The Russ Ortiz Sketch Comedy Routine Must End

With the news yesterday that James McDonald has been removed from starting rotation consideration, the implications on the remaining prospective candidate base are huge. First, on McDonald:

"I'm probably leaning at this point to keeping him in the bullpen,'' Torre said.

Torre cited the performances of veterans Ramon Ortiz and Russ Ortiz -- who are in camp as non-roster invitees and neither of whom has given up a run in the Cactus League thus far -- and Eric Stults and Charlie Haeger, both of whom are on the 40-man roster and out of minor league options, as reasons why McDonald is out of the running.

McDonald has struggled in both of his Cactus League appearances, giving up six earned run on eight hits in four innings.

It's disappointing for McDonald, whom I think hasn't hit his stride yet and still has great potential. But it's more disappointing for Dodger fans who see a huge Titanic-style disaster (the boat, not the movie) on the horizon: Russ Ortiz. Yes, SoSG Delino's nemesis and fantasy draft nightmare is still, illogically, a viable candidate to be the Dodgers' fifth starter, as part of Ned Colletti's spaghetti strategy to spring signings. This, despite the fact that Ortiz's spring performances (including yesterday vs. the White Sox) are shaky:

Veteran Russ Ortiz, in camp on a minor league contract and trying to resurrect a career that appeared last season to be on life support, started and went four shaky innings on a day when he had been slated for five. He gave up two earned runs and six hits over four innings and was in constant trouble, the White Sox putting runners into scoring position in each of the first three innings.

Rule 5 right-hander Carlos Monasterios, meanwhile, entered to start the sixth and pitched three shutout innings without giving up a hit.

Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness has a great piece placing odds on who might be the fifth starter, and Russ Ortiz is waaaaaay at the bottom, at 0.0000001%. But to be fair, these odds also reflect a deep-seeded hatred of Russ Ortiz:

If you’re wondering why I’m giving slightly more hope to one busted R.Ortiz over another, it’s because Ramon has thrown nearly twice the innings Russ has in camp – and because I’ll be the first to admit I have an irrational hatred of Russ Ortiz. The Giants and D-Backs connections, the huge contract, the total flameout, the age – I don’t want any part of it.

We're totally aligned with MSTI on this. We Sons (and I'm also including Orel as well as myself) don't like the idea of Russ Ortiz hanging around, either, and it's time for this tomato can to get off the depth chart altogether. If management's obsession is with Ortizes, we still have Ramon in camp, and we can always give Tito a call.

Enough with the comedy, Ned and Joe. Cut him off.

Game 14 Thread: April 21 @ Astros, 5p

Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 1.50) vs. Russ Ortiz (0-0, 6.23).

COMMENTS:

• Russ Ortiz!
• Russ Ortiz!
• Russ Ortiz!
• Russ Ortiz!
• Russ Ortiz!
• Russ Ortiz!
• Russ Ortiz!
• Russ Ortiz!

Russ Ortiz: One in a Row

I'll be the first to say it. Russ Ortiz put up a STELLAR inning of work. Orel Hershiser's already looking over his shoulder at Ortiz's streak of perfection.

The Delino's coverage of the trials and more trials of Russ Ortiz are widely known.

ARE YOU READY FOR THE RETURN OF RUSS E.R.TIZ

Russ Ortiz - How Bad is He?

"Sometimes, Dead is Better"

Yeah, I might have been a bit harsh along the way (though compared to certain SoSGers attacks on Beast Mode Pierre, I'm a frikkin' saint).

I'd love nothing more than to see Russ Ortiz have a John Travolta-Jason Bateman-Backstreet Boys-Mickey Rourke level comeback.

BEFORE

AFTER

So here's to you, Russ Ortiz. Stay strong, and make us snarky bloggers eat our words all season long!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Thanks to Mr. LA Sports Fan for the tip: Ken Gurnick tweets that the...

Dodgers sign pitcher Russ Ortiz and outfielder Michael Restovich to Minor League contracts.

That's right, Russ Ortiz. RUSS ORTIZ. All the mockery (the mockery!) of Russ Ortiz we've done at SoSG is finally coming home to roost. (Not sure how that works, but you know what I mean.) RUSS ORTIZ

Earlier at SoSG: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (2007)
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (2008)
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (2009)

I can't believe we've already used our NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! allotment for 2010.

ARE YOU READY FOR THE RETURN OF RUSS E.R.TIZ

The time has come for the Ishtar of the MLB - Russ Ortiz! (As covered by this mild-mannered blogger here). Tomorrow, Ortiz takes the mound against Derek Lowe, in a matchup with a larger Over than most Laker games.

According to MLB.com, Ortiz 3.0 might be an improvement just by being closer to Ortiz 1.0.

It's entirely possible that Giants fans won't notice any change in Russ Ortiz since he left the club after the 2002 season. He has recaptured the delivery he used then -- simply put, bringing his arm back in a semicircle as he prepares to throw. This imparts force and movement on his pitches, which he lacked for the last two seasons as he merely hoisted his arm upward before releasing the ball. Ortiz and the Giants are fully confident that he's no longer the pitcher who struggled to a 5-19 record in 2005-06.

Who knew 1/2*Pi*R^2 was the issue. The last time Ortiz won a game was August 29, 2005 (just as "My Humps" reached its peak), and has since lost the past 11 decisions in a row. SoSG wishes Mr Ortiz the best in his pursuit of a Dirty Dozen.

Russ Ortiz - How Bad is He?

Short answer - pretty bad.

Long answer - REALLY REALLY bad.

It's comforting to know that the Giants are now GUARANTEED a loss every fifth game. Over the past few years, Ortiz stunk up every game he even walked by. In Dec 2004, Ortiz signed a four-year, $33 million contract with Arizona. ($22 Million of which he got paid not to play... nice work if you can get it!)

Before the contract, he was an almost stellar 103-60 with a 4.01 ERA. After that, as a show of appreciation, Ortiz went 5-16 with an opponent BA of .324 and a 6.94 ERA!!!

It wasn't always quite so bad. For four games in April 2005, Ortiz made the Diamonbacks look only a little foolish with a 2-1 record. Then, on May 2, 2005, the fit hit the shan!. Still reeling from that weekend's midling box office returns of A Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Russ Ortiz put up three sevens (hits, runs, and ER). Things got only worse from there. Since May '05, Ortiz has started 28 Games with a record of 3-18! The Diamondbacks got a hard lesson on the price of winning, spending $6.6 Million per victory on Ortiz. Let's just hope the Giants get a similar return on investment.

The Russ Ortiz Era Has Ended

Attention, Mitch Poole: You'll need 25 of these.

Ronald Belisario pays his proper respects.

Dodgers pitcher Russ Ortiz chooses free agency (AP/USAToday)

First he loses out to Ramon Ortiz in the solution to our PCS Puzzle #3; now, he's looking for another team to sucker. Godspeed, Russ Ortiz.

original photo: Al Behrman/AP

Game 5 Thread: April 7 @ Giants, 12.45p

Dodgers start Derek Lowe (0-1, 13.50 ERA) vs. Russ Ortiz (0-0).

Dodgers: 2-2 (T-3rd place NL West, 1.0 GB, W2) Giants: 1-3 (Last place NL West, 2.0 GB, L1)

From dodgers.com, the scouting report on the starters:

Dodgers: Lowe's debut Monday in Milwaukee couldn't have gone worse. He created repeated trouble with five walks in four innings and received little help from his outfield defense. His early exit forced the Dodgers to get into their bullpen quickly. Lowe pitched just as poorly in last year's opener and still won 16 games.

Giants: It's entirely possible that Giants fans won't notice any change in Russ Ortiz since he left the club after the 2002 season. He has recaptured the delivery he used then -- simply put, bringing his arm back in a semicircle as he prepares to throw. This imparts force and movement on his pitches, which he lacked for the last two seasons as he merely hoisted his arm upward before releasing the ball. Ortiz and the Giants are fully confident that he's no longer the pitcher who struggled to a 5-19 record in 2005-06.

COMMENTS

• Let's see if Derek Lowe learned anything from watching Brad Penny pitch like a champ last night (seven innings of shutout ball, 10 hits but only 1 ER, with 1 BB and 1 SO, earning the win). The Dodgers' lineup does not appear (at this stage) to be one that is going to score a lot of runs, so it will be critical that Lowe doesn't do his typical meltdown at the first sign of adversity.
• Aside from the drama around the return of Russ Ortiz (Delino's favorite fascination), there is the continuing watch on that other guy who has apparently hit a lot of home runs in his time. Considering how much Barry tends to tee off Dodger pitching, I can only take solace in the fact that he should not get enough at bats in the remaining two games of this series to break the all-time record.
• Finally, Luis Gonzalez and Barry Bonds will continue their competition for "worst defensive left-fielder in the series." Bonds never looks incredibly spry these days, but Gonzo (who did go 2-for-4 yesterday from the plate, despite choking in key rally) has a slight edge in the race by picking up his first error of the year yesterday. With Barry out of the lineup this afternoon (thanks TD), there's nothing but downside for Gonzo.

UPDATE

The lineup, courtesy of Inside the Dodgers:

Pierre, CF
Valdez, SS
Garciaparra, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzalez, LF
Lieberthal, C
Ethier, RF
Betemit, 3B
Lowe, P

In Which We Do Not Sing the Praises of R. Ortiz

First Ned Colletti kicks the tires on Russ Ortiz, now he's taking a flyer on former Angel Ramon Ortiz, who turns 37 in March and spent all of 2009 with the Fresno Grizzlies? I'm not sure which R. Ortiz would be the lesser of two evils at this point, but it certainly feels like Colletti is throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. Let's take a look at his off-season so far:

• Justin Miller
• Josh Towers
• Jamey Carroll
• Luis Ayala
• Doug Mientkiewicz
• Angel Berroa
• Russ Ortiz
• Michael Restovich
• Nick Green
• Scott Dohmann
• Argenis Reyes
• John Koronka
• Timo Perez
• Vicente Padilla
• Ronnie Belliard
• Brad Ausmus
• Alfredo Amezaga
• Reed Johnson
• Jeff Weaver
• Ramon Ortiz

Not sure which of these players will make the major-league roster, but a limited number of roster spots guarantees that most of them will start the season in the minors. Is this Colletti's way of filling in the holes in the upper levels of the minor league system that Tony Jackson wrote about?

Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out

...and have a $33 million contract.

From ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick:

Thanks, Leo

If Russ Ortiz makes the Giants' Opening Day roster as the team's No. 5 starter, he might be calling the Baltimore Orioles' clubhouse to share the good news.

Ortiz was such a disaster in Arizona, the Diamondbacks released him with more than two years and about $22 million left on his contract. Baltimore picked him up at the urging of Leo Mazzone, who was the pitching coach in Atlanta when Ortiz won 36 games for the Braves in 2003-2004.

Mazzone, who isn't known for film study and breaking down pitching mechanics, dissected Ortiz's motion and found that he was gradually pulling in his elbow and short-arming the ball. Ortiz finished the season with an 0-8 record and an 8.14 ERA.

Ortiz threw more than 30 innings in Puerto Rico over the winter, and he's an early feel-good story in San Francisco's camp. He retired nine straight batters in his Cactus League debut against the Cubs on Thursday, and so far, at least, it appears that his ball has more life on it. Considering the depths to which he sank, anything positive is almost shocking.

"I appreciate Leo so much, to go that extra mile to help me get back to where he knows I can be," Ortiz said. "I'm a big fan of his."

Given the Orioles' typically hideous luck, Ortiz might come back and win 15 games for the Giants.

Wonder how the Diamondbacks' pitching coach feels about that. "Yeah, I could've dissected Ortiz's motion...but I didn't feel like it."

Ortiz Rejoins Giants

Sorry, wrong Ortiz.

From "Ortiz gets another shot in San Francisco: Back where he began his career, veteran signs one-year deal" at sfgiants.com:

SAN FRANCISCO -- It's been a long road back to where he began for former Giants ace Russ Ortiz.

Ortiz -- a double-digit winner for four seasons in San Francisco, whose stats and pitching velocity had tumbled dramatically over the past two seasons with other clubs -- has rejoined the Giants after signing a one-year contract.

"It's been humbling," said the 32-year-old Ortiz on Tuesday.

The veteran struggled in 2006 with an 0-8 record and a 8.14 ERA for Baltimore and Arizona, but he showed renewed power and accuracy during recent Winter League play in Puerto Rico.

The article doesn't mention how much the Giants are paying Ortiz, but don't worry for Russ—the Diamondbacks will be paying off his $33 million contract through 2008.

UPDATE: $380,000—league minimum.

Game 22 Thread: April 26 vs. Giants, 7.10p

Dodgers start Brad Penny, RHP (3-0, 1.37) vs. Russ Ortiz, RHP (2-1, 4.35).

Dodgers: 13-8 (1st place NL West, 1.0 GA, L3) Giants: 11-8 (2nd place NL West, 1.0 GB, W7)

From Dodgers.com, the scouting report on the starters:

Dodgers: Penny pitched into the seventh inning in his outing against the Pirates on Saturday, but his command in the early going cost him his fourth win of the season. Penny walked three batters in the third inning and struggled to locate his fastball early in the game. Penny is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA against the Giants this season.

Giants: There were some questions surrounding Ortiz in Spring Training, but three weeks into the season he has managed to erase most of the concerns. The veteran picked up his second win of the season against Arizona on Friday, allowing two runs on eight hits in seven innings. Ortiz didn't have the most successful outing in a loss against the Dodgers on April 7, giving up three runs on seven hits in five innings.

COMMENTS

• Can Penny be the stopper? Tonight we'll find out as he matches up against Delino's favorite pitcher, Russ Ortiz. Given that we've dropped games to the #3 and #4 starters in the rotation, guaranteeing our second series loss of the year, it would be a minor victory to salvage a win against the Giants' #5.
• As Jon Weisman over at Dodger Thoughts pointed out yesterday, we've had the tying runs on base in the ninth in the first two games of our three-game losing streak, and last night Olmedo Saenz left his right-field pavilion to represent the tying run at the plate in the eighth. In all three games, though, we've come up short of the timely hit. A loss tonight would negate our three-game sweep of the Giants in SF earlier this month. Tonight, we've gotta get the win.
• If you're going to the game tonight, please get there early as it's the fourth sellout of the year, in honor of Nomar Bobblehead Night. And bring comfortable shoes for your walk to the stadium...

UPDATE 4.47p

The lineup, from Inside the Dodgers:

Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzo, LF
Martin, C
Betemit, 3B
Ethier, RF
Penny, P

Betemit grabs the 7 slot, kicking Ethier down to the 8. Interesting that Grady may be trying to not make the 8-9 slots two automatic outs.

More Great News for Dodger Fans

Russ Ortiz has been named the Giants' fifth starter.

Russ Ortiz will be San Francisco's fifth starter just as the Giants have intended since signing the right-hander in January for a second stint with the club.

"He's doing great," pitching coach Dave Righetti said before the club's final Cactus League game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. "I never looked at him any other way than that. I thought of him as one of the guys."

The rotation will go left-hander Barry Zito -- the scheduled starter Opening Day on April 3 against the San Diego Padres -- followed by right-hander Matt Cain, righty Matt Morris, lefty Noah Lowry and Ortiz.

Ortiz went 0-8 and had a 8.14 ERA last year for two teams, the Snakes and the Orioles.

Post-Game 1 Thread: Divorce Talk, Anyone?

PIRATES 11, DODGERS 5

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 Dodgers.

This happened twice today.

Wow. For those who like to overreact (i.e., like, a lot of us), an entire off-season of optimism just got wiped out in five innings. Vicente Padilla, proud owner of a 14.54 ERA, give up two home runs to Garrett Jones and was charged with seven earned runs over only 4 1/3 innings, while Ramon Ortiz (13.50 ERA) helped pour gas on the fire by allowing a bases-loaded double to Ryan Church in the fifth.

The hits didn't stop there: George Sherrill (40.50 ERA) gave up a three-run homer to Ryan Doumit in the eighth, and the Dodgers committed two errors and wasted opportunities at the plate, stranding ten men on base.

On the plus side, Manny Ramirez and Matt Kemp each went 2-for-5, and Casey Blake and Blake DeWitt each went 2-for-4. Russell Martin, despite getting caught in a rundown in the fifth, scored two runs. Carlos Monasterios and Russ Ortiz each threw a smooth scoreless inning of relief. Also, we had a nice crowd in our first Game Thread of the Year, Padilla hit only two batters and Martin's groin did not burst into flames.

Fun note: Eric Stephen of True Blue LA estimates the Dodgers' Cory Wade/Russ Ortiz switcherdoodle saved them $3,551.92. Flowers for Jamie!

And lastly, thanks to @jay_jaffe for this exchange, which started when the Dodgers scored two runs in the top of the first:

@jay_Jaffe
I really like the Dodgers' chances to keep this 2-runs-per-inning pace all year long

@sosgsosg
Offense or defense?

@jay_Jaffe
Yes.

UPDATE: From Eric Stephen at True Blue LA:

Andre Ethier didn't have an extra-base hit in 94 plate appearances against left-handers on the road last season, yet laced a double off southpaw Zach Duke in his first plate appearance of 2010.

photos by Keith Srakocic/AP

Post-Game 8 Thread: Census Edition

DIAMONDBACKS 9, DODGERS 7 (11)

Have no fear, census tabulators: I've done the math, and figured out that we can't win a game when we score fewer than seven runs. Things looked promising when we eked out that magical seventh run in the bottom of the ninth inning (off a Manny Ramirez leadoff double and Casey Blake cashing him in with a double of his own). But another short outing from a starting pitcher, coupled with wasted baserunners in the ninth and tenth innings burning through the last remains of our bullpen, and we were left with little choice but to use Russ Ortiz for the 11th. We all know how that story was going to end.

So, change the rule to we don't stand a chance of winning if we can't score seven or more runs--and even then, it's in question. Yes, that's an inspiring rallying cry, something akin to Mel Gibson yelling "FREEEEEEDOMMMMMM!" in Braveheart. But come on, we had 19 frickin' hits tonight. Can't we get a win with that? No?

No matter how much of a lead our offense seems to spot the pitching staff early on--a three-run lead through three innings; a 5-3 lead after four frames--our arms can't hold on to the advantage. Or even hold on to the tie, for pete's sake. One would think 18 hits would be enough to register the win. Alas, not for this team.

Chad Billingsley had his expected shaky inning in the fourth, giving up three runs and the lead in a blink of an eye, and ended up lasting only 5.2 innings while giving up 6 ER (3 BB, 5 Ks). We needed Ramon Troncoso to get the elusive third out in the sixth, but after that Carlos Monasterios promptly gave up a leadoff HR to Justin Upton to make it 7-6, and we needed Ramon Ortiz to bail us out of the seventh.

Our pitching corps is so thin and the staff so unreliable, we trotted out fifth starter Charlie Haeger to have to clean up the ninth. Jonathan Broxton pitched a scoreless tenth, and then Russ Ortiz came out in the eleventh and was thoroughly useless, using eight batters and giving up two extra-inning runs (Matt Kemp's misplay of a pop fly didn't help any, either).

The loss unfortunately negated the nutritional goodness of Rafael Furcal and Andre Ethier (both 3-for-6), Kemp (2-run HR, his third in four games, and 3 RBI), Russell Martin (3-for-4), and two RBI for Ramirez (a perfect 3-for-3 before being replaced by Jamey Carroll (PR) and Reed Johnson (LF)). The wasted baserunners and for-naught offensive output were depressing, but it's not the offense who takes the rap on this game. It's the arms. Or lack of them. And I don't need a census form to figure that out.

Post-Game 14 Thread: Life Outside the NL West

ASTROS 8, DODGERS 5

Or is it life on the road? Whatever the case, the Dodgers reverted to their human form tonight, stranding 25 (!) (aggregate) runners and losing to tomato can Russ Ortiz (Russ Ortiz!). Clayton Kershaw only lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing 6 ER on 8 hits, striking out three and walking two. Despite a valiant bases-loaded rally in the top of the ninth, the Dodgers' winning streak ends at eight.

Satchel Pages

This post could also be titled, "Random crap I've been carrying around in my satchel all week, for your trivial pleasure":

• Monday's WSJ talked about Livan Hernandez' historic month, who had a great April 2010 (ERA 0.87 over 31 innings) relative to his career ERA (4.41). In a table that listed the best months ever by pitchers with a career ERA over 4.40, Hernandez placed #1. And guess who was #4? Delino's favorite, Russ Ortiz, who in August 2000 had a 1.12 ERA for the Giants, which was quite different from his 4.51 career ERA. Russ Ortiz continues to haunt.

• Tuesday's WSJ reminded us that the early returns on veteran free-agent pitchers have been disappointing:

  Perhaps no team regrets their off-season investment in a pitcher as much as the Oakland Athletics and their supposed ace Ben Sheets. The typically frugal Billy Beane gave Mr. Sheets a $10 million guaranteed contract for 2010, despite missing all of 2009 while rehabbing from surgery. Six starts into the experiment, and it has been a disaster—he has thrown just 30 innings, has equal numbers of walks and strikeouts, and has allowed a staggering 25 runs. Given his reduced velocity and absent command, it seems unlikely that Mr. Sheets will be able to earn his salary this year.

  He's hardly the only high priced pitcher to struggle so far. Jason Marquis was signed to solidify the Washington Nationals' rotation, but ended up on the disabled list after allowing 20 runs in his first three starts. Even John Lackey, the prize of the free agent arms this winter, has struggled with his new team and has yet to show the quality that the Red Sox thought their $82.5 million investment was getting them.

  Meanwhile, low dollar signings such as Colby Lewis look brilliant so far—the Rangers have gotten premier production from a guy who spent the last two years playing for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.

  Even still, I miss Randy Wolf. Have I mentioned that before?

• ESPN the Magazine (May 3 2010 issue) had a sidebar about how the Cleveland Indians have rolled out the Tribe Social Deck, "a 10-seat section in Progressive Field's leftfield bleachers dedicated to those who spread word about the team over the internet." This is hardly avant-garde relative to how Dodgers PR Grand Poobah Josh Rawitch has received bloggers, since he's been fostering those relationships for over three years now. But I suppose since the Indians don't have Mannywood, what else are you going to do with the left field bleachers area?

• And finally, Tim Kurkjian's comments from the same ESPN the Mag issue, on Clayton Kershaw:

  Clayton Kershaw needs to be more efficient on the mound. The Dodgers' 22-year-old southpaw threw the most pitches per batter in the NL last year (4.32) and was averaging 4.38 through two starts this season. One scout says Kershaw's curveball is so big he has a hard time throwing it for strikes, and that umpires have a hard time reading where it actually crosses the plate.

  And just think, this comment was made before Kershaw's last outing, which was aberrantly disastrous. I'm going to support the Minotaur and blame the umps for their incompetence reading Public Enemy Number One.

SoSG, where we read the periodicals, so you don't have to!

Pre-Puzzle Baseball Notes

• Manny's go-ahead homer yesterday was special in more ways than one. Manny ties Schmidt for 14th on HR list (Ken Gurnick, Dodgers.com)
• Russ Ortiz is gone...for now. Dum-da-duhhh Dodgers drop Russ Ortiz, add Link (Gurnick, Dodgers.com)
• And more pitching help could be on the way. Kuo aces likely final tuneup (Dodgers.com)
• We tease her a lot here at SoSG, so it's time to show her some support: Alyssa Milano's new show, "Romantically Challenged," premieres tonight on ABC.

photo by Juan Ocampo/Dodgers

Off-Day Puzzle #3: R. Ortiz

The answer to this puzzle is Russ Ortiz or Ramon Ortiz.

#1
01000110 01101001 01110010 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101110 01100001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 01101101 01100101 01110010 00100000 01000100 01101111 01100100 01100111 01100101 01110010 01110011 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100001 01111001 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110111 01101000 01101111 00100000 01110111 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01110011 01110111 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01010011 01101111 01010011 01000111 00100000 01010000 01000011 01010011 00100000 01110000 01110101 01111010 01111010 01101100 01100101 00100000 01110000 01101111 01110011 01110100 01100101 01100100 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100100 01100001 01111001 00100000 01100001 01100110 01110100 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100011 01110101 01110010 01110010 01100101 01101110 01110100 00100000 01000100 01101111 01100100 01100111 01100101 01110010 01110011 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100001 01111001 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01110010 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110011 01101100 01100001 01101101 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110011 01100001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101110 01101001 01100111 01101000 01110100 00100000 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100010 01101111 01100010 01100010 01101100 01100101 01101000 01100101 01100001 01100100 00100000 01110111 01100001 01110011 00100000 01100111 01101001 01110110 01100101 01101110 00100000 01100001 01110111 01100001 01111001 00100000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01000100 01101111 01100100 01100111 01100101 01110010 00100000 01010011 01110100 01100001 01100100 01101001 01110101 01101101 00101110

#2
˙pǝddɐupıʞ sɐʍ ʎqɐq s,ɥbɹǝqpuıן sǝןɹɐɥɔ ʇɐɥʇ ɹɐǝʎ ǝɥʇ uı pɹɐʍɐ ɹǝʎɐןd ǝןqɐnןɐʌ ʇsoɯ ǝnbɐǝן ןɐuoıʇɐu ǝɥʇ ɟo ɹǝuuıʍ ǝɥʇ ʎq sunɹ ǝɯoɥ ɹǝǝɹɐɔ ɟo ɹǝqɯnu ǝɥʇ suıɐʇuoɔ ǝןʇıʇ ǝsoɥʍ ǝıʌoɯ ǝɥʇ ɟo ǝsɐǝןǝɹ pʌp ǝɥʇ ʍɐs ʇɐɥʇ ɹɐǝʎ ǝɥʇ uı sǝıɹǝs pןɹoʍ ǝɥʇ ɟo ʇno ןɐuıɟ ǝɥʇ pǝɥɔʇıd oɥʍ ɹǝʎɐןd ǝɥʇ sɐ punoɹ ǝɯɐs ǝɥʇ uı sɹǝbpop ǝɥʇ ʎq pǝʇɟɐɹp ɹǝʎɐןd ǝɥʇ ɟo ǝɯɐu ʇsɹıɟ

#3
First name of the current Dodgers player whose uniform number is thirteen more than the number of runs scored on the date of death of the President of the United States born in Tampico, IL, by the AL West team from the city which hosted the World's Fair in the year that saw the inaugural edition of the championship event most recently won by the Montreal Alouettes.

#4
.-.. .- ... - / -. .- -- . / --- ..-. / - .... . / ..-. --- .-. -- . .-. / -.. --- -.. --. . .-. ... / .--. .-.. .- -.-- . .-. / -. .- -- . -.. / - .... . / -.-. -.-- / -.-- --- ..- -. --. / .-- .. -. -. . .-. / .. -. / - .... . / -.-- . .- .-. / --- ..-. / -.. . .- - .... / --- ..-. / - .... . / .--. .- .. -. - . .-. / .-- .... --- / -.-. .-. . .- - . -.. / .- / .-- --- .-. -.- / - .... .- - / ... .... .- .-. . ... / .- / - .. - .-.. . / .-- .. - .... / - .... . / ..--- ----- ----- ----. / .- .-.. -... ..- -- / .-. . .-.. . .- ... . -.. / -... -.-- / - .... . / .- .-. - .. ... - / .-- .... --- / .-- --- -. / - .... . / .-.. .- - .. -. / --. .-. .- -- -- -.-- / ..-. --- .-. / .- .-.. -... ..- -- / --- ..-. / - .... . / -.-- . .- .-. / .. -. / - .... . / -.-- . .- .-. / - .... .- - / ... --- -. ... / --- ..-. / ... - . ...- . / --. .- .-. ...- . -.-- / .-- .- ... / ..-. --- ..- -. -.. . -.. .-.-.-

#5
.66-59 saw drocer nosaes-raluger 'sregdoD eht hcihw ni raey ylno eht ni drawA etnemelC otreboR eht now ohw reyalp eht fo drac llabesab ratS llA-non sppoT 1691 eht fo rebmun eht semit eerht ot lauqe si xxxx erehw ,/xxxx000mn/eman/moc.bdmi.www//:ptth si knil egap bDMI esohw remrofrep eht derutaef osla hcihw eivom 9002 tih eht ni deraeppa ohw etelhta lanoisseforp eht retfa sraey xis yltcaxe nrob saw ohw reyalp sregdoD tnerruc eht fo eman tsriF

#6
Last name of the current Dodgers player whose home run total in the year of death of the first wife of the elected official referenced in clue #3 is equal to the number of the Shakespearean sonnet which contains the seventh word in the title of the book referenced at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/yyyy, where yyyy is equal to two thousand more than three times the number used as the area code for the birth state of the former player who managed the 2001 Milwaukee Brewers.

#7
Irstfay amenay ofway ethay ormerfay ayerplay whoay, inway ethay amesay earyay eferencedray atway ethay endway ofway ueclay #6, asway anagingmay ethay LNay Eastway eamtay omfray ethay itycay ithway ethay amesay umbernay ofway etterslay inway itsway amenay asay otaltay omehay unsray ithay inway ethay atestlay Inesechay Earyay ofway ethay Atray ybay ethay ayerplay whoay ithay ethay irstfay omehay unray inway ethay ottombay ofway ethay inthnay inningway ofway ethay elebratedcay 2006 Odgersday ictoryvay inway ichwhay ethay eamtay ithay ourfay onsecutivecay omehay unsray.

______________________________________________________

UPDATE: Clue #3 has been clarified (thanks, ubragg).

Solution here.

Puzzle Rules: Comment freely in the thread, but please no solution spoilers. Email us with your answer along with your reasoning (include your screen name). Blindly guessing an answer gets you participation points only. Also, post a comment stating you have submitted a solution.

We may not be able to reply to emails promptly, so please be patient and check back on the comment thread for the latest news; we may confirm correct answers there.

Here's how the puzzle series works.

You have until midnight PT tonight to submit your answer. The solution will be posted tomorrow. Good luck!

Ramon: Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images; Russ: Doug Benc/Getty Images

Game Thread - The Russ E.R.TIZ Streak

Tonight, the Giants battle the always fearsome Pittsburgh Pirates. And Russ Ortiz continues his pursuit of Anthony Young's remarkable 27 game losing streak. (You can read about Ortiz's foibles HERE) 12 Down, 15 to go!

Sidenote: In 1993, Anthony Young went 1-16 with a 3.77 ERA - pretty much identical to Barry "ACE" Zito! And Zito gets over $100 Million while Young gets a lifetime of infamy. Roger Clemens officially has NOTHING to complain about.