Let's Get Physical
It's official…Andruw passed his physical today and will be introduced tomorrow at Dodger Stadium at the Children's Holiday Party for local youths. That will be his first chance to meet the media here, too, so I'd expect to see a lot of stories on TV, radio and in the papers/online in the next 24-48 hours about Mr. Jones.
Otherwise we're staying very busy with stuff that isn't the public side of the game – internal planning for 2008. That's everything from relationships with our TV partners, radio partners, community events, Rose Parade planning, 50th anniversary planning, etc. I'm sure it doesn't sound like much but I can assure you that we could all use a few extra hours in the day.
As for the comments about Ned reading the blog (or any blog), I can assure you that he was joking around with our beat writers at the winter meetings and it came off as flippant. Since three of our regular papers now have blogs, that topic came up and everyone was joking about it, which was when Ned made the comment he made. As someone who sees just how insanely busy his schedule is, it's safe to assume that he doesn't do much reading of media coverage or blogs and I'm fairly certain that he's not alone in that area when it comes to big league GMs. That doesn't mean they don't care about what fans think – it's just that they have to rely on their scouts and baseball people for opinions and then make a decision rather than reading every website out there for input.
I'll keep trying to post news as it comes. As you know during the winter, that's not every day but keep checking back regularly for updates.
Welcome aboard Andruw.
Welcome Andruw !
I bet everyone forgot about this:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/news/2001/07/25/andruw_goldclub_ap/
By Roberto on December 11, 2007 5:11 pm	- Reply
haha… i never even knew about that… makes me like andruw a little more.
That story is ancient history! Welcome aboard Andruw!
I'm pretty sure Ned knows what's being said here, whether he reads ITD or not. I'm also pretty sure that he knows more than we do, and that he's smart enough to pay attention to what he feels is helpful and not waste too much time on the rest.
Andruw has a tremendous upside, let's all pull for him. Heck, we should be pulling for everyone in Dodger Blue. It's too bad we keep tearing down our own players…it's much easier to perform when praised than it is when villified.
By ebbetsfld@gmail.com on December 11, 2007 5:29 pm	- Reply
MLB Trade Rumors is reporting a tip that we've signed Kuroda.
By jboydstun@bak.rr.com on December 11, 2007 6:25 pm	- Reply
the owner watched jones go to town?…..that's kinda weird. lol. regardless, welcome aboard, mr. jones.
By yarrum_07@hotmail.com on December 11, 2007 6:27 pm	- Reply
there are rumors that kuroda has signed with the dodgers! anybody know if this is true??
By timjyoo@stanford.edu on December 11, 2007 6:52 pm	- Reply
Josh, appreciate the gracious response. How's the little one doing?
By patriotacts425@comcast.net on December 11, 2007 7:00 pm	- Reply
this is on rotoworld.com
Free agent Hiroki Kuroda could decide between the Dodgers and Mariners as soon as Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
Reports out of Japan suggest he's strongly leaning towards Los Angeles, though it apparently won't be a four-year deal. A club source told the Daily News that the Dodgers have stuck with their three-year offer worth about $30 million. Neither the Mariners nor Diamondbacks have gone to four years. However, the Mariners are believed to be offering a higher salary than the Dodgers. Dec. 11 – 10:07 pm et
Source: Los Angeles Daily News
By SHAWN on December 11, 2007 7:14 pm	- Reply
Kuroda, nice! Hope these reports are true.
Welcome Mr AJ! Im sure I can find you a couple lesbians down in the SFV and maybe Mr Tommy Lasorda would like to watch! haha jk
We signed the Japanese pitcher too! Wow! Go Blue!
By scurtis1999@yahoo.com on December 11, 2007 7:19 pm	- Reply
yes hopefully we will not see loiaza in Dodger Blue come spring time….not hating just hoping!!!!
It is not official yet but if you read Tony Jacksons article in LA daily news it says Kuroda is leaning this way.
ESPN.com is reporting that Fukodome will sign with the Cubs. Good news here is that the Padres still have a gaping hole in CF, that will not be filled by Jones, Hunter, Fukodome, Bradley, and apparently not Cameron.
This begs the question…would they be dumb enough to take Pierre for 1/2 his contract and a minor league prospect?
It would be a wonderful irony to see Pierre get on base for the Pads, then get thrown out by Martin, who would get 3 steals off of Chris Young in the same game.
That said, I don't think Towers is that desperate or that dumb to take Pierre from the Ds. But seriously…a Padres team without a good CF in Petco park will not fare well, regardless of their starting pitching.
By puppyhead01@hotmail.com on December 11, 2007 8:17 pm	- Reply
Padres will probably make a run at Rowand with Fukodome off the market.
Assuming the rumor becomes fact, Kuroda is a bit of a question mark, but he'll be our third or fourth starter so he'll be put in a position to win. This pretty much makes Loaiza expendable in my opinion. I don't really blame Ned for his acquisition. He placed several waiver claims that led to nothing, the difference was Beane let Ned have Loaiza. Beane was the one who truly made the deal. Now would I personally have placed a waiver claim on Loaiza? Probably not, but maybe he can bring something back in a trade.
Also, if Kuroda is signed we're pretty much done, unless Ned gets overly creative. Like trading Ethier for bullpen help, which would be a mistake. Pierre and cash for anything is a far better solution for the present and our future. It's not fair to ask Pierre to play a position he's never played before and you can't hide his arm in left field, which to me is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Torre dealt with this situation in N.Y with Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon. So he knows how to deal with weak armed outfielders. The difference was they had a DH. We obviously do not, Pierre has to go. The thought of Kemp and Ethier platooning makes me sick. Some of you are sick and tired of this being talked about, I respect that opinion, because I said the same thing all last season. But, this is a new season and it's a completely different situation.
By alex41592@aol.com on December 11, 2007 8:46 pm	- Reply
I would bet they hold onto Loaiza as insurance and put him in the BP. Padres won't pay for Rowand.
Beane made a shrewd move; he knew Loaiza was overpaid garbage and he found someone gullible enough to bite.
Penny/Bills/Lowe/Kuroda/Schmidt is a fine rotation. Just give Loaiza the Hendrickson long relief role and all will be good.
By momoracci@yahoo.com on December 11, 2007 9:30 pm	- Reply
would be great if kuroda signs. and if loaiza performs decently and schmidt returns to some health and glory, we could have 6 SP for 5 spots in 2008. not counting kuo, meloan, and kershaw. but if you did in 2009, we'd still have 7 for 5 (since loaiza would be gone after this year and lowe is a FA after this year)…
any one think we could be a seller this year at the deadline even if things are going well?
lowe is in the final year of his contract and i really wonder whether he'd come back. could we get a young arm from the yanks or sox? i know that it would be a hard trade to stomach if we are in contention this year, but if it's about building a consistent winner, this might be one of our few trade chips.
By stringtest@gmail.com on December 11, 2007 9:44 pm	- Reply
Wow. Those Kuroda rumors are a plenty. Makes one thing there must be some truth to them. However, I remember reading the other day that Bradley was signing with the Padres only to wake up the next day to hear he signed with Texas. So I guess we won't know until it's all said and done.
I agree with jspelk… I don't think the Pads will pay for Rowand. I just don't see that happening. I think they bite the bullet and resign Cameron and his suspension. I also agree with alex that if we do sign Kuroda, that's basically our winter. I'm hearing more and more about Ned being comfortable with the depth in the outfield and the unfortunate platoon between Kemp and Ethier. Well, I remember Torre benching Damon so I don't think he'll have a problem benching Pierre if he feels it's the right move. Plus, maybe a Pierre trade will make more sense midseason with a team wanting speed and a centerfielder (Like the Indians bringing back Lofton).
Penny/Bills/Lowe/Kuroda/Schmidt. A fine rotation indeed, momoracci.
By kevinpoush@yahoo.com on December 11, 2007 9:52 pm	- Reply
Oh- and welcome to LA Andruw! I wish you (for your sake and our sanity) an incredible 2008!
Do the Dodgers have enough starting pitching (with or without Kuroda-san) ? Dodger Thoughts makes an attempt to answer that question here: http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/881690.html
With there now being 30 major league teams, I thought pitching was getting diluted, but the Dodger Thoughts post hammered it home for me – pitching depth ain't what it used to be.
Regaring the Padres CF situation, I also guess they won't be interested in Rowand, not just the money, but he doesn't seem like a Towers/DePo type player. I wonder if they will be able to work a trade for Coco Crisp.
By old_fogey_la@yahoo.com on December 11, 2007 9:58 pm	- Reply
Agreed about Rowand and the Padres. They'll probably inquire but they have gaping holes in that outfield. However, they did just sign Iguchi to a one year deal to play second base. Momoracci, good to hear from you and that is a pretty good rotation indeed.
By alex41592@aol.com on December 11, 2007 10:02 pm	- Reply
alex, I've been around, just haven't posted much at all.
I'm thrilled with Andruw's signing and am hoping everyday that Pierre gets run out of town.
We've already dumped a bunch of deadweight this offseason (Gonzo, etc), but there's just one more shoe to drop.
By momoracci@yahoo.com on December 11, 2007 10:50 pm	- Reply
UPDATE: Kuroda on a plane to LAX.
Looks like we got him, fellas.
http://www.insidesocal.com/dodgers/
we stil have a ton of deadweight on this team that we owe money too. We still have a 9 mil bench player in nomar. We still have pierre. We still owe Schimdt 30 mil over the next two seasons not knowing what we will get out of him. We still owe Loaiza 8 9?) or so million. Our second baseman can't field. That's deadweight.
kuroda and jones look like a great offseason. looks like we got the division again boys and girls.
By dodge16_12@yahoo.com on December 11, 2007 11:17 pm	- Reply
To end any sort of speculation Kent will be back in 2008, and I'll take Kent's poor range if his bat shows up, his coming back is just fine with me:
Wednesday could be a great day in Dodger history: Andruw's intro, Kuroda possibly signing and…MARK HENDRICKSON NON-TENDERED. Please make it happen.
Also during the supposed controversy between Kent and Loney they both responded by hitting .324 and .382 respectively in the month of September. They quite frankly can hate each other all season long if they hit the ball like that. Chemistry is highly overrated, winning is chemistry.
May as well non-tender Repko, too, since he will get precisely zero playing time next year.
Brazoban is another huge question mark/injury risk. Dump him as well.
Obviously, Proctor and Beimel are back.
Prediction: Whomever we non-tender will end up with the Mets or Padres. Call it a hunch…
haha alex sooooo true. i hope lurch ends up there!
Josh, excellent updates. Let me tell you something, with everything that Ned Colletti did in the past offseason, I am so proud of the guy being a Dodger fan. He stood by his word of not trading the kids after their respective years. He didn't give an unbelievably bad deal to Andruw Jones who is an excellent center-fielder, and if there is somehow some way that you can tell him that this off-season, if not in the eyes of ESPN, but to Dodger fans with heads, this has been a good offseason. I'm very proud of him. After hearing that Kuroda might be coming here, its icing on the cake. Tell Ned thanks and let's go Dodgers!
By ignorethevoice@yahoo.com on December 12, 2007 12:15 am	- Reply
(If news is true)
Ned Coletti's Grade at Mid term of 2008 offseason: A+
And you guy saw Kent is confirmed.
Oh my frickin gosh! Nice link momoracci. I'm up late and decided to check here again but wasn't even thinking of checking back in with tony jackson or the others! I figured news was dead for the night. Come on… what else could hopping on a flight to LAX mean?? It looks like tomorrow is shaping up to be a massive day! And ignorthevoice- I couldn't agree with you any more. Ned has done a wonderful job this offseason. Thank you for keeping your head, Ned. I'm going to sleep tonight hoping that I'll be posting a "Welcome to LA, Kuroda!" comment right around the time that Andruw dons his new cap!
By kevinpoush@yahoo.com on December 12, 2007 1:12 am	- Reply
A Mariners blog is now reporting it. It looks good, gentlemen!
If it does turn out that we're able to sign Kuroda, we then need to stay pat – unless we can move Pierre or get one of those deals that you can't turn down. Colletti has exercised good patience and has been able to say NO to some of the outrageous demands of other GM's. I have to give him credit for that – such a reversal from the last off-season.
By messagebear@yahoo.com on December 12, 2007 5:54 am	- Reply
I don't understand why it's so hard for management to figure out which 3 outfielders should be starting. It's so obvious that Kemp , Eithier and Jones are the best choice.
By fliegel@ptd.net on December 12, 2007 7:24 am	- Reply
If it comes down to keeping Repko or Pierre…who wins? An athletic former #1 pick drafted as a shortstop…or the other guy? I know Repko has been hurt…just like Jayson Werth was. Werth became an expendable outfielder because we lacked patience in the healing process. And now he just finished a nice year for the Phils. Like alex feels, I don't want to see Repko patrolling centerfield for the Padres while Pierre comes off the the Dodger bench to pinch run…
The Kuroda signing will put us in a great position heading into '08, please get this done. I don't know where Rowand is going to end up but once he and Cameron are off the board, their will be no FA CF left. This will allow the Dodgers to sit on Pierre until one of the several teams starving for a CF come asking. Between the Rangers, White Sox and Padres, at least one team is heading into the season without a proven CF. Here's to hoping that a team like the Yanks sign Rowand, so we end up having 3 teams bidding on Cameron (even with his 25 game suspension). The losers in that bidding war will of course be desperate and start viewing Pierre with rose-colored glasses. At that point, we can effectively get him outta here.
Charris, great post. You read my mind. Hopefully, Rowland doesn't go to the White Sox. When he is off the table, I believe interest in Pierre will improve. Hope we get Kuroda.
I will be one very happy dodger fan if we can sign Kuroda.
By dodgerdude17@yahoo.com on December 12, 2007 9:39 am	- Reply
Yeah jhall, I just thought about that this morning. Coletti signed Pierre last year out of desperation and I'm beginning to think that he tried to justify the move to the casual fan by spitting out stats like 200 hits per year, 50+ stolen bases etc. Deep down I think Coletti knew the move wasn't a good one but had to pull the trigger and outbid the Giants. As time goes by, I think JP's value will actually increase, and we may even get back a little bullpen help (or at least have a team take his salary off our hands).
I agree, picking up Kuroda would be a nice move, I hope Ned can get it done. I have a question that some of you might be able to answer: I am not an expert when it comes to signing Japanese players – why don't Kuroda and Fukodome have to go through the posting process that Ichiro and Dice-K went through?
Tejada traded to Astros.
They played long enough in Japan to become free agents. Ichiro and Dice-K did not. They left early.
leamans, I think that Kuroda was a free-agent, whereas Ichiro and Dice-K were still under contract in Japan. So the teams that wanted Dice-K/Ichiro were forced to buy their bidding rights from their respective Japanese League teams. I could be wrong but that is my understanding.
dodgerdude, is it official? If so, the Astros will have a pretty formidable line-up with Berkman, Lee, Tejada and Pence.
Thanks, I was wondering why everything was moving so quickly with some of these guys.
Dodgerdude – Where did you read about Tejada?
Signing Kuroda would be great because it would stabilize the 4th spot in the rotation and Ned would probably not feel the need to deal a Kemp or Kershaw in a trade for a starting pitcher. Schmidt and Loaiza can battle for the 5th spot and we can shop Pierre to the losers of the Rowland signing. Kuo and Stults could also be used in the bullpen and we can non-tender Hendrickson. One of the Kuo/Stults combo could emerge as a lefty starter if Schmidt or Loaiza don't come back strong. Lots of options in our favor if we sign Kuroda. I would match the Mariners offer for Kuroda and get the deal done for 3 years.
They're older players, and are true free agents that have already played enough years to the avoid posting process. I am trying to find a link.
Tejada:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-tejada1212,0,378258.story
It's now on espn too, but u heard it here first!
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3151849
Cubs are loading up. Getting Fukudome was a good move for them. I think Ned realizes that he is dealing from a position of strength this year and is making better decisions. If he gets Kuroda and just stands pat, he will reap the rewards.
By jhall1218@yahoo.com on December 12, 2007 10:14 am	- Reply
Houstons biggest problem is starting pitching. They didn't give up alot for Tejada though. Good deal for them.
From what I gather, the Stros gave up their 2 best pitching prospects(Patton and Costanzo), Luke Scott (a servicable OF), Matt Albers (a bad ML SP) and a MiLB RP (Sarfate). Why would the Stros give up so much pitching when they only have 1 legitimate starter? Their offense was just fine withut Tejada. I'm glad I'm not a Houston fan, GMs can apparently be worse than Coletti.
I didn't realize that Patton and Costanzo were their best pitching prospects.
Scratch that, Costanzo is a 3rd baseman. But that is still a huge haul for Baltimore IMO.
Probably good for both teams.
God what are the Astros doing?!? They're not going to compete and they just shipped all their useful prospects for a declining Tejada.
Better them than us!!
I couldn't agree more jspelk, the obvious need in Houston is pitching and they just gave up 3 young arms along with a 3rd base prospect and a pretty good corner OFer. I think I read somewhere that they gave up 21 years of service (between those players) for 2.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed and praying that we get Kuroda. Basically puts us in the drivers seat on future moves.
Even if we still have Pierre, I am optimistic that Torre will make better decisions and utilize him better than Little.
Just got this off of Rotoworld:
Hiroki Kuroda reportedly informed the Hiroshima Carp on Tuesday night that he planned to sign with the Dodgers.
He's expected to leave for the U.S. as soon as Wednesday to take his physical and sign the contract, which is probably worth about $30 million for three years. At that price, he's no worse of a gamble than Carlos Silva or Kyle Lohse. Still, he's not a great bet to be more than a fourth starter and he could always turn out to be a Kaz Ishii or maybe even a Kei Igawa. Dec. 12 – 2:37 am et
Source: Kyodo News
"Frustrated in their attempts to land outfielders this offseason, the San Diego Padres are deep into discussions with the Pittsburgh Pirates about a multiplayer deal that would be centered around All-Star outfielder Jason Bay."
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3151599&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
yes at least we now there ONE GM in the game worse than ours.
Ned's stock is improving. Patience is a virtue..
Get Kuroda and let the rest of the teams come to you.
If the Kuroda rumors are true, he's just gone from Neddy to Ned. Trade Pierre and get value in return and he goes from Ned to Mr. Colletti in my book.
By enchantedsunset@msn.com on December 12, 2007 12:03 pm	- Reply
lol. Mr. Colletti.
By dodgerdude17@yahoo.com on December 12, 2007 12:04 pm	- Reply
Question….This Mitchell report due out Thursday. Will more suspensions be handed down for active players or is it more a "slap on the wrist, now run along and play" type of thing?
By dodgerbluelakers2@hotmail.com on December 12, 2007 12:09 pm	- Reply
Hey dodgerdude, liked the Christmas tree reference to Hendrickson. Could probably call him 4-alarm also 'cause it takes at least 4 firemen to come in and put out what he started.
BTW, if he trades Ethier or Kemp he's back to being Neddy.
Giants have signed Rowand
By appledrums@gmail.com on December 12, 2007 12:55 pm	- Reply
http://www.critcononline.com/images/weekend%20at%20bernie's.jpg
He will always be Bernie to me. See above.
lol jungar, how do we know he's not Mr. Lomax. Maybe that voodoo spell keeps him going…I think I heard Reggae music in the background when we had Pierre's press conference last year.
By charris1010321@yahoo.com on December 12, 2007 1:21 pm	- Reply
With the Giants signing Rowand (lol), all the more reason for me to repost this:
Now that CF, 3B, and 4th SP are consensus on this board, we can return to the backup C question. Someone asked about best hitting C vs. best defensive C of all time. Neither ESPN nor MLB allows sorting historic data by position. So, I sorted the hhistoric AB and HR figures and picked C's from memory. The other limitation is that only 5 can be checked at once. So, I know that Roy Campanella was a great C and a Dodger, but he didn't make the list. Neither did Mickey Cochrane. Both are in the HOF, so this list is pretty strict:
Player G GS INN TC PO A E DP PB SB CS RF FPCT
1. C Fisk 2298 — — 12852 11612 1075 165 167 — — — — .987
2. G Carter 2272 — — 13865 12490 1247 128 191 — — — — .991
3. J Bench 2193 — — 11811 10469 1191 151 238 — — — — .987
4. Y Berra 1962 — — 10165 9221 819 125 183 — — — — .988
5. M Piazza* 1699 — — 12249 11351 766 132 133 — — — — .989
Note that these stats lump all positions that a player has played into one line. This is a good indicator for these guys, who played an overwhelming amount of time at C, except Bench. When youu click on Gary Carter, there is strong evidence that he was the best defensive C ever.
For hitting:
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG
1. C Fisk 2499 8756 1276 2356 421 47 376 1330 3999 849 1386 128 58 .341 .457 .269
2. G Carter 2296 7971 1025 2092 371 31 324 1225 3497 848 997 39 42 .335 .439 .262
3. J Bench 2158 7658 1091 2048 381 24 389 1376 3644 891 1278 68 43 .342 .476 .267
4. Y Berra 2120 7555 1175 2150 321 49 358 1430 3643 704 414 30 26 .349 .482 .285
5. M Piazza* 1912 6911 1048 2127 344 8 427 1335 3768 759 1113 17 20 .377 .545 .308
So, unless I missed someone, Piazza is definitely the best hitting C of all time. Of the seven named, he is the only one not in the the HOF. The Dodgers played Gary Carter in one of his final years. They have a history of getting the PR value out of future HOF players: top of mind, Frank Robinson, Eddie Murray, Maddux and others. I'd say that Mike Piazza may be doing some encore laps around Dodger Stadium.
I'm sure that you all know that only 2 hitters have ever hit the ball over the OF pavillion roof at Dodger Stadium. Name the two palyers and number of times and you get a gold star.
Dave Kingman
By jaxkat@yahoo.com on December 12, 2007 1:39 pm	- Reply
Piazza and stargell.
Ted Simons was a pretty good hitter in his day too.
Wow, Rowand is not going to hit any home runs next year at Giants Stadium…. Good for him getting a five year deal, but cant say this was the wisest move by the Giants…
Hope all this Kuroda gossip proves to be fact…
By ewk216@nyu.edu on December 12, 2007 1:41 pm	- Reply
Stargell hit it out twice. I think Piazza's went through under the roof and over the fans, right?
By drinkinmercury79@aol.com on December 12, 2007 1:44 pm	- Reply
Willie Stargell (2) and Mike Piazza (1)?
Seeing Piazza hit in his prime was something to see. That 97 season was amazing.
Enchanted gets a gold star.
I was a 9-year old at a birthday party in 1968, when Willie Stargell was at bat. The next thing I knew, there was a crack. Everyone started shouting and the ball was bouncing in the parking lot. I think about 25,000 people were there that day. A couple of years later, he did it again.
Of course, Piazza did it once as a Dodger. For that memory alone, I would be in favor of trying to sign him for a one-year contract. There are about 426 other reasons to sign him.
Jungar gets a gold star, too, for naming the number of times each.
I saw Stargell's second one. I was sitting in the Reserved deck with my Mom staring straight down the right field foul line. The details are getting fuzzy, but I think Andy Messersmith was the pitcher and I think it was Willie Crawford in right field who never moved his feet to watch that ball sail out of the park.
By ericmonson@verizon.net on December 12, 2007 1:55 pm	- Reply
drinkinmercury gets a silver star for knowing the actors, but being fuzzy on the facts.
Messersmith was indeed the pitcher…I was there, too…
I have to admit, I forgot Willie did it twice.
I have to give the Giants signing of Rowand a big (sarcastic) wow. I agree with charris' accessment though that JPs value goes up with him out of the picture, so my hat's off to SF helping the Ds.
I remember Willie's 2nd one bouncing off the corrigated roof on the bleachers and into the parking lot. He was impressive.
Didn't Willie have that windmill thing he did with the bat before each pitch?
Oh yeah, a very unique batting style. It was part of his timing mechanism, I guess.
Towards the end of his career, he ducked under a pitch only to have it hit his bat for a foul ball. He cocked his head while looking at the umpire, as if to ask, "You're not really going to call that a strike, are you?"
To his dying day, my Dad thought that video was one of the funniest things he'd ever seen.
Giants and Dodgers are going to be sporting some real fearful left fielders in Roberts and Pierre…
I'm still waiting for La Russa to pinch hit Pujols for Rowand.
Has anyone ever seen more opposite field power from a righty than Piazza in his prime? Seriously?
No, jungar, you're right, he was awesome. And I'm still intrigued by the idea some of you had yesterday of Piazza as a back-up. But I don't think Piazza is resigned to being that limited a player yet, unless Torre has a bit more brains than his predecessor and rests Martin more often–hopefully not on the same day he rests Loney, Kent, Jones and Kemp…which his predecessor seemed to do more often than not.
Absolutely, he pinwheeled the bat while the pitcher wound up. He was the nicest man, but to pitchers he seemed very menacing.
When the Pirates won everything in 1979, he was the MVP, despite only 424 AB. He had 32 HRs, 82 RBIs and kept the club together. He convinced the young guys to adopt "We Are Family" as the theme song. That was a case of MVP being more than statistics. He probably deserved the MVP other times, but he was the best player on teams that were overshadowed by the Reds and Dodgers, except in '71 and '79, when they won World Series.
Piazza was one of the few guys that you could not miss when he got to the plate. I don't think I ever saw the ball jump off anyone's bat the way it jumped off his.
It was a crime for him to leave us.
Thanks for the new post Josh, my index finger was getting tired out, rolling my mouse. It's good to get the Jones signing finally out of the way. The best news for me was that Kent has officially decided to come back. I also hope Tony Abreu gets his feet wetter with more playing time, so he can work on his major league talent. I only hope we don't lose Kemp or Ethier in any trades, and Torre can find lots of playing time for both. Jones should be enough added power and we should get a good look at Nomar & LaRoche at 3B. I'm not in favor of any pitching moves, but whose to say? Let's hope we don't have any changes from here on to Spring Training. But we never know.
By pierreseastmeetswest@yahoo.com on December 12, 2007 2:56 pm	- Reply
While I was researching the Pirates, the track moved. I was talking about Willie Stargell, of course.
Great stuff about Piazza.
Funny about Rowand and Gs.
Note to Colletti: Don't let the Mariners out bid you for Kuroda and don't be afraid to add another year if you have to. I know I stated above that I'm not in favor of any pitching moves, but if we can get a good one with out trading our guys, that's O.K. with me. If you don't read blogs, then you're a better man than I.
As far as hitting to the opposite field, the only Dodger close since I have been watching was Garvey. He didn't hit as many homers, but he screamed line drives all around the field. In the '74 WS, he hit a homer to right that got the 2B to jump thinking he could catch the ball. Just smoked it.
Both Garvey & Cey were line drive hitters, good old Punch & Judy, they also had power, love them both.