2011 Game 77: McCourtsMLBs at Pohlads

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.

183 thoughts on “2011 Game 77: McCourtsMLBs at Pohlads”

    1. 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?)

      1. We all know how it paid off for Lyman. 🙁

        He and Disco Danny Ford were two of my favorites from those mid-70s teams.

      2. 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.

        1. I meant for PR reasons with many vocal fans turning against him.
          Lazy pussy singles-hitting clubhouse cancer philanthropist malingerer.

  1. 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.

  2. TIBN playing some bare-foot-man-margarita-playing-jukebox riffs pre-game.

    Blech.

  3. That rundown description in Gameday is over the Fiction 59 word limit, I think.

  4. 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.

  5. kubel, morneau, and young all sitting together on the bench. that's a lot of overpaid worthlessness.

    /STribbie

    1. Do they have a seatbelt or some sort of restraint system to keep Young from falling off the bench?

  6. Uh-oh. Dazz said that Blackie is suffering from the dreaded Scott Baker Syndrome.

  7. Dazz: "The value of Uribe is in the playoffs."

    Me: so, the Dodgers are going to trade him?

    1. If he was over playing first like he's supposed to, this obviously wouldn't be happening.

    1. anyone with that goofy of a smile long after the donger has been donged obviously doesn't hit a lot of them...

  8. Well if this team doesn't have the self respect to not roll over against a team that isn't even getting paid... ugh.

    1. 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.

  9. 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.

      1. 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.

        1. for me, it was just easier to convince the missus.

          also, according to bert, vin didn't make the trip, so there you go.

          1. 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.

    1. 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.

  10. 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?

      1. 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.

  11. 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?

    1. Yeah, I was wrong on that call- but not as wrong as davidwatts predicting a Twins win earlier.

      1. Well, now that you've got your daily trivia win, I'm guessing you're bailing too, right?

          1. If it's anything like my laptop battery, you should have a solid 20-30 minutes, then.

        1. 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.

    1. Or, they are getting very tired from running after all the balls in play.

      I like your version better.

  12. 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.

    1. 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.

      1. Former Twin Farmhand Trent Oeltjen is OPSing nearly .900!
        Record still in sight. Too bad Dusty is in AAA.

  13. Ha ha. I think the Dodgers should have let Casilla score on defensive indifference.

  14. 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

    1. 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.

      1. A walk sets up the DP, nooo! Sometimes a walk isn't as good as a hit, and this is one of those places.

    1. Wait, that bit about Jose calling joe out for pitch selection is real? Honestly, a real question.

    1. 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.

  15. 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.

      1. I demand a review of the tapes. It's possible that someone scored and it was missed.

    1. 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.

  16. 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?

    1. Three more hits and the Twins will tie the AL record* and will have allowed as many hits at outs recorded.
      Damn!

      1. 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.

    1. 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.

  17. 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.

  18. Patrick?

    There's a difference between making an excuse and looking at reality, and the reality is the Twins' season has been ruined by an unrelenting run of injuries to key players.

      1. Six Chuck Jameses could have won the game, if one of them would have started and one would have taken to the outfield.

    1. 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?

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