Charlie Haeger (0-1, 3.86) vs. Ted Lilly (9-7, 3.42).
COMMENTS: So what is the truth about Dodgers starter Charlie Haeger, the recently-promoted pitcher who pitched admirably in his first start this season, last week against the Cardinals? Well, he doesn't consult any statistics about the opposing batters. He throws an unpredictable knuckleball to which only Rick Ankiel and Albert Pujols caught up in his last game through 7IP (which unfortunately earned him the loss). And Thandie Newton is pretty cute. But I'm going to stop this charade of a Game Thread and leave it up to ol' Charlie to bring the Dodgers a third straight win this afternoon at the Ravine.
209 comments:
1 – 200 of 209 Newer› Newest»Let's put the hurt on Chi-Town.
That works, right? Chi-Town?
Headed to the Yard now. Section 42 FD Row U Seat 1. Bring dis shit on, Cubbies!
*rips shirt off*
*quickly realizes less-than-presentable physique and puts shirt back on*
Drop me a line at bakerkm45@gmail.com if you're in the area.
Chi-Town is that tea that hipsters drink, right?
Haeger slacks? Hopefully not.
Today's Russ, Loney, and Andre-free lineup:
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Manny, LF
Blake, 3B
Kemp, RF
Hudson 2B
Loretta, 1B
Ausmus, C
Haeger, P
Josh, I canNOT believe you just went there with the Haeger slacks reference. I'm shaking my head saying no, no, no, why did you go there and then I'm nodding my head saying yes, yes, yes what a great reference.
Do you suppose Charlie Haeger drinks Cabo Wabo tequila?
It's games like these that make me wish the Dodgers had picked up V-Mart. Having that bat in the line-up on Loney's day off would actually give us more pop. Alas, he is a Red Sock and likely feeling blue right now.
Time for the rbn family to make it's annual pilgrimage to Woodland Hills. Family BBQ in the Valley in August. Always a sweat-fest. Luckily, they're also Dodger fans, so the game will be on in the well air-conditioned house.
@Andrew:
Maybe not, but I hear he can't throw 55.
Really. That KB is a soap bubble.
Tony and Manny have a secret handshake!
Nationally televised game today, so that means manny is going yard.
Charlie not looking as sharp today, but he said earlier that he likes it humid, so he may be OK.
I'm starting to dislike this Fuld guy.
Love the knuckleball. BTW, why doesn't Torre go to a more ideal defense when he sits Ethier? Pierre in LF, Kemp in CF, Manny in RF. Pierre's arm isn't nearly as exposed then and Dodger Stadium is a similar defensive environment in LF and RF. You also have much better defense at the most important OF position.
Raffy showing some pop there. Dead center is not where his power is, however.
Nineteen pitches but Charlie escapes the first unscathed. Nothing over 77 mph, either!
well this is on not on the east coast and most of the midwest
so will manny still go yard?
Pierre taking one for the team. Might as well get 3 more of those Juan.
Josh s, HUGE golf clap for the "Haeger slacks" reference. Love it!!!
Sax - He hit 80 once on the FOX gun. He actually has a harder fastball, so I wonder if we will see that.
wow mannywood is empty
should have sat there
damnit Pierre.
Jp has been a liability on the base paths lately.
D-Lee showing his range, much to my chagrin.
didnt matter
manny would have had GIDP
I don't understand how Pierre got fooled by that move. It looked like one of those lazy throws to first that runners usually scuttle back standing up.
I really hate Pierre :(.
Ken - Not necessarily. Pitchers aren't in a vacuum. Lilly may well have thrown different pitches. Also, Lee wouldn't have gotten to the ball if he was holding Pierre.
DP.
Nice
I love it when a plan comes together.
It's a beautiful thing
yea ur prolly right
with pierre still on
manny prolly wouldnt have gotten anything good to hit either
wats wrong with pierre?
dun bash pierre
he filled in for manny nicely
damn fox on the east coast, everything stops for the vaunted yankees v. bo sox matchup
Bison!!!
BISON MODE
Kemp hit that one to the team store!!!
in play run(s)!!!!!!
he hit it to the left field level entrance
Wow with what Karros just said. As far as any ball he has ever seen hit at Dodger Stadium. That includes the Piazza shot over the roof then.
It sounded like it was shot out of a cannon.
wow cant wait to see that later
Karros is absolutely fawning over the Bison.
Damn you Fuld.
damn it sam fuld
vin scully is gonna love that
Wow. Loretta put a home run swing on that. It goes to show he just doesn't have it anymore.
Seriously, if Chad Billingsley put a swing like that on a pitch that bad, it would be 5 rows up.
Alireza - Karros should be fawning over him.
Lorretta is done.
anyone know how aaron miles is still in the league?
Cabell - Loretta is ok if he hits those low line drives and takes walks. The problem is that pitchers seem to be wise and are grooving pitches to him that they know he can't hit out.
Alireza - That's true. That's not good considering he's being used mostly as a pinch hitter.
koufax - Scrappy McScrapperson. The problem with Miles is that he doesn't have the actual talent of other "scrappy" players like Theriot and Eckstein.
That ate Raffy up. I am really starting to dislike Sam Fuld too, though he and I share the same birthday.
Fuld is a pest.
let this be a time
where i say again that we should have got victor martinez
Cabell - i like Loretta as a lead-off the inning PH, with Pierre as the guy with runners on. Unfortunately, Torre seems to do just the opposite.
Wow. I think Uncle Milty was almost hustling on that play.
is ausmus getting close at all on fuld's steals? or is he getting in easily?
@ ali
true that
i dont know why torre does some of the stuff he does
@ koufax
fuld is getting tremendous jumps off of haeger
he is pretty fast too
ausmus had no chance on either
FYI - the team from Chicago has gotten 1 hit in the past 12 innings of baseball.
koufax - The first one he had no chance. Fuld got a jump, Charlie threw a knuckler and Bradley swung and missed. He made the second one pretty close, though I think Martin probably would have gotten him.
f*cking fuld
taking manny's homer last night
then extra bases twice today
Now I hate this guy.
I hate that guy.
Holy shit. Ausmus murdered that ball, Fuld was over shifted and made an insane play.
tough to be a catcher with a knuckleball pitcher. tough to catch it and then you are at such a disadvantage against a base stealer
Fuld has also been the only real threat offensively the Cubs have had.
Lilly is pitching terribly today and Fuld has saved his ass.
That was almost the sweetest bunt ever.
Well, except for that one that Pierre bunted over Larry's head for a double.
if i were lou, i would sit soriano for at least a week, fuld is a plus defender and has a pretty decent bat
koufax - Fuld has zero power (watch him plant a knuckleball now). Given the way the Cubs are built, that can be a problem.
The no-hitter is broken up.
That is a rare kind of hit to get off a knuckleball.
@alireza
with the way soriano looks at the plate i would say he has zero hitting ability
I fully believe Haeger has the potential to be something really special. He really seems to be able to command the floater.
koufax - He has hit for some HR power. Still, I agree that he has looked absolutely terrible.
Here is a question. Can Fuld throw? If so, he might make sense in RF for the Cubs.
i wonder if fukudome has ever seen a knuckler
Alireza - Agreed on Haeger. I believe he scheduled to pitch on Friday.
Haeger making Fukudome look stupid.
Happy birthday to Wolf and Weaver, our two scrap heap pickups.
koufax - It is thrown in Japan. In fact, there is at least one woman who I believe is tooling around the Japanese minor leagues throwing one with some success. Many think it may be the key to a woman playing in MLB at some point.
very interesting ali
@ ali
i saw the woman who was pitching in japan
pretty wicked stuff from the clips i saw
Haeger is on his game today.
i love watching haeger's ERA go down after every inning. small sample size, but 2.45 against two decent teams now.
Wow. The knuckleball can make a batter look so awful sometimes.
Why did we sign Padilla again? With the off day, we might as well plug Haeger into Kuroda's spot.
they are prolly gonna have to take him out around 6 innings, or he might lose effectiveness 3rd time around
Ken - I wouldn't doubt there are women out there who can touch 80 or so. If they can combine that with a knuckleball and maybe some other sort of breaking ball, they could easily have MLB success.
Oh goodness. Signs of the 2007-2008 Juan Pierre right there.
Ken - I don't see that. Not the least of which because he can actually throw reasonably hard if he needs to.
im pretty sure she had a shooto
its harder to hit something that slides and has a heavy break than a straight and fast pitch
we cant let lilly off the hook, need more runs. seems to be the offensive story of the dodgers the past month.
That was close.
manny seems to be gettin very very good rips the last few games
Fuld isn't catching that one.
Beard Mode.
You can't touch the Beard Sam Fuld.
i kept thinkin fuld was gonna climb the wall ala taka style in major league 2
Lily giving up too many flyballs.
It would be nice if someone could get on base before a homerun is hit.
Cabell - That is Lilly's MO. Fly balls and Ks.
Penos - You are such a curmudgeon. :-P
@ cabell
he hasnt fooled any one
everyone has gotten a good rip
especially the power guys and even the contact guys
Alireza - I know.
its amazing lilly does well playing in wrigley, you would think he would prefer a more spacious ball park like citifield or something.
Kemp runs that down.
It's weird seeing him in RF.
koufax - Lilly does well on days where the wind is blowing in at Wrigley. It is impossible to hit homers then.
Matt Kemp says "Sam Fuld, you are no Bison"
the defense will get a lot of work when padilla pitches
almost everything is in play
Haeger is walking more guys today, but his stuff is arguably better.
That trivia question is such a set up, because Karros is one of the answers. BTW, Piazza is not.
i know karros is one of the guys who hit went 30-100 for 5 seasons
@alireza
against the cards his knuckler didnt look all that amazing. it seemed that the cards had bad plate discipline and psyched themselves out. Is the ball moving better for Haeger today than against the cards?
piazza did it 4 seasons, i think is barely missed 5
Karros benefited significantly from having Piazza in front of him for a lot of his homers.
2nd is the duke
whos the 3rd?
Ken - Piazza only did it 3 seasons exclusively as a Dodger.
koufax - Haeger's ball is fluttering a bit more, but he seems to be hitting corners with it more. Also, he throws a lot harder than most KBers, so you won't see quite as much flutter.
Ken - Incorrect. He didn't do it as a Los Angeles Dodger. Unless they are covering all Dodger seasons.
i could only think of gil hodges having power and played for them for a long time
so hodges, duke snider, and eric karros
is it only LA dodgers hist?
pat on the back~
Ken - Hodges did it too, though in Brooklyn.
Ah, looks like they did cover Brooklyn.
Epale all!
Yes, Fuld can throw (saw him on winter baseball)
Yay Ken.
Ausmus just swung at a really bad pitch.
lilly pretty efficient with his pitches so far, only 65.
karina - You are right. I just looked up his MiLB stats and it looks like CF is his normal position, with RF following.
There you go. Put Fuld in RF in Wrigley.
koufax - That is what happens when you groove all your pitches, get really lucky and have Sam Fuld playing LF.
or in center for that matter, im not convinced that fukudome is that great
Beast Mode with a Bison impression!
Nice catch for Pierre. Kemp wouldn't have made it so interesting.
Oh, belated thanks for the golf clap, Sax.
koufax - Fukudome is a superlative defender, though he is probably more suited to RF. That said, it is apparently harder to play RF at Wrigley than CF.
That last pitch was a strike damn it.
One thing you can say about Frank. He is styling.
i think thats it for haeger
Fuld also has a knack for being clutch.
By the way, my absence is due to the fact i was cooking and eating with my brother, not because King James is not playing today :)
haeger's era through 2 games - 2.08, i think torre pulls him here. standing applause.
King James and the Bison is gonna be at Melrose in a few hours
is anyone going?
Man Fuld seriously ate fence on that Ausmus catch.
haeger sticking around for some more i see
Why the hell would he pull Haeger? Anyway, he is leading off the inning.
he would pull haeger for 2 reasons:
(1) he doesnt trust rookies; and
(2) he always pulls pitchers too soon
Baseball brutalized by Raffy.
young guy, torre loves to pull guys
i hope he will still be effective
koufax - He was fawning over Haeger during the FOX interview, so that was a positive. Also, I don't know if he is that bad at pulling starters early, just overusing the 'pen once he gets there.
@ koufax
we think alike once again
he is pulling guys who are pitching well
i think wolf could have finished the game last night
indeed ken.
i think a big point too is that throwing 90 knucklers is not as bad on the arm as throwing 75 fastballs at 90mph
Ken - I agree that Wolf should have been at least allowed to pitch the 8th.
but randy is not that old, 90-100 pitches is not taxing him
yea knuckleballers fcould prolly go like 130-150
Ken - Randy has a major injury history. He has largely fixed his bad mechanics, but Torre probably doesn't know that.
i think the pen has already been used way too much
thank goodness for MAC and weaver for being good long relievers
bust out the whooping stick manny, give us some breathing room.
Oh bollocks. That was not a strike.
Wow. Lilly got nasty just when he needed to there.
oh manny
they appear to be squaring up the knuckle a little more now.
charles in charge!
KKKKKKKnuckler
ERA 1.93
Is Haeger the starter we need?
Karina, I think Haeger should be the 5th starter, but I'm sure they're going to see how Padilla does first.
You can see the bees swarming around the camera.
I've been in and out of the room. What's going on with the bees?
Damn, I almost thought he'd get out of that. How many guys did they use to get him?
2-6-3-4-6-1. Ha!
broxton?
From Haeger to Broxton, that has really gotta eff with a batters timing.
Dammit, Kemp.
Why Broxton?
Isn't Fuld annoying? i never thought he was going to annoy as a MLB player.
MLSF what happened there couldnt tell on gameday
Kemp lost the ball in the sun.
Broxton's in because this is the heart of the Cubbies' lineup. No point saving him for the ninth.
gameday had that as a strike.
yes!
Give that man some applause.
Got'em!
That's the only time you'll see Loretta get an infield-single.
So weird. I leave for a little bit and come back to see Broxton in a pressure situation...but it's only the 8th?
Huhwuzzuh?
here we go tony
Lou Pinella: Damn Weight Watchers. I still can't see my feet.
sherrill gonna close it?
Wow! Joe using the bullpen ace strategy? Pretty good idea...it seems like the eighth was as high leverage of an inning as this game should see, with a runner on and the heart of the order coming up.
@ andrew
it is also building his confidence back up
looks like early season Broxton
omg loretta stole a base!
How pathetic. Loretta steals third.
Flash Loretta!
Way to sacrifice raffy.
wasted opportunities
Fuuuuuuuuuuu...
...dge.
(Only I didn't say fudge.)
@ josh
i love that movie!
Torre is thinking rather creatively.
ive noticed that sherrill is quite a battler, never gives up when he is behind in the count
Tension building
F
Holy shit, the home plate ump has been horrible this inning.
That was exhausting.
3 in a row baby!
Breezy almost gave me a heart attack.
It's a win, gents. However, we need a little bit of offense
Karina, that almost sounded less than optimistic. How unlike you! :)
Now we can sit back and see which team drops back a game. What a great feeling!
Knowing my luck, the Dodgers will lose tomorrow. It's my first game against the Cubs, and my first game with Bills starting.
I'm using Koufax's line for my post title. Just giving credit where credit is due.
Mr LASF: they are not going to lose just because Erin is going tomorrow and she got very powerful magic the other day. Besides Sax is going to be there too and the Dodgers are undefeated when Sax graces the stadium. Plus, we'll have your rookie luck :)
@Josh i'm just a little worried, not pessimistic!
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