Manny didn't waste any time, did he?

Omg, it's Joe! It's so bizarre seeing him in Dodger blue. Like Alternate Universe Day.

holliday got a very nice hand during the player introductions. then, for his first at-bat, they gave him a huge, long, standing ovation. them cards fans are a classy bunch!

nice hit for Furcal. pineiro = pinata. 4-0 in the 4th.

[3] Losers.

[3] They also gave him a very big hand when he made his first catch, which seems a little less friendly.

Wow! It's possible to make Manny look bad?

[0] hey Alex - speaking of Duke, i've got the chart for "Carvan" on my music stand right now. i just read it down, as i did yesterday, when i went searching for it. i recently finished composing a new Latin piece for drumset, marimba and percussion. when i came up the melody for one of the 4 sections, i had "Caravan" in mind.

BUT, i did not listen to the tune or consult the chart, 'coz i didn't wanna "lift" anything directly. i just wanted to take what i was hearing/singing in my head and create my own melody, based on the influence "Caravan" has had on me.

speaking of "Caravan" - my very favorite rendition of it, is from the Kenny Drew Trio album, on Riverside, from 1956. Paul Chambers (Mr. P.C.) and "Philly" Joe Jones, round out the trio. the whole record is truly fantastic! (Caravan, is the lead track...)

[6] ah, i missed that part! i'm about to put it on "moot" again, so i can practice some...

Man, if Padilla can pitch a good game I guess Pavano can too. Then again if Pineiro can get shelled so can Pavano.

LOL

Caravan, another classic.

That's so awesome, dude.

Oh, hey, look, it's Smoltz!

a Schmaltz sighting!

would be really cool if Andy ends up with the most postseason wins this year!

[12] it's sooo weird for me seeing him wear #30. "Smoltz 29" t-shirts were ubiquitous in this city up until pretty recently.

brendan ryan REALLY needs to shave that thing. it's freaking hideous!!!

[14] I'll bet that's weird, but can't be as weird as seeing Joe in Dodger blue. That's that crazy-looking.

I'm hanging over at Dodger Thoughts.
One of the commenters said she hoped it was Boston Smoltz and not that Atlanta one.

[16] watch yer mouth!!! ; )

[17] What's the worst that could happen? I could get banned from all LA Times sites? Ooooohhhh.

think Smoltzie will get a gig somewhere next season? i bet he wants to play...

Houston could use him. Brew Crew, Nats, prolly also. maybe even the Snakes or Friars...

[18] try it and find out!!! : )

ouch. that's gotta suck...

i can't stand the NL. your pitcher is (somehow) throwing a very nice game. now, he's swinging from the heels, which torque has to ill-affect his body. of course, there are 2 outs, so he strikes out and now immediately has to go back and pitch. i mean, that SUCKS! i wouldn't be surprised if he labors this innings and a game breaks out...

(at least he didn't have to run the bases!)

Smoltz: yes, as a reliever. I don't see why not. So-so starters often make VG relievers.

I won't be rude over at DT. I'm really a very polite person.

Really.

Padilla is throwing a shutout? He must be off the sauce...

I got to head out for another assignment this morning so will miss the rest of this one, though looks like it's broom-time for LA..

[23] oh, i know. you're a mensch! : )

[24] Padilla is throwing a shutout? He must be off the sauce…

Vida Blue, JR Richard, Doc Ellis, David Wells...

who knows, Padilla might be drunk off his rocker right now, haha! i hope to be in about 5 hours, or so... : )

wow. Poo-holz down lookin'. St Louis' big guns not having a good series.

i kinda hope LA wins, 'coz i get the feeling if the Cards somehow advance, they'll get their act together and be quite dangerous. i wouldn't be surprised if Philthy ends up in the WS again. man, would that be a slugfest, if it's us vs. them...

Hey, anyone notice how Pete Abe is kind of buried in a sea of voices over there at the Boston Globe so far?

5 straight K's for Smoltz.

[27] yeah, i did. i followed a link to that crappy quote he wrote about Joba. when there, i was trying to search for his stuff and he really seemed low on the totem pole. "buried," is a good term for his placement.

i like having the 3 voices at LoHud. i'm still unsure if it's just for the playoffs and it'll end up being just Chad, or if it'll remain Sam, Chad & Josh. either way, i give Pete Abe all the credit in the world for starting that blog, but i'm psyched where it is now...

Andre Ethier is good at "teh" baseball.

manny's pretty good at it, too...

5-0 Torre's

Yeah, I like the current LoHud configuration a lot. It doesn't have quite the... flair? style? signature? that it had when Pete was there, but it's just loaded right now.

The Cardinals, including (and maybe especially) Pujols, blow.

[31] i like things bland!

Yeah, Pete set a good standard at Lo Hud, but they've benefitted from the three enthusiastic bloggers so far. The trick is, longevity, can they last. That's really the hallmark of a great blog to me, not that it is always great but that they always show up. None of them has the personal touches yet but that comes with time and familiarity.

I think Boston is a tough place to be a break out star for a writer. Pete will have to be patient to get his shot. Those "made" guys don't give up their spots easily. Also, Pete is joining them at the end of the year, playoff time, so it's not ideal in some ways, but I hope he gets more of a platform moving forward. Otherwise, why hire him?

"Center-Left" & "SUCKcess", in one segment. these announcers are teh awesome!

wow. molina brothers are the s l o w e s t runners in the world.

The Cards are playing dumb too.

shave

I don't know, I like that horrific stache. Reminds me of the WP Mason guy. And that little spaz outburst he had after booting that ground ball, with the stache, man, that shit was Ed Harris funny.

Oh, and if I was a Cards fan I'd be apopletic right now about that base running gaffe. What in the holy hell was that dude thinking?

[34] What I really don't get is that, 3 months ago, the Globe was dead; TimesCo came thisclose to shutting it down because it wasn't making any money. They've let so many big names go (whether layoffs or folks just left I don't know), yet they still had four baseball writers. And then they hired PeteAbe.

Pete's a good writer, sometimes a great one, and a wonderful beat reporter - but I think he was best at the beat writer/blog combo. If the Globe's goal was to use PeteAbe to completely dominate the Boston internet scene, I'm not sure they're going about doing it the right way . . . Yet, as you say Alex, because they have so many folks already on the beat - and then Ryan and CurlyHairedBoyfriend always go heavy on Sox coverage for the playoffs too - he's kind of lost in the shuffle.

I still think they should have waited until after the Serious was over to bring him on board, but what do I know?

Oh - and with all apologies to the old gang at Dodger Thoughts - I hope the Cardinals still manage to pull this off.

[39] well, i think he has balls. and i like his stirrups. how come i have ZERO recollection of anything WB Mason, outside of the sign at YS (and in Philly)??? was it a big NY store when we were growing up, or something?

i think brendan ryan looks like he should be in boogie nights or some C-level porn flick.

[40] yeah, the whole team is looking rather weak.

[42] Yeah, well, unless we lend them A-Rod, Jeter, and Teix, they aren't going to pull it off.

But maybe this is the Weekend of Sweeps.

[31] Pete could be very funny at times and had a sarcastic wit. He also wasn't afraid to start an argument. I don't see that personality with either Sam or Josh. I suspect Chad might be a better baseball person, but Lohud benefitted from Pete's personality and dedication. Most beat bloggers are usually pretty bland... with is not [33] fun.

I don't think the Globe needed a sports writer as much as they needed a blogger. Hopefully they will give Pete a good forum.

In the meanwhile, the Cards have really fallen on their face. Better for us I guess, but a bit disappointing.

[33] And are you calling Alex and Cliff bland? Huh? Are ya? Huh?

Anybody notice the quasi-soul patch Donnie was sporting? It had some grey in it.

Now I feel very old.

The Lakers could use a power forward ... might I suggest Broxton?

[41] yeah, i thought the timing was rather odd.

i'm a Pete Abe fan, for certain, but i would never mistake him for a great writer. definitely, an excellent reporter/blogger. you nailed it with that combo.

we've got some "great" writers here, like Alex, Cliff, Emma, et al. Josh Wilker, over at Cardboard Gods, is an unbelievably talented writer.

speaking of great writers and Yankees playoff time... i miss Todd Drew. i really really do...

Holy Crap, forget power foward about a left tackle? Broxton is a fuggin LOAD.

[42] Might as well hope for snow in St. Louis.

Pujols .... professional hitter.

OT, and maybe it was linked here and I missed it, but here's a WSJ article a few days ago on A-Rod and clutchness put in historical perspective.

Stat padding RBI from Pujols.

I don't think Pete would consider himself a great writer either.

Man, I was thinking about Pete something fierce last night. He loved Alex--he had plans to write this big A Rod profile for the Banter before he passed away. He also liked AJ.

Man, he's missed.

[50]

Next year, I'm hopin' for a Rockies-Twins world series ... that thing will be snowed out for weeks ...

[45] i quite like bland. (i'm serious.)

[46] one of the reasons i'm (once again) growing my goatee to proportions greater than Ryan Franklin, is 'coz i'm trying to savor all the bright red as long as i can! some silver ones keep popping up and i freaking HATE it!!! : (

[52] Your linky is stinky.

[54] What a disappointment that would be for the 9 fans.

Hey Diane, you feelin' any better?

[55] You like bland? Then you'ld like Chicken (but forget about bacon).

[53] you mean Todd....right?!

yeah, that was a devastating loss, that came waaaay outta left field and seems so...so, terribly useless/pointless/avoidable. why him????

no justice.

[58]

Maybe TMI ... but this afternoon I finally coughed up something yucky, and instantly felt a bit better.

I'm certainly feeling less tired. Still have dry cough jags, especially during the night.

[60]

The suddenness of Todd's passing finally got me off my ass to come up with a health care proxy and will.

So I'd like to think Todd's death wasn't all for naught.

[61] Don't know if you were around at the time, but the Jim Dean story was as freaky/sad/bizarre as you can get.

OYF,

Try this

[59] just had some! now, i'm having chicken flavored noodles! VERY bland makeshift dinner tonight, bachelor style. then, it's off to practice for about an hour, or so, then drink my face off! : )

[63] yeah man, talk about bizarre. that's was nutty...

[26] Just curious -- why would you worry about the Cardinals if they advanced, but not the Dodgers, who are about to sweep the Cardinals? (Knock on wood) Of course, I'm biased. ;-)

Assuming the Dodgers don't bring in Tom Niedenfuer here. (/bad childhood sports flashbacks, ON)

Good luck to the Yanks tomorrow! I feel good about their chances against Pavano, but then look how well Padilla did today. (Though Padilla has often been great the last two months. And Pavano blows. Hopefully he won't now pitch a no-hitter. It's my fault if he does!)

Ciao.

oh, and how 'bout some encore props for that game last night?!

HOLY WOW!!!

so many heroes - A-Rod, Tex, Robertson, even AJ & Girardi. let's not forget about Cuzzi (wink, wink). the whole thing was just an instant classic. that Swish/Jeter play to keep it scoreless. on and on...

[63] iirc, his wife's name was Kate. that must've been a ridiculously difficult post for her when she came here to the Banter to let us all know what happened.

[67] oh, NO disrespect, Underdog! i guess it's just the big 1-2 punch on either side of the ball for the Cards. have no fear, i worry about ALL the teams and games! i'll be shakin' in my boots no matter who we play, including tomorrow. esp. Manny in the new YS, if it comes to that. (shudder)

congrats on a very nice win today! : )

[67] The thing most apt to shut us down is outstanding pitching, especially ones we haven't seen. Yeah, you can say that about any team, but we have a lot (ARod, Matsui, Posada) mistake hitters. Plus Pujols, more then any other player, can singlehandedly win a series if he gets hot.

The Phillies will spank the Dodgers.

u-dog (if you're still reading), I think a lot of AL fans find the Cardinals scarier than the Dodgers chiefly because we only really know a few players on each team, and the Cards do have the highest profile superstars, with those three aces and Prince Albert and Matt Holliday.
Of course, what always happens with these things is that as soon as one team gets the upper hand, you start getting a lot more worried about them and wish the other team had won.

Weekend of Sweeps. Please.

Knowing just how amazing St. Louis is as a basball city, they'll probably give the Dodgers a parade before they leave town. ; )

[69' Yup... took a lot of courage considering the circumstances. My guess is the last thing Jim ever said, was said on the Banter.

ugh, that little peak of Jeff Weaver, just ruined my dinner. : /

[74] Best damn baseball fans in the world!

[72] i agree.

[75] that's a fact. Kate let us know that was in fact the case.

[74] heh

fuck you jeff weaver.

Oh no disrespect presumed, was just curious. :-)

Yah, makes sense RI. I do think the Dodgers having a better all-around lineup 1-8 than the Cardinals (and a better bullpen) was underrated going into this series and the difference in it. But I'm not surprised the rest of the country didn't get that story or prediction. Cards have Pujols and Holliday but not a lot else imho, in the lineup, and two terrific starters, but not a lot of pitching depth after that. That said, who the hell knew this would happen? And who the hell knows what will happen in the next series? I'll just enjoy this for 2 days.

Yes, here's to a weekend of sweeps -- well, except I wouldn't mind the Phils-Rockies series going the full 5.

Happy Saturday.

Jeff Weaver = Definitely better in the NL. ;-) (understatement of the evening)

Good lord, but Padilla is impossible to root for. What a dickhead. A greasy dickhead at that.

Well, I'm getting nervous. Dodgers are my "second team" and I wish them succcess, but it would be terrible if they got to the WS vs the Yanks. If the Yanks make it, I'll have to root against the Dodgers making it.

[71] "Plus Pujols, more then any other player, can singlehandedly win a series if he gets hot."

... and if the opposing team actually pitches to him, but why would they if they don't have to?

[81] Yeah... but St Louie has teh Tony LaRussa at the helm, while the dodgers are only managed by....
only managed by....
(what's the name of your manager again?)

just back..so the Cards bite the dust, wow! Dodgers going to be tough if MannyBManny is hitting again..

By the way, I know I am out of the loop but..is college football now more popular than baseball in the US?? How does Florida and their Jesus-has-returned QB get front page on ESPN.com when the playoffs are now on?? Odd...

Hahahaha..Jason Stark's new piece at ESPN is titled "Phillies Lean to the Left"...grade-school sense of humor, I know...

[86] hey man! i was gonna post something before, when i got in, but it seemed like a dead thread...

i'm just going thru my new old blue note cd's! i got a few more yesterday and today. : ) about to head up to the watering hole for a spell. i am soooo sick and tired of this crackhead asshole below me. it's never quiet. i can't wait til he's gone. i hope and pray (not in the religious sense, mind you...) that i get a 'normal' human being down there and not a partying cocksucking douchelord.

i can give 2 shits about college football and i went to one of the biggest football schools in the nation! that said, i did check on the Penn State, just to see if we won. we played some no-name school and annihilated them 52-3. i've told you before - DON'T go to espn homepage, just go directly to the MLB page! that's what i do - it saves agita. : )

[87] it could also be a reference to Passover! ; )

i didn't see that article, but i did read about Happ pitching Game 3, w/ Gaydro in the bullpen and Lee/Hamels, if it goes to more games. i also read the Eric Neel article there on the Torre's. i've always liked Neel...

[88] Hey man, enjoy the beers! Me and the fam heading out now as the weather is nice.
Sorry about that bad neighbor problem..your real estate lady didn't hook you up with anywhere good yet?

8am start tomorrow, not too bad as it's a holiday here. Will lay off the Guinness this evening so can be fresh and ready for the 1400+ comments tomorrow! Have a great evening!

Oh, NP: Lee Morgan & Wynton Kelly "Dizzy's Atmosphere", I am SURE you have it. Later!

[89] nah man, it takes a loooong time to find the right place. can't wait for this jackass to be gone. perhaps i'll get lucky with the next neighbor. doubt it, but i was here for 7+ years before major neighbor problems kicked in....

nice on the jazz - 1 of the cd's i got today was early Wynton Kelly!!! : )

You know, I have a vague premonition that there might well be a push towards replys after this week. The homer replay came in that way: two major botches in a week or so, incouding the A Rod mistake. Now we have the pitch HitInge Brandon, three clear mistakes at first base in L.A. (I saw two of them,, just terrible, wasn't watching but am told there was a third), and the inexCuzzible MelkyMiss.

Coming all in a row, that's how things get pushed (rightly or wrongly) towards change.

Pause to consider gong into Minneapolis today WITHOUT the Dome. It is a truly awful ballpark, but April and October in Minnesota are really and truly risky for weather.

replys = replays ...

incouding = including replay that typing! Consume more coffee.

(There are ALWAYS replies on the Banter!)