The Collins Curse is over (maybe?)! The Dodgers get their first non-NL West road sweep since June 2008, sweeping the sub-.500 Brewers. A 1-1 tie quickly got out of hand starting with a one-run fifth inning (Scott Podsednik single scores Brad Ausmus), a two-run sixth inning (with two outs, Free James Loney walks and Casey Blake powers a HR), and a three-run seventh inning (Kenley Jansen walks, which led to Ryan Theriot and Reed Johnson RBI singles, as well as a wild pitch while Matt Kemp was at the plate getting prepared to strike out).
Carlos Monasterios had a short 4.1 IP (2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, HR given up to Prince Fielder in the fourth), but a rested bullpen allowed Ronald Belisario, George Sherrill, Jansen, Octavio Dotel, and Jeff Weaver to all come in for scoreless, no-hit performances (Jansen gave up a walk but struck out four in 2.0 IP; Dotel struck out the side in the eighth). (Monasterios' two hits given up were, obviously, the Brewers' only two hits in the game.)
Separately, this PGT allows you to scoreboard watch the Diamondbacks at Padres game, which just started (Snakes lead 1-0 in the second). Go D’backs!
88 comments:
D-backs ust went up 4-0 on the Padres thanks to a Stephen Drew three-run HR in the top of the secon. Kevin Correia is struggling.
^second
So, I decide to check out the Snakes and Friars on the ol' MLB.tv and the first thing out of the Pods TV announcers' mouths is a discussion of the shadows.
I swear to God, they need to outlaw things getting between the sun and other things. HOW WILL BASEBALL SURVIVE THIS MENACE?
This enormous ball of incandescent gas will devour us all!
@DB: Just heard on MLBTR that you're being considered for the Dodgers manager job next year. Way to go, mang!
Yes, I listen to websites. Reading them is for suckers.
I thought retail is for suckers.
I'm having a great year with the Reds and I like it here. Right now I'm just concentrating on winning games and making the playoffs. I won't entertain any speculation until after the season.
*switches toothpick to other side of mouth*
Well, I don't pay retail for websites, either. I usually pick them up on Santee.
Speaking of discounts, how did your Camarillo jaunt go, MLASF?
Not too good. I usually go for the Nike store, but they were out of Laker shirts.
I wouldn't mind anyone on Heyman's list, primarily as I think managers have little impact on the outcome of games. Mattingly would be the best just out of name recognition, though Wallach would make sense from an organizational standpoint. It all depends if Torre wants to retire or go to another team, and if Mattingly follows him if he chooses the latter.
Cards with an early lead on the Nats, 1-0 in the bottom of the second.
Pod Rays deserve to have they ass beat what with wearing unis like that. Throwback or not, they're putrid.
Bunting up in Pod Rays park looks like fried eggs.
And I, for one, welcome our new Hydrogen-based overlord.
Nats are threatening with men on the corners and nobody out. Down 5-4.
And now the bases are full.
Sac fly ties the game. Still men on corners with one out now.
Arizona up 11-0 on the camouflaged ones
Another sac fly gives the Nats the lead, 6-5.
Go, Nats!
I've always been a supporter of the 70's Pods unis. They were arguably the worst uniforms in the history of baseball, and that should count for something. I must insist on the yellow pants, however.
Nats extend their lead on a Willie Harris bases-loaded single. 8-5 Nats.
Nats are prepared to choke this one away.
Not cool.
Tie game on an HBP.
Sweet mother of shit, Nats.
Le sigh.
Stoopid Nats tie up the stoopid game.
I'm watching Rangers and Twins and I think if this is gonna be the ALCS,the Twins are toast.
Nats storm back! Let's get some runs, my little foster team!
While observing Adam Kennedy's marathon AB, I wonder: what is the longest an at bat has gone without a ball?
Buster Olney shooting down the statlickers (via twitter).
"The premise that Cy Young candidates should be judged on what their numbers should be, rather than what they actually are, is amusing. That thought process certainly would have altered the results in 1961 -- because I guess Roger Maris wasn't supposed to hit 61 homers. The Dodgers, I guess, should not have won the '88 World Series; Bucky Dent should have flied out to left. Lucky? Really? They did it."
The thing I find so comical about FIP is that they had to make another statistic to correct the original statistic.
Olney > xFIP
Say, I know I'm late and must catch up with the drinking, but there's a misplaced apostrophe on the thread intro. Turns "Maulins" into a possessive. My question then becomes; "The Maulin's what?"
We go to the bottom of the 12th in our nation's capital, with the Nats and the Cards tied at 10.
I was going to point that out RBN, but my screwed up grammar comment caused by the parking guy last night put me in timeout for today.
GOD DAMMIT ADAM KENNEDY
Nats will get it done right here.
The apostrophe replaces a g.
Nats have a prime chance here.
Josh,
Ohhhhhh.
I hate this and I don't know what to say. I hate everything. I hate the anti-stat bias. I hate the stat elitism and cynicism. I'm at work late and trying to work, but I feel like I have to respond to that.
I agree with Buster Olney, but I wonder who he's arguing against. Maybe you're criticizing people that go too far with fancy numbers, MR. LASF, and maybe I have no idea exactly what drama has been going on in the blogosphere, but are there "stat lickers" that would be willing to give out an award based on a stat like xFIP? Most reasonable people (even the stat licking inclined) would agree that you give awards based on actual performance. It seems like Buster Olney is making a scarecrow argument. I like reading about things like xFIP, but that doesn't automatically mean I'd give out an award based on it.
I think fancy stats are developed more to try and predict the future rather than reward the past (which is what awards do...). ie, xFIP is used to try to evaluate pitching on its own merit, minimizing the effects of chance and dependence on fielding. That way, you can try to figure out who's gotten a little lucky with their numbers (ie, given up line drives that happen to be hit right at fielders, given up a bunch of warning track fly balls that just miss being home runs).
It's probably not perfect but it's something that's developed because it's something that's being researched. Why do fancy stats have to be criticized? It's the people that mis-use them and give them more credit than they should be given.
They're just an attempt to create a better tool. They're not perfect, but they're in development. How is that something that needs to be belittled? I enjoy reading about these things. Yeah, people are stupid and learn about things without having a good sense perspective about it. That doesn't make the "thing" the thing that needs to be criticized. And as someone who enjoys reading about these things, I feel unfairly lumped into the "stat licker" category.
Part of the reason I migrated to SoSG is so I could avoid all of this inter-blogging bickering. I just want to enjoy baseball. And part of the reason I enjoy it is because I can appreciate it on multiple levels. The existence of things like xFIP don't necessarily mean one has to stop enjoying the actual game, like the magic of the Dodgers '88 season for example. I feel like on some level, I'm being accused of being less of a fan because I like these fancy numbers. That's what I find offending.
Hooray. I wasted close to a fucking hour pathetically trying to write something vaguely coherent when I could have been getting actual work done so I could go home and sleep at a reasonable hour so I could get to work at a reasonable hour so I could leave work tomorrow at a reasonable hour. Sigh.
NATS WIN!
Blogger is so confusing...
Generals beat Globetrotters! Generals beat Globetrotters!
@Mr F - We all like stats here. Me, Mr C, Dusty. But we, or at least I, have grown to lose a lot, if not all, respect for MOKM. So everything I say in respect to stats and mocking them is in fact me mocking MOKM. Please don't take it personally, it's nothing against you. It's just a petty feud I have with another blogger.
Exactly what MLASF said. The stats are a proxy for smug, self-aggrandizing bloggers who seem to have been bled of every ounce of enjoyment from the game and instead just wallow in loathing for the franchise and in statistics that may or may not actually mean a god damned thing. Your liking of and discussion about stats is more than welcome here - and in fact encouraged. We just enjoy the game itself above all else; certainly above trying to show mow much smarter we are than the GM or the manager.
Never tell me the odds.
Either way, using Buster Olney to defend an argument just seems like an awful idea.
I'm going to waste away at work some more while my productivity diminishes due to hunger and tiredness. Sigh.
I can't stand scarecrowing arguments and I can't stand Buster Olney. So him doing the scarecrowing (which may not be so rare) really upsets me.
I was working all day so i am out of the loop about Buster.
So instead I am going to look at the dodgers schedule and map out our incredible comeback.
If we can take four of the next six, I'd say we're back in the thick of things.
And we're playing Rox, who are 4 games back in WC. At least we're playing a team above us, so our fate is in our own hands. Doable with 34 games left.
@MR.F, MLASF
Echoing what MLASF said. I'm not fond of the internecine bickering, but far as I'm concerned, a lot of the negativity floating around in the twitter-sphere simply stems from our mutual frustration a fans of a team that is having a less than stellar season. This, too, shall pass.
I would not say that I am enamored with Some of Coletti's decisions, but I've grown weary of reading doom-and-gloom prophecies on a daily basis. Hence, I hang out here and continue to enjoy baseball games, solve puzzles, and associate with other borrachos y deviantes just like myself.
I don't want to judge anyone for the way they enjoy a game that I love, but constant and abject misery ain't healthy, so I abstain.
Other people here type much faster than I do.
Mr F
The other thing that drove us mad was some Twitterati were particularly rude to some Tweeters, calling them names just because they disagreed. That, my friend, is far worse than a straw man argument.
I think I wrote that comment just so I could use the word "Internecine".
Fair enough. Lack of harmony upsets me. I think it's childhood trauma related. But yeah, MR. LASF's blog-equivalent of wall-punching gets to me. I'll try not to let it upset me so.
Yeah, not to tell you what to do or how to think, Mr F, but of all the things in the world to worry about, this stat business surely has to be no more than #732,825,045 on the list.
BUT PUNCHING WALLS IS WHAT I DO
@DB: I have a lot of problems....
We play 3 of the 4 teams ahead of us!
We can at least make it interesting.
Fuck Donnie Avery went down in a heap. There goes my football buzz
Rams fan, eh? Well, we know what to do with them in these parts....
Dammit, I was bluffing.
Until LA gets a team and even then my memories of watching Fresno State star Henry Ellard are locked in. So the Rams have my heart and if it is soaking wet their cleats have made a mess.
I missed Vinny's Caddshack/Baby Ruth/Marge Schott's dog story from Saturday night but just now heard it when I was re-watching the game I had on DVR. Oh my.
ESPN employs the "Laker defense" to explain the Phillies' woes.
http://es.pn/9y4LT8
Let's just ignore the possibility that they, oh, I don't know, SUCK ASS.
Is Brad Lidge back? I cannot keep up with his comebacks.
That is right don't call it a comeback.
Worst ever name for a Fantasy Baseball Team?
"Brad Lidge's Backne"
@rbnlaw 7:54p: The added apostrophe is supposed to represent the missing "g" in "mauling", not to indicate any possessive form.
@Mr C 9:11p: I love that word, "internecine". Nice!
Once again, I appear to be closing down the bar.
.
.
.
.
I'm okay with that!
Hey, what if I want a drink? am I too late?
Karina, there's always an open tap for you...
I missed another wild thread, apparently.
*downs a shot*
Thanks Sax!I guess I'll take a shot to join Josh
To streaming Dodger Talk, karina! Long may it's callers befuddle us.
Sax, let me close the bar since I have insomnia
Now THERE is a rogue apostrophe. STOOPID IPHONE.
@Josh, I was just going to nag you about that rogue apostrophe!
Last call!
@Josh I didn't see your last comment:
To DodgerTak
Long may its callers befuddle us
and the man who opened that world to me :)
Looks like I passed my insomnia from last week on to you guys.
It stinks in here.
Mr C I didn't sleep a bit last night. Strangely, I'm not tired or sleepy.
sigh
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