Off to the Races

From Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise:

Joe Torre declared Nomar Garciaparra the favorite to start at third base over Andy LaRoche. "Being the veteran guy, he has the inside track in being the starting third baseman," Torre said. Torre said he could tell LaRoche has been a bit anxious during the intrasquad games.

This might be a motivational tool for LaRoche, or it might be reality. But the end of March is still 32 days away. A track is just a track, and the outside track is still a track.

Comments

[bhsportsguy]

1.  Toy Cannon is itching to shout to me "told you so."

[Eric Enders]

2.  If it's reality, it's ludicrous, of course. But as pessimistic as I am at times, even I find it hard to believe that the manager would decide a starting job based on two intrasquad games.

[iverson voice] We're talking about intrasquad games! Intrasquad games! [/iverson voice]

[Sushirabbit]

3.  I did get a laugh out of the Pierre saying "now you know how it feels" bit. He really is a great guy. I just wish he was a great guy on another team.

[old dodger fan]

4.  Dallas Morning News 2/17/08

"Milton Bradley has the inside track on Texas Rangers' cleanup spot"

There are those words again.

[MC Safety]

5.  Jon: Yeah, I could've done without that description. Diamond's whole post was pretty disheartening. I'm going to see Dave Attell at the Improv tonight though so that's looking up.

2 (Jim Mora voice) And we wanna talk PLAYOFFS! PLAYOFFS!

[Kevin Lewis]

6.  If Nomar truly wins the job in the Spring, than I am fine with him starting the season at third. But if he reverts back to what we expect, than LaRoche needs to be starting asap.

[Kevin Lewis]

7.  It will make his first pitch swing and a miss really hard to watch. I will probably wince a lot at the beginning of the season if he starts. But, I go back to my theory that as long as both of them don't tank, it is a win for the team.

[fanerman]

8.  3 I just wish he were a great guy without a consecutive games played streak and a big contract.

[underdog]

9.  Words at the beginning of exhibition season are about as meaningless as, well, exhibition season. I guarantee you Torre is trying to take some pressure off LaRoche. What matters is how the team shapes up in April and even May. Nomar will have a place on the team and I'm fine with that, but as Kevin says, if he looks anything like Nomar of last year, then there's no way he should be starting, end of story. I do hope Andy has a better spring than he's traditionally had. C'mon Andy, you can do it!

[kinbote]

10.  I for one don't want to see LaRoche on the bench. I think it's a waste of service time. I'm starting to think Delwyn Young taking grounders at 3b is part of a master plan.

[Xeifrank]

11.  Nomar has the inside track? What, me worry!? No, I'm not worried. I will have more to say by May 1st though.
vr, Xei

[philmc78]

12.  Ugh...

[underdog]

13.  Wow, I didn't even see that there were two other postings I'd missed before this one. This is going to be a busy site when the actual season gets underway.

[kinbote]

14.  This might be a good time for my favorite joke:

What did the Zen Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?

"Make me one with everything."

[underdog]

15.  10 I think Young taking grounders at third, and playing second, is a good sign - it means the Dodgers clearly don't want to lose him, want to make sure he has a place on the team and then actually get him some playing time. Makes him more valuable. Especially with Abreu not yet 100%.

[jasonungar07]

16.  Barf:

Also interesting is the lineup Torre will use for the spring opener. All the regulars will start, including Juan Pierre in left field, Matt Kemp in right field and Nomar Garciaparra at third base. Pierre, in fact, will hit leadoff. "He says, 'Whatever you want to do,'" Torre said of Pierre. Garciaparra, meanwhile, has been told by Torre of his status as frontrunner for the job.

[Kevin Lewis]

17.  16

You would have been more sick with the original post. Diamond had said that Nomar would be playing SS, but it has been fixed.

[Xeifrank]

18.  I don't really see a problem with Nomar being called the front-runner at 3B and even Pierre the front-runner in LF. I think merit will eventually win out, and then Nomar and Pierre (and the PVL Marching & Chowder Society) will have nothing to complain about when they eventually lose this front-runner status/starting gig. Now if we get into May and Nomar and Pierre are consistent starters and not performing well, then I will be at the head of the mob pitch-fork in hand.
vr, Xei

[kinbote]

19.  15 I think it's a good sign too. I'm just thinking that Nomar--if the starter--will need substantial time off. Abreu [or Martinez] would be the middle infield back-up and occasional 3b back-up, but we'd still need someone we could count on for offensive production when Nomar doesn't start. It could be LaRoche or maybe it could be Young.

[jasonungar07]

20.  To clarify, no problem on Nomar. I hope he hits and then LaRoche takes over...But Juan Pierre ughhhhhh

[Disabled List]

21.  Nothing but bad news on DT today. The Nomar Death March continues, LA's two newspapers headed for oblivion, Billingsley's health issues...

This sucks. Jon, we need something sunny to cheer us up. Can you whip up a "Logan White Promoted to GM After Colletti Elopes to Paris with Juan Pierre" post?

[cargill06]

22.  21 the giants will lose 90 games, does that cheer you up a little?

[underdog]

23.  Well, DL, you could borrow my Flight of the Conchords DVD - that cheered me up last night.

[kinbote]

24.  21 Can we add Jason Schmidt's tired arm to the mix? :)

[Jon Weisman]

25.  23 - The second-season premiere of FOC was delayed, if anyone wants more bad news.

[DXMachina]

26.  21 I look forward to the Griddle's picture rebus on that story.

[cargill06]

27.  24 i know just please don't let it be least year

he lost 10 MPH off his fastball, he's just tired but everything's ok

[ImprobableImpossible]

28.  25
Delayed until when?

[SG6]

29.  Will Torre overwork some in the bullpen? This quote makes no sense to me

"I formed a relationship with Dave where he's easy to talk to," Bruney said. "In the past, I might not have had that relationship; I didn't talk to Gator."

Bruney also admitted to a level of fear in playing for Joe Torre, who was constantly criticized in recent years for overusing certain relievers.

"With Torre - and I'm not trying to bad-mouth anybody - sometimes you would go out there and try to be so good because you were scared of doing bad," Bruney said. "You can't pitch like that. (Joe) Girardi understands that you make mistakes - and I'm going to make them."

[cargill06]

30.  hey espn is predicting 252/347/509 for a. jones, 40 hr 123 rbis.

[MC Safety]

31.  25 Wow. What a day.

[cargill06]

32.  jeez the nl bashing is quite silly sometimes, jayson stark says the blue jays would be an overwhelming favorite in the nl. um correct me if im wrong but i like the mets rotation better, their lineup better and their bullpen better but other than that.

[cargill06]

33.  32 i'm sorry he said the blue jays would be an overwhelming favorite to win the NL pennant.

[Xeifrank]

34.  33. They'd probably be right up there with the Mets and Cubs, but overwhelming favorite is a bit much. They'd lose either Frank Thomas or Lyle Overbay by virtue of moving to the NL, so they take a hit right there.
vr, Xei

[Blue in SF]

35.  Baseball Boogie: http://youtube.com/watch?v=JW7q0JzWaoY

No wonder they went 73-89 and just missed out on last place in the NL West.....

[Jon Weisman]

36.  For those who watched Sunday's Wire.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kHXpgbQrsEo

[MollyKnight]

37.  Ugh. This news is making me sad.

[underdog]

38.  25 I know, that's why I was watching the first season DVD, to keep me from missing it more than I already was. :-(

35 It's great fun, and I'm sure you didn't know, but that video's been posted about here about 100 times including the last few days. I see it in my sleep, nightmares even. ;-)

in the movie version, Jerry Reuss will be played by Ed Begley Jr.

[underdog]

39.  And Orel Hershiser will be played by The Wire's mayoral actor, Aidan Gillen.

[El Lay Dave]

40.  Tony Jackson wrote this in the comments section of his blog:

If you look at this team and this lineup and the way a lineup is generally structured (each guy fits into it a certain way, and a lot has to do with how all the pieces fit together), if everyone is healthy and productive, this is a better team with Pierre's speed in the lineup. It's not all about each individual player's talent level, a la fantasy baseball. It's about how it all fits together. IMHO, Pierre needs to be in there most of the time

A commenter named Marcel replied within one hour:

To be honest, Furcal, Martin and Kemp provide more than enough speed (there is potential for 80 steals there combined) for this to be a successful lineup. Then you put Ethier's solid power and on-base skills in place of Pierre, and this is a much more dangerous team.

[Xeifrank]

41.  New Rule 13: No more Baseball Boogie YouTube postings. :)
vr, Xei

[Disabled List]

42.  40 That's such transparent excuse-making for Pierre. It drives me nuts how reporters like Plaschke, Jackson and Gurnick are so blatant about which players/coaches/execs are their pets, and which ones they have personal grudges against.

[El Lay Dave]

43.  "Favorite" is, apparently, Leung's word, not Torre's. Not having heard it spoken, would I be off to interpret Torre as simply saying that a veteran always starts on the inside track, probably because he's been through the grind, knows what is expected and knows what to expect?

16 "Regulars" is also Leung's word. (If JP is leading off, is Furcal playing?)

[DodgerBlueBruce]

44.  Ouch! After 7 innings Phillies up 8 to 1 over Reds. Eddie Majewski - 7 batters faced - 6 earned runs. ERA - 162.00.
Reds without Dunn & Griffey.

[MollyKnight]

45.  I'm prepared to turn my frown upside down by predicting that Andruw Jones will hit 42.5 home runs this year.

[Bob Timmermann]

46.  So they're not in teaching students about integers at Stanford are they?

[cargill06]

47.  45 see that's why instant reply should be used for hr's

[Disabled List]

48.  45 No way. He won't hit more than 36.875 home runs this year, at the most.

[Eric Enders]

49.  The second-to-last episode of The Wire is incredible. Guess that's all I can say.

[GoBears]

50.  40/42. Regardless of Jackson's motives, his claim is just nonsense. This is not basketball. There is no teamwork. Players don't have to fit together (especially on offense). It is about each individual player's talent level. Saying the opposite doesn't make it true.

Jackson might occasionally deign to allude to non-traditional stats such as OPS, but until he gets the fundamental point that a baseball team is nothing more or less than the sum of its parts (with the minor exception of things like turning DPs), he'll never grasp the contributions of performance analysis.

Speed is better than lack of speed. But it's nothing compared to the ability to get on base and hit for power. So while Marcel is not wrong, he too misses the bigger points.

And, as Jon has put it 1000 times, if intangibles matter, they matter in ways that show up in statistics on the field.

[Bob Timmermann]

51.  49
I concur.

[MC Safety]

52.  42 Gurnick said in the mailbag Pierre is pretty much the starter.

[fanerman]

53.  It's not even March yet. People may change their minds. Slap-hitting outfielders may be traded.

That's me being optimistic.

[underdog]

54.  I wish I had HBO on-demand so I could join you in the concurring. Sunday seems a very long way away, sigh.

52 Gurnick also has a veteran over young 'uns bias that's pretty clear and has very little say in what line-up Torre brings out there in April.

[bigcpa]

55.  "If we have some doubt, we like to have a veteran in that position--especially in a big market--until we are more certain that the young player is ready... finding out that we've overestimated a young player 50 games into the season is a very difficult point of the season to make an adjustment."

That's Ned's interview with BP in January. I contrast that with the Red Sox treatment of Pedroia last year. He was batting .172 on May 3rd and given the chance to hit his way out of it. I think Boston qualifies as a big market.

I guess I prefer this situation to a 4-year Lowell contract.

[GoBears]

56.  Gurnick ... has very little say in what line-up Torre brings out there in April.

I would be shocked (and appalled) if Gurnick had any say whatsoever. Or even any indirect influence.

But that's probably what you meant.

[Gen3Blue]

57.  Groans.

[underdog]

58.  56 Actually, I was thinking that, but then I have just this little bit of doubt in the back of my mind, worried about influence guys like Plaschke have on the hearts and minds of the Dodgers' brass, which probably caused me to subconsciously hedge a little there. But Gurnick would be even less influential, you're right, and I'm probably being paranoid to even think that. But at least from a PR sense, we can take comfort in knowing that they also check out blogs such as Jon's and hopefully that balances out the almost reactionary stuff that comes from some of the team's beat reporters.

[bhsportsguy]

59.  A little tidbit from the four letter network.

Something for now, something for later.

bhsportsguy, los angeles: Hey Jim: I see that two of the on the brink of the top 100 list are Hiroki Kuroda and Chris Withrow. What can we expect from each of them this year?

John Manuel: those are apples & oranges guys . . . had a scout email me today that we "missed the boat" by not ranking Kuroda; personally I was worried about his size, lack of strikeouts and durability (he had elbow issues in '06 and finished modestly last year).

Withrow is a pick to click for the '09 top 100, I could see him leaping up the list if he has a good first season, big-time arm, just a little raw for the top 100 at this point for me.

[silverwidow]

60.  Scott Spiezio is wanted on 6 charges including DUI, hit-and-run, and assault-and-battery.

[Penarol1916]

61.  53. I'm with you, it's just way too early to start freaking out over these reports. I'm more stuck on trying to figure out a way to explain to my 4-year old why he doesn't need to worry about who to cheer for if the Dodgers and Georgetown ever play each other.

[Jon Weisman]

62.  59 - "Hey Jim"

John Manuel:

[GoBears]

63.  58. Rightly or wrongly, I'm not concerned about gadfly influence while Torre is manager. At least not at first. I'm guessing he can do whatever he wants. The worry, then, is that Torre won't want the right thing.

We'll see. And, likely as not, injuries will tie everyone's hands anyway. What's that old football axiom - "the most important ability is availability?"

[Gen3Blue]

64.  Reading the Saito piece at Dodgers.com made me realize how much I have come to take him for granted. He is the only pitcher to come from Japan fairly late in his career and have much greater success in America than he has in Japan. His statement that baseball was a simpler game in America was somewhat cryptic to me. Anyway, he was a remarkable find for the Ds.

[Eric Stephen]

65.  Sorry if this has been posted earlier -- I've been in and out for the past week or so -- but in Tom Hoffarth's blog I saw that you can start pre-orders for the Dodgers 1988 World Series DVD.

It includes all 5 WS games, plus games 4 & 7 of the NLCS. There are also bonus features, including 3 calls of Gibson's HR (Scully, Buck, and the awesome Drysdale call).

This will start shipping March 25.

http://tinyurl.com/3xa9tk

It's on Amazon.com for $52.49, and also on MLB.com for $51.99.

This is a must have!

[silverwidow]

66.  From Dodgers.com:

"When people ask what it is about him that makes him special, all you can say is, 'Wait 'till you see him,'" said pitching coach Rick Honeycutt. "It's an explosion coming out of that arm. Some guys just set themselves apart. Some people are from this planet, and some are from another planet."

MINOTAUR!

[Eric Stephen]

67.  65
OK, even though this '88 World Series DVD is pretty much the greatest thing ever, I have one quibble. Take a look at this screen shot of the back of the DVD -- http://tinyurl.com/2o5g3l -- and look at the quote of Scully's call of Gibson's HR.

It starts, "High fly to right field..."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen the Gibson HR roughly 1,000 times and I'm almost 100% sure Scully says, "High fly ball into right field..."

I'll still buy the DVD, but with a healthy dollop of disdain.

[trainwreck]

68.  Did anyone catch one of Bush's jokes today when the Red Sox visited the White House?

He said,"Manny Ramirez is not here today. What did his grandmother die again?"

[Brian Y]

69.  So tomorrow I am going to Holman stadium for the opening game and I'll be collecting autographs. I'll try to get a ball signed specifically for Jon to have since he keeps this site up for us all. I bought two balls so hopefully they will sign them, if not I am going to Port St. Lucie for the next game and I'll try again.

Also, if anyone else is in Vero and wants a free ticket (1st Row next to bullpen) I still have it available.

[bhsportsguy]

70.  62 Ha, I figured someone would call me on that.

Jim Callis usually does the Wed. Baseball America chat and I sent the question in prior to finding out John Manuel was doing the chat today.

[bhsportsguy]

71.  68 Its in bad taste, but that is funny.

[trainwreck]

72.  71
He got laughs and some boos.

[Eric Enders]

73.  72 From the players, you mean? Or do they have audiences at the photo ops now?

[old dodger fan]

74.  68 Sounds like something someone here would write. It is funny but I can't believe he said it.

[MollyKnight]

75.  Does Ned Colletti read this site? If so, can I buy him a DodgerThoughts tee? Preferably a pink one?

[Bob Timmermann]

76.  67
Your memory is correct.

[Eric Stephen]

77.  76
I just popped in the 1988 WS DVD to confirm too! I think I'll sit back and watch to it's completion.

[CajunDodger]

78.  68
If that is not a misprint, that is one of the most inappropriate (but darn funny) things I have ever heard from him. Being a lame duck has its advantages I guess.

I keep thinking that he will eventually get back into ownership and try to abolish the Wild Card.

[Eric Enders]

80.  78 Of course, the Wild Card (and the resulting split into three divisions) is the only reason his team has ever made the playoffs.

[trainwreck]

79.  73
There was an audience. I saw Varitek laughing.

[bigcpa]

81.  75 I sent DePodesta a Team DePo shirt. I want to believe he at least washes his car with it.

[Bob Timmermann]

82.  77
My nephew (born in 1997) loves to watch the 1988 World Series highlight video my brother owns.

I remember when he was around 6 or 7 and he told me, "This 55 guy is really good."

And now he wants to start a fantasy baseball league with me! Kids grow up so fast.

[Bob Timmermann]

83.  81
Do you mean does DePodesta wear the shirt while washing his car or does he use the shirt as a rag to do things like clean the rims?

[CajunDodger]

84.  77
I have a friend who was at that game...in a luxury suite...as a 15-year old...WHO HATES BASEBALL!!!!! He told me that he thought the home run was cool because as everyone was jumping up and down, he got to sneak some beer. He was there because, and this is where I begin to wonder about the existence of a higher being, he was grounded and his mom wanted to punish him by not allowing him to stay home and play video games.

This is akin to my wife's cousin, who won a "small" jackpot in the lottery, and her parents were already rich.

Life is not fair.

[bigcpa]

85.  83 I pictured him wearing the Ghame Over shirt while buffing his rims with Team DePo.

[bhsportsguy]

86.  75 You have seen Molly Knight (on her site) and you have read her stuff here and there, now take a listen as she is on this podcast today.

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2008/02/as-mrs-bueller.html#more

[MollyKnight]

87.  ^Ugh. I was horrible and so negative today. I didn't get a chance to make my prediction that Andruw Jones will hit 42.5 home runs.

[fanerman]

88.  84 That comment fits well with the type of news we've been getting today.

[ibleedbloo]

89.  In light of this news and the fact that Torre has batted Arod 8th in the past, I see no problem with this line up come opening day:

Furcal
Martin
Loney
Jones
Kemp
Kent
Penny
Nomar
Juan

[Eric Enders]

90.  Well, in a day devoid of good baseball news, at least the new Drive-By Truckers album finally arrived in my mailbox.

[CajunDodger]

91.  My predictions for HRs for the Dodgers (for no particular reason)

Furcal (18)
EthIerre (12)
Loney (21)
Jones (38)
Kemp (24)
Kent (19)
Martin (15)
LaRoMar (22)

[fanerman]

92.  How would you project that LaRoMar split?

I'm guessing the EthIerre split would be 12/0.

[Eric Enders]

93.  LaRoMar's season is probably over. They're not going to invite the ninth-place team in the Pac-10.

[Bob Timmermann]

94.  93
I guess all those practices where the guys just rifle basketballs off of their teammate's faces hasn't paid off.

[CajunDodger]

95.  92
I am thinking 13/9 with LaRoche eventually winning the job in June

93
It took me a minute...but I finally got that. I'm just a not-so-smart SEC fan.

[cargill06]

96.  if we get 22 hr out of laromar and 18 out of furcal, im betting 250% of my paycheck on the dodgers to win the ws next weekend.

92 which way?

[Marty]

97.  My guess:

Furry (8)
LOOGY (0)
Kempier (31)
Kent (18)
Martin (17)
Jones (26)
LaRoMar (21)

[GMac In The 909]

98.  89 That's funny. But I think Lowe will get the nod and hit seventh on Cesar Chavez Day™.

[CajunDodger]

99.  97
I think that we are in big trouble if Jones only hits 26. I also think we are in trouble if the platoon is Kempier instead of EthIerre. I like Ethier, and think that he should start ahead of Pierre, but there is no way that the platoon should be with those two with Pierre being the 95% starter in Left.

[underdog]

100.  96 "betting 250% of my paycheck on the dodgers to win the ws next weekend."

You sure you want to do that? I'll take you up on that. ;-)