Finally, we get to go home and take on somebody our own size. The Dodgers (35-44) are the epitome of a small-market club, struggling to make payroll, playing their games in an old, rundown stadium with trough urinals.
They do have some Midwestern charm, however:
The Dodgers owe everybody and their mother money:
The team owes a total of $74,121,433 to their players, food and travel vendors, and even the city of Los Angeles.
The team owes Los Angeles $240,563 in taxes. It also owes Levy Restaurants $588,322 for running the concession stands at the stadium, as well as $339,403 to Continental Airlines for team travel.
Some of the Dodgers' major payroll creditors include former players Manny Ramirez ($20.9 million), Andruw Jones ($11.1 million, currently with the NY Yankees), and Juan Pierre ($3.05 million, currently with the Chicago White Sox, who is also owed $3.5 million for his trade). Other players on the list include the current roster, and the LA Times points out that two of the players owed money (Zach Lee and Alexander Santana) haven't even begun playing yet. Also on the list: longtime sportscaster Vin Scully ($152,778).
That would be the best-PBP-voice-in-baseball Vin Scully. Unfortunately, Scully, 82, rarely does away games east of Denver these days. So scratch that from the list of attributes for this series.
Instead, let's just hope Our Boys can get some Mojo back in order to make a run at respectability. They still have a shot at the International League playoffs!!!11one111!!!!
Pitching matchup:
Chad Billingsley (Righty, 4.48 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 3.56 xFIP, 86:40 K:BB in 94 1/3)
Nick Blackburn (3.15 ERA, 4.43 FIP, 3.89 xFIP, 51:27 K:BB in 97 innings)
Billingsley is right at league averages for GB%, FB% and LD%. His 5 1/3 innings against Detroit last Tuesday (6 hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks, one run) was his longest outing in a month. He has given up four or more runs in four of his last six starts. Even better, the Dodgers' bullpen has been awful -- minus 20.7 pRAA on the season (the Twins' pen is only -12.5 pRAA).
Offensively, the Dodgers have been mediocre, with the glaring exceptions of Matt Kemp (327/416/619) and Andre Ethier (317/389/461). If we can avoid Neck Fat giving those guys hanging sliders, we might actually win this series.
Maybe Mauer could give some of his salary to the Dodgers...
How much equity in the Dodgers would Mauer take if he paid off the teams' debts over the next three years.
I read the repository's article on Lyman Bostock. Joe should definitely do something like that. The Pohlads don't need it, but I'm sure that money could do plenty of good somewhere else. (Maybe the Dakota floods? Would Minot mind renaming itself Mauer, ND?)
Maybe it would be enough to get Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp onto the Twins!
We all know how it paid off for Lyman. 🙁
He and Disco Danny Ford were two of my favorites from those mid-70s teams.
If Mauer donates his money to charity, it should be because it's good to donate to those less fortunate, not because he hasn't been able to get in the lineup and make the impact that the Twins thought he could. And he's under no obligation to give money back to the team unless he hasn't been working as hard as he could, and I have no reason to doubt his effort.
My main point being, if Joe donates to charity when he's hitting .200, he should be donating to charity when he's hitting .400, too.
I meant for PR reasons with many vocal fans turning against him.
Lazy pussy singles-hitting clubhouse cancer philanthropist malingerer.
That would be the best-PBP-voice-in-baseball Vin Scully.
I watched the Angels-Dodgers on MLB.tv yesterday as the free game just to have a little Vin Scully to brighten the day.
TIBN playing some bare-foot-man-margarita-playing-jukebox riffs pre-game.
Blech.
I predict a Twins win tonight
Not a good start for your prediction, dw.
Im still standing by it
Wattsy channels Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin.
I was wrong 🙁
That rundown description in Gameday is over the Fiction 59 word limit, I think.
Nope, only took fifty words to describe it- and the Twins got the out!
Wow, Billingsley throws that ball all around the plate, don't he? 18 pitches for three batters, the boys should get to see that crappy Dodgers bullpen pretty early on in this game, I hope.
kubel, morneau, and young all sitting together on the bench. that's a lot of overpaid worthlessness.
/STribbie
Do they have a seatbelt or some sort of restraint system to keep Young from falling off the bench?
*call to the bullpen
Requests Joe Nathan for photo-op.
damn, casilla...
*looks left, looks right*
where is everybody?
Waiting for the perfect game to end.
*raises hand, shyly*
What'd Casilla do?
good stuff. no worries.
There's a little citrus.
If the Twins can't beat the LA Unpaid Volunteera, who can they beat?
Debt-Dodgers.
Ooh. I wish I'd thought of that for the title of this post.
Heh, I thought it had a nice ring to it.
t-rex in da house.
I hate this Nick Blackburn.
Ok, I've had enough of this. Bring 'em back, somebody.
and who might that be?
I'm still hoping on the Dodgers' bullpen.
Uh-oh. Dazz said that Blackie is suffering from the dreaded Scott Baker Syndrome.
It's spreading!
I thought Slowey was the cancer?
Dazz: "The value of Uribe is in the playoffs."
Me: so, the Dodgers are going to trade him?
This is obviously Mauer's fault.
If he was over playing first like he's supposed to, this obviously wouldn't be happening.
Phantom tags = outs.
really, blackie?
anyone with that goofy of a smile long after the donger has been donged obviously doesn't hit a lot of them...
Well if this team doesn't have the self respect to not roll over against a team that isn't even getting paid... ugh.
Well this is pathetic. Time to tune out.
I suppose I can go back to work-type activities now- I don't care how bad the Dodgers are, the Twins aren't going to score 5 runs in less than three games.
MLB.TV can be infuriating, and tonight's a perfect example. When the Twins play some team with an obnoxious broadcaster (Hawk, the Yankmes, etc.) I get the other team's feed. When they play the Dodgers, I get DicknBert instead of Vin Scully.
that's because you didn't cough up for premium.
(s'okay, i didn't either).
In the preseason can justify the cost of Basic, but not the Premium. I'm just not limber enough for that kind of mental gymnastics.
for me, it was just easier to convince the missus.
also, according to bert, vin didn't make the trip, so there you go.
If anyone could do the Ronald Regan distance broadcasting trick, it would be Vin. Gotta say that I'm a little sad he didn't make this trip.
As someone else noted (bS?), Scully hasn't traveled east of Colorado for a couple of seasons.
D'oh. It was in his gamelog preview.
I've heard enough of this one, folks. Ciao.
It always defaults to the home feed for non-premium accounts, right?
Ooh, just missed it.
I don't think so. I'm almost positive I've been forced to suffer through Hawk for games in Minneapolis.
On the free MLB TV games, I mute and listen to Dazzle & Gordo. Not that that's a useful option, necessarily
Looks like a great time to jump into this game.
Well, it's not likely to get much uglier from here on out, so that would be the sunny side of joining the game now.
This whole interview, while well-intentioned, is terribly, terribly awkward.
my thoughts exactly.
Sidesaddle warming up.
swickleschtick coming in.
The two Gameday video highlights for the Twins are Casilla's defense. He looked very smooth and calm on both plays. I think he's much more comfortable there than at shortstop, but I'm not sure Nishi is going to be able to stay at short the way he's played there so far, so then what does Gardy do?
Mauer?
Well, that would be the obvious move, right?
Drink heavily?
I assume he's probably already doing that.
kubel?
Edited! I saw the first name you put in there! Since your first choice for a replacement player was cuddy, I am now assuming that you are actually Gardy. You are now trying to disguise yourself by changing your answer.
kubel seemed funnier. anyway, this game sucks. i'm out.
later, joe.
ominous first pitch...
Five freakin' singles this inning. Death by a thousand bloops and dribblers.
Wild pitch? The official scorer is generous.
It hit the plate and took a weird bounce, as the Dodger feed noted. They called it a WP even before the official scorer did.
My rule of thumb as a catcher was if it went under me, it was a passed ball.
Anyone notice Mauer's not wearing the throwback lid? Was he not wearing it with this uniform previously, or did this change after Harmon passed?
It's getting uglier, bhiggum.
Seeing as how Scully's not calling this thing, it might be time to bail.
Yeah, I was wrong on that call- but not as wrong as davidwatts predicting a Twins win earlier.
Twins radio trivia baseball-reference cut-'n-paste MANIC
Let's see someone beat this one...
WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER
Well, now that you've got your daily trivia win, I'm guessing you're bailing too, right?
I'm sticking out until my wife's laptop battery gives up the ghost
If it's anything like my laptop battery, you should have a solid 20-30 minutes, then.
It's already been painfully too long, and I got here late.
Too bad you have to share the win with Gordo
Unbelievable -- Gordo figured it out! I googled Sam Mele, then cut his playing career out of wikipedia. Duh!
I'm willing to bet that they have the drawing for the tickets a couple days beforehand, so if there ever WAS a chance that I could make my way up there to attend, there wouldn't be enough time to make it happen.
The way they've been playing, I don't know if you want to come.
Okay, obviously the defense has ceased caring.
Or, they are getting very tired from running after all the balls in play.
I like your version better.
there's going to be a lot of sore foreheads from facepalm by the end of this one
There is a 10-run rule in MLB, right?
Nishi's hit gives the Twins the same number of hits as they have errors.
So how did Blackie keep them from scoring in the second?
I think I'm rooting for tying the record: The Dodgers scoring in eight of nine innings.
Uribe flyout, Oeltjen walk, AJ Ellis groundout, Dee Gordon ground out. He lucked out and only faced scrubs and callups that inning. Plus, no errors.
Former Twin Farmhand Trent Oeltjen is OPSing nearly .900!
Record still in sight. Too bad Dusty is in AAA.
Ullger'd.
Ha ha. I think the Dodgers should have let Casilla score on defensive indifference.
Ha!
Man, even any excitement over Joe's XBH is squelched
Okay, I'm going to go watch the debut episode of the new Top Gear season. At least I know that won't suck.
Ooh, new series?
Yep - Series 17 began last night!
Homerinthedugoutscratchinghimself.jpg
Tarantinowithguntohishead.jpg
Howdy, y'all.
ANOTHER FORMER TWINS HOME RUN FOR THE DODGERS -- YAY!
Kemp is a former Twin?
Nevermind, missed the Blake homer.
That was a pre-Kemp comment.
Wow, that one was hit so hard it froze my PS3.
"There's no way -- it's Dumatrait"
someone trademark that slogan
OH BOY, ANOTHER DODGERS RUN!! THE EXCITEMENT JUST DOESN'T STOP!
and this laptop battery doesn't, either. I'm going to run several videos and drain it before the next inning
Limited Liability Company, Dick.
C'mon Mijares. History demands you give up a run!
A triple is really close to a run. Good job! Now keep it going.
Oeltjen a double away from the cycle. With 1.2 innings left to go, he should get two more chances.
A walk sets up the DP, nooo! Sometimes a walk isn't as good as a hit, and this is one of those places.
as if.
That'll do, NeckFat. That'll do.
I assume that means that Jose will have the night off tomorrow.
Mijares probably going to call Mauer for taking the rest of the night off.
Wait, that bit about Jose calling joe out for pitch selection is real? Honestly, a real question.
According to the "column".
Ah, I see. I didn't read it.
Get Souhan on the phone and in the clubhouse for the exclusive.
low battery warning. looks like my lifeline came in. time to go...
Where is that tunicate?
I think Mauer should call Neck Fat out for being rotten.
I've always been pretty much behind His Fatness, he's been brutal this year.
2010: 7.71 K/9, 2.48 BB/9
2011: 5.60 K/9, 7.13 BB/9
I'd call for lots of fastballs too. Maybe he could actually throw one over the plate.
Free Chuck James.
Zack, I can take tomorrow's recap.
Thank you, and I apologize. Hopefully tomorrow's crap fest isn't quite so full of rich, creamy crap.
Well where's the fun in that?
Oh boy, the dodgers guys are just eating this shit up. Now talking about how the Dodgers are tossing a shut out. Stay classy PBP guys.
Just popped in to say: holy crap.
Well, at least I'm brewing beer while this is happening.
I think the problem here is pitch selection.
Oh, Jose you suck.
Apparently, two NL teams have the scoring-in-every-inning record. So this is only to tie the AL record.
(Only verified since 1900.)
You do see the goose egg in the second, right?
I demand a review of the tapes. It's possible that someone scored and it was missed.
Okay I see that scoring in eight innings would tie the record.
Holy balls.
Oeltjen will bat in the ninth. Double for the cycle!
hey, i'm ba-- okay, nevermind...
Matt Capps is coming in.
Obligatory double?
Obligatory run?
Please?
I'm not sure what's worse ---> listening to Dick n Bert or the Dodgers feed.
The 2011 Minnesota Twins.
Dick and Bert win this round. Now they're asking why Mauer isn't taking a few innings at first to, you know, get used to playing there.... /barf.
Oh goodie, so this is one of those awesome talking points filtered through the media?
Yes.
Just checked Oeltjen's slash line before this game started.
.188/.316/.250/.566
Now .316/???/???/1.048
No, no, no, no, Capps.
Now, which do I want more?
Oeltjen HR for the AL record, or Oeltjen double?
Three more hits and the Twins will tie the AL record* and will have allowed as many hits at outs recorded.
Damn!
Forgot my asterisk, but it's now moot anyways.
*Just realized this is an interleague game, which is an annoying wrinkle. The way I score it is: LA wouldn't have a record for scoring success, but the Twins would've still had the record for AL run-prevention futility.
did he just say 24 hits?!?
3 HR, 1 Triple, 2 Doubles, 19 singles.
Blackburn recorded 13 outs (including 1 DP and 1 OA). He gave up 12 hits, 1 walk, and Nishioka let another guy on base.
24 hits. is that a lot?
Looks like two off the Twins record. Results for 1950-2011.
This ties the record for a nine-inning game with this one.
(There was another with 24 hits given up in an extra-inning game.)
(All thanks to Sean's list.)
And I was mad at going to a 3-game sweep in Milwaukee...
I know it's only one game in the standings but this is far worse.
That'll do, pig, that'll do. We're still in this!
Patrick?
zomg! a voice of reason? how did that happen?
I think he read Top Jimmy's crap and hit him like cold water in the face.
The Twins could bat around twice in this inning and still lose the game.
That right there drives home the point that the Twins got obliterated.
Sweet. All that hitting made their arms tired and more error-prone.
is bremer advocating against 3 catchers?
I think he's saying Joe has to prove his value by playing all positions at once.
If mauer is the first baseman, yes.
Mauer to first is the new black.
Yeah, this is pretty shameful.
well, at least i can listen to the game recap on my drive home. (sad face.jpg)
They could've scored 14 less runs and still won.
They could have had four Chuck Jameses and still lost.
or six...
Six Chuck Jameses could have won the game, if one of them would have started and one would have taken to the outfield.
(that's a new record)
huzzah!
Now Nishi had more hits than errors!
The Dodgers guys (not Scully, aaarrrghh!!) were all over that error. Steve Lyons said it never should have been an error. Nishi put his body in front of it and it bounced up and hit his chest. I agree, that wasn't an error. Just a real bad night for Blackie. How did this game get 181 LTEs? Too many gluttons for punishment or misery loves company?