To some extent, I wish the Dodgers were out of the playoff hunt. Then the Losers Dividend would kick in, and we could all relax and enjoy our new Cool-a-Coos. But it’s not that simple, as I write at Los Angeles Magazine’s CityThink blog.
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Adam Luther
Great to know that the Cool-a-Coo’s deserve priority over cell phone coverage in the Ravine.
Anonymous
Im going tonight. Hopefully I can afford one of those.
Anonymous
no kidding – the new playoff system is kind of funky, as a fan i dig it, but i’m wondering how management feels about it…
Anonymous
I think it’s a little easier to sell Cool-a-Coos than to get the major cellular service providers to put extra towers near the stadium.
Anonymous
Ken Arneson wrote a thought provoking piece at his blog, i love how he connects the simplicity of one issue (his phone or lack of it) with the the newspaper business & MLB’s potential problems in the future.
Anonymous
Saturday’s game will be interesting. Jaime Garcia (with a 4.67 ERA on the road and a 2.06 ERA at home) against Joe Blanton. Buy seats in the pavilions for all the souvenirs.
Anonymous
i’ve always wanted to take a stroll down all-you-can eat lane.
Anonymous
Setting it up for 2-1 at best aren’t you?
Tycho
The way the team is playing and loosing, it’s death by a thousand cuts. The old system at least let me mourn the season and move on with life. With this new system even the once dead Philly’s still have an outside chance – Zombie teams into the playoffs don’t seem worthy. Perhaps Jim Caple’s (
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8369293/a-proposal-expand-mlb-two-teams-eliminate-wild-cards ) idea of MLB expansion rather than Wild Card addition is the way to go. I’m not sure, but I’m more frustrated than hopeful at this point of the season, which I don’t think MLB wants.
I’m treating this season as an off season the new ownership didn’t get, at least that’s what I told myself at the beggining of the season. Now it feels like a wasted season if the boys don’t get into the playoffs.
Anonymous
baseball just loves playing with our emotions anyway, we’re masochist & don’t even know it, but seriously, i think a few more years of this idea we’ll see if it works or not.
Anonymous
Like the idea of a team in BK in Montreal…
Hate the idea of net expansion when we have so many zombie teams already that can barely put a quarter of the butts in seats in an average season.
Anonymous
No word on Ned Colletti’s extension yet, been surfing the web for the latest & nothing.
Anonymous
I think management has acquired as good players as they could, under the circumstances. Whether or not Colletti deserves credit for that is a different question. With an unlimited checkbook, it’s easy to buy nice things. Whether or not he is deserving may not matter. It may become expeditious to fire the manager and/or general manager for a poorly performing team simply because that’s the way it’s done in baseball…
Anonymous
i think Ned’s done an o.k. job (some moves i haven’t agreed on like most folks) adapting old school scouting with new world advance analytics is something Ned hasn’t shut the door on & works to his favour.
Tycho
I’d like a GM who favors youth over journeymen. I know Ned’s been hamstrung by the former administration, but the farm system is what it is because of Ned – good and bad. Ned seems to hold the responsibility as it’s in his job description. If Ned is let go I’m not going to cry. If that comes to pass I’d like a younger GM over a retread, but that just a gut opinion – Kim Ng?
Anonymous
>I’d like a GM who favors youth
when you have a young player develop thru the organization he intuitively adapts to the philosophy of that organization, PVL’s come with the baggage of 3 or 4 teams already.
foul tip
A great farm system takes money–competitive money–and being in markets outside the US that the Dodgers once dominated or were strong in. That fell off during the McTort reign of error. That it did can’t be blamed on Ned.
Logan White is generally regarded as one of the best at scouting. But the team couldn’t do everything he wanted with limited McTort money. Yes, scouting is an oversight responsibility for Ned. But he’s not in the trenches. Again, not Ned’s fault. On an organizational chart, maybe. Real world as in the last few years, not.
The farm system now largely is a reflection of what could be done then while “hamstrung.”
Every time I say something like this I think I need to point out that I’m not wild about Ned. I do think he has grown in the job and is much better at it than at first.
But he, White, and others in charge of putting the team together now should be free from prior restrictions. Any shortcomings areas now can be judged more fairly.
Jon Weisman
Vin Scully interview on CBS Sunday Morning 9/16
Anonymous
When are you officially the wild card winner: when you win one of the two slots or when you win the one game playoff?
Anonymous
In football, both are “wild card” entries to the postseason. They play each other, then go vs. the #1 seed.
Anonymous
It’s not like unlike the time when the NFL had five teams from each conference make the playoffs with a wild card playoff game the week before the “first round.”
Anonymous
Baseball becoming like football :(
What’s next instant replay?
Anonymous
NBA/NHL are far worse. IIRC, the hawks took the celts to the maximum games in a series coming in with losing record recently.
Anonymous
the new Siri has player stats response, i can already see my sabermetrics IQ jump 2 fold.
lex Steppling
All this recent misery, which has been real, also feels weird given how totally in contention this team is.
Linkmeister
Yeah, when you’ve lost six of the last seven games it really feels like you shouldn’t even be in the hunt any longer.
Anonymous
Call it the “mild card,” rewarding mediocrity.
Anonymous
A lot of anger that we are in the playoff hunt. We will all feel differently I think if we do some winning in the next week or so, and if we don’t we will really be out of the playoff hunt anyway.
Gustavo Mungaray
i think we need a little shakeup so may i suggest a new line up for tonight with just a few tweaks here and there for the remainder of the season. i think we started like this the first month and we started pretty hot.
gordon ss
ellis 2b
kemp cf
andre rf
ramirez 3b
gonzo 1b
ellis c
shane rf
Anonymous
Put Gordon in left and Cruz at either short or third and we might agree on at least the players that should be playing.
Cruz 3B
Ethier RF
Kemp CF
Gonzalez 1B
Ramirez S
A. Ellis C
Ellis 2B
Gordon LF
Anonymous
The funny thing is that we’re almost a playoff lock if we sweep this series.
Anonymous
With the small matter of still having to play one series each against the three likely division champs in the NL.
Anonymous
All of whom are enough of a lock to be more concerned about injuries and rested pens than wins, including the truly bizarre SS icing.
Anonymous
What is this bizarre incident?
Anonymous
Shutting down Strassburg. (sp?)
Anonymous
Thanks I thought a SS had a bucket of ice dumped on him and he was now hurt.
Anonymous
At least we can agree on one thing – after witnessing a shift from Kershaw vs Zito to Kershaw vs Kennedy, it is pretty clear that the ‘B’ in “Donnie B.” doesn’t stand for “Brains”.
Anonymous
I’m confused. That wasn’t Donnie’s decision was it? Kershaw was hurt and would’ve only been able to go 60-70 pitches even if we sent him out there and the medical staff said don’t let him pitch. The B definitely would not have stood for Brains if he sent Kershaw out there and he made his injury worse.
Anonymous
Stassburgitis /n./ – the condition where incompetent sawbones medical staff and front offices conspire to make healthy pitchers barely old enough to legally drink into Jamie Moyer a week after a major car wreck
Anonymous
The “War of Kershaw Starting Sunday” war was fought between Sunday and Tuesday and it’s over now.
Anonymous
Can the war over the starting pitcher in game 163 1980 be laid to rest? Can the war over pitching to the other teams power hitter with first base open and two outs 1985 be put to rest? I guess but never forgotten!
Anonymous
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
Anonymous
Good point Bluto :)
Anonymous
The Dodgers need to spend more money on hitters, score more runs, and not worry when Kershaw pitches.
Anonymous
I think he’s referring to Stephen Strasburg instead of either a shortstop or a member of the Schutzstaffel.
Anonymous
Ausgezeichnet!
Jon Weisman
Tonight’s lineup:
M Ellis 2B
Ethier RF
Kemp CF
Gonzalez 1B
Ramirez SS
Victorino LF
Cruz 3B
AJ Ellis C
Beckett P
Anonymous
Pretty early spot for Dre. I think a faithful DT reader suggested something similar recently.
Does Donnie read DT? He can read, right?
Anonymous
Redacted
Anonymous
That’s a shame, that was actually one of the funnier comments this place has seen in a while…
David Farinella
Wouldn’t you like to see Cruz in the 2 hole and Victorino in the 8 spot? (i’d actually like to see Victorino in a Royals uniform, but that’s something else altogether.)
Anonymous
Amen on that last part, bro.
Any chance we can bring back the Islanders and give him a dignified final few years of baseball?
Jason Ungar
This team still has the makings of a story. If they can get in and win and make it to the World Series there is still a chance we can piss lots of baseball fans off. : )
Jon Weisman
NPUT