Late Live Blog -- Snakes vs. Dodgers

Hey AK,

Last one this season, eh?

I really appreciate all that you and BK have done this season.

Kuo is giving up a lot of deep flyball outs. Not a good sign on a warm afternoon...

THX AK- YOU'RE THE BEST.

AK/BK
thanks for all the great puns and dodger coverage. hopefully you guys retain your rabbits foot status and the dodgers win today

It doesn't even look like the stadium is completely full. I hope the intensity level is higher today than yesterday !

not good betamit, gotta get those balls

AK- YOU JUST HAD TO COMPLIMENT WILSON'S FIELDING????

Stargazin, BMurph, Makoto (AND EVERYONE),

Thank you guys for your loyal readership as well. It's been huge and BK and I can't say enough in giving props.

AK

AK -COULD YOU DO US A FAVOR AND COMPLIMENT THE
ARIZONA PICHER???

lucky break snyder didn't go home. c'mon kuo lets get this guy

Eric,

The place is definitely not full by any stretch. But those here seemed to arrive earlier than normal. Like I said, it was a real bitch just finding a parking spot (and I park in a reserved area!)

AK

AK/BK
Don't worry, I'll be transitioning full time to the Lakers blog pretty soon.

Stargazin'

I already called myself out, thank you very much. But yes, that Livan Hernandez is the indeed the stuff Cooperstown is made of. Especially today. haha

AK

Way to go Kuo!

GOTTA GIVE KUDOS TO KUO (HAHA).
HE'S GOT SOME CHARACTER AND SOME GOOD STUFF.
THE EXPERENCE THAT BILLZ AND KUO HAVE GOTTEN THIS YEAR WILL SERVE US WELL NEXT YEAR.

The thing about Betemit is that he is a little too cocky with the glove. I think there was a report earlier in the season that said Betemit thinks he is better defensively than he really is. I think that he IS as good as he thinks he is, but he lacks concentration and good judgement.

AK/BK,
Props to both of you and thanks for the great blogging.
It's do or die today folks!

You've gotta love a guy that can K a major league batter with a 60mph changeup.

I LOVE RUSS. BUT HE'S DUE FOR A REST. WE REALLY DON'T LOSE ANYTHING WITH HALL IN THERE.

Merlin just put his balls in stephen drew's face, literally

Stargazin,

I just finished typing on the blog that I was more than a little surprised to see Hall not starting today. I know Martin gets a day off on Monday either way, but after the obvious fatigue last night (and so little rest), I would have preferred to give Hall the nod. The guy's a legit catcher. It's not like he'd kill you in there.

AK

Got to step out for awhile, hope to catch you all at the end of the game. If not, Come On Dodgers, and its been a pleasure.

cmon kuo: "I ONLY GOT ONE THING TO SAY TO YOU, STRIKE THIS [GUY] OUT!"

BMurph,

I like the "Major League" reference. As I'm sure you've all figured out by now, I'm a sucker for Pop Culture.

AK

THAT KID'S GOIN BE SOME PITCHER. ANOTHER NICE K WITH MEN IN RISP.

TYPICAL WHEN WE GET A GOOD PITCHING PERFORMANCE, OUR
HITTERS ARE SITTIN ON THEIR HANSDS.

It is the last game of the year, a must-win game, and the fans seem DEAD. Wake Up !!! Beat the Snakes !! (PLEASEE!!!)

gotta love major league. uecker has some great lines. i was talking to a milwaukee fan and he said other than the constant drinking, it sounds like uecker is announcing a normal game.

see that foul ball by Kent? Thats how its been with our team the last couple weeks its so frustrating. Opposing teams gets timely hits and we dont.
With the Madres, they will fall behind and its just a matter of time they will catch up and score enough runs to win.
The Phils, its like they dont care if theyre behind 4-5 runs. They will catch up and score double the deficit.

major league is for baseball what caddyshack is for golf, what hoosiers and he got game (i also loved pistol pete) is for basketball, slapshot is for hockey. its just one of those movies that creates a great connection with those from that sport.

whatever happened to the NL batting leader, he's being shutdown by SD pitching.

WHAT EVER DID HAPPEN TO THE NL BATTING LEADER,NOMAR,(FIRST HALF OF SEASON) HE'S BEING SHUT DOWN BY EVERYBODY.

Thats funny, I was just thinking about the movie Major League because of the Phil's season. They just about quit in July and now they cant lose a game.

I LOVE IT .THE KID CAN HIT,TOO.

my friends and i were just talking about how kuo takes good cuts at the plate and then he almost takes livan yard

Kuo just doubled ?!? They better score him now.

KUO PUTS OUR "HITTERS" TO SHAME.

Hong-CHi-KUO...Hong-Chi-Kuo, fits with the JD drew chant (formerly the HEe-Sop-Choi chant)

THIS TEAM IS SO FRUSTRATING RIGHT NOW.

You've gotta love a guy that can K a major league batter with a 60mph changeup.

you gotta be kidding me!? bases loaded 1 out and no runs scored...at least we got one

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Philly game is still delayed or called? Florida can comeback if they continue after the rain. Its always crazy after rain delay. Plus it s only the 7th inning and a wild game.

Why wouldn't Drew take that 3-1 pitch? A ball hit in the same location with runners in motion could have gotten through the infield.

MTI- YOU REALLY ARE AN OPTIMIST, AREN'T YOU ////

ANYBODY REMEMBER "HAPPY" HAIRSTON???

JUST GOOGLED HAPPY HAIRSTON- THE OUTCOME WAS NOT SATISFACTORY.

Kuo is pitching great. Pressure time now though. San Diego is winning again and Philadelphia leads 10-5 in the bottom of the 8th.

"you gotta be kidding me!? bases loaded 1 out and no runs scored...at least we got one"

You heard in San Diego, the pads have the bases loaded and did not score? Thats no problem to them. It's amazing how we get frustrated and they dont.

Frankly, MTI's optimism is a welcome bit of change after all this worry. lets go fish/pirates/DODGERS

hi guys. just in from a bike ride with the boys.
looks like we're up to our same ol tricks.
SD, too.

attention lefthand batters for the Dodgers!!!
Livan's been throwing that same pitch for strikes on the outside corner. The same spot and the same speed. Why arent they looking for that pitch???

STARGAZIN,
just to let you know i played golf with happy hairston when i was younger. he couldn't have been nicer. its really a shame he passed away.

agreed with everyone on russ martin.
last night i was thinking that toby would play today.
yet another reason why grady should go.
this is a no brainer.

welcome Orel

Are you sure the San Diego games is not a replay of last night's game.

AK,

The Cards will not tank against the Pads are they?
Its a statement game if they play each other in the playoffs or they end up playing the Dodgers, which they prefer, right?

MTI i have to be guessing that the padres fans were cursing at the screen when they didn't get any runs with bases loaded, but yeah we need to be more patient.

Phillies just won 10-7.

Go Dodgers !

KUO HAS 64 K'S IN 53 INNINGS.

it seems vin says lots of things we say... maybe he's reading? bloging? HA.

The Cardinals haven't been playing well at all lately. I hope their play improves when they play the Pads. The Phillies have a makeup game against the Astros tomorrow in Houston. That could be tough, I guess.

Go Dodgers, Go Cardinals, Go Astros...

i would let kuo hit ... but then again i'm not grady.

i take that back. kuo should go, after hearing his p. count.
brox has had a good rest, no?

Kuo pitched great today... Give him a raise !!!

The game of the year is always kinda sad for me. I can't believe it has been 81 games at home :-(

This isn't the last game of the year though, right ? :-)

I can't believe the last game of the year was not a sell-out though. As the camera panned across the upper reserved level there were plenty of empty seats though.

Who cares I guess though as long as the Dodgers can somehow eke out this win.

Stargazin,

Im just not convinced that Philadelphia is that good of a team that they are not losing anymore games. Ive watched so many baseball games to know about rain delays, but their lead was too much, the Marlins scored a couple of runs though. Right now I feel that our team is playing with bad luck and the opposite for SD and PHILA. I am hoping it will even out soon. We had one good luck in one week, and about 3 unlucky games. Unlucky, as in DP balls popping out of Betemit's gloves, instead its no out and they score later.

the ump wanted to call that one a strike to Kenny, the one that almost hit him in the head

BROX AND SAMMY SHOULD BE READY.WISH OUR HITTERS WERE READY.

BM- I HAD FORGOTTEN HE PASSED AWAY.

As Lugo makes his customary out, I was just wondering how many games the Devil Rays have cost us?

gonna have to agree with eric, can't believe its already the end of the season. im going to miss the dodgers, good thing ucla and the lakers are coming into season

THERE'S NO TEAM HITTING BETTER THAN THE PHILLIES AND NO TEAM PICHING BETTER THAN THE PADRES. THE CONSISTENCY OF THE SAN DIEGO PITCHING OUT SIDE OF THE MIRACLE GAME HAS BEEN OUTSTANDING.

MTI- WE ALL KNOW WHEN TEAMS ARE GOING GOOD ,THEY SEEM TO HAVE ALL THE LUCK. AND WHEN THEY'RE STRUGGLING ALL THE LUCK SEEMS BAD.
( PERSONALLY I THINK ITS THE BASEBALL GODS).

BM- I GUESS THERE WAS A REASON THEY CALLED HIM "HAPPY".

it was funny, when i met him on the first tee he came over and said "hello, i'm happy." i didn't know him, i was only thirteen, so i was like "uh...great... i guess i'm in a good mood too, my name's breene."

DODGER HITTERS
HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

THE SEASON'S ON THE LINE.

BM- GOOD MEMORY. I HOPE WE END UP HAVING GOOD MEMORIES OF THIS GAME.

Stargazin,
The Phils are hitting really good right now. But I think its a fluke. Like you said "baseball Gods" have a lot to do with it.

to the baseball Gods. I heard someone broke your commandment number 4.23 section 5 "There's no crying in baseball". San Diego's Hoffman is guilty therefore I demand a penalty or I'll convert to Zen in November!!!

Throughout the whole season, we waited for Nomar, Kent, and Drew to put it all together. First, Nomar tore it up while Kent and Drew struggled. Kent turned it on with Drew hitting a little bit better and NOmar struggling. And now Drew is tearing it up and Nomar and Kent are struggling again.

Madres will have to face Carpenter in St. Louis. Houston will be rolling out Andy Pettite against the Cheese-steaks. Don't go pushing that panic button, yet, folks. . .

Vin,

Jose Vizcaino is now a pitcher? lol

MTI,
It isn't a fluke that the Phillies are hitting well, they have been hitting well they entire year. But the difference the last 3 weeks has been their pitching. Their rookie pitcher Hamels has been lights out. Myer and Moyer have KEPT them in games. Lowe has been lights out. Maddux has kept us in games. Penny has blown us out of games. There is the difference in addition to the fact that they have Utley and Howard in the middle of the order. And like today, they are a team that capitalizs on mistakes by the other teams. An error lead to 7 runs scored for them.

Thank you DBB. I think the Dodgers need to loosen up. They should play like their opponents.

Dodger blue balls,
We have to face Colorado, possibly Jennings, Francis, both of who have ERA's under 4 (better than Andy Pettite), and Dodger killer Kim. In San Fran, we could possibly match up with ace Schidmt, Lowry, and the rookie Cain. And we have to face a resurgent Barry Bonds. Padres are facing the Cardinals and they are facing Carpenter, but it would be better if Carpenter could pitch all three games 'cuz the rest of that Cardinals rotation is crap.

101 STRIKEOUTS. Ned needs to sign him to at least a 1 year contract next year, maybe even two. He has to give Gagne another chance for a minimum salary.

tom
im hoping the myers/hamels thing will be what we have next year with maddux/billingsley

Anderson work your magic!!!

i agree with tom, gotta give gagne a contract next year, even if its completely incentive laden and not much gauranteed

I'm here!!!

Finally here, after a trip to urgent care and meds for my sinus/ear infection. As much as I wanted to stay away from the game today, I just can't. Not the last one of the year. Thanks AK/BK again for doing this! It's been really nice to have a place to ramble about the boys in blue!

Come on Furcal...they will walk him

C'mon Raffy!!!!

What the hell is Little doing? Slutz in the bullpen in this big of game. Saito for two innings....Biemel?? Hello!! WTH is Little doing. If we lose this game cuz of Slutz pitching, fire Little's dumbass.

I'm taking a PR hit. I can't believe you guys did two live blogs this weekend. Blog traffic was dead on Saturday so I didn't think there would be a live blog. My bad. HAHA!

Come on Lofton

NOMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

C'mon Nomar! Make him throw strikes!!

GRAND SLAM!!!! NOMARRRRRRRR

WALK OFF GRAND SLAM!!!!

NOMAH!!! He's still got it!!

In the Lakersblog there was a discussion about clutch...and lemme just say this. Nomah! may be struggling but if he is one thing that's clutch!

GO Nomah! WHoooooohooooo! GO dodgers!

WE STILL HAVE MAGIC.
THE BASEBALL GODS ARE SMILING.
THE MOJO A RISING.
WE GOT MO.

HOLY CRAP, THIS IS STEVE FINLEY V. GIANTS CRAZY. NOMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

WOW!

GO DODGERS!

NOMAR!

mike

NNNNNOOOOOOOMMMMMMAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

WWWOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

I WAS CHANTING "JUST LIKE HOUSTON"

THAT WAS RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AK/BK,
youve regained your rabbit's foot status, live-blog rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE LEPHECHAUNS ARE DANCING THE JIG.

ALL THE ANGELS ARE DANCING ON THE HEAD OF THAT NEEDLE.

Will that be the conclusion to Nomaaar's time in blue? Would love to see him work some of this magic in post-season. But, if it's not meant to be....what a way to go out!

MTI's appeal to the baseball gods worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL0- YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ASSUME.
YOU MAY HAVE TO HIRE A NEW PR GUY.

WHEN YOU GET THE PITCHING, ALL IT TAKES IS ONE CLUTCH HIT.

AHHHHHHHHHH- I LOVE THE AFTER GLOW.

Miracles of miracles. First Nomar does it in the 9th inning. Then, can you believe this, the Rams playing againt the Cardinals led with about 3:30 left and Marc Bulger fumbles. The Cardinals recover and are in position to win. With less than 2 minutes left and Arizona on the Rams 18 yard line Kurt Warner fumbles and the Rams recover and basically run the clock out. Crazy!

mike

ANOTHER MAGICAL GAME- MAYBE WE'RE NOT SNAKE BIT AFTER ALL. ALL WE NEED NOW IS SOME CO-OP FROM MADRES AND PHILS.

AK - THAT LIVE BLOG WAS MAGICALLY DELICIOUS.

GOTTA SAY- BEST CLUTCH .215 HITTER IN BASEBALL.

Lolo,

you finally showed up in a live blog, and BOOM! A Grand Salami !!!! You cost us one game last night tho.

HOW DID I MISS THAT - FURCAL WAS ON ALL 5 ABS. 2 HITS AND 3 WALKS. GUY'S AMAZING.

Wow, another walkoff win for the Dodgers. If nothing else, this team does have a knack for the dramatic.

Maybe THIS time the momentum can shift and the team can play some competitive ball to finish off the season.

DOES THIS MEAN WE WILL HAVE LIVE BLOGS ON THE ROAD TRIP?????????????

Why I am no longer a dodger fan:

Before every game I see Tommy Lasorda on dodger vision stating that the dodger fans are the greatest fans in all of baseball. I believe he also states that the dodger organization is one of the greatest. Neither is true.

I went to the game today, however I wasn't able to see much of it. I purchased seats I normally do not sit in. During the game, members of my party were hit in the head with a beach ball a grand total of 5 times. I can see the beach ball if it's a meaningless game - this is when we're 1/2 a game out with less then 10 to play people - WATCH THE GAME YOU MORONS.

Anyway, the next time the ball hit one of us in the head, I popped a hole in it. The whole section then proceeded to boo and rain ice and nachos on us. These aren't baseball fans.

Security comes and ejects the nacho thrower and moves me to WORSE seats (I had purchased 4 seats and they moved me to 3 worse seats). Additionally, I was chest bumped by a dodger stadium security officer when I asked what the hell was taking them so long.

I decided to go and spend the rest of the game waiting for a worthless member of guest relations, Megan, who informed me they could give me seats for next year but were unable to refund my money for a ruined game. I recieved no satisfaction from "guest relations".

As far as I'm concered, I am no longer a dodger fan. They can keep their trash "fans" who care more about a beach ball then the damn game. I threw my fitted dodger hat in the trash can on the way out. The dodgers no longer exist to me.

Just thought I'd share.

ADAM - THX FOR SHARING. ANOTHER SATISFIED DODGER FAN, I BELIEVE.

LOLO- THX FOR SHOWING UP TODAY!!!!!!

MTI,

Yeah, I screwed up. I didn't there would be a live blog, but no excuses, I should have checked before I left. But you're right; as soon as I showed up Marlon gets a hit and then Nomar comes through.

adam,

sorry to hear you had a bad go of it today. i had a similar situation. in between innings i went to go get a brewdog and some gordon biersch fries. upon re-entry to the seats a beach ball hit me and knocked all the fries out of my hand (not a drop of beer though) and i was promptly booed right afterwards. these are not dodger fans (its the same way in chicago if it makes you feel any better, they just go to get drunk and lose). however, the security people gave me a new thing of fries. i hope that my incident is more frequent than yours. stay dodger blue.

bmurph

adam if it makes you feel any better i filed a complaint at dodgers.com

Whew, still alive.
Welcome back LoLo.

Well, I personally hate those beach balls. I've learned that there's no sense just getting seats to the game - the best ones aren't even tremendously expensive, it's just you need to be in a section that is mostly season ticket holders. They are the ones there for the game, not the party. I hate the partiers - I know, I know, people call me old fart when I hold their beach balls until security can get there, but I don't care. If I want to play with a beach ball, I will go to the beach. FWIW, I am not a terribly big fan of the wave either. Fine when there's a blowout, but twice now I've seen it be a really tense time - our pitcher has worked himself into a jam, maybe 2 on, 2 out and we're tied or only ahead by 1 or 2, and they'll start the wave. I find this so offensive to the players on the field. I know they probably don't even notice, but to me, it matters. Yes, fan behavior cheeses me, and it happens at least once a game, but it won't make me stop being a Dodger fan. I just have to be very selective about my seats. GO BLUE!

I agree with Jen and the majority about the wave and beachball. We are living in the Grand Theft Auto/IPOD/High Def world. So we have to live with people with short attention span and A.D.D. Like bmurph mention its worse in Chicago. Wrigley is called the biggest sports bar.

Jen,

The wave is meant to be done when the home team is batting - the idiot "fans" who love the beach balls do it when the dodgers are pitching because they're morons with little or no attention span who think the game is only one whne the dodgers are batting.

Also, I typically sit in a lodge section where my friend has season seats..but they used theirs today (bastards) so I bought a set of 4 from some ticket site.

I should add, I'm more upset at the lack of action from guest relations and the actions of security. I was escorted out of the seats I had purchased like I was the one in the wrong.

Last I checked, it explicitly states "No beach balls" - if they were serious, they'd eject EVERYONE who brings or hits one. The morons would learn really quickly. Furthermore, maybe they should have Tommy's fat behind say something about that before a game (and Jamie Jarrin too), maybe people would grow a brain. They could also include information on when a "wave" is appropriate.