By Governor X
The Dodgers "saws and whiskey" medical staff has struck again: Juan Pierre is on the DL. I've been one of Pierre's VERY few defenders out here in Dodgersland, but the loss of him isn't why I'm boycotting.
I'm boycotting because Jason Repko is back.
If you don't know who he is, consider yourself lucky. He's only one of the sorriest sons of bitches to ever wear a Dodgers uniform. To thank the Dodgers for his undeserved call-up, he went 0 for 5 tonight with 4 strikeouts.
I've had to tolerate a lot of shit from this team in recent years and this year in particular, but Repko is the final straw. I'm boycotting the Blue until this sadsack goes back to Vegas where he belongs.
By Rich Funk
Each week, we here at SFWH are going to single out one turd sandwich from here on the west coast and bestow upon them the honor of being the Steve Finley Was Here "Fail Of The Week"!
Say what you want, but any time you hold the other team to 0 hits and you still find a way to lose, that is what the internet kids call an EPIC FAIL!
By Governor X
The Dodgers took their offensive futility to new heights over the weekend against California of Los Angeles of Anaheim, getting no-hit on Saturday night. The amazing thing? They still won the game! For only the 5th time in MLB history, a team got no-hit and still won. Nice job Blue Crew.
Next stop...Houston. The Dodgers are goin' huntin'.
By ,
What's up, brohamulus?
A clean-shaven Rich Harden completely owned the Phillies today. He pitched 8 innings of 2-hit ball, struck out a career-high 11, and threw under 100 pitches. This was his ninth straight start since coming off the DL. I know, I can't believe it either. This is the first time he's done this in 3 years.
This brings up an interesting question: If an offer comes in for Harden, do you trade him? I've heard that GMs have been afraid of his injury history (and hell, I don't blame them. When Harden threw over 100 pitches in one of his recent starts, I was screaming at Gamecast for Geren to pull him because I was so nervous he'd hurt himself. Side question: Is it normal to yell at Gamecast?) . However, now that he's pitching really well (7 of the 9 starts he's made since coming off the DL have been quality starts, and he has 2.15 ERA), I'm wondering if he'll make a good consolation prize to the team who loses out on C.C. Sabathia. You think that the Rays and the Red Sox look good now? Imagine what they'd be like with a healthy Harden.
Did I just put "Rays" and "good" in the same sentence? Wow. I need a minute. Look at this picture of a surly Bobby Crosby while I gather my thoughts:
Ok - I'm fine now. Anyway, if Beane gets a good offer for Harden, should he trade him? Let's look at some of the pros and cons:
The pros: Rich Harden has been a walking DL stint for years. If the A's could unload him now for a decent package, it could be a repeat of the Mulder deal. And as a fan, I have to say it has been frustrating to ride the "Will Rich Harden stay healthy?" roller coaster.
The cons: What if this is it for Harden? What if he's overcome whatever injury issues he's been having and is finally truly healthy? After all, maybe he kept getting hurt all these years because he was pushing himself to come back too early, and now that the A's have plenty of pitching, there was no pressure for him to come back ASAP from his most recent DL stint. Also, if the A's are looking to compete in the next couple of years, having Harden around would make that a lot easier.
I am torn on this one. I love Rich Harden, and when he's healthy, his stuff is fantastic. However, after watching him go on the DL a million times, part of me still can't trust that he's completely healthy. I keep expecting to read that Harden's shoulder was bothering him after his last outing, and he'll miss his next scheduled start. And we're not exactly starved for pitching - we've got some good pitching prospects in the minors, and Chad Gaudin in the bullpen. So if we could get any kind of offensive power in a trade, it might really help the team. But then again, good pitching beats good hitting. But then again, the A's have lost more than their share of close games due to quiet bats (ask Joe Blanton).
As you can tell, I'm undecided. I'll have to think about it some more. So I'll just end this post with another ridiculous picture of Bobby Crosby...
"Dude?"
By Governor X
In keeping with recent tradition, the Dodgers lost 2 of 3 to a so-so team and put another player on the DL. For good measure, they also moved a player already on the DL to the 60 day DL or as I call it, the "this guy is never playing again" list.
Who are the players? Do you really care? I heard and responded with barely enough enthusiasm to fart. If you guessed Scott Proctor for the 15-day DL and Gary Bennett to the 60-day DL, you win a prize. Click here to redeem it.
By Governor X
From the "I should have done this when I was 18" file, on Tuesday 6/24, I saw the reunited Stone Temple Pilots at the Hollywood Bowl. Also in attendance was Finley's own seldom seen Brant Brown. No traffic for this one, which was a pleasant change from the three hour freeway debacle to see R.E.M. I threw some trash at an LAPD bike after the show out of spite anyway. Take that Pep Streebeck!
Going into this one, I told myself if Weiland doesn't fall of the stage or otherwise embarrass himself, I would be happy. Scott and the band exceeded these modest expectations by a long shot, putting on one of the best rock shows I've ever been too.
Back to the show itself in a minute... As always, people watching was part of the fun. We counted no fewer than four Iron Maiden shirts before the show. I can't say I would even suspect anyone I knew owns an Iron Maiden album, but here are four guys who apparently do. Another gem outside the Bowl was the father/son pair with matching Guns N Roses shirts. Inside, the group in front of us consisted of three forty-ish women and two teenagers. I thought, "Hey that's cool, they took their kids to the concert." I was off a little. When STP came on, the old bitties started moving to the music and lighting up a bowl of weed while the two kids sat there nearly falling asleep. Damn kids these days.
Just before 9:00, after what I hear was an uninspiring performance by an uninspiring man, Frank Black, an AIDS-thin Weiland and the rest of STP takes the stage and goes into Big Empty. It was never my favorite song of theirs, but it sounded pretty good live. After that, they start ripping into the rock, knocking my dick in the dirt with Wicked Garden and Big Bang Baby. About this time, I text TMS bartender Chaim Witz to eloquently notify him that this STP show is apparently much better than the one he attended in Chicago not long ago.
With no new material to support, the set list read like a greatest hits CD, but you can't hold that against them. Hearing 16 year old gems like Crackerman and Sex Type Thing live and loud was more than enough to keep me and the sell out crowd entertained (yes, believe it or not, Core came out in 1992). Videos courtesy of some guy with much better seats than me who posted them on youtube for all to see.
The set list:
Big Empty / Wicked Garden / Big Bang Baby / Silvergun Superman / Vasoline / Lounge Fly / Lady Picture Show / Sour Girl / Creep / Crackerman / Plush / Interstate Love Song / Too Cool Queenie / Coma / Down / Sex Type Thing / Sin / encore / Dead & Bloated / Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart
By ,
The Mariners beat the Mets 5-2 last night. No, that's not a typo. The Mariners
did win a game...
And the offensive hero of the game was...Felix Hernandez?
Yes - King Felix hit a grand slam in the 2nd inning off Johan Santana. Apparently, the only player on the team who can hit the ball is a pitcher...Who hardly ever gets to hit because he plays in the American League. Awesome. And Mr. Santana, you'll be happy to know that King Felix figures this was his first home run since Little League. Good job, buddy.
It was the first grand slam by an American League pitcher in almost 40 years, and the first home run by a pitcher in Mariners history. So how did Felix celebrate this milestone? By spraining his ankle while covering home plate and leaving the game before he could get the win.
This is where I would usually make a Mariners joke, but there's no greater joke than the team they put on the field every day. Zing!
By Governor X
LA lost two of three to the no-name Indians over the weekend and managed to gain ground on the Diamondbacks. God hates the NL West. I was one of the few who braved 101 degree heat to see Saturday's loss. The game was boring as hell, 1-1 through 10 before Scott Proctor came in and blew the game. Selected photos from the game:
We arrive to see buzzards circling the stadium...a perfect metaphor for the Dodgers season.
God of Death and Destruction Clayton Kershaw and Jason Schmidt take in the game. Hopefully Clayton doesn't catch Jason's AIDS.
The big screen at Dodgers Stadium always brings you uh, "interesting", tidbits about the players. Here we learn what Jamey Carroll likes to do in his spare time. What doesn't it tell you? The drawings are actually of young boys.
Angel Berroa looks really happy to be here.
By Rich Funk
Another Friday, another lazy, throwaway post from myself. Let's get a-rollin'!
- As the Gov. pointed out yesterday, the M's are suddenly interesting, just because they've had no problem slicing limbs off of their coaching staff. It seems like part of the reason they're so willing to fire their off the field employees (aside from being a truly terrible team) is because they can't do much else. Most of the guys on their roster can't be traded because they are either fan favorites (Ichiro, King Felix), too expensive for anyone to want (Adrian Beltre) or just plain suck balls (Jarrod Washburn, Riche Sexson). So guess what, Seattle? You're looking at pretty much the same team next year! Between that and the whole business with the Sonics, God must hate Seattle. Probably because of the whole Starbucks thing.
- Every week, I rag on the Angels for not being interesting at all. Instead of just complaining about this, I decided that I'll give them some advice. First up? Hire Charlie Manuel, the Mets' interim manager. Manuel tried to take Jose Reyes out of a game this week and Reyes didn't want to come out of the game. He made this clear to Manuel, and after the game, Manuel had this to say: "I told him next time he does that I'm going to get my blade out and cut him. I'm a gangster. You go gangster on me, I'm going to have to get you. You do that again, I'm going to cut you right on the field."
- The A's had a case of deja-vu this week, facing 2 of their former aces in Dan Haren and Barry Zito. Both were good in Oakland, but Haren is thriving in the NL while Zito has been terrible and I have no idea why. Oh wait, Barry Zito is terrible. That's what it is.
- Lakers = joke. Kobe being a "great" teammate all the sudden = joke. Doc Rivers actually outcoaching Phil Jackson = surprisingly not a joke. Andrew Bynum is supposed to put these guys back over the top next season? That's just going to be one more young teammate for Kobe to yell at.
- It's hot here today. Really hot. It sucks. Just like the Padres (Didn't think I'd be able to work them in there, did you?).
- Califonia is now allowing gay marriages. And yet I still can't find PBR in a can at any supermarket I wander into. What a crazy state.
That's all I got. Don't take any line drives off the face.
By Governor X
How bad are the Reds? They just got swept by the Dodgers. I'm not going to get too excited about this though. LA is going to have to perform like this against someone else before I start to get my hopes up again.
Winning will be difficult though thanks to the Dodgers training and medical staff. Kuroda is now on the DL. Brad Penny, who has been blowing ass all year, finally fessed up to the fact that he has been injured all along! He is now on the DL. Nomar, Schmidt, and Furcal may very well be dead for all I know. The one Dodger that is actually healing? The one I never want to see put on a Dodger uniform again, AndrEw Jones. When does the NFL start?
