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mmediate introduction of a number of new commenters which could bring something of a culture clash as always i hope you will use patience and consideration toward any new visitors and for that matter to any old ones the dodger thoughts thank you for not guidelines will still be in place and an ongoing emphasis on these will go a long way the second issue will be more vexing for some the times requires all comments to be reviewed before they are made live there will be multiple people behind the scenes with the ability to do this so in many cases the approval will come quickly but at odd moments and in odd hours there will be delays i assure you that no one is more concerned about this than i am but i urge you to see this from a big picture it shouldn t affect your enjoyment of other people s comments they will all come at baseball toaster you never knew exactly when the next comment was coming and so the times will be no different as for your own comments this will require a little more patience the comments will come and they will come in the order that they were made and so in the end though the flow might be more staccato the substance of our conversations doesn t need to change for example i ve studied the quantity of comments that come in the wee hours which are the ones that are going to most delayed and it s a tiny percentage of what the site does overall that can be a great time to comment but in the end if you find that your 2 a m comment doesn t appear until 5 a m just remember that when it does appear it will get a wider readership and that it s all part of a bigger plan in any case i ask for your patience as we work the kinks out i ll still have my day job at variety in case you were wondering i can t leave without thanking ken arneson for making baseball toaster possible and for all the other toaster writers for being so great to work alongside it is really a strong feeling we ll always have our paris of the internet for more information on the fate of toaster please go to fairpole permalink comments 178 molly knight kos joba chamberlain 2009 02 02 11 20 by jon weisman espn com writer and dodger thoughts bonne amie molly knight showed yankee pitcher joba chamberlain who s boss more from knight s super sunday at her blog permalink comments 71 this chat s on me 2009 02 01 10 49 by jon weisman you don t have to go home and you can stay here permalink comments 153 lambo draws first blood 2009 01 31 08 48 by jon weisman for those who haven t heard andrew lambo has moved to the top of the baseball america dodger prospect list in 2008 the 6 foot 3 190 pound 20 year old outfielder from newbury park followed an 807 ops for class a great lakes by going 14 for 26 with three homers for jacksonville here are the dodger farmhands with the best tools according to ba best hitter for average lambo best power hitter josh bell best strike zone discipline ivan dejesus fastest baserunner devaris gordon best athlete gordon best fastball josh lindblom best curveball scott elbert best slider travis schlichting best changeup james mcdonald best control mcdonald best defensive catcher a j ellis best defensive infielder gordon best infield arm pedro baez best defensive outfielder jamie hoffmann best outfield arm xavier paul permalink comments 198 make it happen inside the park home run derby 2009 01 30 20 54 by jon weisman spurred on by a joke by dodger thoughts commenter jim hitchcock fellow commenter humma kavula had a nifty idea today oh i absolutely would watch the inside the park home run derby how about this eight kids from around the u s are chosen as fielders put an age limit on it ten twelve point being these are kids pitcher remains a batting practice pitcher major leaguers hit long fly balls and then run the bases he must keep running until he crosses home plate kids field and try to tag him out major leaguer gets five outs each time around the basepaths one presumes he would get slower and slower increasing the chances of running out of gas yes yes i would watch that i would too let s get the lawyers to draw up the release forms and test it out at dodger stadium more reaction from eric stephen the only change i would make is to eliminate the need for a tag out just make the kids throw it into a general area before the batter runner crosses home plate for the out i don t want to see pete rose iii obliterate a little kid who s trying to tag him permalink comments 28 dodgers to come on down 2009 01 30 11 56 by jon weisman while it s not true that andre ethier s arbitration case will be settled in the showcase showdown the dodgers winter caravan will take the team to a taping of the price is right on wednesday a full schedule of the week of community events can be found here permalink comments 156 initial gesture of 2009 2009 01 29 20 00 by jon weisman the dodgers starting catcher will have j martin on the back of his jersey this season writes ken gurnick of mlb com russell nathan jeanson coltrane martin is doing so to honor his mother whose maiden name is jeanson this should come as interesting news to dodger publications director jorge martin i d say gurnick s feature on martin also brings us one of the dodgers initial fresh start pieces of 2009 martin believes this also is the time he puts his game back on track those who had seen his first two seasons in the major leagues and even those watching him for the first time sensed something wasn t quite right in 2008 although still an all star and postseason starter martin wasn t the same player or person as the national league s gold glove and silver slugger catcher the previous year speculation ran the gamut from a hidden injury to a swollen ego whenever asked martin said nothing really had changed but not anymore i understand completely why people thought that martin said this week a lot had changed in my life i think it s just part of growing up and maturing i m finally just taking responsibility and taking control of everything if you watched me play the game you couldn t question my desire or intensity but things like nutrition my preparation my rest i wasn t 100 percent in those elements permalink comments 125 oops there goes another rubber tree plant 2009 01 29 09 52 by jon weisman dave cameron writes at fangraphs about not giving up on propsects who hit a rough patch don t judge a player with a long history of success on one bad season talent shines through even if not immediately keith thursby of the daily mirror points out that the 1949 los angeles angels might have been more of a major league team than the 1949 chicago cubs permalink comments 187 little big mac 2009 01 28 20 21 by jon weisman while i was filled with self involvement in promoting my book seemingly every other dodger blog wrote about the offhand revelation by dodger pitching coach rick honeycutt to ken gurnick of mlb com that james mcdonald would start the 2009 season in the bullpen my first reaction is that i don t think decisions like this are finalized in january but i don t have a problem in principle with continuing to break mcdonald into the majors as a reliever as long as the dodgers retain an open mind about him as a starter there s certainly no reason to worry about the dodger bullpen depth the dodgers already have a mix of great young arms and moxieful veterans while you always look for ways to improve your team there s very little the dodgers can do now that s meaningful i ll talk some about the dodger starting rotation soon permalink comments 72 webkinz wowzers 2009 01 28 20 16 by jon weisman my kids like webkinz there are nine webkinz days on the 2009 dodger stadium promotions schedule scary permalink comments 5 lost episode 3 chat thread 2009 01 28 19 55 by jon weisman no spoilers permalink comments 39 it s coming 100 things dodgers fans should know do before they die 2009 01 27 20 20 by jon weisman i m pleased to announce that my book 100 things dodgers fans should know do before they die is on its way to the printers and is on schedule for publication in april i really think you re going to like it throughout last year i applied the dodger thoughts approach of research and reflection and joy to every aspect of dodger history and the dodger experience the result was something that i think will be a lifelong companion to what you ve seen here online the goal was to make the book meaningful to old and new fans alike and i was constantly finding new insights into dodger people and events you d think you knew inside and out former dodger owner peter o malley was kind enough to write the foreword for the book and also gave permission for me to use numerous old photographs many of which have not been published in decades if ever some of them just made me shake my head with delight the readers of this site were never far from my mind when i wrote the book you are among the most dedicated dodger fans in the world and i aimed to satisfy i m hoping you ll think i did anyway here are some early ordering tips 1 if you would like to attend a los angeles book release gathering in late april don t order the book yet you can buy the book directly there 2 if you can t make the gathering and would like to pre order the book online do so directly from the dodger thoughts link on the left 3 eventually the book will be in bookstores and you can buy it in person though i don t know right now that you ll find it many places outside of southern california and new york you won t want to miss such chapters as the sweetheart from 88 or the head spinning allegiance shifting authority defying leo durocher get excited for your copy and your friends and family s copies of 100 things dodgers fans should know do before they die permalink comments 526 farewell john updike 2009 01 27 11 06 by jon weisman john updike the author of rabbit run which i have long considered my favorite novel died today updike who also wrote the famous farewell to ted williams hub fans bid kid adieu was a significant influence on my writing and the way i express my feelings toward life on purely literary grounds he was attacked by norman mailer as the kind of author appreciated by readers who knew nothing about writing the associated press noted today maybe so but i ll still take him here s the conclusion from his short story the happiest i ve been there were many reasons for my feeling so happy we were on our way i had seen a dawn this far neil could appreciate i had brought us safely ahead a girl waited who if i asked would marry me but first there was a vast trip many hours and towns interceded between me and that encounter there was the quality of the ten a m sunlight as it existed in the air ahead of the windshield filtered by the thin overcast blessing irresponsibility you felt you could slice forever through such a cool pure element and springing by implying how high these hills had become a widespreading pride pennsylvania your state as if you had made your life and there was knowing that twice since midnight a person had trusted me enough to fall asleep beside me permalink comments 121 graphic blandishment 2009 01 27 09 52 by jon weisman brian cartwright ran a study on catcher basestealing prevention for fangraphs the task is to seperate the catcher s ability to throw out base stealers from that of the pitchers they are teamed with cartwright wrote among his findings 1 new dodger backup brad ausmus has been trending sharply downward in effectiveness though the low rate of stealing attempts against him implies that opponents haven t realized it 2 henry blanco signed for cheaper dollars by the padres on the same day the dodgers agreed to terms with ausmus has the best caught stealing percentage for a catcher over the past six years at age 36 blanco has shown no signs of slowing down having a normal cs over 500 in 3 of the past 4 seasons cartwright said 3 dodger starting catcher russell martin fared above average in the study with a normalized caught stealing percentage of 325 that ranked sixth in the majors last season in the comments on the study dodger thoughts reader xeifrank questions its viability matt kemp makes sabermetric news again rich lederer of baseball analysts looked today at the effect of a hitter s groundball rate on his babip batting average on balls in play and he noticed that kemp had the lowest groundball out rate in baseball in 2007 and nearly repeated the feat last season jay jaffe who said his first impulse would have been to vote jeff kent into the hall of fame if given a ballot today examined kent s career at length for baseball prospectus and concluded him to be almost the definition of a borderline candidate kent was a very good player for a long time and an often misunderstood one his lack of charisma and his businesslike approach made him an easy target though his humorlessness should never have been confused with a lack of passion for the game from this vantage point he looks to be a borderline hall of famer at best even with no particular love lost for him as a fan one who spent years rooting against him as a giant before settling down and appreciating his uneven virtues with the dodgers i ll admit that this still contradicts my gut instinct but then that s one of the reasons for the five year waiting period before a player reaches the ballot nonetheless i strongly suspect he ll find his way into cooperstown in due time and if that s the case it will hardly be the crime of the century permalink comments 22 dodger blogs ready for 2009 2009 01 26 22 10 by jon weisman something that has become acutely apparent is how deep the dodger blogosphere has become and how high the standards are it s not just me and old stalwarts like 6 4 2 and dodger blues yes we re the aging veterans on the roster the team and press blogs josh rawitch s inside the dodgers tony jackson s inside the dodgers and diamond leung s press enterprise blog along with the times baseball writers on the fabulous forum have emerged as indispensable sources for information and insight blue notes became the go to site for player interviews and really developed a smart gracious style and outlook eric stephen s surge onto true blue l a has been exciting and helped it keep pace with the analysis and sharpness provided by mike scioscia s tragic illness and fire ned colletti now the sons of steve garvey have grown up fast baseball savvy boasts a well defined point of view and longstanding credentials as the champion for a sandy koufax statue at dodger stadium dodger sims regularly updates the cold hard projections about the 2009 dodgers the trolley dodger and blue heaven are particularly fun on the historical side and this isn t even everyone i like to think dodger thoughts is a big deal but it sure isn t the only game in town reading all these other sites is a real kick in the pants and while i might take it easy in these final few days of january i know i m going to have to be at the top of my game to keep pace with these other great sites wha...