seabeachfred

We would be lucky to get a good month from the guy if he even is ready to come back, and as a reliever???? The guy's control is far from perfect and has never been very good. He does have good stuff but I think that shot he took in the head in mid summer 2005 pretty much did him in. I also question his toughness. I have never questioned his stuff. His ball moves all over the place but what is between the ears means a lot as well, and mentally I wonder if he has the toughness to come back.

Lugo, since you are on another thread and off F@C, let me both give you my opinion and get yours on why your Dodgers might be having some trouble re-establishing themselves as a power in the NL. For that just look to the Angels down the freeway. When Casey Kotchman was ready, boom, they move Erstad off first base and then off the team. Even with that mono last year, CK is not established as a solid 300 hitter with a bright future. Then last year Howie Kendrick was ready and, boom, there goes Adam Kennedy. Kendrick, as you know, shapes up as a good second baseman and very good hitter. They are now part of the solid foundation for the next decade of Angels baseball. This year, Anderson and Rivera is hurt so they give a shot to Reggie Willits. Boom, he is hitting in the 330's, has stolen 18 bases and looks like their leadoff man for the next ten years. Not to mention getting Jared Weaver into the starting rotation. The Dodgers? They have the PCL batting king, James Loney, ready to take over first base and what do they do? They resign the declining Nomar Garciaparra and his one home run this year. They have a real talent in Matt Kemp about ready to take over CF and what do they do? They sign singles hitter and out extraordinaire Juan Pierre blocking Kemp from progressing. They have a good young third baseman named Andy LaRoche but they jerk him around in and out of the lineup and then send him down for Tony Abreu who is not a 3Bman and a poor fielder and Wilson Betemit who can't field his position worth a damn and is hitting a roaring 198. My question to you and other Dodger fans on this thread---Are these smart moves of a team that wants to build a long range winner?

Yes Chin PLEASE don't say the season is over in the East. Those damn Yankees always seem to be lurking around ready to strike. I do think this year we are stronger that the past two and they could be weaker but we still have a long way to go. The Rockies have been playing well so maybe that could be a reason, but did you or anyone else notice how Roger the Rocket got hit around today? Looks like our guy yesterday outdid their guy today. :D :D :D

Just a piece of good news to report guys and gals. The Yankees lose, 4-3. That ought to bring smiles to all of our faces save for Jacko and a couple of others. We've got some of our ground gained back.

My God, I hope not. If there ever was a cancer on a baseball team it is Milton Bradley. Stay as far away from him as possible. Theo cannot be that dumb.

Schill, remember that I am an old war horse and go back to my New York days. Try Duke Snider, Gil Hodges and Roy Campanella, all sluggers who had high strikeout totals but with maturity and experience cut down on them significanatly. Hell in ST, 1948 they had Snider stand up with a bat in his hand next to a plate with strings behind denoting balls and strikes and he had to guess what was a ball and what was a strike. He was that bad. Now he's a Hall of Famer who if they knew as much about knee operations then as they do now he would have hit a helluva lot more than 407 lifetime homers; probably 150 more in a career that was cut short because of it.

Thank you sir. THEN BY ALL MEANS GO AFTER HIM WITH ALL DUE SPEED.

I'm afraid I cannot be objective about Teixiera; I just love the guy the way he plays and what he brings to a team. I know this: He said he wants to play for a winner, and I think we are a winning team. Switch hitting power hitter who can hit for a decent average. I rechecked his record and must admit I didn't know he struck out as much as he did (MC filled me in) but a good professional hitter who can hit for both power and average can adjust and mature with experience to cut down his strikeouts. It's been done countless times before.

Very interesting stats SCM. I just wonder if we now can still consider Julian a fifth starter? If Lester is brought up next week wouldn't he be penciled in there? Either way let's just hope Julian keeps doing his job.

Chin, kuddos to you for calling your shot last night. I just wonder if you though he would pitch THAT well, though. He really had it going last night and though the Braves are reputed to be a bad ballclub they do have some guys who can mash as Schilling found out on Tuesday. I'm going to catch the Yankee game on MLBTV this afternoon; I thought ESPN might carry it but apparently not. The Rockies have already done a good job on them but it would be even greater if they could finish it this afternoon. :D :D

Did you see his antics on the mound when his teammates were rolling those double plays? The guy has a lot of spirit and spunk and it looks like this thread that started last year has changed a lot of minds. I might have told this story before, but last September I was in NY for the last Red Sox-Yankee Series and was at the ballpark that Friday when the game would be postponed because the rain would not stop. There Julian was out running and stopped to talk to a few fans in Spanish. I approached the guy and immediately he started speaking English and the first thing he said how much he loved playing for the Red Sox. Just like that. Very personable guy and even though I was down on him earlier this year for a couple of s***** performances I root hard every time he pitches. Needless to say he has stepped up big for us again this year as an emergency starter. He now appears to have a solid spot in the rotation.

All three matchups should be classic ones. I'll be down there trying to spread a little of that Schill mojo and my buddy who lives down there told me this afternoon that all the stores he's been in have totally run out of Red Sox hats, shirts, jackets and gear of any kind. They'll be a lot of us down at Petco this weekend. Hopefully we will take the series.

EX, I've heard all I want to hear from some people who don't know s*** from shinola who maintain that Papi cannot play a decent first base. No, he is no Don Mattingly there but the guy does a good enough job that he should never have to sit again in any inter-league game. Those of us with half-ass memories can recall that he did pretty well in the 2004 WS in St. Louis and made a couple of pretty damn good plays. Well, at least some of us know that.

Riverside, quick---what is going on with Taverez? If someone asked me that question I could only shrug and say the guy seems to be in another zone. If he can only keep pitching well for us this year........well, let's keep our fingers crossed that whatever he is drinking is fountain of youth elixirs.

Then let's get him six or seven runs tonight and win the game. I still want Lester brought up and I hope he is ready to make the move next week.