Once in a Lifetime

Into the blue again ... same as it ever was ...

October 15, 1988

Comments

[Bob Timmermann]

1.  Why God what have I done?

[MC Safety]

2.  Jon=Talking Heads fan?

[Jon Weisman]

3.  1 - "Why" God? Not "My"?

[Jon Weisman]

4.  Lessons in crafting a message:

http://tinyurl.com/3pg8xy

"We suspect that the cruelty in every can of Spam will infuriate Shane more than a high Hiroki Kuroda fastball," says Shannon. "If Shane likes Spam a lot, he should buy tickets to the Broadway play but leave it off his dinner plate."

[Bob Timmermann]

5.  There's cruelty in every can of Spam, but I'm not sure who it's inflicted upon.

[ToyCannon]

6.  0
I got tears in my eyes just hearing Vinny lead off the video. That was great hearing and seeing the NLCS part leading up to Gibby.

I don't expect to be using my seat much tonight.

[Ken Noe]

7.  From the previous thread: I'm prepared to be defeated. I'm not prepared to give up. These last weeks have been too much fun. If we must lose to the Phils, then better 4-3 than 4-1. Second win is tonight.

[ToyCannon]

8.  Shouldn't he be throwing out the 1st pitch tonight?

[Kevin Lewis]

9.  LAT'd

51. Kevin Lewis
36

You're correct! It is almost not fair for me to attend tonight's game. Get ready for your comeuppance Phillies.

Side note: I never knew "comeuppance" was one word until now.

[underdog]

10.  0 Into the blue again/after the money's gone.

---

Btw, regarding the Steve Phillips drivel mentioned in earlier thread, about Martin, specifically about that Park wild pitch. Even Tim McCarver and Joe Buck said Martin had been incredible all game, even all series, blocking other pitches, that it was hard to be perfect continually behind the plate and that was a tough pitch to stop. So separate even from the issue of "disappointment," that play was a particularly unfair one to pick on, imho.

--

Ah well. Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...

[Eric Stephen]

11.  9
Ever since Family Guy, I've been fond of the phrase uttered by Stewie: "Your uppance will come!"

[Frip]

12.  We had an office birthday party for an old employee. When I walked into the lunch room the ladies were arranging this huge cold-cut platter of spam. I strarted making jokes, thinking it MUST be a practical-joke type birthday party. The ladies were NOT amused. I quickly shut my Spam hole. I didn't realize until that day, that Spam is NOT a universal joke. People really do like it.

[BlueCrew Bruin]

13.  12 Watch out if you ever go to Hawaii.

[Jim Hitchcock]

14.  Spam sandwiches. Mmmm...

[Rob M]

15.  I got teary all over again watching that video. I wish they hadn't edited Gibson's AB down to only the final pitch, though.

[scareduck]

16.  4 - PETA is self-parody.

Shane Victorino will be rather enormous if he keeps eating Spam musubi past his playing days.

[bhsportsguy]

17.  12 I like Spam, especially fried with eggs.

[old dodger fan]

18.  Can of spam = my email every morning

[regfairfield]

19.  I thought it was Rollins that liked Musabi.

Saying Victorino likes it is just enforcing stereotypes.

[Bob Timmermann]

20.  PETA would not like what I did this morning when the large waterbug crawled up out of my sink.

I went after it with a broom. I won. They I sent the bug back down the sink as a warning to his mates.

[bhsportsguy]

21.  17 However, outside of the very occasional spam musubi, I don't eat it that often.

And remember, always fry your spam for the musubi.

[delias man]

22.  Jon - I take exception to this Dodger Curse talk. They were clearly set back many years by a poor administration. That is the logical reason for this drought.

[paranoidandroid]

23.  There are much larger issues in life to be concerned and passionate about then who wins a baseball game. Yet, I simply cannot downplay the importance of what these games mean to me on so very many levels.

I still believe we can do it. I have to. I need to. And I know I'm not alone.

[Eric Stephen]

24.  Watching that video, I must have somehow forgotten Joe Ferguson was a coach with the Dodgers as well.

[underdog]

25.  I prefer it in Lobster Thermidor a Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top, and spam.

[BlueCrew Bruin]

26.  I just hope that when I'm 85, the situation isn't such that we're still waiting for a championship, the Marlins have won 26 titles and ESPN Holographic is talking non-stop about the Curse of Piazza. :)

[underdog]

27.  26 And (Futurama-style) the disembodied, cyrogenically preserved head of Steve Phillips is talking about the lack of consistency from the Dodger youth.

[Kevin Lewis]

28.  I can't believe the Mets player took Orel's fastball right down the pipe to end game 7.

[cargill06]

29.  28 I don't know what's more sickening, that or a Nomar type AB in game 2 to end the game.

[Kevin Lewis]

30.  29

At least Nomar swung at the ball. But for the final pitch of the final game...ouch.

[GoBears]

31.  Nice posts, Jon. I agree. I didn't expect the team to make the playoffs, or to beat the Cubs, so it's all gravy now. Wins are great, but losses aren't so bad.

A few people have mentioned the Dodgers' injury plagued season. I'm not sure I agree. Losing Furcal was huge. Losing Penny was big, but ultimately Kershaw and Park (!) compensated. Losing Saito wasn't that big a deal. All of the other injuries, to my mind, HELPED the team. Pierre, Nomar, Kent, Jones - the team was better without 'em than with 'em, and since Torre wasn't going to bench them (with the exception of Nomar, I guess), the injuries were GOOD luck. I suppose the LaRoche injury changed the season a bit, but probably didn't change the WL record. All of the kids stayed healthy and thrived, pitchers and hitters alike. If I had to bet, I'd bet that next year will be worse for injuries, because the chances are that one or more of those guys will miss some time.

[Eric Stephen]

32.  I don't know if this means anything, but I thought it was cool. Chad Billingsley has given up five or more earned runs in six regular season starts in his career. Here are the starts immediately following those bad outings:

7/2/06: 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4/3 BB/K, loss (4th ML start)
7/28/06: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 5/5 BB/K, win
7/1/07: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0/9 BB/K, win
4/30/08: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 4/8 BB/K, win
7/13/08: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1/13 BB/K, win
9/23/08: 6 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 2/5 BB/K, win

Totals: 39 IP, 28 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 16/43 BB/K, 5-1, 1.15 ERA

[Eric Stephen]

33.  28
the Mets player

Howard Johnson gets no respect. At lease he has his hotel chain fortune to fall back on. :)

HoJo was the man! At least until I drafted him in my first fantasy baseball season of 1992.

[Frip]

34.  I always thought the sign above the stadium parking lot that says "Think Blue" was a bit of a let down. The phrase in general just falls flat, with its icy, dictatorial brevity. Jon's / David Byrne's "Into the Blue" would be a great replacement for the current sign. It's poetic, yet practical, since it's meaning of being "into" the Dodgers would be clear to all.

[Im So Blue]

35.  mlb.com has the Gibson HR as one of Baseball's Best Moments: http://tinyurl.com/bbmgibson

[Eric Stephen]

36.  34
"Into the Blue"

Plus, Jessica Alba could be more prominently involved with the team!

[GoBears]

37.  You know, it's funny. I've read through the comments, and I had no idea about the media's take on the beanball stuff or anything else. I've watched every pitch of every game, but with the sound off. Tim McCarver and Joe Buck have absolutely ruined my enjoyment of too many games in the past, so now I just rely on my own ability to figure out what's going on. If it's not Vin telling me stories, I don't care to listen. For the same reason, I have no time or patience for Baseball Tonight or the like. Saves me a lot of aggravation. I highly recommend it.

[kinbote]

38.  23 Long time no read, paranoid. I was just about to post how I've never heard the Talking Heads' song, "Radiohead," from which our favorite band got its name.

[fanerman]

39.  17 I do, too.

[Kevin Lewis]

40.  Question:

I am meeting someone at the game, and I have his ticket. Can I hand it to him through the exit gate, or do I need to wait outside until he arrives?

[PhillyBlue]

41.  I was at Game 1 in Philadephia. What a buzz kill.

Three in a row is entirely possible. If we beat Hamels tonight, we have weak starters of Myers and Moyer for G's 6 & 7. Let's do it Blue!

[Sam DC]

42.  36 Any room for a Blue Crush/Kate Bosworth tie in?

[Eric Stephen]

43.  40
You could leave it at will call for him.

[Frip]

44.  37 I don't have a problem with McCarver's bean ball commentary the other night. He was just conveying the narrative that was on everyone's mind already. Isn't that what sportscasters are supposed to do? And obviously, he was right, the brush-back pitch did come. So it's not like he was just talking gibberish. It's unpleasant talk, for sure, but again, he was just narrating the inevitable scenario in the game of mens' baseball.

[Eric Stephen]

45.  42
There's always room for that, Sam. :)

[Jon Weisman]

46.  22 - I don't believe in a Dodger curse. But I believe in the potential of chronic cycles of mismanagement.

[cargill06]

47.  Myers losing his start than Moyer losing the next starts has happened 6 out of 30 times this year.

[Eric Stephen]

48.  I forgot about the Tom Wilson era

This is from Jayson Stark's latest column:

"ESPN research guru Mark Simon reports that only three players in history have ever played fewer games for any team than Stairs had played for the Phillies before hitting a postseason home run. They're Marv Rickert (three games) of the 1948 Braves, Tom Wilson (nine games) of the 2004 Dodgers and Turner Ward (10) of the 1999 Diamondbacks"

[cargill06]

49.  47 Not the individual pitcher, the team outcome has resulted in back-to-back loses 6 out of 30 times.

[greenchris]

50.  41 - was there too, we easily could have won both games in Philly. I know every game is do-or-die from here on out, but tonights game puts us right back in the mix. IF we're able to beat their ace, we get Myers/Kuroda in game 6 (I favor Kuroda), and Lowe/Moyer or Blanton in game 7 (I favor Lowe).

We haven't won in Philly all year...I know I'm getting ahead of myself in saying this....we're due!

Let's get tonights game and take this back to Philly!

[Eric Stephen]

51.  Another amazing nugget from Stark:

Manny is 7 for 8 with RISP this postseason.

[ToyCannon]

52.  47
How many times with Hamels/Myers/Moyer starting have the Phillies lost all three games. We have to get past Hamels before we worry about beating M&M.

[Bumsrap]

53.  2009 Free Agents with ages

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/12/2009-mlb-free-a.html

[ToyCannon]

54.  37
That is a good strategy but I found I missed the sounds of the game. Crowd noise, ball hitting bat and everything else that goes with it. Ratenthal however gets the mute treatment.

[Jon Weisman]

55.  http://beerleaguer.typepad.com/beerleaguer/2008/10/lock-it-down.html

"No thanks to Hiroki Kuroda vs. Brett Myers in Game 6. Myers is still suspect, even though he's rocked at home, and the Phils haven't solved Kuroda. No thanks to Derek Lowe on normal rest vs. TBA in Game 7. Jamie Moyer is still a big-game pitcher despite his struggles lately, but Lowe is still a better bet than Moyer or Joe Blanton, despite a third look against the Phils. ..."

[ToyCannon]

56.  55
If we get to game 7 we will win. Getting there will be the hard part.

[Eric Stephen]

57.  52
June 21-24: The A's and Angels beat Hamels-Myers-Moyer

August 12-14: The Dodgers (at home) beat Hamels-Blanton-Myers

[kinbote]

58.  What's funny is that if we would've won game 4 and then lost tonight, few people would be saying we're dead. Down 3-2 is down 3-2, however you get there (so let's get there!).

[GoBears]

59.  54. I miss the sounds of the game too, but for me the tradeoff is easy. Silence doesn't annoy me. Buck and McCarver do. I do the same for basketball.

[Frip]

60.  Best looking Dodgers in order starting with best looking:

Andre Eithier – Dollish. Soft features, olive skin, dark eyes. Hard to read expression ads mystery to countenance, which women find alluring. As a teenager he said he'd respect your daughter, and you believed him. He did not disappoint.

Nomar Garciaparra – Manly conquistador face with proud nose. If a more rugged look equates to greater handsomeness, then he should take the #1 spot from Eithier. And if it were purely up to me he would.

Rafael Furcal – Laser focus stare, coupled with compact, lapidary facial structure makes for an intense animatronic impression. A face as Spartan and efficiently arranged as his play.

Russel Martin – Boyish go-getter look and quick smile make up for common, everyday face. Eyes are a bit narrow.

Chad Billingsly – Just shy of good-lookin'. Excellent skin. Dirth of expression and character puts this "good on paper" face just back of Martin.

Blake Dewitt – Well proportioned features. Baseball cap and longer hair ads rough flare to an otherwise nondescript face.

Joe Beimel – Tough call. I'm into the gypsy look.

[From here the team experiences a pronounced dip in appearance, to VERY average, to quite below average]

Jonathon Broxton – Southern lumpen, or sturdy and dignified?

Casey Blake – Long, dignified face. Looks quite good clean shaven. But with a beard takes on the solemn look of an overly serious plodding bore.

Jeff Kent – At certain BRIEF angles he looks like a handsome leading man. His implacable expression reflects an always-on the-verge-of-perturbed demeanor. Unloveable. The very definition of average looking. From California, though one suspects Indiana. His baseball card should accompany all deep jungle expeditions as a quick reference to show the natives what an American looks like.

James Loney – A sweet, unassuming countenance nearly puts this amusingly unorthodox face higher on the list.

Clayton Kershaw – An awkwardly boyish face banishes any trace of sex appeal to at least his 30s. At which time he may become very, VERY handsome.

Brad Penny – Brutish. You are surprised it can smile. But when it does it is disarmingly expressive.

Andruw Jones – A cute malfunctioning toy that keeps smiling no matter how much you bang it in anger.

Matt Kemp – Towering jock face.

Greg Maddux – Looks OK. (Personal bias against frigid, self-assured faces.)

Frip – Not so bad as to frighten dogs, but nothing a girl would look twice at without me forcing the issue.

Manny Ramirez – fleshy

Ned Colletti – Not my type. No one's type.

Joe Torre – Just a mess. Can't even begin to sort it all out.

Hiroki Kuroda – Perhaps he should be higher on the list, but this cold draft of a face makes me not want to bother.

Juan Pierre – Earnest look on globular head is usually endearing and imparts trust. But after his late season comments, I can only see it as a grand deception now.

Frank McCort – The facial equivalent of an icepick.

Derrek Lowe – Proportions all askew and ill arranged. A clay sculpture of his face as attempted by an 8 year old, that somehow became his face.

[Kevin Lewis]

61.  43

Should I have the ticket in an envelope with his name, or will they do it?

[cargill06]

62.  52 2 out of 30 have Phils lost 3 in a row Hamels, Myers, and Moyer on the mound. (not all in that order of Hamels, Myers, and Moyer)

[Disabled List]

63.  Don't be worrying about Game 6 or Game 7 yet, fellas. We gotta beat Hamels tonight, pure and simple. Nothing else matters.

If we lose, it's 4 months until the next Dodger game in Arizona.

[cargill06]

64.  62 Like Eric said June 21st-24th the A's and A's and Angels beat Hamels-Myers-Moyer. Also, on July 20th Fla beat Hamels, followed by Mets beating Myers and Moyer on the 22nd and 23rd. If you're looking for the Hamels, Myers, Moyer combo.

[JoeyP]

65.  I heard that next year's World Series will last into November.

Is that true?

With the season opening a week later in April, certainly seems possible.

[cargill06]

66.  60 Kemp way too low, Nomar and Furcal way too high. Other than that I guess I can live with it.

[Eric Stephen]

67.  60
Nomar Garciaparra – Manly conquistador face

I won't be able to watch Nomar anymore without thinking of this! I will be even thinking of his manly conquistador face as he's rounding the bases after his pinch HR Friday night.

[Bob Timmermann]

68.  The 2009 season will start later to allow time for the World Baseball Classic. So everything will last longer.

Japan doesn't start its final playoff series until November 1 this year.

[ToyCannon]

69.  60
Vanity Fair would love that. Angel Berroa deserves some special mention does he not?

[ToyCannon]

70.  62 57
Thanks

By the way Cargill06 I remember when you first started posting this year and took some hits in the beginning. As the year has gone on you have been a great asset to Dodger Thoughts.

[D4P]

72.  Wow: the homerun was hit 20 years ago today.

For me, at least, baseball and Dodger fandom peaked at that moment. They've been mostly downhill since.

[cargill06]

73.  70 Thank you, much appreciated.

[ToyCannon]

74.  58
True, but the main problem is tonight. If we had won Monday, beating Hamels would not be a must game. Now it is. Hamels is good, probably the best pitcher we will have faced in these playoffs but we don't know how he will react away from home in the playoffs. Maybe he has a Billingsley game two in him.

[regfairfield]

75.  60 Drop Nomar and Beimel, raise Kemp and Lowe (really, below Ned?), but otherwise pretty accurate.

[ToyCannon]

76.  72
The Piazza years made up for me the lack of postseason success.

[Eric Stephen]

77.  65
The final day of the 2009 regular season is Sunday, October 4. If MLB has the same postseason schedule as 2007-2008, it should play out like this:

Division Series: Oct 7-14 (Wed-Wed)
LCS: Oct 15-25 (Thu-Sun)
World Series: Oct 28-Nov 5 (Wed-Thu)

Game 3 of the WS would be Halloween, followed by four potential November games.

[FirstMohican]

78.  60 - Seriously?

[njr]

79.  Interesting tidbit in today's Variety. Seems the Dodgers are enlisting William Morris to help them brand the new Dodgertown:

http://tinyurl.com/3mxphz

[ToyCannon]

80.  60
Who would you consider the best looking Dodger you have seen?

[D4P]

81.  76
The Strike of 94 was kind of a last straw for me, pretty much until the Mota trade of 04. That really attracted my attention, for some reason.

[Kevin Lewis]

82.  Is there a will call up by top deck?

[Bob Timmermann]

83.  82
The will call is by the club level on the left field side of the stadium.

[ToyCannon]

84.  77
I would so love to be at a World Series game in Dodger Stadium for Halloween, but that would mean the NL would have to lose the All-Star game again, and what are the odds of that happening again?

[underdog]

85.  69 You mean Wesley Snipes Sr.?

[cargill06]

86.  Hopefully we can put a run together for a couple reasons;

1. Pure excitment and acting like a 12 year old if it happens
2. Put 10 on the Dodgers winning the NL at 15-1
3. I want Pierre to have a chance to redeem himself from, "We went to Wrigley Field, we got that wiggly feel."

[Eric Stephen]

87.  Dodgers in the Postseason 2004-2008
When Starting Pitcher Has a Quality Start: 5-0
When Starting Pitcher Doesn't Have a Quality Start: 0-9

The last time the Dodgers lost a playoff game despite getting a quality start was Game 2 of the 1996 NLDS (Maddux outdueled Ismael Valdez).

[ToyCannon]

88.  82
I wouldn't use WillCall myself. Your friend would have to wait in a huge line to get the ticket and you would have to wait in a huge line to get the ticket to willcall. You can simply hand him the ticket through the fence when he shows up and calls you. Cells phones make these meetings quite easy nowadays.

[Bob Timmermann]

89.  87
I remember Game 2 of the NLDS! The Dodgers were really lucky to get two runs off of Maddux. The Braves outfield was really bad.

And the in one inning, Valdes (he had an S then) gave up three solo homers.

Good times....

[Disabled List]

90.  87 Man, Torre really should've let Lowe go for one more inning on Monday. The whole bullpen meltdown could've been avoided.

[BlueCrew Bruin]

91.  79 "The tenpercentery has been retained to scout strategic branding opportunities for the team..."

Wow...oh man, just...wow.

[Eric Stephen]

92.  89
I thought about typing the S, since that's how I fondly remember him, but decided against it at the last minute.

[GMac In The 909]

93.  87 The last time the Dodgers lost a playoff game despite getting a quality start was Game 2 of the 1996 NLDS (Maddux outdueled Ismael Valdez).

I was in the RF pavilion during that game. In fact, I tossed Jermaine Dye's home run in the seventh inning back onto the field. Of course, he hit his shot into the LF pavilion ...

[fanerman]

94.  60 Yeah. Andre is hot. And he looks like a gentleman.

[D4P]

95.  Andre is hot

Apparently not as hot as Evan Longoria or Manny Ramirez, at least according to ESPN.com.

[Kevin Lewis]

96.  88

Thanks, Toy. That is what I was hoping to do, but I didn't know if security would freak out. Then again, what security?

[Disabled List]

97.  This thread is in desperate need of some female perspective.

[Satchmo]

98.  On good days I see Matt Kemp as the homegrown 5-tool superstar I will be watching and rooting for over the next 4 years (at least). On pessimistic days I fear he is the second coming of Willie Crawford. I would love to see a big home run from Bison tonight.

[Kevin Lewis]

99.  Tonight's ticket should say "Home Game 3" correct? I know...just paranoid I bought the wrong game and I would feel like an idiot at the stadium.

[cargill06]

100.  98 If he's even starting.

[jasonungar07]

101.  http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/playoffs/2008-10-06-gibson-88homer_N.htm

Gibson: "We had a scout, Mel Didier, and he had watched Dennis Eckersley for many years. He came up to me (before the Series) in his southern drawl, and said, 'Pardnuh, as sure as I'm standin' here breathin', you're goin' to see a 3-2 backdoor slider.'

"You can watch it (on the video). As soon as he comes set at 3-2, I called timeout and I step out of the box and I'm looking at him and hearing, 'Pardnuh, as sure as I'm standin' here breathin', you're goin' to see a 3-2 backdoor slider.'"

Eckersley: "First of all, I didn't get to 3-2 on too many hitters, so if (Gibson) wants to give the credit to the scout, that's OK. I'm the idiot who threw the crappy slider."

--
Come on Chad. No Crappy sliders.