wakefield), and Eric Hinske all starting.
• Atlanta kept their division hopes (dimly) alive by beating Milwaukee 7-4. Combined with the Cubs' 8-0 shutout of the Pirates, the Cubs' magic number in the NL Central goes down to four.
• The Padres' once-healthy lead in the NL Wild Card looks more and more tenuous all the time. With the sudden resurgence of the Rockies, the Pads have been sent reeling, getting swept at home by a team now only a game and a half back of the Wild Card berth. Thanks to their pounding of the Dodgers earlier, the Rocks have won eight of their last ten, but will be pinning their hopes on a pair of tough opponents: the Dodgers in Los Angeles for three (well, not so tough), and the Diamondbacks at home. Meanwhile, the Padres play San Francisco and Milwaukee, all on the road. The second-place Phillies finish out their schedule against the Braves and Nationals at home. The Rocks are probably done barring a miracle, but the Phils and Pads are about as close as you can get. The NL Wild Card will be the most exciting race down the wire.

Labels: diamondbacks, dodgers, minors, recaps

Well, of course the only way to explain the Angels losses on Friday and Saturday was so that my birthday could be greeted with an Angels division clinching win. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Lackey pitched a great game, giving up only a couple runs over seven strong frames, retiring 12 of his first 14, and the side in order from the second through the fourth. In fact, the run he surrendered in the fifth was his first all year to the M's.

After a weak first inning, the Angels started smacking around Jeff Weaver in the second, with Casey Kotchman and Maicer Izturis both homering, Izzy's a two-run shot thanks to a four-pitch walk given up to Gary Matthews, Jr. But Weaver actually buckled down, made the pitches he needed to, and got out of several of his own self-induced jams. Those included a balk and three hit batters, Howie Kendrick accounting for two of those, the second time getting Weaver the hook from his manager, John McLaren.

Sean Green proceeded to make Weaver's line worse by walking the first batter he faced, and surrendering a sac fly to Chone Figgins, and an RBI single to Orlando Cabrera. The Angels put a couple more runs up in the seventh a leadoff single by Kotchman. Matthews, Jr. reached on a fielding error by Beltre, and Izturis followed that up with a single that ended with one of the weirdest baserunning blunders you'll ever see. GMJ lost track of whether to advance or not, and ran to third, thinking Kotchman was being waved home. Dino Ebel had held up Kotch, and by the time he realized his mistake, GMJ was out at third. Not a good play from a guy who definitely should know better.

The first out of the seventh thus earned in circus fashion, Kendrick plated Kotchman on a long RBI single, but made the last out of the inning at third trying to advance on Chone Figgins' sac fly, the second of the game. (What was that homily about never making the last out of the inning at third?)

That was it for the Angels. After Lackey left, Mike brought in Scot Shields, and for one and only one batter, we figured he was in pretty good shape, getting Ichiro to strike out on a 3-2 count pitch. But Shields looked wobbly thereafter, giving up two hits and a walk before Sosh pulled the plug on him, too, in favor of Justin Speier, who eventually finished the inning, but not before allowing two of his inherited runners to score on wild pitches. Combined with a passed ball in the fifth, it was a tough game for Jeff Mathis, who wasn't exactly on top of things defensively; according to the radio announcers, who probably had a better view than we did, Mathis should have caught all of those (and certainly his passed ball was right off the mitt).

Good Frankie made it to the mound, and retired the 7-8-9 batters in order, so we all got to watch as the Angels did the usual celebratory pile-on on the mound. Afterwards, Arte Moreno made the handshake line going back into the dugout, and fan appreciation day seems to have taken on a new meaning, what with the fireworks and the postseason coming up.

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The Rev points out this is the earliest clinching date in Angels history. Coincidentally, Lackey was also on the mound when the Angels clinched the Wild Card on the road against Texas on Sep. 26, 2002. I wonder what happened to Todd Van Poppel.

Something I forgot to mention yesterday: with the victory yesterday, the Mariners have a winning season for the first time in four years. That's an important thing for their franchise, but what it also reminds me is that the 2002 Angels team came out of a division that had an improbable three 90-game winners. The Angels then were better prepared for their postseason run, perhaps; not that this M's squad is a bunch of patsies (or why a split at home?), but when the Angels' nearest competition is just a few games over .500, it doesn't speak well of the division. I suspect the M's will muddle along, though they're starting to get whispers of better prospects coming through their system, albeit at the lower levels. Next year, Oakland will be better, too, at least, that's what I suspect.

But now, and maybe for a few more years, the Angels are the ones to beat in this division. If only Autry could see it.

Finally: there's a sense of magic I'm missing about this, about how lucky and amazing it all is to see a division winner, year after (mostly) year. I don't mean to let this rarity go unnoticed or unremarked upon. Thanks to Arte Moreno, Bill Stoneman, Mike Scioscia, and everyone on the field and off who made this possible.

Postscriptum: Jeff at Lookout Landing gives his grumbled congratulations:

Congratulations to the Angels, a very well-run organization from top to bottom that deserves to be where it is. They're the best team in the division by a comfortable margin, and, thanks to a strong system and a reasonably young Major League core, stand to have targets on their backs for the next several years. I don't like them, but I respect them, because they do a lot of things well, and serve as a pretty good model of how one should go about building a successful and self-sustainable franchise. As much as we joke about Darin Erstad, Reggie Willits, and some of the things they value in a player, I don't think there's a single one of us who doesn't wish our front office were even half as competent.

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Labels: angels, mariners, recaps

I don't have any explanations for this Dodgers season, yet, though I am working on it. Win shares? So far, the numbers don't back up my hypothesis that Grady pushed the veterans into too many spots where they could have been profitably replaced by kids. But win probability added (WPA)? It's not even close. Russell Martin, James Loney, Wilson Betemit, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Wilson Valdez, and Andy LaRoche, believe it or not ... and after that the list goes to zero or even negative.

Look, I don't put much stock in WPA as a metric for grading players, because it tends to amplify the wrong things (it gives closers a huge boost). But it is something.

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Yesterday's game featured the largely spent (and just plain large) David Wells on the mound, trying to stave off divisional elimination for another day. Wells predictably got knocked around by Arizona with almost exactly the same line as his last start against that team for the Padres on August 1. Opponent Brandon Webb was never really seriously in trouble, and the Dodgers become just another team with an E next to their names on the standings.

What gets me amid all of this floundering is how amazingly absent Frank and Jamie McCourt have been from the scene. The hoopla over Tommy Lasorda's 80th birthday brought them out of hiding, but even that was telling in a way; they only want to be seen, it seems, when the team is doing well, and Lasorda, tenuously but stubbornly, remains a symbol of the team's better days. Even in that, Lasorda's victories are partial: yes, rings in 1981 and 1988, but let us not forget Pedro Martinez, Paul Konerko, and Jeff Shaw. It's of a piece with the McCourts' superficiality, of style over substance. Veteran over rookie.

Seven straight losses, and postseason elimination. If that doesn't focus your mind, nothing will.

Postscriptum: The Michael Schwartz MLB.com recap got it wrong: the Dodgers have been eliminated from the division. They continue to await elimination from the Wild Card.

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Labels: diamondbacks, dodgers, recaps

Any game that starts with a 50-minute rain delay at Angel Stadium recalls bad memories for me: their 2005 ALCS games, at least a couple of which were played through drizzles of varying strength against a White Sox squad that sank them and nearly swept them. Watching the Canadian storm gather, then, as we walked across the parking lot and into the stadium, held a certain sense of foreboding. By the time we were up the third base ramp and around to the second deck home plate team store, the rain was pouring hard.

This prompted a futile and comical visit from the groundskeepers, who hadn't the slightest clue how to get the tarp all the way over the infield. With the tarp stuck about three-quarters open and the first base line well exposed, some security employees joined them and tried to haul the thing back, presumably to make a running try with the tarp aloft. Meanwhile, the rain intensified and became a outright cloudburst, just soaking everything. They finally got the thing as far as 15-20 feet up the second base line, but no further, and so we returned to our march upstairs to our seats.

Fortunately, we weren't forced to actually go in them, which would have required some backtracking at that point to get to an escalator, the only dry passage to the upper deck. On the way, we found no less a personage than Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, a huge mountain of a man, set up in front of the team store beside a card table with a stack of copies of his new book, Dropping the Ball. When an opportunity like that emerges — and unbelievably, nobody's standing in line to get a copy — you take advantage and buy one with Winfield's signature as fast as you can. Just before I did, Arte Moreno and Bill Stoneman stopped by to say hello (to him, not me), and so I shortly bought a copy and got the thing signed.

About this time the rain started to abate, and we worked our way upstairs as Winfield readied himself to depart. The rain finally silenced, we waited a good half hour after we were seated before the game commenced. Bart shut down the first three batters he faced, and then stretched it to seven of nine on his way to facing the minimum through three. It was a great start, much better than I had anticipated.

The Mariners, on the other hand, immediately got into trouble, with Figgins and Cabrera both producing singles against Miguel Batista. But Vlad hit into a double play, Anderson walked, and Kotchman K'd, which pretty much set the tone for the Angels the rest of the afternoon: almost, but not quite, getting there, squandering five runners in scoring position overall, and three of those on third base.

Bart got into trouble in the fourth, giving up a pair of runs, but got out of the jam without further damage. In the fourth, Bart immediately gave up a leadoff single to Jose Lopez, who eventually scored on Ichiro's RBI single. Adrian Beltre's hard-hit liner to short ended the frame, but it was the kind of inning that made you wonder how much worse his sixth would be, or whether he would even go out again.

Nope. Instead, Colon went three more frames, retiring the next five in succession, and nine of eleven, one of which reached on a Howie Kendrick error. It was, in fact, arguably Bart's best game of the year, inasmuch as he hasn't gone eight frames previously.

The Angels started making progress against Batista in he sixth, with Garret Anderson reaching on a one-out strikeout; Kotch singled him to third, and Maicer Izturis drove GA home with an RBI infield single, one of two infield singles Izzy had on the day. A walk to Gary Matthews, Jr. convinced John McLaren that enough was enough, and instead of sending in now-released Rick White, as he did during the road series (twice!), McLaren went through a series of pitching changes worthy of Tony LaRussa. Sean Green, Eric O'Flaherty, Cha-Seung Baek, Ryan Rowland-Smith, and George Sherrill each made two or fewer outs each, as McLaren tried furiously to stave off elimination.

The gambit worked, though oddly the Angels ended up scoring against J.J. Putz in the ninth. Putz gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Reggie Willits, who eventually scored on Vlad's RBI groundout. Garret Anderson had a long at bat against Putz, but finally succumbed to a strikeout with the tying run in scoring position. Frustrating as the outcome was, it gives the Angels a bit of good news about Colon, who needed, if nothing else, a good outing before he hits free agency, and maybe a shot at a postseason roster slot. Darren Oliver has certainly won one of those, keeping up his recent good pitching with another scoreless frame in the ninth, giving up only a single to Johjima and ultimately facing the minimum by getting Lopez to ground into a 6-3 double play.

The clinch will have to wait. Tomorrow would be good, please.

Update: I forgot to mention that somewhere in there, in the sixth, in fact, Mike Scioscia made the mistake of announcing and then pulling Kendry Morales in favor of Juan Rivera, who popped out to third to end the frame. Boo, Mike. Boo.

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Labels: angels, mariners, recaps

Things I Won't Have To Worry About Dep't: Orange County's 714 area code will be overlaid with a new 657 area code as early as April, 2008, by unanimous vote of the California Public Utilities Commission. Owners of existing phone numbers in 714-land will get to keep them and new phones will get the 657 numbers, but mandatory 1+10-digit dialing will begin in August, 2008. Thank God they didn't do a split.

We're moving to 562-land, so nyaah: according to NANPA (PDF), the industry nonprofit that takes care of these details, 562 isn't threatened with number exhaustion until 2020 at the earliest. On the other hand, mandatory 10-digit dialing to pretty much everyone now.

Labels: tech

Joe Saunders was gonna get roughed up, that much was certain from his first inning in which every out was hard hit. That he delayed the inevitable until the four-run sixth was something of an impressive feat in itself, considering how flat some of his breaking stuff was.

The Angels' offense disappeared, squelched behind Jarrod Washburn's best performance since an eight-inning shutout of Tampa Bay on July 4. Since then, he's been 1-9 with a 5.69 ERA going into today's game, and why couldn't he share some of that with the Angels, who need one measly win to clinch the division and crush the Mariners' postseason hopes for good?

Oh, yeah. Right.

Anyway, the Angels offense basically didn't show up, only the eighth time this year they've been shut out, the most recent being their September 13 3-0 loss at Baltimore. Rich Thompson got another look, was effectively wild through an inning and a third. In the eighth, he gave up a leadoff opposite field homer to Jose Guillen in the right field pavilion and a pair of singles before Scioscia gave him the hook in favor of Jason Bulger. Bulger, who left the game with the stealthiest 1.69 ERA on the team (raise your hand if you knew he was even under 2.50), shut down everyone he faced for two innings save for a leadoff single to Yuniesky Betancourt. Even he was quickly erased when Ichiro hit into a double play, only the seventh one he's hit into all year. If there was a minor salvage in this game, it was breaking Ichiro's 13-game hitting streak.

That by itself wasn't enough, and so the Angels will have to wait for tomorrow to clinch. They may be waiting a while, since Escobar won't make tomorrow's scheduled start. Instead, it'll be Bartolo Colon facing Miguel Batista, another LAIM (League-Average Innings Muncher) with a 95 ERA+. Too bad Bart hasn't even been that good (65 ERA+, 6.68 ERA, 6-7). It's Jeff Weaver vs. Lackey Sunday, better odds.

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Labels: angels, mariners, recaps

Barry Bonds won't be returning to San Francisco in 2008, as confirmed by a message on his blog. The Angels are both the most logical and least likely fit: most logical because his primary residence is in Los Angeles (from memory), and least likely because the Angels have a huge glut of DH types, whether an increasingly gimpy Vlad, Garret Anderson, or DH-first Kendry Morales. He might end up in Oakland.

Labels: angels, giants, transactions

50% chance of rain tonight.

Update 7:41: Via the Rev, Weather Underground forecasts a 70% chance of rain at 8 PM.

Labels: angels, weather

From today's UTK:

• In San Diego, Greg Maddux is suffering from "inflammation, spasms, and pain in his lower back" after he "caught a spike in the dirt". He'll go through rehab, but there's no timetable on his return.
• Eric Chavez may need to have a second surgery this year, this time on his back. That won't help his recovery time, and may delay his return date even into next year.

Labels: athletics, injuries, padres