Hey, no problem. While I'm at it, the National League's switch to counting paid attendance instead of turnstile attendance has actually served to inflate their attendance numbers. Consider the number of season and package tickets for both corporate and private accounts that go unused every night.
Papa Joco <r>Carson hasn't forgiven them for trading his hero Shawn Greene. He is now cheering for the Mets openly. It broke his heart that the Dodgers would do that to his fav player.... <E>:lol:</E></r>
I'll have to send him some info on our new rightfielders, Ethier and Kemp, who're better than Shawn was. I think half that old Dodger team is with the Mets now... Latest trade rumors involve the Dodgers going after Dontrelle Willis and/or Scott Rollen. I hope its not Rollen, that trade doesn't make sense to me. How could Rollen provide power, when he only has 5 HRs and Wilson Betemit has around nine playing part time!
San Francisco sits on some craggy bluffs overlooking an open sewer called San Francisco Bay. The fog creeps slowly in over the hills to fill the town and hide the greatest fault of this desolate region: its people. The culture is an amalgam of Marxism, homosexuality and bad Chinese food that congeals into a cold morass of mud, rotting fish and human hopelessness, crowned by Alcatraz in the middle. Its the place beyond the River Styx where old hippies go to die. I've always imagined that Transylvania must look something like this... Dodgers 9 Giants 1 Young Chad Billingsley is turning into quite a pitcher. He upped his record to 6-0 in tossing 6 more shutout innings and only Brad Penny is currently throwing better on the Dodger staff... Leading a hit parade of 17 base hits were the usual suspects. Russell Martin was 3 for 3, James Loney 3 for 5, and Andre Ethier 3 for 4... The Giant Weasel crowd managed only one, very weak and not-too-convincing chant of "Beat LA!" They were almost as pathetic as Balco Barry who walked twice and killed two rallies by hitting into two double plays. The last place Giants sold the farm and ruined their franchise for this guy to be a hero, but he can't even field his position without falling down...tsk...tsk... Dodge-ahs back in first with their 50th win. It was also their 9th straight win over Frisco at New Candlestick and their 5th consecutive win on Friday the Thirteenth...but who's counting? .....The Count......ah...ah...aaahhhhhh....
Frisco thought they had pulled off a miracle comeback today, thanks to Randy Wynn's 8th inning grand salami and a game tying run off Takashi in the 9th, but the Dodgers still won it in the 12th inning anyway: Dodgers 8 Giants 7 It was the 10th consecutive win for the Dodgers at New Candlestick Park and left their fans crushed. Balco Bonds played all twelve innings and failed in each and every opportunity. He looked like he was on something to me... Matt Kemp (the kid who can't hit breaking pitches) continues to pound the ball and tripled off a slider to raise his average to .364... Wilson Betemit continued his comeback from a disastrous season start to go 4 for 6 with a HR to raise his BA to .225. He still can't hit righthanded and every team bunts against him when they see he's starting at 3rd base, so hopefully, all this power hitting will improve his value as trade bait... The villain today was manager Grady Little. Leading 7-2 in the 8th, the script calls for Broxton in the 8th and Saito in the 9th. Instead, the skipper decided to get in a little work for Chin-hui Tsao who promptly loaded the bases, then surrendered the grand slam to make it 7-6. Then he brought in Broxton who closed the door, but it was too late. The Giants tied it in the 9th with a run off Takashi to blow hard-luck Derek Lowe's hard-earned victory. By the 12th inning, both teams had emptied their benches and bullpens; all because Grady Little tried to showcase some of his trade bait instead of just slamming the door and going home... I'll be offline most of this week after tomorrow. I've been invited to Sacramento with some other history teachers, so if I don't return, you'll know that the NoCals or our governor have decided to "terminate" me...
I was watching Fox (Cubs-Astros) and they kept cutting in to the Dodgers-Giants when Bonds came to bat. In the studio were Kevin Kennedy and Mark Grace with Jeanie Zelasko. Kennedy and Grace literally ripped Grady Little for removing Lowe after the 6th. Kennedy, a former manager, was relentless in his criticism and essentially blamed Little for allowing the G's to come back. Have fun in Sacramento.
Sending me to Sacramento was like tossing Brer Wabbitt into his briar patch. I don't know how much the other teachers got out of this trip, but I probably walked more than 20 miles in four days of exploring one of the richest motherlodes of American history that anyone could find. We stayed at the Embassy Suites Hotel, with a clear view of the capitol, but that was only the beginning. When you walked out onto the back patio, you had to step over the railroad tracks and watch out for the trains, which still stop there. A few more steps and you were standing at the railing of the Sacramento River and its famous golden Tower Bridge, which makes quite an impression several times per day, as the entire center section raises more than 160ft in the air, with sirens blaring, as the old steamboats pass underneath. Its a scene that hasn't changed much since the bridge was built in 1935... If you walk across the street that follows the river, you find yourself in the beautifully restored Old Sacramento, with most of the buildings dating from 1850-1855. In just a few steps, you find yourself standing at ground zero for: The California Gold Rush The Pony Express The Transcontinental Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (Southern Pacific) This was the birthplace of American California. It was here that Wells Fargo began to run its stage coaches, and the Wells Fargo station still has the original desk and office that was used by Mark Twain's brother. Down the street from there is the Huntington and Hopkins Hardware Store. This is where Colis P. Huntington and Mark Hopkins became two of the richest men in the world by selling picks, shovels, and levis to the gold miners, who could only pay in gold, because they had no money... It was here also, that Theodore Judah had a dream of a transcontinental railroad, that would bind America together into one country, and men like Charles Crocker and Leland Stanford turned his dream into a reality. Stanford became governor of California and at the same time, president of the Central Pacific RR which drove the golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah. This project did more than just unite the nation by rail. It also united the nation with coast-to-coast telegraph lines that ran along those rails, which were precisely four feet, eight and one half inches, as per President Lincoln's instructions, which set the national standard... At the far end of my walks through Old Sacramento, was the California State Railroad Museum, and it is fabulous. They have everything from vintage locomotives to "The Lost Spike." Everyone knows about "The Last Spike", which was made of gold and connected electrically by telegraph to New York to announce the news that the United States were truely united. But few realize that there was a twin golden spike, engraved with the names of all the men who were involved with the project, and it was held secretly by one of the families for more than 100 years, until it was finally revealed and donated to the museum... I had long talks with the old railroad guys in the postal car, who demonstrated how they sorted mail "on the run" with the train travelling at speeds of more than 80mph! I also had a lot of fun in the Santa Fe dining car, which was exactly as I remembered it, from all my many trips back to Rhode Island. (I've been on a train enough times to go 3 1/2 times around the world!) The only thing different in the dining car, was they had collected complete sets of railroad dinner china from every major railroad in the country, with a replacement value that can't be measured, because you could never find them all to collect them! The locomotives included several 4-4-0's from the Civil War and early western railroads, early F-3 diesels when steam power died out, a Southern Pacific "Cab-Forward" and a magnificent 4-6-2 Heavy Pacific from 1920 that is the neatest thing I've ever seen. I had no idea they were that big. I've seen "Big Boys" and other steam monsters that they keep over at the LA County Fairgrounds, but this was just too spectacular. The six drive wheels were taller than I was and I'm six feet tall. The whole thing was nearly as tall as a three story building with a huge oil tender, which meant that it only stopped for water and ran passengers from Ogden, Utah to Reno, Nevada at nearly 100 mph out on the Great Basin. Wow... Upstairs I found the model trains, which included some Lionel layouts that were more than 100 years old that looked brand new. Not surprisingly, I ran into other history teachers here, including one young guy from San Bernardino who brought his family at his own expense. His three year-old was glued to the Lionel exhibits. He didn't want to leave... If you walked a little further from the hotel, or caught a taxi for a few blocks, you could see the California Capitol Building, the Governors Mansion, Leland Stanford's House, Sutters Fort, (where the Bear Flag Revolution was centered) and too many other historical sites, museum's and fancy hotels to mention. I was completely blown away. There probably aren't half a dozen spots like this in the entire country...maybe only in New York, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Boston. This ranks right up there with the best of them. Wowza... ........JO'Co PS. The baseball sucks up there. Nothing but the Giants and A's on TV. I didn't watch much television... Here are some biographies for you... http://www.bushong.net/dawn/about/college/ids100/biographies.shtml#Hopkins
The Dodger roadtrip got off to a good start in Houston tonight: Dodgers 10 Strohs 2 22 year-old Chad Billingsley pitched a complete game five-hitter and lost the shut out with two out in the 9th inning when James Loney booted the 3rd out and the next batter hit a HR to spoil it... Don't feel too bad for Loney, who was back in his hometown with more than 40 friends/family in the stands and had a good night to show them. The big 1st baseman hit a three-run HR and extended his string of getting on base to 28 consecutive games... Jeff Kent passed Ted Williams on the all-time doubles list and Luis Gonzalez added another double himself to remain 3rd on the all-time list... The Dodger kids looked great again and I hope that a way is found to keep all of them now that we're down to one week from the inter-league trading deadline. The only superkid who's trade bait that I'm aware of is 3rd baseman Wilson Betemit... BTW- I didn't realize that the Strohs now have Mike Lamb. He's from Bishop Amat HS and he's another player that we played against back in the 1990's... The Dodgers have added 42 year-old pitcher Roberto Hernandez to their bullpen. You know that pitchers are in short supply when you see the Dodgers picking up guys who were released by the Cleveland Indians...
Astros in deep doo doo... Oswalt with chest muscle problem, Hunter Pence on DL with wrist problem, no credible starters beyond Oswalt, no nothing...
:idea: :idea: The Astros have a lot of talent, but where is the relief pitching? I don't see anything wrong with their team, but there aren't many stars either; especially with Oswalt and Pence hurt. It's beyond time to dump some salary and rebuild with the kids. Pence should be a good one for a long time...
Relief pitching was going to be the strength with Wheeler, Qualls and Lidge but Lidge has continued to struggle and has fought some injury problems. Both Wheeler and Qualls are just not pitching as well as they did the last couple of years. Maybe losing Russ Springer to the Cardinals was a bigger deal than we thought, he was a key component and the group leader. The talent hasn't been producing. Berkman is having a down year, Biggio did get his 3000th hit but has really not been productive, you expect the lead off hitter to have a high on base %, he doesn't. Adam Everrett is injured, Loretta is a good productive player but a defensive liablity as Everetts replacement at SS, and Mike Lamb is a liablity at 3rd base, but Morgan Ensberg can't hit anymore. Brad Asumus never could hit, now he can't throw anybody out, but he's still good with the pitchers. Carlos Lee has been outstanding as has Pence, Luke Scott disappeared in RF inspite of last nights dinger. Throw in that neither Woody Williams or Jason Jennings have been credible replacements for Andy Petitte and Roger Clemens and we have what we have...a bad team. I don't know what they are going to do. Jennings is a rent a player and will move to San Diego next year most likely, Williams career is almost done but he has a multiyear contract. Guys like Lamb, Ensberg, Burke, Scott, Lorretta, etc aren't really going to bring much on the open market for a trade. Lidge if he gets healthy could be traded, Boston supposedly wants him but time is running out on the trade deadline.
...and then there was this... "Yogi Berra, inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals, was unable to attend Sunday's ceremony in Pasadena, but the Hall of Famer was there in spirit, explaining in remarks read by Toni Mollett, grandniece of Casey Stengel, "I'm sorry I can't be here today because I'm somewhere else." Before today's game, Biggio announced his retirement then hit a grand slam. I hate it when that happens... Astros 7 Dodgers 4 Russell Martin went out with an injury after hitting a double in the 8th. I have no idea how serious it is. He's been overworked for sure and the wear and tear is beginning to show. The Dodgers have one of the best catchers in baseball, Mike Lieberthal, as a backup and they'd better start using him. Martin has caught more innings than any other catcher in MLB and Grady Little needs to show some cajones and sit the kid for a rest once and a while. Sometimes he lets the players tell HIM how much they play and that's not good... The Strohs have had a lot of injuries. They lost their CF, SS, Ace, and phenom, while the rest of the team is having a down year. The broadcasters were saying that they (the Strohs) may be down for years, because they need a complete rebuild from top to bottom... James Loney has now reached in 29 consecutive games... The trade deadline is just days away now...
What's worse Mr. Dog is that unlike the Dodgers the Astros don't have a lot of prospects in the farm system from which to rebuild the team.
:!: Yup. Its not just the Astro's roster that needs a rebuild, its the entire operation. I seriously question everything that they've been doing in recent years. Houston is NOT a small market like Kansas City or Pittsburgh. They have plenty of everything that they need to compete. Only the Cubs have more resources in that division and they haven't been to a World Series since 1945 and haven't won one since 1908... Why were the Strohs spending all that money on aging vets like Clemens, Biggio and Pettitte? The rise of Hunter Pence gives a hint of what they might have done if just a fraction of that money had been invested in their minor league operation. It can be done, but it requires the front office to have a little courage IMHO. I think the fans will always put up with a losing season IF they can see light at the end of the tunnel. Right now, both Houston and San Francisco have placed themselves in difficult situations by focusing only on the present, while mortgaging the future. Detroit, Cleveland, Minnesota, Oakland, St. Louis and San Diego have all proven that winning can be accomplished with far fewer resources than the Astros possess. There are no excuses. The owner needs to clean house...
An unusually well pitched game tonight. Unusual, because you'd never believe it if you recognized the names of the pitchers, which I don't: Matt Albers, Roberto Hernandez etc. Final score: Houston 2 Dodgers 1 Three bad pitches all night and three long home runs. Jeff Kent's was a monster shot; maybe the longest ball I've ever seen him hit. It struck the beams and rattled around in the top part of the support structure of a light tower 413 ft from home plate...and the light tower is over 150ft high. It certainly would have continued for a 500 ft ride if the tower hadn't been there... Which reminds me of a story. I was playing 3rd base in 1967. It was a home game against St. Francis HS from La Canada. The score was tied and our pitcher, Joe Edmonds, (Jimmy Edmond's daddy) was throwing hard. He was a big guy, over 6'4" and he left one over the middle of the plate for the Golden Knight's power hitter, Pat Curran, who hit a moon shot that was majestic to behold. Our rightfielder, Kenny Margala, (who later played on two Rose Bowl teams at Stanford) never even turned around. He just tossed his glove in the air while remaining in his fielding stance with his hands on his knees... The damn thing was still rising as it passed over the 365ft sign in right. It flew over the herd of sheep they kept in the small pasture, bounced a few times on some rocks and rolled through the parking lot of the David&Margaret's Children's Home on its way out of town for a grand slam to tell your grandkids about. We all gathered at the mound in silence, as Coach Ron Raya slowly made his way out to us. None of us spoke, because all Catholic school boys know that trouble is contagious and you can't help a doomed pal anyway... Coach looked out at the distant fence where the ball was last sighted in our ZIP code. Joe was looking up at the sky...then down at his shoelaces...then at the bench, where there was even less sympathy...then finally, he made eye contact with Coach Raya who said, "Congratulations Joe. That was the longest home run in the history of our school." Then he walked slowly back to the dugout as Joe twisted slowly in the wind. We all silently slunk back to our positions, thanking almighty God that it wasn't our day to pitch...
DD, I once saw a HR in a high school game similar (in my memory) to what you so eloquently described above. It was hit by Eric Wedge, the current manager of the Cleveland Indians.