Fire Jim Tracy

OK, It's Semi-Official

2005-05-04T19:51:00.000-06:00

Well, our long national nightmare is not quite over. The web-site design is a bit plain for my taste right now, but I'm told we can be functional. Therefore, we officially announce our move over to www.firejimtracy.com effectively immediately. We hope you will follow us over there. Jerry the Procrastination King still hasn't finished Law School, but he promises to rejoin us soon. Pardon the dust, as the expression goes, but all new updates will go up over there now. Frankly, I watched the Angel game today, couldn't believe my eyes, and had nowhere to post it. Very frustrating.

So we here we go.

That's www.firejimtracy.com

Please govern yourselves accordingly.

Thanks,

Steve

Tonight's Game

2005-05-04T00:33:00.000-06:00

I'll take two seconds from furiously trying to figure out this blogging stuff to give a quick FJT review of tonight's game. Weaver is not the pitcher he was last year. Struck out seven -- yeah, four were Cristian Guzman and the pitcher. Not terribly impressed. He did avoid walking anyone, but all in all, a fair game but nothing to write home about. Tracy finally got a pitching change right, pulling Weaver as soon as he walked the first batter in the seventh, though his decision was complicated by Duaner Sanchez pitching like he missed Buddy Carlyle. But a combination of Cristian Guzman and Kelly Wunsch got us out of the jam. Well done.

Then Tracy went and almost threw it all away in the eighth, as Carrara put two men on with two men out, then went deep into the count with Brian Schneider. As Carrara labored mightily, and the count went full, the dugout showed Jim Colborn rushing to the phone. I mean, if you're going to the phone at that point...you're too late. Apparently D.J. Houlton had been warming "earlier" according to Vin Scully, so everything was under control. Schneider swung at an off-speed pitch up around his eyes on 3-2 and killed the rally, saving Tracy in the process.

Ignore That Man Behind The Curtain

2005-05-03T19:32:00.000-06:00

Stay here, until I tell you to go there. Because there's nothing there yet but a title and a dream.

Tonight's Game

2005-05-03T17:34:00.000-06:00

All bricks, projectile weapons, and shotguns have been removed from my home. I can now safely watch the game. If not sanely.

The Unmentionables

2005-05-03T14:18:00.000-06:00

Good discussion about Simers' latest twaddle here and here. (I won't link to Simers. FJT policy. Go find it yourself). Nothing terribly difficult about this issue. Start with the major premise that Plaschke and Simers are wrong about everything. Add the minor premise that Jason Phillips did not join the Debate Team in High School. Easy.

Throw The Newspaper At Them

2005-05-03T14:03:00.000-06:00

Well, of course, if Mike Scioscia says it, then...

Setting the Record Straight

2005-05-03T13:24:00.000-06:00

What few facts are coming out regarding the Palmdale Little League murder so far appear to render Bill Plaschke's column about it completely irrelevant. Not that Plaschke's irrelevance is any surprise. But this story appears to be another in a string of senseless, random, violent acts by teenagers -- certainly a societal problem, likely not caused by Little League. A baseball bat is, unsurprisingly, the most likely and easily obtained weapon at a Little League Field in April. And whatever "teasing" occurred would be in the context of just having played...baseball, as opposed to roller hockey or water polo or riding horses or playing "Halo." Here at FJT, we like to put the responsibility where it belongs, and not on the great amorphous "Little League Monster."

Why Even Ask?

2005-05-03T12:16:00.000-06:00

Look at that, the best managers are the guys with the best records in their leagues! Wow. Insightful analysis. Really.

"He Was Still Throwing The Ball Great"

2005-05-03T08:42:00.000-06:00

Apparently, Jim Tracy has already figured out what to put on the headstone at the end of the season. If Erickson was still throwing the ball great, how do you throw the ball badly?

UPDATE: I'll take this opportunity to again repeat that Steve Henson is the only writer at the Times with a clue. Erickson was lucky through the first six, he was obviously tiring, he was obviously wild and hanging pitches, and rather than take the cheap way out (like Plaschke would have) and obsess over Choi's defense in the eighth or Buddy Carlyle (which got their due mention -- they didn't help), he focused on the key issue -- Tracy put us in a hole.

Truer Words...

2005-05-03T08:34:00.000-06:00

Danny Graves after the Reds' meltdown last night:

"It's frustrating, but what's even more frustrating is hearing the fans boo you in your own ballpark,'' Graves said. ``We're out there trying the best we can. That's not the first time it's happened, and as long as I'll be playing, it won't be the last.''

You're not kidding.

Speechless

2005-05-02T23:00:00.000-06:00

You know, it seems like so long ago that I was contemplating a name change. Jerry had always wanted one. I could never drink the Tracy Kool-Aid, but given the tumultuous off-season and the brain-dead Times, I was amenable to something different. A little less...controversial.

Those times seem very long ago. I do not know how to calculate VORM (Value Over Replacement Manager). But it seems that a manager should be at least helpful to his team's chances of winning, and not provide the other team with two or three run handicaps on a regular basis.

Scott Erickson pitched six shutout innings in 65 pitches. That's good. But there's something about that. Oh yeah. It's Scott Erickson. On a 3-1 count, the leadoff hitter in the seventh singled to center. Time for concern? Certainly not. Time for tea in the dugout. The next batter, Vinny Castilla, walks on five pitches, the fifth pitch being a particularly ugly toss at Castilla's head.

Now here's the dirty little secret. Erickson hadn't really been throwing that well all night. 85 pitches total -- 45 strikes, 40 balls. He kept the ball low, getting a lot of groundouts, but of course, the first thing that happens when you get tired is...

Back to the story. Taking it as gospel that Tracy is going to now walk as slowly to the mound as humanly possible while the bullpen warms up, I brace myself for what is likely to be the bullpen's utter failure. But no. Who's that! It's Colborn! What's Colborn going to say? "Stop throwing balls?" He hadn't been throwing strikes all night! So Brian Schneider comes up. Well, for Schneider, this is like a free at-bat against a guy who has two pitches -- a wild breaking ball, and an 85 mph "fastball" right down the tube. So, of course, Frank Robinson orders a bunt, because he wants to give us an out in the middle of our death throes, as well as give our bullpen more time to warm up. Thanks, Frank. Not so fast. Rather than taking this gift from the Idiot Gods, Jim Tracy orders the infield to get the lead runner. Why? So that the Nats have to run farther for the now inevitable three-run homerun? So on the bunt down the third base line, instead of being there to field it, like a normal outfielder, Valentin is running to cover third, though there's nobody around to actually throw him the ball. Meanwhile, Erickson, who has probably forgotten more than I ever knew about fielding my position, ran back to the mound to face the next batter. The result was the Dodgers acting out the Miller/Hiller/Haller Hallejuah Twist instead of just picking up the ball and throwing it to first where it belonged in the first place.

Now I can probably think of a few guys who I would rather see in a situation with a runner on 3rd, and less than two outs than the guy with the 7 ERA and the K/9 rate of 1.3. In fact, the entire bullpen, even Buddy Carlisle, qualifies as guys I would have rather seen on the mound there. Against Cristian Guzman, who probably has an easier time putting bat on ball against the 84 mph throwing Erickson than say Duaner Sanchez. Groundball to second, force play, Washington scores the run, and we're tied at 1.

So now, Scott Erickson has overstayed his welcome at least two batters, so you figure it's the bullpen to pitch to pinch-hitter Carlos Baerga. Yes, you read that right. But you would be wrong. And as Erickson floats pitch after pitch right around the waist, and Baerga fouls them off, you wonder two things. 1) How embarrassing is this for Carlos Baerga? and 2) How many times can Erickson throw that pitch and Baerga keep missing it? Unfortunately, the answer to that last question was five, since that's the one Baerga lined into right field. Only then did Tracy awake from suspended animation, pull Erickson, and bring in Wunsch. For gravy's sake, Wunsch then struck out good hitters Wilkerson and Johnson, which wasn't really necessary to highlight this particular idiocy, but did help put a capstone on it.

Having given up, Tracy threw Schmoll to the wolves, then Carlyle to ensure defeat. While everyone was focused on Choi's hitting, it also appears that he needs to work on the defense. Not that Shawn Green was Brooks Robinson, but I'd sort of like Choi to just be good on his own, rather than just be better than whatever schlub we just got rid of to improve the team.

Now, we got problems everybody. I am not buying Valentin. I don't care if DePo walks on water. We can walk, but we seem to have forgotten that whole thing where you swing the bat and hit the ball. Grabowski is still on the roster. As usual, we ran out of the only rally we got all night, J.D. Drew wasting an out and killing an inning getting thrown out at third on Jeff Kent's RBI single. Certainly, Tracy does not deserve all the blame for this (though he probably deserves ultimate blame for all of this baserunning nonsense -- probably babbles a lot about taking the "extra base" and all that rot).

But how much does he deserve? Does this improve his VORM? Of course not. Is making Scott Erickson pitch in that situation to Carlos Baerga "putting him in position to succeed?" Don't make me laugh. He didn't put Wunsch in much of position to succeed, instead dinking around with Erickson so long that Washington got to the top of their order. To Wunsch's credit, he got out of the inning in fine form.

Jim Tracy is making decisions that are costing us runs. They are costing us outs. They are costing us baserunners and opportunities to score. They are costing us the currency with which baseball is played. For what value added? "He gets the most out of his players?" Which ones? Grabowski? Nakamura? Carlyle? We're back in our old circular logic machine. I'm told on one hand that it's Weaver's fault when he hits Craig Counsell, but on the other hand "Jim Tracy gets the most out of his players." It can't be both!

And so we soldier on, attempting to again win the division with this handicap of a manager, who basks in the bromides of the idiotarian press while taking a flamethrower to common sense. Which is why, you figure, he basks in the bromides of idiots like Bill Plaschke and Joe Morgan. He speaks their language.

Talkin' 'Bout The Choi

2005-05-02T18:20:00.000-06:00

Here.

And T.J. Simers Got A Raise

2005-05-02T16:19:00.000-06:00

You know, I have three ideas to fix this, and two-thirds of them have nothing to do with political bias. Tim Brown, on the other hand, was obviously hired to help sell papers in Fullerton and Tustin.

Why I Blog About the Dodgers

2005-05-02T11:21:00.000-06:00

Every once in a while, I'll tell a friend of mine about this blog thing that I do. They ask me what it's about, and I tell them it's about generally, the Dodgers, and specifically, about their manager. After the obligatory "You must be crazy" stare, they generally ask me why I don't blog about something like politics or the law, topics I'm not unacquainted with.

Well, this is why.

I mean you have it all right here. Meaningless twaddle about some kind of media dinner. B level celebrities. Self-congratulation from stem to stern. The obligatory ghost-written jokes straight from a Bob Hope Special. The obligatory response from Republicans about just how cool we really are. The obligatory David Corn quote about the coming conservative crackup stemming from the meaningless twaddle about some kind of media dinner. I don't write about politics because you get everything you want to know from The Onion.

Sorry for the meaningless trip to Nowheresville, but I had to get that off my chest.

In Case You Were Wondering What Joe Morgan's Been Up To

2005-05-02T10:57:00.000-06:00

DePodesta for President is on the case. Reminds me of the movie Clue:

Col. Mustard: Wadsworth, are you trying to make me look stupid in front of the other guests?

Wadsworth: You don't need any help from me, sir.

Col. Mustard: That's right!

One Last Thing

2005-05-01T23:34:00.000-06:00

Sorry to all of you who played the Name Game, and are no doubt disappointed when Tracy refused to pull Jeff Weaver on Wednesday night, and eliminated all of you from contention to win the wholly illusory non-existent prize at the end of the rainbow. Fact is, I'm sort of glad this site exists in this form after last week. And it reminds me that unlike Joe Morgan, I need to stay true to my principles, and not wither in the face of mere facts like winning and losing. And fact is, it's like a brand now. FJT. It's catchy. My wife told me not to change it. You listen to your wife, don't you?

Announcement forthcoming as to our impending move. I thought getting out of school would move along the process, but it turns out that having nothing to do makes you lazy.

Why Can't This Newspaper Get It Together?

2005-05-01T22:04:00.000-06:00

Who's your favorite sports star?

Bill Plaschke, of course!

The question was asked of a couple of thousand Americans by the Harris Poll folks this winter, and the top 10 was a jaw-drop 10.

So, they asked all the Times subscribers, eh?

Five guys who work beneath a helmet and pads.

Rollerball?

Two guys in a sport where fans recently attacked the players.

And the Catholic Church is nothing but the Crusades and the Inquisition.

Two guys in sports that require big money or hot wheels.

Poker?

And, oh yeah, one baseball player.

This is what happens when you keep trying to foist Alex Cora on us.

Their faces, down to the last drops of brown juice rolling from the corner of their bottom lips, are on television for six months.

America hates tobacco chewers. Go to hell, Babe Ruth!

Their habits, from hemlines to hairstyles, inspire as much childhood imitation as a Hummer full of rappers.

What size dress does Shawn Green wear? I always thought Paul LoDuca looked good in a sundress, but the back hair was a problem.

More than any other athletes in any sport, they are constantly in America's face.

While America scrunches up its nose.

While paying $100 a pop for a view of the guy's head in front of them.

We really don't like baseball players anymore, do we?

Remember, as I've pointed out 100 times before, when the plural pronoun is used in a Plaschke column, the result should be re-written to insert the word "Plaschke" in place of the pronoun. Hence, "Plaschke really don't like baseball players anymore, do Plaschke." Which, grammatically, is no huge improvement over Plaschke's style, but I do try my best.

"Baseball players have become aloof to consumers," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. "They are arguably the most prolific athletes in terms of exposure, but they're just not great ambassadors for friendly athletics."

"College professors have become aloof to common sense," said Steve Haskins, proprietor of firejimtracy.blogspot.com. "They are arguably the most prolific academics in the world in terms of gasbaggery, but they're just not able to put together sentences without using words like aloof."

We really don't like baseball players, or we wouldn't have ranked only Derek Jeter in the top 10 of a list that includes NFL stars Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Donovan McNabb and Ben Roethlisberger.

Just think of how Andy Roddick, Venus Williams, and Wayne Gretzky feel. Leave America while you still can. But don't panic!

We wouldn't have put only Jeter in a list that includes two NBA players, retired Michael Jordan, who ranks first, and Shaquille O'Neal.

This explains the above line. Michael Jordan retired three years before Ron Artest (not usually confused with Michael Jordan) went crazy. And Bill, that was Jermaine O'Neal. The skinny O'Neal.

We would have more of them in a list that included Tiger Woods and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Those last two guys may be worth as much as the Dodger clubhouse combined, yet it is baseball players who are considered overpaid louts.

Where are all those experienced Times editors who are supposed to catch lazy writing constructions like passive voice? Let me help.

Those last two guys may be worth as much as the Dodger clubhouse combined, but I consider baseball players overpaid louts.

See? Now there is a noun to go with the verb! Hooray! Usually, the presence of noun and verb are required to win the Pulitzer. I'm just trying to help.

(UPDATE: Ah ha! Patterico figured it out. All those experienced Times editors are busy editing key facts out of news stories to make them conform to the official party dogma!)

Football players never sign autographs anywhere near their playing field, yet it is baseball players who are considered fan unfriendly.

See above.

Basketball players are no strangers to police blotters, yet it is baseball players who are perceived as immoral cheaters.

See above.

Attendance is rising, October ratings have been huge, the sport has made such a resurgence that folks will even pay $85 to sit in Dodger Stadium seats from which you can see only two bald heads and a hairy neck.

What am I even doing this for? Plaschke decided to Fisk himself!

But it is the game we love. It is not the players.

"But it is the game Plaschke love. It is not the players."

Not anymore.

We just go for the ads on the outfield scoreboard, the limp Panda Express, and the steamed Dodger Dogs. If you generally listened to Bill Plaschke, et. al, (not that I would recommend it) you would necessarily come to the conclusion that all we could go for was the players.

Saturday was just another reason.

Commissioner Bud Selig finally proposed a steroid policy that would work, one with a short leash and long penalties, a three-strikes-and-you're-out-forever fastball.

Plaschke's sole argument for this steroid policy? That it would "work." Not only does he fail to argue that perhaps the penalties don't fit the crime (something that the players should decide anyway, since they are the ones at risk for steroid use), but he fails to argue why this wouldn't work better than a one-strike-and-you're-out policy. Or public stoning. In fact, there's no argument here at all.

So what does he do? Well, Jose Lima is gone, so he asked Jason Phillips for one instead.

And what did one of the Dodgers say?

"That's ridiculous," Jason Phillips said.

Continue. But let me give you some advice, Jason, given that I think you're younger than me, and therefore I can give it. When you talk to Plaschke, talk in paragraphs. If you do that, he can't use it.

Phillips, who makes $339,000 a year, complained that Selig's proposal of unpaid suspensions ranging from 50 days to lifetime would hurt guys in his tax bracket.

This is rudimentary math, but a 50 day suspension would cost Jason Phillips one-third of his salary, or about $100,000. Since I am opposed to class warfare, I'll just say that a penalty that cost me a third of my salary, regardless of how much I made, would pinch my pocketbook.

"Do I think the penalties are a little harsh? Yes," he said. "Not for, say, the guys who have already been in the big leagues a lot of years and are making millions. [But] put yourself in my position. I play paycheck to paycheck to support my family."

For instance, what if the Times docked you one-third of your salary for every time you used passive voice?

Phillips even implied that some players would have to get a part-time job if they were suspended for questionably illegal substances.

"What are you supposed to do?" he said. "Go work at Burger King for 50 days because you're not getting paid because you ate five poppy-seed muffins? Until they can come to an agreement on what is positive and what is not positive. …"

Everyone on the 40 man roster, including minor leaguers not on the major league club, is subject to Major League steroid testing (hence the guys you've never heard of getting suspended under the MLB policy). Unless something significant has changed, those guys might have to work at "Burger King" to eat. Last I checked, some of them were still sending money home to the Dominican Republic, but I'm against class warfare by nature.

But whatever the case, I would like to know if Phillips is acutally right that there is no "agreement on what is positive and what is not positive." Maybe that's something Tim Brown can take up when he stops harassing Jose Guillen.

Positively, we hate this sort of talk.

Absolutely, baseball players remain singularly famous for sounding like entitled brats.

Was it a baseball player that said "We make a lot of money, but we spend a lot of money?"

Phillips is known as a solid guy, but … Burger King?

Would you prefer Wal-Mart? A writer should be familiar with poetic license, but since the most poetic sentence in this piece involved drool, I'm not terribly surprised by this.

Some of that is inspired by working in sports' most combative and fan-ignorant union.

Well, when you're right you're right.

And some of that is because nobody has been coddled from childhood to stardom like a major league baseball player.

Not even LeBron James.

Did you know that after games at Dodger Stadium, no matter how many fans are waiting, one of two full-service elevator operators is ordered to override all buttons if a player needs a ride up to the parking lot?

Yes, Bill. You whined about this no more than three weeks ago. Nobody cared then. Nobody cares now.

I've ridden before with players who didn't even bother to thank the poor guy pushing the buttons.

Poor guy. Is that the guy who invented "Game Over?"

"It's different today than it used to be," said Tom Lasorda, who remains the most popular living Dodger even though he hasn't been in uniform for nearly 10 years.

Dodger Stadium plays Welcome to the Jungle every time Lasorda shows up.

"Taking time with the fans, some players do it, some players don't do it."

Thanks for the quote, Tommy. I only had 780 words. No, I didn't forget to ask you which players do it. I just don't care.

When players take time with the fans today, television shows them throwing chairs at them or punching them.

The nature of news being to show rare events, that being why it's called the "new"s instead of the "mundane"s or the "normal"s or the "oldhat"s.

Of course, Gary Sheffield, who threw a forearm at a Boston patron recently, was commended by the commissioner's office for showing "restraint."

Has it become so bad that a player is officially a good guy if he hits a fan only once?

I suppose the answer could possibly be "yes" or "no", so this makes an ineffective rhetorical question.

Even everyone's darling Angels canceled their in-season autograph sessions for season-ticket holders.

You know how this works now...

"Even Plaschke's darling Angels canceled their in-season autograph sessions for season-ticket holders"

(The Dodgers, incidentally, hold their first of three in-season autograph sessions for children in Lot 32 today.)

(This is very incidental, and parenthetical, and ironical, and coincidental, for reasons that should be clear to Plaschke's readers over the last eight months.)

(Paragraph).

"Young people today like an aggressive, violent, bad-boy image in their athletes," said Dodger Jeff Kent. "Major league baseball players are only seen as selfish prima donnas."

This is kind of an interesting quote. Lots of subtext there. Too bad NOTHING EVER COMES FROM IT. Why is this quote even here?

Just ask Paul Roberts, longtime owner of Landry's Sporting Goods in Montrose, who supplies his community with 4,000 youth-league baseball uniforms and only 200 football uniforms each year.

Jerry's from Montrose! Shout out to Jerry! Jerry owns a Dodger hat! I think he owns a jersey!

Yet he sells far more NFL jerseys than baseball jerseys in this town without an NFL team.

Does Montrose have television? Those of us who grew up in West Los Angeles kind of doubt it, but it's possible.

Steroids have eroded our trust of the men.

Which men?

Idiotic beanball incidents like the one between Boston and Tampa Bay have dwindled our respect.

Don Drysdale. Not a Hall-of-Famer. Hated by millions.

Free agency, used in baseball like in no other sport, has cost them our love.

Bill Plaschke, of course, works under a system where he gets a contract unilaterally composed by his employer, and if he disagrees with the pay, the employer is simply allowed to renew his old contract at the same rate, or Bill Plaschke has to retire. What a great system! I'm for it in this case.

As for baseball, I am with good old Charlie Finley. One year contracts, and universal free agency.

In a sport whose most famous player is Barry Bonds, well …

Or possibly Derek Jeter.

Brian Cochran of Palos Verdes, one of the adult participants in a youth league day at Angel Stadium recently, doesn't need a poll to tell him about baseball's problems.

At Angel Stadium! I don't believe it.

Marching around the field with hundreds of young baseball players before a game between the Angels and Oakland A's, Cochran noticed something odd.

All but one of the major league players acted as if the kids didn't even exist.

So they treated the kids like T.J. Simers in the locker room, then.

Only the Angels' Steve Finley took the time to slap hands and offer encouragement.

Finley needs all the fans he can get right now.

"None of the other players made any effort to acknowledge us…. They didn't even look at us," said Cochran.

And they wonder why we don't look back?

Now that you've read this, don't look back. Don't ever...look...back.

Now in seriousness, it is not hard to detect a certain separation between players and fans, though the absurd lines that Plaschke draws between baseball and the other sports (particularly basketball) are ludicrous. Meanwhile, the NFL is so powerful (for reasons not fully known to me) that it can get ESPN to pull a FICTIONAL show portraying football players acting in less than favorable ways. What power does the NFL have over real, actual, damaging news? That's a question for another day, but it's certainly a question. Meanwhile, Plaschke goes on lecturing, hectoring, providing no answer better than your typical media bromide. The difference between football and baseball? Football = 16 games. Baseball = 162 games. There's a whole book right there. But this isn't even a foreword.

UPDATE: Someone at Primer makes the incontrovertible point that if you ask people in the middle of winter who their favorite sports stars are, you are more than likely to get football players for answers. That would particularly explain Roethlisberger's presence on the list.

Now That's A Half Full Glass

2005-05-01T22:02:00.000-06:00

Here's a weird bit of news. According to the Los Angeles Times, Jim Tracy is only now acknowledging that Darren Dreifort "might" not pitch again. Strange.

More Through The Looking Glass

2005-05-01T21:33:00.000-06:00

So sitting here working on my Plaschke piece (you didn't think I'd let that one go, did you?), and watching the end of the Nats/Mets game. Mets have runner on first with no out in a tie game in the ninth. Willie brings in Marlon Anderson to pinch hit. This is what Joe Morgan would call a bunting situation. Well, Marlon Anderson, to my amazement, and likely to the amazement of all three million viewers, did not bunt. That's right. Put this one in your journal. Willie is not beyond help.

In fact, Marlon Anderson blooped a broken-bat looper into right field for a base hit. After Jose Reyes beat out his bunt, the Mets were on their way to three runs and a win.

So how did Joe Morgan react to all of this? Here was the conversation as Mike Piazza grounded out to end the Top of the 9th:

JonM: Well, we have to give credit to Willie Randolph tonight, Joe. Most managers would have bunted in that situation.

JoeM: You're right, Jon.

This is simply representative -- Morgan was unsurprisingly unwilling to stand up for what he believed in the face of contrary evidence.

And this is where I simply refuse to accept results-based analysis. Rather than having any sort of system whatsoever, Morgan simply suggests that if it "works," it must have been the right decision. That is nonsense. It also suggests that had Dave Roberts been thrown out, Joe Morgan's conclusion would have been very different.

Sure, results are important. Wins and losses are baseball's currency. But Morgan's ongoing opposition to "Moneyball" suggests adherence to a strategy of baseball that he thinks wins games -- call it what you will. Abandoning that strategy simply because it "works" post hoc in any individual situation suggests that "theory" as such is not worth considering. And that leads to the question of why Morgan wastes so much time worrying about theory at all -- his or anyone else's. If anything, it suggests Baseball Chaos Theory.

Bob Brenly

2005-04-30T22:00:00.000-06:00

What a knucklehead. Brian Bruney gets two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and Arizona brings in Mark Sweeney with nobody on. Brenly goes to his LOOGY, some guy named Lopez with a double digit ERA, who proceeds to give up a base hit and a walk to the guy who hits for Sweeney, then Dave Roberts. Loretta then drives in a run against some other stiff Brenly is forced to bring in because Lopez sucks.

Two outs, nobody on. Banjo hitters coming up. Bruney isn't the second coming of Gagne, but he throws hard. Get with it, Brenly.

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Angel Press Release

2005-04-30T21:50:00.000-06:00

Congratulations, lively boys!

Wherein We Follow The Exploits of Bill Plaschke's Favorite Sixty-Four Million Dollar Third Baseman

2005-04-30T16:59:00.000-06:00

Just struck out swinging at a pitch that almost hit him with the bases loaded and two out, with Seattle losing 5-4.

You Can Say That Again

2005-04-30T14:38:00.000-06:00

What does he know?

Indeed.

Paging...

2005-04-30T14:36:00.000-06:00

Jamie Moyer. Paging Jamie Moyer. Your soul-owning demon is on Line 2. Paging Jamie Moyer to the white courtesy phone. Thank you.

Grr...We're Tough...Grr

2005-04-30T14:15:00.000-06:00

Honestly, this has the air of quiet desperation about it. The players have brought this upon themselves, which is (again) why they shouldn't have been doing it in the first place, but there you are. And meanwhile, more raspberries for Bud Selig who manages to look desperate and craven at the same time.

New Dodger Blog

2005-04-30T12:49:00.000-06:00

Rob points all of us to the Blue Think Tank, a new sabremetrically inclined site. More charts and graphs. Remember SecondHandSmog, us lawyer-types need the Executive Summary!

The Virtues of Patience

2005-04-30T11:14:00.000-06:00

Choi Central is understandably bullish on Hee Seop Choi after last night's Grand Slam. And so they should. It was a line drive shot -- perfect for getting out of the stadium despite the sea level altitude and "heavy" air at Chavez Ravine. As always, I'm holding my Choi stock too, but I cannot as easily jump on the anti-platoon bandwagon as many have. I am not anti-platoon per se; the platoon simply has to be justifiable (as, for example, last year's Ross/Mayne platoon was not -- Mayne should have been playing every fifth day). Specifically, I look not at the Choi side of the equation, but the Saenz side. Saenz's early successes against LHP might be considered too small a sample size to be meaningful (1.407 OPS to be specific), but last year his split was 1.058 LHP/.571 RHP. In 2002 (Saenz missed 2003 with injuries), his split was not quite as pronounced, but it was still a healthy .937/.744. Furthermore, at least given tonight's game, Joe Kennedy is a pitcher with some pronounced splits of his own (other than 2002, which was three years ago -- below, with OPS against right handed batters on the right).

2002 .742/.796
2003 .906/.684
2004 .822/.549
(There is no pronounced split in 2005, but Kennedy's samples are too small to be meaningful -- total he OPSes at about 1.000)

Of course, the X factor in all of this is Choi's ability to hit major league left-handers. Really, no one has any idea whether he has any or not. Only about 70 plate appearances in his career against them, and while those 70 appearances are downright horrible, no one but Bill Plaschke would argue that they are meaningful of themselves.

Of course, you have to take into consideration that Choi is the future and Saenz, well, isn't. And if Choi never has a regular regimen of hitting against LHPs, it leads to the circular but unfortunate conclusion that he can't hit LHPs. But Tracy has on his bench a guy who hits lefthanders. By starting Saenz, Tracy guarantees that Saenz gets at least two or three at-bats in favorable situations, rather than sitting around and waiting to possibly get a situation later in the game.

So while Tracy's inexplicable decision to bring in Saenz against a RHP last week was as close to unforgiveable as he's made in four years (though last week was possibly his worst six game stretch as the Dodger manager, period), it seems to me that Tracy's use of Saenz against starting LHPs (the way I would look at it) is at least defensible, and probably right for the time being. If Saenz appears to cool as the season progresses, that would call for reassessment.

And if I ever, ever, ever, see Grabowski or Nakamura over there again...

UPDATE: Some more background. Last year, it was Jayson Werth's emergence in left field that benched Choi. My problem with Tracy last year was not that Tracy wasn't starting Choi, but that the first guy off the bench was always Grabowski, who was in the midst of a 1-250 slump, even in cases where we needed baserunners and where no one denies Choi's ability to work a walk. Tracy did a few times, but could hardly bench Green in favor of Saenz; he would either have had to do that, or move Green to right, moving Bradley over to left(?), or center with Finley going to left (?) -- anyway, you get the idea. I suspect that for this year, DePodesta understood that by getting rid of Green (a move heartily endorsed in these quarters), Tracy would have more opportunity to play both Saenz AND Choi, and that a loose "switch-hitting" Choi/Saenz platoon would be better than Shawn Green at first base, particularly in 2005. Early in the year, that is turning out to be true, and is especially true when you look at Green's Erickson/All Pitchers Not Named Erickson splits.

This is all a long way of saying that for the short-term, I think that DePodesta probably has little problem with Saenz starting against some LHP. In my admittedly short experience with DePodesta, the players who Tracy likes who are used badly (Encarnacion, Martin, Roberts, Mota), generally find themselves on other teams that use them badly (Encarnacion has 23 RBIs. When I found that out, I wanted to kill myself with a spork.) . DePodesta doesn't like to leave Tracy a lot of rope to hang himself with. And that is all a long way of saying that if DePodesta doesn't want to platoon Choi anymore, he won't give Tracy anybody to platoon him with.

But forget Choi. What in the world are we going to do about Valentin?

Willie Randolph

2005-04-30T09:31:00.000-06:00

Apparently, beyond help.

Tonight's Medival Torture

2005-04-29T20:46:00.000-06:00

Jennings v. Perez. Why isn't Perez hitting in front of Bako? The Tracy Mysteries continue.

UPDATE: And after a day to sit around and think about it, the Dodgers manage to look at five pitches in the first inning. That's right. Perez -- 27. Jennings -- 5. I'm not even looking at the same team I was a week ago.

UPDATE 2: Now that might just wake us up.

UPDATE 3: The guys at Choi Central will be loving this.

Discuss

2005-04-29T10:45:00.000-06:00

Adrian Beltre's OPS.

Pot Calling Kettle...

2005-04-29T09:24:00.000-06:00

T.J. Simers, in an act of supreme irony, is judging maturity. Read this at your own peril. FJT does not take responsibility for its contents, or the result of exposure to it.

Polishing The Resume

2005-04-29T09:21:00.000-06:00

Another Dodger front office executive bites the dust. But if he knows that you're supposed to bat for the pitcher with the bases loaded, maybe he just needed a transfer within the organization.

In an example of burying the lede, by the way, the reporter also notes that Wilson Alvarez threw 60 pitches and 5 innings in his last AAA appearance, giving up just one hit. Alvarez could be called up over the weekend, presumably after appropriate rest given that outing.

Finding Favorable Situations

2005-04-29T09:04:00.000-06:00

Remind me of your initial impression of Pete Carroll again, Bill?

For All The Good It Does Us

2005-04-28T22:49:00.000-06:00

What bullpen?

Yeah....

2005-04-28T01:41:00.000-06:00

Tracy indicated that he was pleased with Erickson's outing Tuesday against Arizona with the exception of the two home runs he gave up.

How was the play, Mr. Lincoln?

Well, He Needs A New Career Anyway

2005-04-28T00:41:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, when I read nonsense like this about, for instance, Magglio Ordonez, I think that Henry Blodget would have made a tremendous sportswriter.

Things I Was Wrong About

2005-04-28T00:12:00.000-06:00

The latest in a not-too-often feature, covering things I was wrong about.

1) The Diamondbacks. If their bullpen holds up, they will clearly compete in the NL West, particularly with the Giants melting down, the Padres taking hitting lessons from Tom Goodwin, and the Dodgers playing Johnny Need A Manager. Mind you, I'm not making predictions (all right, I'll make one -- the Giants are what I thought the D-Backs would be), but I would lean toward me eating all those cracks about Chapter 13, and instead contemplating yet another manifestation of Bill Simmons's "Patrick Ewing" theory. Though with the Saenz/Choi platoon out-hitting Shawn Green, I'm still not quite sure what all that hubbub was about. I wouldn't boo him, true. But whatever ails us certainly has nothing to do with that.

Thank you.

I Tried

2005-04-27T23:07:00.000-06:00

Boy, did I want this to be the year things would be different. Plaschke is furiously typing. Simers will no longer have to resort to ripping on his pregnant daughter for material. We got off to a great start. There were the ominous signs, of course. Weaver pitching to Pedro Feliz in the home opener. Derek Lowe throwing 125 pitches in a game. But we were winning, so why be the fly in the ointment?

This is why. I have no idea how to account for the percentage of each of these games that Jim Tracy is responsible for us losing. 10%? 50%? I know that he is not helping. Tonight's case in point.

I'll give you Tony Clark. I hesitate to give you Tony Clark, because Weaver had just gotten raked in the first two at-bats against lefties at the bottom of the D-Back order, but let's give him to you. Weaver walks Clark. Bases loaded. How in the world can you let Weaver pitch to Craig Counsell? He's thrown over 100 pitches. He's given up two hard-hit singles to left-handed batters already. He's just walked another one on five pitches that weren't particularly close. Weaver then hits Counsell, tying the score. Only now does Tracy turn to the bullpen, as Steve Schmoll gets McCracken to K, but Kelly Wunsch gives up a two-run single to Luis Gonzalez.

You have to get out of that inning before Gonzalez ever comes up. Gonzalez is the guy that is most likely to beat you. The options were:

1) Use Wunsch against Counsell, then keep Wunsch in to pitch to McCracken and ultimately to Gonzalez (if necessary -- Gonzalez only got to bat because Counsell reached) OR
2) Use Wunsch against Counsell, then Schmoll against McCracken, then take your pick (including Schmoll) against Gonzalez.

I will concede that the low-wattage IQs at the Times would have killed Tracy had he brought in Wunsch to face Counsell. "Kelly Wunsch!," they'll say. "How can you take out your ace starter for some guy named Wunsch!" But, Jim, that's why they pay you the big bucks. Weaver was losing it, and you get paid to pull the trigger. Tracy's dithering allowed Arizona to get to the heart of their lineup, and put the Diamondbacks, to borrow a phrase that got thrown around a lot when the Dodgers were winning, "in position to succeed." When Ryne Sandberg was throwing his backhanded compliments the Dodgers way (I can't think of anything good to say about the team, so I'll give their manager credit), I don't think that's what he had in mind when he said that Tracy puts "players in position to succeed."

I can't put a number on this, and I'm not going to try. You saw the result of that this morning. Jim Tracy is the bestest manager in the world because Alex Cora turned a bunch of double plays. And, of course, the players on the field take much of the praise when they win and the blame when they lose. But who can blame Odalis Perez for flying out with the bases loaded? Who can blame Olmedo Saenz for striking out against a right handed pitcher when, last year, he had a .576 OPS against them? And doesn't Tracy share blame with Weaver when, 1) Weaver had thrown over 100 pitches 2) was getting knocked around in the 7th and 3) had just walked the previous hitter and was obviously losing control? Of course he does. How much? Who cares? Presumably managers are there to help, not hurt.

And if I ever, ever, ever see Jason Grabowski at first base again...

UPDATE: You mean, I forgot to mention those ABs Saenz got against right-handed pitchers tonight? That's a lost cause. You might as well criticize Jim Tracy for breathing oxygen. Saenz will get ABs against right-handers all year long. Why? Because when Hideo Nomo started last April with three wins, he bought himself until September before Tracy finally, mercifully pulled the plug. It's all what you do in your first two starts. Or first ten at-bats. Four hits against RHP in April means a lifetime of at-bats against them for Olmedo. Look at Weaver. Shut out the Giants during the opening series (a task that we have since learned is not all that difficult -- though of course, it didn't stop Weaver from giving up eight runs to them a week later) , and now has a longer leash than Lassie. Him and his 6.25 ERA.

UPDATE 2: Or Grabowski. That guy hit a few home runs a year ago, and he's still gravy training off of those.

UPDATE 3: But Nakamura. That guy will get 200 at-bats. Welcome to the random world of Jim Tracy, where we play every righty/lefty matchup for four years, then use the worst batter against RHP on the whole bench against an RHP with the game on the line. And he doesn't manage for the next day's paper...please.

Big Announcement!

2005-04-27T22:14:00.000-06:00

The name's not changing.

Let There Be Light!

2005-04-27T19:15:00.000-06:00

After a week of suffering through Colorado and Arizona games, ESPN saves me from another night of blackout. The mute button will be well-used by the end of the game, no doubt.

Repko bats second. Saenz plays first base against Arizona LHP Brad Halsey. As long as Saenz was over 1.000 OPS against lefties, and continues to hit that well against them this year, Tracy really doesn't have any choice (haha) but to play him against lefties. We can revisit the issue if Saenz stops hitting lefties. Nakamura bats eighth. Since it probably won't do any good to write off Nakamura, let's write off Repko tonight, and see where we get.

Rhetorical Question

2005-04-27T19:03:00.000-06:00

If Alex Cora is such a great hitter in the 8 hole, then why does Eric Wedge keep batting him second?

If I Were A Yankee Fan

2005-04-27T17:48:00.000-06:00

I would point out how braindead one would have to be to have Bernie Williams batting second and Alex Rodriguez batting fifth.

I would also point out how stupid it is to get thrown out at home from first base on a double when Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, and Alex Rodriguez are coming to the plate.

But I am not a Yankees Fan, so I will not bring it up.

All Together Now

2005-04-27T16:41:00.000-06:00

EVEN THE FOOD GUY AT THE LOS ANGELES TIMES IS AN IDIOT!

He wants the Dodgers to sign a "top, power-hitting catcher." Gee, don't we all. How insightful. Next time, David Shaw, why don't you just take it up with post-game Dodgertalk, just like all the other cranks and yahoos who wanted to package Alex Cora and Shawn Green in a deal to get Johan Santana.

Voice Vote

2005-04-27T14:51:00.000-06:00

Put me down for a Nay.

The Revolution Will Be Blacked Out, If MLB Has Its Way

2005-04-27T13:53:00.000-06:00

A new blog proposes that DePodesta get a new job. Unfortunately, if I'm not mistaken, DePodesta is not yet 35, and therefore not eligible for the position. But hang in there a couple of years!

Apoplexy Now

2005-04-27T08:07:00.000-06:00

Yawn. The Dodgers won more games than expected. Good for them. What any of this has to do with Jim Tracy, I don't know. Or why having Alex Cora on your team makes you a super good manager. Though long-time readers will know that it's no surprise that he squanders a lot of baserunners.

The Plaschke Indignation Scale

2005-04-26T23:49:00.000-06:00

In honor of Bill Plaschke's piece today regarding the new seats at Dodger Stadium, to be filed under "Things that will never affect you or me, because we're smart enough to know that the best seats in the stadium are behind home plate in the loge section anyway" we present the Bill Plaschke Indignation Scale. Ten is, self-evidently, the highest.

10 -- Paul DePodesta trading Paul LoDuca
9 -- The Dodgers on a three game winning streak
8 -- Milton Bradley throwing a plastic bottle at pavement
7 -- Parents who yell at kids playing Little League Baseball
6 -- Loud music between innings
5 -- Kids who yell at other kids playing Little League Baseball
4 -- Obstructed view seats at Dodger Stadium
3 -- Weird statistics
2 -- People who refuse to call Arte Moreno "Boss"
1 -- Kids who kill other kids with baseball bats

Tonight's Game

2005-04-26T23:07:00.000-06:00

Ugh. You know, we got some problems.

1) Our manager is still an idiot. He ran us out of a scoring opportunity, sending Cesar Izturis to get caught stealing, in the middle of a rally. No reason to run with the heart of the lineup coming up. Unless you want to keep that Team LOB down.

2) Jose Valentin is still Jose Valentin, no matter who signed him or what he hit the first week of the season. He needs to start hitting eighth, and Tracy needs to start getting over whatever problem he has with Antonio Perez playing third base.

3) Jason Phillips has decided that he is a first-ball hitter.

4) Scott Erickson got through five innings giving up just three runs. BARELY. And I mean....barrrrreeeeelllyyyy.

5) As much as they love to do it, the Dodgers simply cannot win starting down three to five runs in every game. The starting pitching has got to step up, stop walking the leadoff guy, stop giving up singles to the Royce Claytons of the world, and give us a chance to get the lead. And no, that has nothing to do with not signing Jose Lima.

On the other hand, other signs are still positive. I'm starting to buy Ricky Ledee stock. I'm having a hard time writing or believing this, but he may be the answer until Werth comes back. Grabowski, I had better not see in any more starting lineups. Choi went 4-5 with a home run, which should buy him another day and a half. Saenz had another single to start our aborted 9th inning rally (the final out came on a deflection off the pitcher). Bradley had a terrible at-bat in the eighth, but still is turning in professional at-bats most of the time. And this bullpen, which as a whole costs as much as Steve Kline himself, continues to impress. 13-7 after 20 games is not a bad place to be, though losing five out of the last six (and only just getting that one) is not the way one would want to get there.

Turn The Page

2005-04-26T22:16:00.000-06:00

ESPN's Page 2 writers are putting Buster Olney to shame. You might think David Schoenfield is kidding, but a closer reading suggests much wisdom. The money quote:

If John Schuerholz is so smart, how come he signed Brian Jordan and Raul Mondesi?

Indeed.

A New Blog

2005-04-26T21:09:00.000-06:00

There is a new blog focused on bad baseball writing in the media, and looking to become a sort of clearinghouse for blogs that do a lot of media criticism. The proprietor sent me an e-mail wanting to know if I knew of any similar blogs. I do not, but check his out, and let him know if you know of anything out there.

If You Start At The End, You'll Get There Eventually

2005-04-26T10:04:00.000-06:00

Tim Brown presents another piece for his Angel job portfolio! My mom always told me that if I wanted something bad enough, I shouldn't hesitate -- I should just do it.

While Brown's piece, compared to the absurdities of the Plaschkers, appears to be facially interesting, even a casual reading reveals that, as usual, it's just another pointless piece using selective information. The Angels have an OBP of .308? Sounds low, until you consider the A's OBP of .299. You say the Mariners have an OBP of .315? The Angels slug .412; the Mariners slug .358 (and Oakland -- yikes -- .338). And Texas? The Angels team ERA is 3.83; the Rangers 5.22.

In other words, we have here one or two pieces of information, selected only because they support the author's already formed prejudices. Even that information given is woefully incomplete -- just because the Angels took third on more singles means nothing without an analysis of how many of those extra bases turned into runs. If Billy Beane is right, and that extra base is meaningless (or at least not worth the risk of taking it), then it follows that one can go from first to third 1,000 times, or 1,000,000 times, and it would make no difference. Brown presents the numbers, then asks us to accept, seemingly by faith, that going from first to third 60 times over the course of the season was worth something. Again, the lesson of Moneyball was not that one play the game a certain way; it was measuring what things are worth and creating an efficient market for the services different players provide. Brown's raw data is certainly measurable, but he doesn't do it.

Nor, of course, is it ever considered that the Angels might be better than 11-8 if Mike Scioscia didn't do retarded things like hit-and-run with Bengie Molina on 3-0 counts.

Under New Management

2005-04-26T09:48:00.000-06:00

At least half of the Fourth Outfielder's new management declares with the anti-Tracy party. But he gets the "most" out of his players! Except Hee Seop Choi. Which appears to be some sort of approved exception to the measurement of whether you "get the most out of your players."

Angel News Not From Tim Brown

2005-04-26T09:30:00.000-06:00

I was going to take the four-year-old to see the local Rookie League team later this summer, an Angel affiliate, and discovered that instead of the Provo Angels, they are now the Orem Owlz. The "z" ending is a continuation of the much-disliked (by me) trend of naming every sports team in Utah with the "z" of the Utah Jazz.

Tomorrow's Lineup Card

2005-04-25T23:55:00.000-06:00

FJT, being good friends with the Dodger coaching staff, has gotten an advance look at tomorrow's lineup card. No real surprises.

1) Steve Schmoll - P (R)
2) Kelly Wunsch - P (L)
3) Yhenzy Brazoban - P (R)
4) Jeff Weaver - P (R)
5) Odalis Perez - P (L)
6) Brad Penny - P (R)
7) Duaner Sanchez - P (R - but learning to switch-hit)
8) Paul Bako - C (L) (But will be hit for in the sixth by D.J. Houlton)
9) Jason Grabowski - LF (L) (because what the hell good is a lineup if Jason Grabowski's not in it?)

It's All Fun And Games Until Someone Loses A Game

2005-04-25T23:30:00.000-06:00

Jim Tracy's fascination with pitchers hitting is reaching levels of absurdity I did not believe fathomable. When you're having trouble scoring runs on any given night, normally it doesn't help to give away outs. It's not like our bullpen is the Yankees' bullpen. And it's not like Derek Lowe was Elliot Ness. As the D-Backs again proved after Tracy wasted another inning. If you're not going to use the pitchers, then let's end this farce and carry ten.

Meanwhile, Tracy brings in Olmedo Saenz to hit for Hee Seop Choi facing Vazquez in the eighth. Huh? Saenz is 4 for 8 against righties this year so far, but otherwise is the very definition of a one-dimensional hitter.

2004 v. RHP -- .571 OPS
2004 v. LHP -- 1.057 OPS

And this is what I've been saying about Tracy all along. The man obsesses about righty/lefty splits for three years, then brings in the right-handed pinch-hitter to face Vazquez. Seemingly at random. "Putting his players in position to succeed" or whatever snake oil Ryne Sandberg is trying to sell in his effort not to give any credit to the players on the field. In the eighth inning, there must have been guys up in the bullpen. Put Choi up and make whatever idiot is now managing the D-Backs bring in some lame left-handed reliever or risk the howls of the masses for pulling Vazquez one batter too late. Then you have Choi against Vazquez or Saenz against random left-handed bad relief pitcher. Either of which is better than .571 OPS Against RHP man going up against an RHP.

Baseball Kills

2005-04-25T20:07:00.000-06:00

Deplorable. Who's the victim here? Everyone deserves a more thorough treatment than this thumb sucker provides. I'd have to guess that a 13-year-old murderer has significant problems over and above being heckled on a Little League diamond, being that this sort of thing goes on a lot without someone being brutally murdered, but as usual Bill Plaschke fails to do anything but what he does best, which is superficial tripe with a tut-tutting cherry on top. Tell me about these boys. Tell me what was different about this situation that would justify ("as Plaschke does -- Had nothing been learned?") this result, when this is not the result in every other Little League game played since time began. In other words, as usual, I've learned nothing, except that killing might not be so bad as long as you've been picked on beforehand. Thanks, Bill.

UPDATE: In fact, it is typically Plaschkean that he showed more outrage regarding Milton Bradley throwing a plastic bottle at nobody than he did toward the actual perpetrator in this case.

Tonight's Game

2005-04-25T19:43:00.000-06:00

For those of you that can tear yourselves away from "The Bachelor" (I know, me too!), it's Lowe v. Vazquez tonight. Valentin is playing after being hit on the wrist Saturday. As always when Jason Grabowski is playing, we're writing him off tonight. Do us proud.

Stathead Alert

2005-04-25T19:29:00.000-06:00

What does your laptop tell you about the usefulness of "Runs Not Scored?"Stark isn't making this into a big "Productive Outs" thing; he just brought it up, so I'm curious. That's all.

Things To Do On A Saturday

2005-04-25T10:52:00.000-06:00

Vic may, or may not, need an alarm clock. It's a close call.

Anyone who can provide a report?

Dr. Weaver and Mr. Hyde

2005-04-25T07:24:00.000-06:00

The Hardball Times tells the tale here.

Now You've Got It

2005-04-24T20:39:00.000-06:00

Refusing to screw around anymore, Mike Scioscia brings K-Rod in in the eighth nursing a 1-0 lead, and K-Rod shuts down the A's. Meanwhile, the A's are making a play to beat the White Sox to 2003 Dodger Immortality.

Edwin Jackson Sighting!

2005-04-24T20:35:00.000-06:00

I was not aware of this until just now, but Ken Gurnick reports that Edwin Jackson threw six scoreless innings against Sacramento Saturday night. He also reports that Eric Gagne is close to throwing off a mound.

2003 Dodgers Redux?

2005-04-24T20:15:00.000-06:00

Yes, perish the thought, I know. Nobody ever wants to see that again. But Robert Tagorda broaches the subject, cursing the 2005 White Sox with the possible comparison. The seven White Sox fans who care should see this as an ominous portent.

Relatedly (but off the subject), for years, the Harold Reynolds/Joe Morgan/"Baseball Whig" camp has been claiming that Moneyball doesn't work, and even if it does, "How could Billy Beane possibly fail with the Big Three pitching?" But, of course, even though the White Sox are currently winning with a Team ERA of just a little over 3 (which must be significantly lower when adjusted for the park effects of playing at US Cellular), now "Smallball" is working. Sure, guys.

Straight Talk

2005-04-24T20:08:00.000-06:00

"Those pitches may have gotten away, and they might not have."

Self-Therapy

2005-04-24T15:18:00.000-06:00

Assuming we lose this game (and I've seen no evidence so far that we might win it), some gut-check will be in order. Make no bones about it; we got swept by the worst team in the National League. Even if we come back and win Sunday's game, we squeaked one game out against the worst team in the National League. Sure, our manager cost us one. But unlike a sweep at the hands of, say, the Cardinals or even the Mets, a sweep by the worst team in the National League has to make you sit up and take notice.

On the other hand, we would still be 12-6. We would still have the lead in the National League West, over a bunch of teams that have significant question marks of their own. We have an offense that can get on base, and that hasn't much changed. Nine hits on Friday, and we all know what happened Saturday. Were we as good a team as our eight-game winning streak suggested. No, of course not. Scott Erickson won a game. Are we as bad as we played in Colorado? No, of course not. We are simply a team that is going to be competitive over the long haul of a 162 game season.

Meanwhile, maybe I'll stop hearing all that meaninglessly embarrassing tripe about "Jim Tracy getting the most out of his players" nonsense. So there might be a silver lining to this cloud anyway.

UPDATE: BYUNG-HYUN KIM! Maybe I wrote too soon (we have to go to Grandma's house soon)

UPDATE: I wouldn't bring Byung-Hyun Kim into any game that had less than a 10-run spread one way or the other. I don't care what Colorado's bullpen looks like or who is in it.

UPDATE: I GET IT NOW! Rather than writing off one player, I have to write off the entire team! Got it!

By the way, 10 hits, all to center and right field. I have no idea what this means, but it seems interesting.

UPDATE: Never mind. We got one. Don't know how. Thank Byung-Hyun Kim, worst pitcher in the Majors, I guess.

UPDATE: Byung-Hyun Kim is 0-3 with a 9.64 ERA. Seems like they could find someone in their minor league system who could be at least that good. Or maybe not?

Today's Game

2005-04-24T13:03:00.000-06:00

Unless MLB is missing something, Penny will pitch. Tracy loads the lineup with right-handed hitters against the lefty Jeff Francis. Valentin's X-Rays were negative, but no surprise he's not in the lineup. I am not a Nakamura-believer, but there are really no other options at third. Choi gets the day off, with Saenz getting some ABs against a pitcher he can have success against.

UPDATE: Brad Penny gives up a two-run home run in the first and still has the best first inning by a Dodger pitcher in the series. At 28 pitches in the first, however, Tracy will be going to his bullpen early and often. Unless, of course, Penny comes up with the bases loaded.

UPDATE: Based on their Game Cast pictures, Jeff Francis is 12, and Olmedo Saenz is 62.

UPDATE: In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, "Would you like to shoot [us] now, or wait until we get home?"

UPDATE: We take the lead 3-2 in the sixth on two sacrifice flies; I have a feeling we're about to prove that sacrifice outs are useless at Coors.

UPDATE: Yep.

UPDATE: Would anybody be so kind to tell me what pitch Desi Relaford (?) hit up the middle to score Colorado's fifth run? I'm guessing slider, not watching.

UPDATE: In happier news, and if I'm not mistaken, the New England Patriots just selected USC's backup quarterback in the 7th Round.

Michael Lewis -- Probably Not On Steroids

2005-04-24T12:44:00.000-06:00

But his writing always has been, even before he became a household name in the baseball community. This is a must-read, regardless of where you stand on steroids or Moneyball.

Requiem For A Tracy Loss

2005-04-24T08:11:00.000-06:00

Tracy reveals his feelings about his bench -- "We wouldn't have gotten a better at-bat anyway." I don't want to hear about Coors Field and pitchers. Tracy uses 17 pitchers in a 9-1 blowout, but won't use them in a situation and game we might win? Not to mention that the only pitcher who gave up a run last night (eight of them) was the guy who he allowed to stay in the game.

Why would you ever send an e-mail directly to TJ Simers? What a useless exercise. Not only does it cause more work for the guy who has to read all of it to him, some intern has to come up with a bunch of snarky responses. So, how about we all agree to let the 19-year-old have his weekend?

UPDATE: Is Penny pitching? Gamecast on mlb.com sayeth so. Meanwhile, Jon Weisman gives further background on our short roster at Coors.

Tracy has always managed the game as he wished it were being played, not as it is being played. If you run out of players late, you run out of players late. So what? If your starting pitcher has given up seven runs and the bases are loaded and you're only three down, you hit for him. If the same situation comes up later, then too damn bad. If the Dodgers would like to hire a psychic to sit next to Tracy and divine the results of the next five innings, I'm sure he'd be more than willing to listen. But until mankind invents a time machine, all you have is what's in front of you not what maybe could possibly in the future happen if all the stars align in magical ways.

Stop making excuses. Just do what needs to be done.

Tonight's Game

2005-04-23T18:26:00.000-06:00

I wouldn't bother. It appears that our guys have forgotten that curve balls don't curve and breaking balls don't break in the thin air of Colorado. Go spend time with your wife (or husband), balance your checkbook, look forward to the return of the I-told-you-so's coming the other way, and find something beautiful on this loveliest of Spring days.

UPDATE: Trying to come back from the 7-0 deficit Odalis Perez pitched us in to, Odalis Perez comes up in the fifth with the score 7-4, bases loaded and two out. No points for guessing that he hit for himself. No points for guessing the result.

UPDATE 2: No points for guessing that after getting the first two outs and going 0-2 on Michael Restovich (Who dat? Your guess is as good as mine), Odalis "comes back" to walk him, followed by a run-scoring double by "John Baker," a hotel alias. Seems like Duaner Sanchez could have done that, and we might have been able to turn that bases loaded situation into some actual runs that win games.

UPDATE 3: For those of you keeping score, the cost of giving up that golden bases-loaded opportunity was one non-scoreless inning from Perez. Tremendous.

UPDATE 4: Tracy, who couldn't be bothered to pinch hit for Odalis Perez with the bases loaded (and not exactly pitching the game of his life), jumped at the chance to bat for Hee Seop Choi against a left-handed pitcher, using Nori Nakamura, possessor of a .160 batting average to strike out on three straight pitches. I don't know, I think Choi probably could have done that.

UPDATE 5: Jose Valentin leaves the game after being hit on the wrist with a pitch. Reports are not favorable. Expect Edwin Jackson to get called up to pinch-hit against lefties.

UPDATE 6: The Dodgers fall 8-6. The result had we tried to actually win this game is lost to speculation. The bullpen does a great job, as usual. And we have our second major Tracy-ism of the season, and strangely enough, it again involves allowing a pitcher to hit at a completely inappropriate time. After this one, my reservoir of goodwill has ebbed decidedly.

Pack Journalism?

2005-04-23T14:09:00.000-06:00

Nooooooo. It couldn't be. Idiots taking each other to dinner and calling it journalism? Nooooooooooo. It couldn't be. Pack Journalism leading to Groupthink? Nobody ever thought of that one. Those "professionals" at the Los Angeles Times live up to their name. I think it's pretty clear what's been happening with the Dodgers over the off-season. Tim, why don't you just make Arte pay for dinner next time?

Blogging Is Like Crack

2005-04-22T09:19:00.000-06:00

Must...step...away...from...the...computer...

But I feel compelled to tell Jim Tracy something. Jason Jennings is pitching. He has 13 walks this season already.

Choi, Choi, Choi, Choi, Choi, Choi, Choi, Choi, Choi, Choi, Choi. Not Nakamura. And certainly not Grabowski. Choi.

Thank you.

MORE CRACK: Who are the Dodgers supposed to beat? They play the National League West a billion times. If the Giants, Padres, D-Backs all suck, who was supposed to win the National League West. Why is that any different than what the "guys at ESPN.com and CNNSI.com" are saying about the Dodgers being in the playoffs. The Rockies? Simers, stop being stupid.

MORE CRACK: Well, that was fun. Before the game starts, enjoy this bon mot.

MORE CRACK: And Choi it is. This ship will either sail or sink together.

MORE CRACK: I suspect the boys are tired. I would be. Maybe they can pull it together late, but what they likely need is a nice long nap.

MORE CRACK: Clubhouse rule that Weaver doesn't come out until he gives up at least eight runs.

MORE CRACK: Go home and get some sleep, guys. Come back tomorrow and let's go over .500 on this roadstand.

Surrender

2005-04-22T08:24:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Bandwagon! Though I'm not sure that amnesty goes this far. What do you think?

Tonight's Game

2005-04-21T19:11:00.000-06:00

Erickson v. Eaton again? Well, last time I didn't think it would work out. I'm writing off Scott Erickson. Three hit shut-out to follow.

Choi plays today and bats second. Jason Grabowski gets the start, this time in left field and batting eighth. Jason Phillips starts at catcher.

UPDATE: No excuse, we lost (or probably will lose) this game. But that was a Greg Gibson-level embarrassment behind the plate. Terrible strike zone all night.

UPDATE 2: The power of the automatic write-off is waning. Equilibrium is being restored.

UPDATE 3: Elmer Dessens is not OK. Travelled back to L.A. for more tests. DJ Houlton starts Sunday if Penny doesn't go for afore-mentioned weather related reasons.

UPDATE 4: By the way, not likely to be much going on here tomorrow, even if Plaschke takes the chance to write about a Dodger loss (as if those were never going to happen). Try, somehow, to carry on without us. I suspect that you can.

UPDATE 5: The Angels get to experience the sweet, sweet joy of facing a really bad bullpen. Best feeling in the world. As with Plaschke-endorsed Cesar Izturis, I am trying very hard to remember that the friend of my enemy is not necessarily my enemy. The Angels, of course, did beat the Giants, for which we owe them our undying gratitude. Now if we can just get Scioscia to stop bunting...

UPDATE 6: By the way, K-Rod. I can not believe the crap guys swing at against him. Just nasty. I love watching him pitch.

12-2 And We Need Something To Do

2005-04-21T15:47:00.000-06:00

Proving that a joke is always better the second time around, a Dodger Thoughts commentor re-discovers another major battle that took place the day of the Dodgers' Home Opener. (See 2:14 PM).

Mike Penner -- Also An Idiot

2005-04-21T08:06:00.000-06:00

I'm not even going to link to it. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Some Midnight News

2005-04-20T23:45:00.000-06:00

Brad Penny will pitch Sunday, unless there is "extreme cold weather." Makes sense to me. Elmer Dessens appears OK, and strangely I am pleased about that. Eric Gagne threw for a second day and "surprisingly hard." This starts the clock on his rehab.

Tonight's Game

2005-04-20T20:32:00.000-06:00

Screwed again by Dish Network. Thanks, guys. Meanwhile, consensus from other parts is that the error charged to Valentin should have gone to Nakamura. More political scoring. 1-0 Padres in the second, but Derek Lowe threw about 30 pitches in the first inning.

UPDATE: Well, Nakamura started at first base instead of Choi. Derek Lowe threw 120 pitches, including the entire eighth inning to the heart of the Padres' lineup. Milton Bradley bunted under questionable circumstances in the top of same.

And we won 3-1 in 10 innings. Jose Valentin put on another clinic on why scoring runs is more important than defense (since games are won by scoring runs). His two-run triple in the tenth won it. J.D. Drew went 3 for 5, including the game-tying home run in the eighth off a suddenly vulnerable Otsuka. The bullpen did its job with two scoreless. And Lowe is making everyone forget that 5.42 ERA last year. Meanwhile, while the defense has had some fairly high-profile blunders (and one tonight that led to the Padres' only run), on the whole, it continues to step up to the task.

4 1/2 games up -- on Arizona, vanquisher of Colorado and San Francisco. Commence the Plaschke Chant (yes, it's not really a song -- we'll call it a chant).

But be vigilant. Some things went wrong here tonight. Let not success blind us. But let us revel in it nonetheless.

Huh?

2005-04-20T08:55:00.000-06:00

Desperate to write about anything but the Dodgers, Bill Plaschke tackles the Troy Glaus issue. What Troy Glaus issue you might ask? The one where Troy Glaus lives up to his four year contract in the first two weeks of it. Well, I know enough about baseball to know that Plaschke is climbing up the stupid tree again. But knowing what little I do about the Angels, except for Tim Brown has little posters of Garrett Anderson and Adam Kennedy hanging in his office, I haven't decided whether to give it the full treatment. Perhaps one of the Angel sites around can do it better.

UPDATE: Yes, Dr. Plaschke was in on May 19, 2004 and had this to say: (Hat tip: Suffering Bruin)

"Which is why it was so odd Tuesday to see another corner of the Angel clubhouse empty.

It was the one belonging to Troy Glaus, who has decided he can no longer do the one thing that has marked this team like a bright red "A."

He could no longer play in pain.

Glaus has decided to essentially forgo the season and undergo right shoulder surgery requiring at least four months of recovery, a move that has flattened hopes and raised eyebrows.

Is the shoulder suddenly that bad? And does it have to be fixed now?"

UPDATE: I've changed my mind. School is out, Plaschke-fisking should not be left to the amateurs, and if one guy can write a lot about something he knows nothing about, why can't I? Fisking shall commence shortly.

UPDATE: Chuck E. Cheese took longer than I thought. You know the Plaschke article is stupid; I'll have to stick to his Dodger writing.

You Know This Isn't True

2005-04-20T07:59:00.000-06:00

Because T.J. Simers isn't capable of writing a beautiful sentence.

Removing The Beam From Someone Else's Eye

2005-04-19T20:40:00.000-06:00

I didn't get to watch the whole game today, but I know how to read a box score. And this box score tells me that Brady Clark was caught stealing for the fourth time in thirteen games this season. Apparently, he stole two on opening day (against Pittsburgh, and Dave Ross I guess), so Ned Yost decided he was Maury Wills. Why not just hit .180 and save us all the trouble? Ned Yost, you are an idiot. And thank goodness that you are.

Honestly, I'm Not Quite Sure What To Make Of This

2005-04-19T18:09:00.000-06:00

Who dis? Well, if the plan is to have Oates write about the Dodgers, and Tim Brown to write about the Very Darn Bestest Organization of Wonderful Human Beings Ever to Walk on God's Green Earth Since Jesus's Apostles Themselves of Los Angeles, that is a huge relief. Even if the plan is to get an analyst who can look at the team with fresh eyes and start over, free from the ludicrous brain smog afflicting most of the writers there, this is a very good start. Now, I don't mean to quibble, but there are some things we can work on here.

1) The Laptop Computer and Fantasy Baseball stuff is way, way overdone. For all we know he uses a desktop. As for Fantasy Baseball, this team resembles no fantasy baseball team I've ever seen. Those are the teams with the Urbinas and Kolbs that blow up every year. Steve Schmoll is on nobody's fantasy team.

2) The computer did not recommend that he let go of Adrian Beltre. We've been through this so many times, it is not profitable to do so again.

3) Olmedo Saenz is not new.

4) I don't think it's fair to say that the Dodgers have been "largely" ignoring scouts and other traditionalists. At least there is no evidence to suggest this.

5) "Half" of Beltre's charm is not his defense. This is Oates stretching to try fit Beltre leaving into a computer. Again, the Dodgers tried to keep Beltre.

6) Interesting that he mentions Shawn Green's first-ball hitting. It's not just the walks, but the ability to drive up pitcher pitch counts early in games. I would grade this point as incomplete.

7) The computer is telling us that Cora's "fielding excellence" may not be so excellent anyway.

8) Lima. Please.

But take our criticism as constructive, Mr. Oates. It's refreshing to see someone trying to pick through the smog and start over again where everyone should have been in the first place. This is a team that can win. Will it? Stay tuned.

UPDATE: If he's retired, this may not be a regular feature. What brought it about? Did Oates call in? Did Dwyre finally realize that the smog was so thick no one else could do anything like it? While I recognize the piece's faults, at least it doesn't suggest the low bias that permeates every other piece. Very strange.

Why, Cruel Baseball Gods, Why?

2005-04-19T10:05:00.000-06:00

I stand at the threshold of Law School completion, three and one half hours from my final final and the beginning of, at least, a two week vacation before Bar studying. So what's my reward? A Dodger day game -- before my final starts. Aarrggh. Distractions. I mean finals, that is.

Not to mention this Pope thing.

UPDATE: Fox News analyst tells us that the Cardinals had their "game faces" on. So it's not only ESPN.

UPDATE 2: Yes. The Baseball Gods are cruel. They denied me the joy of another fantastic comeback. Yet I will bear all burdens as long...as...this...keeps...happening. Those who have kept faith and not fallen are being richly rewarded.

UPDATE 3: By the way, since this site is nominally still "Fire Jim Tracy," I point out that Tracy hit and run with Jose Valentin at the plate with a full count and nobody out with Bradley on first. Valentin, predictably, swung and struck out, with Bradley thrown out by about fifteen feet. Valentin does two things better than anything else; strike out and hit home runs -- neither involves making contact and advancing a runner. But this team is so much fun this year, I hardly care any more.

Steve Phillips -- Still An Idiot

2005-04-18T22:16:00.000-06:00

From Idiot Central:

Matt (Pawling, New York): Steve, many of the baseball pundits were
extremely hard on Dodgers' GM Paul DePodesta about the moves he made
last year and over the winter. I know it's early, but with the Blue off
to a 9-2 start, aren't some of those pundits looking a little foolish?

SportsNation Steve Phillips: (12:26 PM ET ) Well, that would include
myself! I was very hard on the Dodgers offseason. My view is they have
far less defense than a year ago, slightly less offense, and their
pitching wasn't nearly as good as they thought it was with the losses of
Mota and Dreifort. So far the Dodgers offense has been on fire and has
covered up the other deficiences. They are averaging close to 7 runs a
game which is almost 1 full run more than the next closest team. The
season is 26 weeks long and we are only 2 weeks into it. Typically track
recoreds prevail. I still think the Dodgers are a third or fourth place
team in the NL West.

Yes, Steve, that would include yourself. Your problem is that you look a lot foolish. Name two obviously better teams (two weeks in, you know, it's early yet) in the National League West. The swept by Washington D-Backs (who now get to climb Mt. Colorado again)? The barely hit the ball out of the infield Padres? The Bonds-Alouless, pitching rotation led by Brett Tomko and Kirk Reuter Giants? That other team that I'm not even going to mention?

TRACK RECORDS PREVAIL?!??!! Show me Kirk Reuter's "track record." Show me Shawn Burroughs' track record. For God sakes, please don't show me Shawn Green's track record. I already know it. But while you're at it, show me the D-Backs' bullpen track record. Or Matt Herges' track record. Or Barry Bonds' non-juiced track record.

The simple fact is that all of this is absurd. The Dodgers may very well finish in third place. But this acting like the Dodgers are the only team in the whole world with weaknesses is ridiculous. And nobody should know that more than Steve Phillips, who saddled his own team with most of theirs. Though of course, Omar Minaya was able to pull off Kaz Ishii for Jason Phillips all by himself. Congratulations, Mets fans. Are you still dancing over that one?

By the way, our pitching hasn't changed at all. We still have a guy who can throw 95 but chooses to die on Slider Hill, and around him a bunch of no-names who cost about 1/5 of Ugueth Urbina, but about three times more effective.

Tonight's Game

2005-04-18T17:37:00.000-06:00

Milwaukee's TV guys are almost as bad as Colorado. Meanwhile, we're writing off Jason Grabowski tonight. Get at 'em, Jason.

UPDATES: The Brewers guy just called Olmedo Saenz a "young kid" on deck.

UPDATE: Let's not tell them about Jason Repko. Let's just let him hit the ball.

UPDATE: If you are near a computer, and not paying attention to this game, it's time to start. Find a bar, find a radio station. I can't tell you why. Just do it.

UPDATE: Well, we can talk about it now. Odalis took a no-no to the seventh, then melted down. Wunsch just got Overbay to fly out with two runners on the eighth. 4-3 Dodgers as we head to the top of the ninth, and Izturis singles to lead off the inning.

UPDATE: Fantasy owners of those losers Vernon Wells and Andruw Jones (you know who you are). Drop those stiffs immediately and pick up Milton Bradley. Do not pass go. Do not pass $200.

UPDATE: Commence singing! Meanwhile, the Browns have a 1-0 lead at home against Seattle.

This Looks Familiar

2005-04-18T11:30:00.000-06:00

Another "analyst" suddenly willing to give Paul DePodesta "time." Great. Where were you two months before the season started?

The Redemption of Souls

2005-04-17T20:45:00.000-06:00

Whatever horrible demon owns Dan Kolb's soul after last year is beginning to cash in. Next, Russ Ortiz.

Self-Parody

2005-04-17T18:56:00.000-06:00

George Steinbrenner spends 30 million on his bullpen and 15 million on Kevin Brown, then puts out this self-parody. We get the joke, George.

A Net Loss

2005-04-17T18:44:00.000-06:00

Tom Meagher announces a hopefully temporary retirement at The Fourth Outfielder. My first introduction to Tom was back when he lit into my very first post regarding Jim Tracy's decision to pitch Wilson Alvarez against Albert Pujols in the NLDS. He helped us keep the faith through the off-season, providing insights that the mainstream media couldn't have hoped to match. Here's to you, Tom. You were there when we needed you most. As Hunter S. used to say, Selah.

Plaschke Song!

2005-04-17T17:16:00.000-06:00

Jerry, darn you, I gave you the keys to the Plaschke Song, but you did not commence. Commence belatedly. Meanwhile, Harold Reynolds is full of it, claiming that he always knew Jeff Kent would produce, blah, blah, blah. What nonsense. Meanwhile, Chris Berman feels compelled to call out John Kruk to call Jeff Kent "one of the best second basemen in the game." Duh.

Meanwhile, oh oh. Look what's going on over there with the Tim Brown Angels of Anaheim. Not quite sure what Mike Scioscia was doing over there letting John Lackey pitch until Marco Scutaro embarrassed them and won the game, but I'm quite sure at this point that regardless of what this site is named, it's not the Angels that have the best manager in the metro area.

In other news, Ken Rosenthal, who joined the brain-dead zombie masses back in March, uprightly points out that March might be just a little too early to write off certain teams (though of course, it's never too late to write off any successes as "early" -- if 9-2 were so easy to do, seems like the Giants would have done it, seeing that all they've done is play Colorado for two weeks), and points out his mistake. Welcome back to the land of the living, and please stop chewing on my arm.

How About This Firm?

2005-04-17T16:06:00.000-06:00

Karsay, Stanton, Quantrill, Rodriguez, Sturtze, Gordon, Rivera?

Now that's bang for the buck. I think I counted 30 million dollars there. And they're 4-8? Bestill my beating heart.

Today's Game

2005-04-17T13:58:00.000-06:00

Jeff Weaver v. Tim Redding. Hopefully we see Happy Face Jeff Weaver and not Yankee Jeff Weaver. Meanwhile, look for one of those twenty pitch first innings against Redding as an early indicator.

MID-GAME UPDATE: Kent and Bradley go yard to help us up to a 3-0 lead. Jeff Kent (that idiot Tim Brown notwithstanding) is no surprise, but Bradley is swinging the bat beautifully, very patient but powerful.

MORE UPDATE: J.D., I never worried about you at all.

UPDATE: Chris Hammond throws the book on Choi away, gives him a slow curve. That was dumb. Choi doubles into the corner. The experiment continues.

UPDATE: Bottom of the Eighth, and it's time to go to Grandma's for Sunday dinner. One of the Plaschke Song rules is never call for a victory-related Plaschke song early (as opposed to fine defensive plays by Jose Valentin, etc.). It tempts fate. Therefore, I leave it to Jerry to lead the chants at the appropriate time and place.

Well Here's A Big Surprise

2005-04-17T13:36:00.000-06:00

I think I'm going to have a heart attack and die from this surprise:

The D-Backs have no relief pitching.

Well, slap me around and call me Nancy.

UPDATE: Shawn Green's hitting .262. That should sound vaguely familiar.

Tim Brown -- Angel Executive

2005-04-17T12:19:00.001-06:00

Tim Brown is rapidly hitting Plaschke-dom with his incessant use of the L.A. Times Sports Page as his own personal job application for the Executive V.P. -- Communications job with the Angels. Here, Tim lashes out at the Dodgers for putting a frog in Arte's backpack, or refusing to sign his yearbook, or calling him "Pizzaface" or some such thing:

The Dodgers need to get over themselves and list the Angels on their scoreboards as LAA. The refusal to recognize the franchise name — no matter how temporary — is petty. The flag flying over Yankee Stadium — there are 30, one for each team — calls them the Los Angeles Angels, which ought to be good enough for the Dodgers.

Well, I can't imagine why George Steinbrenner would want to curry favor with Arte Moreno, a big market owner with big pockets who might be a favorable vote on Yankee-approved labor, bargaining and ancillary issues. Or alternatively, I can't imagine why George Steinbrenner would care. On the other hand, the Angels were just clever enough to leave the "of Anaheim" in their name, and if the Dodgers call them that instead of "Los Angeles," well, Frank McCourt doesn't necessarily need to follow the Arte Moreno Death Squad's orders like the L.A. Times does. IS there a "the" in Staples Center again?

Now, we hate Tim Brown, and don't want him writing for the Times anymore. But he might have a family, and we certainly don't want them to starve just because Tim can't serve both the Angels and journalistic ethics at the same time. So, as a public service, and as a service to Mr. Brown himself, we present "Tim Brown's Los Angeles Angels Job Application Portfolio," a collection of items through the year that document the blind devotion that our favorite "analyst" has toward his favorite team, and the good job he would do as their own Ari Fleischer. Rather than having to expensively put together his press releases in a book, Mr. Brown can simply direct Mr. Moreno to this web site (and our soon-to-come successor web site) for documentation of his bona fides.

No need to thank us, Mr. Brown. You already did that when you misrepresented this site's purpose two weeks ago.

Upcoming New FJT Feature!

2005-04-17T08:54:00.000-06:00

Our name change? Not quite.

Does it involve Tim Brown? Most assuredly.

Mission Accepted

2005-04-16T22:54:00.000-06:00

Did the Dodgers make Ryne Sandberg eat it? Yes, they did. Did someone I didn't want Jim Tracy to start again come up with a big, run-scoring hit? Yes, he did. Am I going to let up on Tim Brown? Heavens, no. (He's taking Arte his fourth martini of the night as we speak.) Should you commence with the Plaschke Song? You have every reason. Am I ever going to stop lolly-gagging and decide on our new name? That has not been determined. Am I enjoying this season so far?

What do you think?

UPDATE: I wonder how big Moreno's TV screen is. Perhaps I'll e-mail Brown and find out.

Tonight's Game

2005-04-16T19:19:00.000-06:00

Scott Erickson v. Adam Eaton? Well, I wouldn't make us the favorites to sing the Plaschke Song tonight, but that's why they play the games. At least my Extra Innings is back.

UPDATE: J.D., welcome to RBI Land.

UPDATE 2: I like those 20 pitch first innings. Good stuff.

UPDATE 3: Remember what I said about Glenn Hoffman and his place on the bench? Yeah.

UPDATE 4: Erickson wobbles in the fourth, but gets out of it unscathed. Meanwhile, if there's one thing with this team I'm worried about, it's scoring runs.

UPDATE 5: I'll mention, in my defense, that the team coming into tonight had something like a .240 OBP against Eaton. But I forgot that this isn't the same team. :)

UPDATE 6: I believe that little gem by Jose deserves an early singing of the Plaschke song! Commence!

Tim Brown's Nightmares

2005-04-16T16:30:00.000-06:00

Let's see, when Tim Brown falls asleep in Arte Moreno's top bunk at night, what does he dream about:

1) The top of the Angels order, representing roughly 30 million dollars in payroll, going 0 for 19?

2) My new 40-year-old centerfield, the flagship paragon of "what's wrong with the Dodgers today" starting the season a cool 7 for 40, with the same number of home runs as a certain embattled Dodger first baseman.

3) Questionable defense that costs the Angels yet another game?

4) A manager who has one of the top five pitchers in baseball but Garneresquely refuses to use him?

I've seen a Plaschke cry, I've seen a Simers lie, I've seen a Shaikin write like he was high. But I think I'll have seen about everything, when I see Tim Brown...stop treating baseball like his junior high prom, and start coming up with semi-original thoughts that aren't intruded upon by random Moreno-induced orgasms.

Thank you.

UPDATE: Brown's embarrassing nomination of Arte Moreno to win the Nobel Peace Prize appears to have finally, mercifully, passed behind the Times' archive wall, or I would link to it yet again, that we may bathe in all of its baseball-porn glory, ruminating on this wonderful organization that drives Tim Brown to the very depths of ecstacy. May it rest in peace. While no self-respecting organization would allow him to write about the Angels anymore, that, self-evidently, does not eliminate the Los Angeles Times from allowing him to do so.

A Bigger Traffic Accident Than The Rockies

2005-04-16T16:08:00.000-06:00

Rob had himself quite a game last night.

Breaking the Mold

2005-04-16T14:02:00.000-06:00

How did Bill Shaikin get through an entire article without telling us how the Padres have done since 1985 without Tim Flannery in the lineup?

Things That Just Shouldn't Be Possible

2005-04-16T13:51:00.000-06:00

How did Cleveland get to be 4-7 with the best 8 hitter in the game on their roster? Shocking. Is there anyone else that needs to be driven back into the caves, or has Jeff Kent finally convinced everyone that he is an improvement on Alex Cora?