Baseball-Related Program Activities

During the Dodgers' 12-1 loss yesterday to the Mets, the only interesting thing to happen to the home fans was that two of them in adjacent seats caught consecutive foul balls.

And I could have been there -- someone at my office sent out an e-mail saying she had 10 free tickets available, first come first serve. But it was a rare weekday day game, and I didn't think my boss would appreciate me taking a 3-hour lunch. (I'm definitely glad I didn't fake appendicitis for a 12-1 game. I probably wouldn't have caught a foul ball, either.)

Labels: dodgers, foul balls, Mets

Jason called at about 3:30 to see if I wanted to see the Dodgers play the Diamondbacks. I know from experience that last-minute invitations to baseball games should be accepted if at all possible. Plus, they were giving out Tommy Lasorda bobbleheads to commemorate his 80th birthday (which is actually on September 22nd, but the Dodgers are going to be out of town).

However, I didn't have a camera with me, so you're going to have to deal with a lack of photos. Also, since we weren't in the all-you-can-eat section, I had to deal with a lack of free hot dogs.

Labels: diamondbacks, dodgers, game report

I went to Dodger Stadium tonight with a big group from my office. Our seats were in the right field pavilion, which happens to be the all-you-can-eat section. What that means is that some of the food is free -- hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn, and Coke, as served by concession stands that have no lines unless someone is attempting to pay for the free food -- and then there are some other concession stands selling beer, ice cream, and candy.

(You may notice that the ticket stub above shows the group name; unfortunately, it was too late to get it changed from "Yahoo! Content Solutions" to "Smellosaurus Rex." Actually, if there was a point at which they showed the names of all the groups in attendance on the scoreboard, I missed it.)

The view from right field is pretty good...



It's a fine place to get some studying done...



Not particularly baseball related, but I notice that although Spanish for "high definition" is "alta definition," they're still abbreviating it "HD"...



In conclusion, it turns out that three Dodger Dogs, two Cokes, and an order of nachos is all I can eat.

Oh, yeah, Dodgers 6, Padres 3. The starting pitchers were Greg Maddux for the Padres and David Wells for the Dodgers, so I believe the total age of the starters was something like 119.

Labels: dodgers, game report, padres

Phil Rizzuto's death today comes just a couple of days after I (finally) listened to a Christmas present from my father: a 2-CD set containing the radio broadcast of the Yankees and Dodgers in Game 5 of the 1949 World Series (the deciding game). At one point during the game, Mel Allen points out that if you saw Scooter walking with the rest of the team, because of his small size, you might think he was the batboy.

It was a game with a lot of action (16 total runs), but I found the radio broadcast more interesting for things other than the game itself. Red Barber and Mel Allen were the announcers, with each responsible for the team they announced for during the regular season -- Mel was at the mike by himself in the half-innings when the Yankees were batting, with Red while the Dodgers were up. Occasionally, they would talk to each other between innings, mostly to do live commercials for Gillette (all of the commercials were for Gillette -- this was a "Gillette Cavalcade of Sports" broadcast).

At one point, Red Barber mentions that Jerry Coleman was moving Jackie Robinson's glove out of the way -- fielders used to leave their gloves at their position. And Mel Allen refers to the fact that the American League umpires were wearing their chest protectors on the outside, and the National League umpires were wearing them on the inside.

There's also a mention that this Sunday game started an hour late (2:00 instead of 1:00) due to "New York state law" and couldn't go past 7:00 for the same reason. Because of all the action, the game goes fairly long, and the umpires confer with commissioner Happy Chandler in the stands, with the results being that the lights are turned on for the first time during a World Series game.

And for a broadcasting geek like me -- I didn't realize the phrase "let's pause 10 seconds for station identification" was that old, but there it was, followed by a station identification for "WOR and WOR-FM, New York" and a suggestion to watch the game on WOR-TV, Channel 9. Yes, I did know WOR-FM and WOR-TV were that old.

Labels: dodgers, game report, mel allen, phil rizzuto, red barber, yankees

11:00 -- Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati Reds (ESPN 2, WGN, and FSN Ohio)
L.A. Dodgers at Milwaukee Brewers (FSN Prime Ticket)
Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox (Comcast SportsNet Chicago)
11:01 -- Vin Scully! "And a pleasant good day to you wherever you may be." Now it really is baseball season.
11:13 -- Hey, a new family movie starring Ice Cube! Looks about as good as the Devil Rays.
11:15 -- There sure are a lot of car commercials on YES. But I thought no one in New York drove.
11:19 -- The Blue Jays caps have a "T" instead of a "J," I notice. Too bad, because I liked the "J." Maybe that's still the home cap.
11:21 -- Two female fans in the upper deck of Comerica Park are interviewed. One of them refers to it as "Tiger Stadium" and is quickly corrected by the interviewer.
11:24 -- Since the Reds are wearing their new mustachioed Mr. Redlegs patches, perhaps they should all have grown mustaches to match.
11:25 -- The Superstation WGN Scoreboard graphic has a problem, I say.

I contend that "Sponsored By:" should either be right-justified so it's against the sponsor graphic, or that graphic should say "Sponsored by Scotts" (which would work fine even with the graphic there on the right).
11:29 -- C.C. Sabathia looks a little large.
11:31 -- The White Sox announcers start talking about how one should not judge a book by its cover when it comes to C.C. Sabathia. I guess I've been properly chastised! However, Darin Erstad promptly hit a 2-run homer off him to pull the White Sox to within 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st.
11:37 -- Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley is in the stands at U.S. Cellular Field, but does not have to be interviewed by someone with a radio mike.
11:39 -- The Yankees infield has been a bit error-prone today, which has helped the Devil Rays tie.
11:40 -- First appearance of Joe Maddon, coming out for an explanation from the umpire about a player being called out on a bunt that hits him in fair territory.
11:42 -- Rocco Baldelli hits an RBI single, and the Devil Rays are leading.
11:44 -- Amtrak -- the Washington Nationals of transportation!

11:49 -- Hey, Dr. Cox from "Scrubs" is in that movie with Ice Cube. Well, John C. McGinley, I mean. I assume he's not playing the same character he plays on "Scrubs." Not to be confused with John C. Reilly, who is not to be confused with Andy Richter, who is not to be confused with John Candy.
11:54 -- Comcast SportsNet's "Scores on the Fours" should perhaps be renamed "Scores on Most But Not All of the Fours."

Labels: amtrak, brewers, c.c. sabathia, cubs, darin erstad, devil rays, dodgers, indians, joe maddon, nationals, reds, richard m. daley, rocco baldelli, vin scully, white sox, yankees

Yes, my Sports Illustrated baseball preview issue arrived a week ago, but their predictions were printed on a dark green background in white text that came out a little blurry in my copy. And that's why it's taken me so long to post these!

Also, I realize I haven't yet used Bill James's quick-and-dirty prediction formula as I've done previously.



The biggest surprise in the Sports Illustrated predictions is the position of the Cubs, but I guess that's the eternal optimism for you.

Their World Series pick is for a freeway series, Angels over the Dodgers. Incidentally, they've changed the parking procedures at Dodger Stadium this year (and raised the parking rate from $10 to $15 in the process), so any late-arriving fans can be ascribed to the parking attendants not knowing what they're doing, rather than the usual apathy.

My schedule is clear for Monday and MLB Extra Innings will definitely be on DirecTV, if nowhere else, so I'm ready for another year of Opening Day blogging.

(Note primarily to myself for future reference: here's how I fixed the problem with the table.)

Labels: bill james, cubs, dodgers, predictions, sports illustrated

The MLB Extra Innings pay-per-view package will now be exclusively on DirecTV, because DirecTV offered a lot of money and also agreed to exclusively carry what appears to be MLB's version of NFL Network.

I do have DirecTV, but don't subscribe to Extra Innings (I certainly enjoy watching it on Opening Day via the free preview, but I wouldn't watch enough games during the season to make it worth the cost). I'm a little concerned about MLB limiting its exposure like this, particularly to the all-baseball network.

In the past, DirecTV's version of Extra Innings has only included games airing on regional sports networks carried by DirecTV -- so if, say, a Phillies-Dodgers game were being carried on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia (not available on DirecTV) and on over-the-air Channel 13 in Los Angeles (not available on DirecTV except as a local channel in the L.A. area), it wouldn't be on Extra Innings on DirecTV. Or a Blue Jays-Devil Rays game that's on whatever weird Canadian network the Blue Jays are on, and only available via Morse code relay in the Tampa Bay area. So I'm wondering if the new exclusive Extra Innings package these types of games -- can't wait to see, or perhaps hear, the Morse code Devil Rays games.

Labels: blue jays, devil rays, directv, dodgers, phillies, tv

The right-field bleachers at Dodger Stadium are going all-you-can-eat this season. So advance tickets there are $35, while the left-field bleachers are still $8 -- even with the concession stand prices, $27 worth is a lot of food, especially with the lack of menu options.

Labels: dodgers, food

Credit for the Dodgers' win over the Diamondbacks last night is being given to the fact that Nomar Garciaparra got hit by three pitches (with Russell Martin getting hit once for good measure). Guess they shouldn't have dodged!

Other comic-strip strategies to be adopted soon by the Dodgers include the "Cathy" strategy (annoy the other team by continually asking, "Do I look fat in this uniform?"), the "Sally Forth" strategy (psych out the other team by keeping a smug expression on your face no matter what), and the "Mallard Fillmore" strategy ("Oh, sorry, I was just waiting for the howls of protest from all the Hollywood liberals in the crowd here at Dodger Stadium").

Labels: diamondbacks, dodgers, nomar garciaparra, russell martin

Turns out that if you have high-definition TV, the picture clarity is such that you can see pain lines and pain stars. However, it looks like it's hard to keep the colors in balance on these old-timey woodgrain-cabinet HDTVs: the blue on the Dodgers uniform looks black, and Dodger Stadium and the denizens thereof look green. Actually, with those vertical posts visible in the stands, it looks more like Fenway Park.

In other news, please note that on May 11th, I correctly predicted that Scott Kazmir would be the Devil Rays' sole All-Star Game representative.

Labels: all-star game, devil rays, dodger stadium, dodgers, hdtv, scott kazmir

Yes, I went to this game alone, because all my friends here in L.A. have jobs and are a lot less likely than Levi to take a half day off to go to a game. On this date in Dodger history, in 1963, Sandy Koufax pitched a no-hitter. No such luck for Derek Lowe today, although he was fairly effective; the real problem was some fielding mistakes by the Dodgers, notably an amusingly botched rundown. So the Dodgers' winning streak came to an end, and now they have to go to San Francisco and spend three games intentionally walking Barry Bonds.

Cheesesteaks are new at Dodger Stadium this year, courtesy of a local chain called South Street, to which I was introduced by hanger-on Jason. Their Dodger Stadium cheesesteaks are half the size and twice the price of the ones they serve in the restaurant -- but, still, it was pretty tasty, and a nice change of pace from a Dodger Dog.

For the first time, I brought my radio and listened to it during the game -- might as well get some use out of it, I figured, since I never use it at home, not even its NOAA weather radio-receiving functions. (It's just a cheap AM/FM/TV/weather portable radio, not a fancy radio that turns itself on whenever there's a thunderstorm watch in the middle of the night, like a certain other baseballrelated.com poster has in his bedroom.) Vin Scully gets simulcast on radio and TV for the first three innings, which is great, although he'll occasionally say something that sounds like a complete non sequitur when you're listening on the radio because it obviously relates to something not quite game-related that's being shown on TV at that moment. Today was school field trip day, and a couple of times, he was referring to what must have been shots of kids in the stands.

Anyway, for the fourth inning and on, Charley Steiner and Rick Monday come in to do the radio only. They're fine, except that they're not Vin Scully. Now, Rick Monday -- if you've got to be known solely for one thing, there are a lot worse things you could be known for than "keeping an American flag from being set on fire." And Charley Steiner -- well, when the Dodgers were down 4-2 and had the bases loaded for Kenny Lofton in the bottom of the ninth, he was excited enough that I was expecting him to blurt out "Follow me to freedom!" if Lofton got a hit. But he flew out to end the game.

Another advantage of listening to the radio -- they announced the attendance about a half-inning before "Guess the Attendance" was played in the stadium, thus allowing me to loudly and confidently yell out that it was choice "A" on the scoreboard. So, in conclusion, I'll probably bring my radio again if I'm going to a game by myself, or if I'm going to a game with someone I don't want to talk to.

I should mention that this was all prompted by my mother. She suggested a couple weeks ago that I go to a weekday afternoon baseball game before I start my new full-time job on the 17th. I said, in my Eric Cartman voice, "But, Maaaaaaahm, the Dodgers don't plaaaaaaay any weekday afternoon games." I looked at the schedule anyway, and saw this game, so there you go.

Relating to that job: I temporarily have a PC in my living room within view of my TV, and Levi now has Internet access at home. Way back at the beginning of the season, I suggested that the two of us should watch the same game simultaneously, instant-message each other during the game, and post the log here. However, we haven't yet been able to come up with a time that both of us are able to actually do this -- Levi's busy at work, as usual, and seems to have more of a life on the weekends than I do, and tends to attend a few Cubs games, especially when they're playing the Cardinals, and since he's just recently moved up to home Internet access, it's probably going to be a while until he has a Treo or Blackberry and can use the Internet from the Wrigley Field stands. (To be fair, there's been a couple of games when Levi was available but I wasn't.) And now I'm not 100% sure how busy I'll be at my new job, but I am certain that it will preclude us from scheduling this for one of those weeknight ESPN games that starts at 7:00 Eastern -- I'll still be at work at 4:00 Pacific. It also doesn't help that we're limited by the baseball schedules of ESPN/ESPN 2, WGN, and TBS, since those are the only networks that we can both watch together, and neither of us is too excited about doing this during a Braves game on TBS.

All of this is to say that there will probably be an IM transcript posted here when you least expect it.

Labels: astros, dodger stadium, dodgers, game report, vin scully

The L.A. Times forgot to change their usual "Dodgers Tonight" text to read "Dodgers Today"...



Or maybe they're just stunned by the fact the Dodgers won the first two games of this series against the NL champions. Also, the second sentence of the "update" should read "The Dodgers might be vulnerable to a left-handed pitcher..."

I'm heading to Dodger Stadium in about an hour.

Labels: dodgers, los angeles times

Yes, Dodger Stadium has new seats this season, in lovely pastel colors which really do look like they're from 1962. They also renumbered the seats, so that instead of having aisle numbers, with seats starting at "1" on one side and "101" on the other side, the reserved level now has section numbers like a normal stadium. (Things were even weirder on the field and loge levels, with one row letter covering two rows, one with seat numbers increasing and the other with seat numbers decreasing -- presumably, that situation has been dealt with as well.)



Yes, quite a few Chicagoites will show up at Dodger Stadium when the Cubs are in town, wearing the world's cutest baseball cap...



Someone near us had a radio, so I know that Vin Scully described 6-foot-7 Cubs pitcher Sean Marshall as "a tall drink of water"...



This game had something for everyone, from bone-jarring collisions to wildly errant throws. Best of all, though, is the fact that the Dodger Stadium music selection committee has provided the world with a new, particularly appropriate song to play for bases on balls: Tegan and Sara's "Walking with a Ghost," in the form of the White Stripes' cover version. Why is it particularly appropriate? Because walks haunt.

Labels: cubs, dodger stadium, dodgers, game report, music, walks haunt

I may be watching baseball on TV every Saturday night until I get high-speed Internet installed at my new apartment, or a date, or -- ideally -- both.

Tonight I watched the rematch of the 1959 World Series, Dodgers at White Sox, with the Sox wearing 1959 uniform replicas, and WGN showing plenty of film footage of that World Series, all of it with that "16-millimeter educational film" quality that made it look like I was watching it in elementary school in 1982.

For the game, although WGN was using their usual information strip across the top of the screen, all the other graphics -- which mainly means the "lower thirds," as we say in the TV business -- were just plain white text, which I guess was supposed to be 1959-esque, but because they were still attempting to present 2005-esque levels of information, the effect was more like the mid-1970s. (Except, of course, for the graphics that included a Web site address and/or a cell phone text message number, two things that would have been confusing and frightening in the mid-1970s.) And to their credit, they really didn't call attention to the fact they were doing it -- I heard Hawk Harrelson mention it once, when they showed the scores of other games the old-fashioned way, as full-screen graphics with three scores per page. And to give them even more credit, because I think they really deserve it for doing this, all the graphics that normally would have involved a sponsor logo didn't have one -- just the name of the sponsor in text. Yes, even the Southwest Airlines Super-Slo-Mo Replay or whatever it was only had the text "SOUTHWEST AIRLINES" at the bottom of the screen.

Seriously, I applaud WGN for doing that, and for not being anywhere near as cute and annoying as Fox was when they did something vaguely similar with a Cubs-Dodgers game a few years ago. I also applaud the White Sox for scoring four runs in the bottom of the 9th in order to avenge the 1959 Series, at least in this game.

Labels: dodgers, tv, white sox

After Hee Seop Choi hit three home runs in Sunday's game, the headline in today's Los Angeles Times: "Three-Sock Joy for Dodgers."

Labels: dodgers, hee seop choi, los angeles times

Since I don't have high-speed Internet at my new apartment yet, I've been watching more TV than usual. That included tonight's Dodgers game, a 2-1 win over the Brewers. I wanted to mention this piece of trivia that fascinated Vin Scully, since I'm not sure how far it will be disseminated: with this game, the Dodgers have now played more games at Dodger Stadium than they had at Ebbets Field.

Incidentally, the best Vin Scully moment of the game was him reading Jim Tracy's lips during an argument with the home plate umpire, but not giving the exact translation: "Fertilizer, fertilizer." The second-best was his plug for the pre-game show airing before tomorrow's game: "I think you'll find it somewhat interesting, as it always is."

While I'm at it, it's looking like the plans detailed here for me and Jason to do a 4-city baseball trip next month are not going to come to fruition, since I will have only been in my new job for a month. We may do an overnight trip just to Phoenix, for a Saturday night game. But that leaves things open for me to ask: hey, Levi, how about a Western trip in 2006?

Labels: brewers, dodgers, jim tracy, planning, tv, vin scully

Since I posted a couple of weeks ago, the Nationals had fallen a couple of games out of first place in the NL East, but the Dodgers were still atop the NL West.

There have been a few changes at Dodger Stadium since last season -- other than three-fourths of the players on the field -- and perhaps the most dramatic one is one I didn't get a picture of: tickets are now being scanned at the gate instead of torn.

The blue seats up front are new...



This new LCD ribbon board goes all the way across the front of the loge (second) level, displaying all the latest in advertising, and probably some scores, if you can find them...



And there are smaller LCD displays next to the field for more advertising, replacing those old-fashioned "roller" displays...



And there was a new logo on the scoreboard...



The advertisement is for a special "Dodgers vs. Nationals inaugural game" T-shirt that was being sold for $30. Hey, they've got to pay for the new LCD displays somehow. What wasn't new was the "ANA" designation for a team that everyone else is abbreviating "LAA"...



What I didn't get a picture of, because there was nothing to see, is the fact that the Dodgers are saving 10 cents a letter by not putting players' names on the backs of their uniforms. Also, I was distracted by the advertising on the new ribbon board. So I guess there was a game at some point, and here's the final scoreboard...

Original comments...

thatbob: Look look look! As of today, 5/6/05, the White Sox have a .750 record! And the Yanks are tied with the Wuss Wusses for last place in their division! Incredible!

Labels: dodger stadium, dodgers, game report, nationals

Poor Stephen King, on the West Coast while the Yankees and Red Sox are playing in late July: "With no NESN, I was reduced to the coverage in the Saturday Los Angeles Times -- which, due to their ridiculous infatuation with the Dodgers, was skimpy."

I would guess that the Los Angeles Times is less infatuated with the Dodgers than the Boston Globe is with the Red Sox, if only because there are two major league baseball teams within the Times' home delivery area, and they try to serve both constituencies. In fact, it was probably the amount of Angels coverage that kept them from putting a longer Yankees-Red Sox story in that morning's paper. They've definitely had more Angels articles than Dodgers articles this offseason, because of the name change foolishness. Speaking of which, ESPN is going to be using "LAA" in the score box on any Angels games they broadcast this year, and they don't even have the same owner as the Angels anymore!

Original comments...

Jason: Imagine that - a city newspaper writing a whole lot about their local baseball team.

Since the Angels are now "LAA", does this mean the Dodgers will be "LAD"?

Jim: Yes, based on "NYY" and "NYM," the Dodgers will be "LAD," unless they try to get clever and go with LAN (for "National").

Levi: I hope they abbreviate DC as "DC-(N)" as if they're a politician.

Labels: angels, dodgers, los angeles times, red sox, Stephen King

I'm over 6 feet tall, I have a full head of hair, I have a cat who doesn't get up on the kitchen counter, and also...



Jason and Todd got tickets through a contact at their job, so there we were in the top deck of Dodger Stadium for Game 4 of the National League Division Series, the Dodgers needing a win against the Cardinals to stay alive.

Jason invited me, and Todd invited his wife Jenn, of course. So here she is eating pizza...



This was the first time I had sat in the top deck at Dodger Stadium. It was not bad. I'm pretty sure I was closer to the field than when I had sat in the upper deck in San Diego in May, and I was definitely closer to the field than I was in the upper deck in Philadelphia in August. And these seats are only $6.00 general admission during the regular season. (They were jacked up to $12.00 reserved for this first round of the playoffs.)



It must be the playoffs, because there's the bunting...



And a special logo painted on the field...



And a blimp...



And what seems like hundreds of umpires...



So many umpires, in fact, that they don't display them at the bottom of the scoreboard because there's only space for four of them (it's not really visible in this photo, but trust me, they'd normally be at the bottom)...



And they handed out everyone's favorite loud and annoying item, Thunderstix...



So let's all think blue! Or think 76 or 980, if you'd rather think about numbers than colors...



Odalis Perez pitching in the top of the first...



And then some stuff happened that I didn't take pictures of because I was trying to follow the game, but night fell with the Dodgers behind 6-2...



It was time to summon the giant floating heads of Eric Gagne...



He did pretty well against the Cardinals, but the damage had already been done...



Noted Kenny G fan Ray King got into the game and was effective against the Dodgers...



Perhaps he and Mike Metheney were humming "Songbird" during their meeting on the mound...



Since this auxiliary scoreboard wasn't needed for its usual purpose of displaying out-of-town scores, it was instead pressed into service for additional statistic display duty...



See the taillights in the parking lot? Yep, people are leaving in the 8th inning, despite the number of come-from-behind wins the Dodgers have had this season...



It's the bottom of the 9th, the Dodgers are down by four runs, the fans are being exhorted to show their blue (not "show they're blue"), and this is all seeming familiar to Jason and me, as if it happened just a week and a half ago...



Speaking of which, the note about Alex Cora that was displayed as he was batting in the bottom of the 9th seemed very familiar...



But on September 28th, the Dodgers were facing the Rockies' bullpen. The Cardinals' bullpen, and Jason Isringhausen in particular, is a somewhat different story. So, long story short, some happy Cardinals...



The Dodgers wish them well in the NLCS, especially if they're going to be playing the Braves...



And even though the Dodgers lost, it was a great and highly improbable season, so the stadium crew thinks it deserves a playing of "I Love L.A."...



Oh, and by the way, this game set a new Dodger Stadium attendance record...



Go Cards.

Original comments...

Levi: Ah, that was a fun series. And I feel really good about Round 2, whomever we face. I'm rooting for tonight's Braves/Astros game to go 22 innings.

And I loved seeing the hugs and handshakes. It made me really happy, and it seemed a better send-off for the Dodgers than just retreating to the clubhouse would have been.

Labels: Cardinals, dodgers, game report, jason kaifesh, jenn carney, photos, todd carney

A thought on Saturday night's Dodgers-Cardinals game: since Joe Buck was off for his NFL football broadcasting duties, wouldn't it have been great if Fox had told Tim McCarver to stay in St. Louis and instead had the game called by a certain Los Angeles-based announcer who's been around since the last Ice Age and has more broadcasting talent in his little finger than Tim McCarver has in all the shoe-polished strands of his hair combined?

No such luck, and even if I had been watching live instead of TiVo-delayed, I couldn't have listened to him on the radio because of the delay inherent in DirecTV. Eventually, I put the TV on mute and listened to Brian Wilson's "Smile" on my iPod instead.

Original comments...

Toby: Levi, Did you happen to catch Fox Sports' "Beyond the Glory" special on Kirk Gibson's WS Game 1 HR in 1988? It was narrated by Joe Buck. ...Was a great piece.

The thing that struck me, though, was that they played Vin Scully's call of the homer first, then used Jack Buck's a little later. I had never heard anything but Jack Buck's call of that homer. It was very interesting.

You're so right about Vin Scully and McCarver, though. Why does he seem to worry so much about how deep the outfielders are playing?

Toby: Whoops - Just noticed that Jim posted that. Regardless, my comments wouldn't change--just direct it at Jim, instead of Levi.

Jim: They did an entire "Beyond the Glory" on Kirk Gibson's home run? Wow. I've closed-captioned a couple of those, and they're pretty good, but I've never watched one at home.

In the video of the home run, you can see one car in the parking lot beyond center field leaving early. Its taillights suddenly come on just as the ball leaves the stadium, and it apparently syncs up perfectly with Vin Scully's call, as if the occupant of the car was listening to the game on the radio and reacted to the home run by slamming on the brakes.

By the way, it turns out that if you actually go to a Division Series game at Dodger Stadium, not only do you not have to listen to Tim McCarver on your TV, you get to listen to Vin Scully's calls of memorable moments from the past season. His call of Steve Finley's grand slam to clinch the division was something like:

"Wherever it comes down, the Dodgers are division champs." (35 seconds of crowd noise)

Can you imagine Tim McCarver being quiet for 35 consecutive seconds?

Toby: NO! He'd be talking about how one of the fans in the seventh row was playing too deep to catch the home run ball.

maura: chris berman was silent after vladdy's grand slam the other night. as was ALL OF FENWAY. it was totally creepy and everyone at work was just looking at each other all alarmed-like.

thatbob: fucking yanx

Labels: Cardinals, dodgers, joe buck, music, tim mccarver, tv, vin scully

I'm still busy busy busy at work, but I couldn't let the first games pass with no comment, so here's a quick post with no links, mainly designed to get other people's impressions of yesterday's games.

1) I know one game does not a series make, but I very much enjoyed the dazed look that Odalis Perez wore when he left the mound in yesterday's Cards/Dodgers game. The last time a team hit five home runs in a game in a division series--wait--no team had ever done that before. It was a good start.

2) I was a bit bothered by the curtain calls at Busch Stadium yesterday, though. Curtain calls seem to me to be a bit disrespectful. I know players feel like the crowd is compelling them to come out, and they have to do it to shut up the crowd, but like a band after playing a perfunctory encore, they should just ignore the noise. Eventually it'll go away. No matter how hard I stomped my feet at his show, Nick Lowe wasn't going to come back out and play "I've Been Everywhere."

3) The Red Sox did as expected. I expect they'll do more of the same in games 2 and 3. And Johnny Damon's hair seems to be even longer than before: it's down past his shoulders.

4) I finally saw Scooter the Talking Baseball last night. Acting as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world, Joe Buck said, "And now, to tell us some more about the change-up, here's Scooter." And there he was, unsettlingly flesh-colored, with a weird stitching mouth and backwards ball cap. Until that moment, I was still trying to make myself believe that he was a figment of Jim's imagination. But no: Fox really does think kids are this stupid.

5) After the umpires took back the Sierra home run last night, deciding that it was foul after all, I decided that the only thing better than a Yankee making an out is a Yankee thinking he's hit a home run, then making an out. I decided that every time a Yankee hits a foul ball--even just a grounder--the umpires should wave their fingers for a home run, make the hitter run the bases, then confer and send him back to the plate. Now that would be fun.

Original comments...

Levi: Oh, and how could I have forgotten the way the radar gun reading bursts into flames any time a pitch gets above about 92 mph? What a wealth of new excitement that brought to my enjoyment of the game! Thank you, Fox! Thank you!

maura: that near-hr was ruben sierra's, actually. he promptly struck out.

Levi: Thanks, Mo. I fixed it.

Jason: When is Fox going to bring out the blue dot to follow where the ball goes? And when will we see Calista Flockhart eating a hot dog?!?!?

stacey: i was DEEPLY disappointed that sierra was not required to run the bases in reverse.

Labels: Cardinals, dodgers, joe buck, johnny damon, odalis perez, red sox, ruben sierra, Scooter

In my last entry, I said something about drama in the baseball playoffs starting next week. Perhaps I should have mentioned possible drama in the games being played in this, the last week of the season.



I thought that Angels game last week was going to be my last baseball game of the season. But then my birthday happened, and I got two tickets to Tuesday night's Dodger game. I gave one of the tickets to Jason. We drove to the game separately because I usually get off work hours before he does, and I wanted to arrive early to a Dodger game for once. So I'm on my way...



I ignored this sign (there used to be a Dodger Stadium entry gate straight down this street, but you can still get near the stadium this way)...



Remember where you parked at Dodger Stadium; it's on a giant baseball...



Many people over the years have ignored the crucial "no beachballs" rule on this sign...



If this sign hasn't been in the parking lot since 1962, it should have been...



"Think blue"? Whatever you say, Mr. Sign!



Before the game, pitcher Elmer Dessens was having his picture taken, in a bunch of different poses. For use on baseball cards, maybe?...



Somebody being interviewed before the game...



The score at the upper right is the one to keep an eye on. The Dodgers went into this game with a magic number of 4 to win the National League West, with the Giants nipping at their heels...



Why weren't there more people at a pivotal game in the last week of the season? The Dodgers kept the right-field pavilion closed...



Jason noticed a (presumably coincidental) circle of people wearing white in the stands opposite us (in the middle of the below photograph)...



The Rockies get one early run, and then not much happens for quite a while, except for a smoggy moonrise in right field...



Milton Bradley was charged with a 2-run error in the eighth inning, causing the Rockies to lead 3-0. A fan threw a plastic bottle at him. Bradley didn't like this, and approached the stands. To make a long story short, here's Bradley walking off the field after being ejected, having ripped off his uniform shirt, which didn't exactly endear him to the crowd...



Remember Elmer Dessens from before the game? He pitched the top of the 9th, keeping the score as it was at the end of the 8th, 4-0 (also, notice that a lot of people have already left)...



Bottom of the 9th, and Rockies pitcher Shawn Chacon walks four Dodgers in a row to make the score 4-1.

Tim Harikkala relieves him, and promptly gives up a double to Jayson Werth to make the score 4-3.

Then he gives up a single to Steve Finley. Two runs score. Dodgers celebrate...



I'm not sure if I believe it, but there's the final score...



Hero Steve Finley being interviewed...



Another powerful argument for not leaving a baseball game early. The Giants also won, in less dramatic fashion, so the Dodgers' magic number is now 3. I'm very, very happy this turned out to be my last game of the season. (I certainly won't turn down Dodgers playoff tickets! That's postseason.)

Original comments...

thatbob: If the Dodgers have a post season, I hope they incorporate the good luck tradition of the Rally Ejection. Milton Bradley can take off a different article of clothing in every 8th inning in which the Dodgers are behind.

Labels: dodger stadium, dodgers, elmer dessens, game report, jason kaifesh, milton bradley, photos, rockies, steve finley

Back in March, a man named Michael Mahan, who has more money than me, bought the entire right-field pavilion (bleachers) at Dodger Stadium for two of the three games against the Giants the last weekend of the season. With that big a group buy, the tickets cost only $3.50 each (face value $6.00). He sold some to a broker, donated some to Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and has been selling the rest through his web site for $15.00 each.

Everyone who buys a ticket, though -- and the big brothers and big sisters themselves -- has to sign an 8-page contract that if they catch a Barry Bonds home run ball, they have to give it to him, and then he'll sell the ball and later split the money with him.

The Dodgers found out about all this, and they're a little annoyed, but there's not much they can do; in California, selling tickets above face value is only illegal on stadium property. They also threatened to let people into the pavilion for free during the games if there is a significant number of empty seats, but Mahan says he's distributed almost all of the tickets, so that shouldn't be an issue.

This was all on the front page of today's L.A. Times, but reading that article requires registration, whereas baseballrelated.com doesn't. I think the reason this made the front page today is because Bonds has gotten near 700 home runs a little faster than Mahan predicted back in March.

I'm going to the Dodgers game tonight, but sitting in the "reserved" (third) level, behind home plate, so no Barry Bonds home run balls for me. Well, since they're playing the Padres, a Bonds home run ball would be highly unlikely no matter where I'm sitting.

Original comments...

Jim: It wasn't in the L.A. Times article, so I forgot to bring up Charlie Sheen buying the entire left-field bleachers for a game at Anaheim in 1996. ("Anybody can catch a foul ball," he supposedly said. "I want to catch a fair ball.") The Angels apparently didn't even make him fill up the section, because by all accounts, it was just Sheen and a couple of friends sitting out there. No one was in danger of hitting any milestone home runs in that game, though, and Sheen went home empty-handed.

Levi: You know, I was just retelling that story to Luke on Monday, but I had Sheen at Comiskey Park. My mistake, I assume, since Jim is known to be mistake-free.

Dan: Jim knows(tm).

Labels: barry bonds, dodger stadium, dodgers, giants, los angeles times

Years ago, Standard Oil of New Jersey spent a lot of money coming up with a new name that they'd be able to use everywhere in the world. That name was Exxon. They're still using the old name in Canada (and a lot of other countries besides)...





The spaceship that is Olympic Stadium...



Youppi!...



Expos at bat...



For some reason, the top and bottom line (season stats and lineup) are in English, and the middle line (stats for "ce match") is in French, e.g. "CC" is French for "HR"...



The final line...



A milestone win...

Labels: brpa, dodgers, expos, montreal, olympic stadium, photos, road trip

O, Canada! I am so ready to stand on guard for thee. You’ve won me over, with your rolling hills, your Euro-style, your wide vistas, your old buildings, your two-dollar coins, and, yes--I mean oui--even your French.

Le Stade Olimpique, on the other hand. . . . Well, let’s just say if all baseball were played in such conditions, Jim and I might be on a trip to see 11 team handball games instead. Oh, it’s not as bad as it could be. Some good points: The Metro lets you off right under the stadium. Tickets from un homme out front were 10$, or about $.65 U.S. The seat location printed on those tickets was more a suggestion than a condition. The funny yellow seats that looked like they’d been recycled from Tomorrowland’s “Mission to Mars” were actually pretty comfortable. The poutine—which, because I do find myself on occasion eating meat gravy, at Thanksgiving, say, I decided I couldn’t quite bear to pass up—was as advertised. Youppi was slightly less annoying than your average mascot. When an Expo homered, the scoreboard flashed, “CIRCUIT!”

But there were, without a doubt, bad points. The main--all-encompassing, really--bad point was that we were watching baseball indoors. It’s just wrong and deeply unsatisfying to walk out of a pleasant, 25-degree night into an enclosed concrete bowl with a puffy roof. The turf--though more grasslike than the bright green nightmare that serves as the field at Skydome--is still far closer to carpet on the carpet/grass continuum. The outfield walls, though decorated with the retired numbers of Expo greats (Quick quiz: name three. Okay, time’s up. If you said three of Andre Dawson, Gary Carter, Rusty Staub, Tim Raines, or--and this one isn’t really fair--Jackie Robinson, you win!), is still a tall, stadium-blue vinyl cushion thing. And the foul poles, like at Skydome, aren’t poles at all, just two-foot-wide netting painted yellow and strong from the top of the wall to the upper deck--although Stade Olimpique gets bonus points for continuing the foul poles with dotted lines painted across the appropriate part of the façade to the ceiling.

Jim and I were both pleasantly surprised by the size of the crowd. The Dodgers were in town, and quite a few of those in attendance were wearing the blue, but the majority of attendees seemed to be Expos fans. The announced attendance of nearly 8,000 didn’t even seem all that inflated. Jim and I decided just before the first pitch that, being in Montreal, we would allow location to supersede Jim’s regional loyalties, so we cheered for Les Expos. As the team took the field, I learned that Expos third baseman Tony Batista (Who, you may remember from his days in Baltimore, has the silliest batting stance in baseball, sillier even than Craig Counsell. Really. Try it out yourself. Look in the mirror. Imagine the mirror is a pitcher. Take the stance that normal hitter would take, and you’ll see that your outside shoulder is faced towards the pitcher. Now, imagine you’re Tony Batista. Say “Hola, soy Tony Batista.” Take your left foot, the one closest to the pitcher, and step out of the box with it. You’ll notice that you’re now facing the pitcher. Take the bat off your shoulder and hold it with both hands directly in front of you, pointed up, like Ben Kenobi awaiting Darth Vader. Wait for your pitch.) runs out to his position at top speed just like Sammy Sosa. Only, as Batista is an infielder, he has to get moving and get stopped much more quickly. But the crowd loves it nonetheless.

The game itself was a good one for Expos fans--from the third pitch to Brad Wilkerson leading off the bottom of the first, Jose Lima had definitely set his watch to Lima Time. Only, he’d set it to Lima time circa 1999, when his propensity for the “balle de circuit!” forced him out of baseball. He threw “un balle de adios, mon ami” to Wilkerson, and later he served up “un balle de tristesse toujours san fin” to the aforementioned Tony Batista a few innings later. (Remember how silly you looked just now in the mirror? I don’t understand how it works, either.) Miixing it up a bit, Lima tossed the next batter, Juan Rivera, a “balle de Mercy!, merci.” In the sixth, Termel Sledge, who’s only mentioned here because of his great name, singled and scored when Lima threw his last pitch of the ballgame, “un balle de circuit de troix puntos.” The 6-3 lead that gave Les Expos would hold up, making the teams Jim and I are rooting for 5-0 on the trip. That in itself is almost worth our not getting to see Eric Gagne pitch in his homeland.

One last incident from the game deserves mention, and it involves the twice-mentioned Tony Batista. In the 7th, Batista dodged a wild pitch--“un mauvais balle”--that nearly hit his ankles. The next pitch was a fastball that hit him in the helmet. He went down, knocked out. The Dodgers pitcher was instantly ejected, unfairly, in my view, and the trainer and players gathered around Batista. It was scary, but within a minute or so, he was moving around. Then, within seconds of having been out cold, Batista pushed himself to his feet, turned and waved both hands at the cheering crowd, and, shrugging off assistance, sprinted to first. Though I expected him to be replaced in the game for precautionary reasons, he stayed in, and three pitches later, he stole second on the back end of a double steal. Surely he’s a fan favorite in Montreal.

Now we’re rolling up and down the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, on our way to Boston. When I turned the computer on, I misread the wireless network symbol and thought for a second that perhaps all of Vermont was an open wireless network. Sadly, no.

The examination at the border crossing back into the U.S. was a bit more strenuous than the one we endured to enter Canada (Here is the entry one in its entirety, as a one-act play: Customs guy (bored almost to the point of rudeness: You bringing anything in? Me: Nope. Fin.). The lady looked in our trunk, asked how we knew each other--explaining CRC set us behind schedule about two hours—and asked twice if we were bringing anything in. Later, we took a pleasant ferry ride across lovely Lake Champlain, and, minutes after I had expressed to Jim my general distaste for giant Recreational Vehicles like the pink one adjacent to us on the ferry, which was towing an SUV behind it--and seconds after I expressed my fears that it would smash our car attempting to drive off the ferry--said RV, in driving off the ferry, banged its long-ass back end into our right rear panel. Fortunately for us, only the trailer carrying the SUV suffered damage, a smashed taillight. Our Chevy Impala, apparently “increveable,” was unmarked. A ways down the road, as we passed the RV, I was able to shake my fist. I doubt the driver saw me, though, from his perch forty feet above the roadway.

On to Boston. Johnny Damon, we come for thee!

Original comments...

Jim's mom: Mom says hi. Drive carefully and eat your vegetables.

Toby: Levi, If you didn't get a picture of Lima's wife, don't bother coming back! Are you trying to say the tickets were 65 cents or is there a typo somewhere?

thatbob: That's just Levi trying to make some of his patented "exchange rate" humor. It probably would have made a little more sense about 4 years ago, you know, before the US dollar went all to hell.

Eric Ritter: Poutine... mmmmm.

stacey: so what exactly is poutine?

Dan: When I went to Olympic Stadium in 1989, I thought it was a tremendous dump. Although I bet it was a terrific place to see the opening ceremonies of the '76 Games.

sandor: Poutine is something like fries swimming in meat gravy. It's much grosser than a pretty name like "poutine" would lead you to believe.

I'm curious to know if either Canadian ballpark served donairs. During our recent trip to Canadia, we were confused as all get-out to see them advertised at the same level and intesity as hamburgers and hot dogs, not having ever heard the term before. Turns out a donair is pretty much the exact same thing as a gyros. I guess they hate Greeks in Canadia, and needed to come up with something sufficiently anglo as a replacement.

stacey: It's now 3:16 here in Chicago. I've just turned off WPRB after enjoying the radio show . . . but I'm surprised there's not a new post yet. Isn't Maura a wireless zone?

stacey: sorry to keep posting about the future and the past . . . but this reminded me of the bunny at the swing of the quad cities game:

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_leftfield.jsp?ymd=20040825&content_id=838421&vkey=leftfield&fext=.jsp

Jason: The big question is: Did Jim eat any poutine?

Eric Ritter: Poutine is the national food of the part of Quebec that doesn't object to it being the national food.

I loooove Poutine. But I understand the point of view of people who don't want it to be the national food. It's extremely yummy (to me, an avowed fan of fatty foods), but doesn't achieve the culinary brilliance of certain other proletarian fatty foods, such as Southern fried chicken (of which I am the grandmaster, by the way. And which is much less fatty than you think.) A francophone nation can do better.

Eric

Labels: brpa, dodgers, expos, ferry, game report, montreal, olympic stadium, road trip

Says Hanger-on Luke, referring to yesterday's Cubs/Dodgers game

If I had a baseball blog I'd write about the fan I sat in front of
today. He was a real piece of work, a young man clearly mentally disabled but
both in love with and enraged by his Cubs, sort of a Rain Man with a
mean streak and Cubby-blue blood.

When I got to my seat he was already ranting--to nobody in particular
--about Corey Patterson and how he's not a lead-off batter. Then he was
going off on how Aramis Ramirez should be starting: "Dusty, you are not
a doctor! Aramis is not hurt!" Once the umps took the field, he started
yelling at them, reciting from memory the rule book's description of
the strike zone.

All this from Aisle 534.

He kept a tally of questionable balls and strikes. With each one --
more than 20 of them -- he'd explode: "This is ridiculous! We're going to
replace you with a computer! With QuesTec, Fox Box AND! OR! a fifth
umpire in the booth AND! OR! instant replay! And we're sending you to the eye
doctor! And we're sending you back to umpiring school. AND WE'RE GOING
TO CALL THE COMMISSIONER! 1414! 225! 3900!"

Every. Single. Time. After the fifth time the entire section could
mouth along with him, as not a single word -- nor his intense volume -- would
deviate over the course of the game.

He also was very displeased that the Commissioner was not there as
scheduled for Greg Maddux Day, as he had a few things he needed to tell
Bud. He expressed dismay that Jim Hendry never wants to talk to him.

Another screed: "Dusty is the stupidest manager ever. Why doesn't he
want to win? I have an IQ of 120 -- I am smarter than Dusty! We will always
hate you, Dusty! WE WILL ALWAYS HATE YOU!"

And you should have seen him go nuts when Farnsworth came in and
proceeded to implode.

Since he wasn't swearing or threatening fans, there wasn't really
anything security could do, other than try to get him to calm down. He would
not.

It gets better: When he wasn't yelling at the umps or Dusty, he was
calling up ESPN radio and other sports media on his cell phone and
leaving long messages calmly describing Dusty's many felonies -- occasionally
pausing to scream toward the field. It seemed, however, that every time
he did this, the Cubs would proceed to do something good. Thus, Monday
morning some schlub at ESPN is going to have to listen to all these
messages, and as he listens to this fan moan about Corey Patterson, he
will hear in the background Corey Patterson rapping a single to center.
As he listens to a rant about the bullpen, he will hear in the background
Kent Mercker getting a strikeout to end the inning.

It was nothing short of amazing. I think I was the only one in my
section who appreciated him, even though he was yelling right into my ear. I
had to concede he was one of the best-informed fans in the stadium. Much
better him than some drunk frat boy yelling "You suck, Pujols!"

IT WAS RIDICULOUS!

Original comments...

Jim: Much better than the guy Matt Bailey and I encountered on L.A.'s Red Line on Sunday who heard us comparing the L.A. subway system with the Chicago 'L', the D.C. Metro, and Atlanta's MARTA, and proceeded to semi-coherently mumble something about taking the subway to other countries. He was speaking quietly, though, and ended up getting off the train at Vermont & Sunset.

Later, a friend of Matt's who was in Chicago called him, and told a tale of woe about his companions who bought tickets to the Cubs game from a scalper for $80...and soon discovered the tickets to be counterfeit.

Levi: According to a couple of reverse directories online, the phone number the guy was shouting doesn't exist. Or if it does, it doesn't turn up a listing.

I suppose I could test by calling it, but Bud Selig might answer the phone, and I wouldn't like to have to be responsible for my behavior in that situation.

Luke, hanger-on: Whoops, I misremembered the phone number, which is remarkable considering how many times it was bellowed into my ear: It's in fact (414) 225-8900.

Steve: Quien es mas retarded? The guy described in the above post or the dudes who bought $80 counterfit tickets?

Levi: Mas retarded? Kyle Farnsworth. Hands down.

Or is that mas estoned?

Labels: aramis ramirez, bud selig, corey patterson, cubs, dodgers, dusty baker, greg maddux, jim hendry, kent mercker, kyle farnsworth, radio

The Dodgers have dropped their mascot plans. They say they're still looking at other options to improve the entertainment experience at Dodger Stadium.

Labels: dodger stadium, dodgers

Two recent pieces of news from the Los Angeles Dodgers: their organist Nancy Bea Hefley is playing a lot less than she used to, and they're considering adding a mascot (no link available, but there was a story in today's L.A. Times that, if today were April 1 and not June 1, I would have thought was fake).

I'm wondering if new Dodgers owner Frank McCourt doesn't have some kind of "Producers"-style scam going on that depends on low attendance at Dodger Stadium. Raising ticket prices would have been too obvious, so he raised parking prices and concession stand prices, but that didn't work too well, because people still keep showing up to the games. There were no spectacular free agent signings in the off-season, just a troublemaker acquired at the last minute. Yet the Dodgers are doing pretty well, so people still keep showing up to the games. Perhaps when the no-organ-plus-annoying-mascot plan doesn't work, McCourt will make every night Free Beach Ball Night, in which every fan will get a free pre-inflated beach ball and will be encouraged to bat it around in the stands throughout the game. Oh, wait a second...

By the way, the Major League Baseball organist situation isn't quite as dire as the Seattle Times column makes it out to be. Their list of organists is incomplete. For example, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have a live organist, believe it or not, to name one team they didn't mention. His booth is next to, but not inside, the press box, and I was just a few sections over from it at the game last month. I only realized afterwards that I should have gone over there to see if he took requests.

Original comments...

Levi: Hey, don't knock Milton Bradley.

As he said last year when sent down by Cleveland, "There seems to be one set of rules for Milton Bradley, and another set for everybody else."

thatbob: Oh, see, I have a deep and profound love for annoying mascots that I'm surprised you don't share, Jim. But at least if they get a Trolley Dodger, they'll have to get a trolley, no? Wouldn't that make you happy! LA hasn't had one of those since, what, the 1940s?

I hope it's a big pink and green trolley made of balloons and glitter that runs back and forth across the backfield. Isn't that the kind you like?

Jason: Bernie Brewer was never annoying.

Levi: If the Dodgers get a mascot, who's next? A big, stinky Red Sock? A plastered Trixie named Cubbina?

We can only hope.

Jim: The Red Sox have a mascot: Wally the Green Monster.

Labels: devil rays, dodger stadium, dodgers, frank mccourt

Around here, and around the Internet, all the news from Wednesday's Cubs-Dodgers game was about Alex Cora's at-bat.

For those of you who missed it, here's the pitch-by-pitch.

Pitch 1 - Ball
Pitch 2 - Called Strike
Pitch 3 - Ball
Pitch 4 - Foul
Pitch 5 - Foul
Pitch 6 - Foul
Pitch 7 - Foul
Pitch 8 - Foul
Pitch 9 - Foul
Pitch 10 - Foul
Pitch 11 - Foul
Pitch 12 - Foul
Pitch 13 - Foul
Pitch 14 - Foul
Pitch 15 - Foul
Pitch 16 - Foul
Pitch 17 - Foul
Pitch 18 - Home run to right field. Jason Grabowski and Alex Cora score

Because I had just watched the Cardinals game and had to get up at 5:45 the next morning to get to work early, I went to bed just before that inning. Stacey came into the bedroom early in Cora's at-bat to inform me that Cubs announcer Pat Hughes had said, "For those of you just returning from a brief vacation, Alex Cora is still at bat."

Much later--or so it seemed to my sleep-addled brain--she returned to tell me that Cora had fouled off fourteen pitches. Soon after, she sadly delivered the news of his home run. But even though she's a Matt Clement fan and was sad to see him lose the battle, she was willing to concede that it was pretty impressive.

Two other notes:

1. Is Matt Morris trying to take up Johnny Damon's slack? Check out this photo. It's not there yet, but he's on his way to turning his hideous chin friend into a real beard.

2. The comment by Pat Hughes reminds me of two great baseball radio moments I've been meaning to share with you. One is a great bit of description by Cardinals announcer Mike Shannon. Describing Matt Morris pulling up short to stop at third base, he said, "He stopped so short that if he'd been a train, he would have jackknifed the last half-dozen cars."

The second is from a discussion Ron Santo and Pat Hughes were having the other day at Wrigley. It was chilly and windy, but Pat, expecting better weather, had decided to have the crew take out the window panes that protect the announcers from the elements. Ron was on his case about it, complaining that after so many years at Wrigley, surely he knew better than to take out the windows in May. Pat peppered Ron with questions like, "So, Ron, would you say it's a pain to have these windows out?" and "So, Ron, would you say that it's an open-and-shut case?" Ron continued his rant, oblivious to the joking.

Original comments...

Levi: Baseball Prospectus has a good point about Damon's beard: he missed a chance to raise much more money for charity. He should have set up two accounts, one for keeping the beard, one for shaving it, and asked for donations to each. The one with most donations decides the fate of the greatest beard of the decade.

stacey: levi, what is the point is saying i'm a matt clement fan without linking to a photo of him? he steals my heart with his super pitching, tall socks, and super cuteness!

Luke: The at-bat reminded me of Matt Williams' great at-bat in the 1989 NLCS against the Cubs, although it was only eight foul balls. Here's an interesting write-up about it (scroll down to "Foul ball!").

"According to research by STATS Inc., each foul ball shifts the balance in favor of the batter. After Williams's fifth foul, he was the favorite over Wilson. Why? Physically, the more pitches a batter sees, the better he can adjust to movement and velocity, and therefore time his swing. There is also the psychological toll on the pitcher to consider."

There's also some talk of the precision foul ball, like the scene in "The Natural" where Hobbs tries to snipe the photographer when he's taking BP after his injury.

"The carefully aimed foul ball is a rare but potent weapon, as Richie Ashburn once discovered. The Phillies outfielder