Bobblehead
Typically a doll that ranks among sports' most popular promo giveaways, but during last night's 2-0 win over the Giants, "bobblehead" could be a nickname for San Fran left fielder Fred Lewis. And not one he'd take with an easy chuckle. On some level, an sixth inning error by Lewis was entirely meaningless, since the Giants found themselves handcuffed throughout the contest by the Blue's pitching, whether you're talking Jason Johnson- getting both his first big league start and win in two years- or the relief tandem of Chan Ho Park and Jonathon Broxton. When you're reduced to zero runs on the night and are already down by a score, whatever comes from an error doesn't really matter. But Lewis' mishap nonetheless ended up the talk of the Ravine.
James Loney had just reached first after knocking Matt Kemp across the plate, then watched Casey Blake stroke a double to left field. Before fielding down the ball, Lewis briefly bobbled it onto the top of the stands, then snatched it up for a relay to Omar Vizquel, who turned around and nailed a charging Loney at the plate with plenty of time to spare Unfortunately for the visitors, it wasn't that simple. The umpires ruled the ball entered the stands courtesy of Lewis' error, which meant Loney (who was on third at the time) and Blake each get a free base for their troubles. Among the stranger sequences you'll ever see shape a box score, and one that helped ice a Dodger quest to hit .500 again, one game behind the NL West-leading Diamondbacks.
The news on Nomar Garciaparra's knee is good... according to Nomar Garciaparra. Still, that doesn't mean the Dodgers are averse to hedging their bets by bringing in a middle infielder. As for a larger swap, the biggest likely to happen before the deadline already went down in Anaheim. Mark Teixeira is now the Halos' first baseman, which some could see as a missed opportunity for the Dodgers. Blue Notes' official stance (from half of its editorial crew, at any rate) is that jumping all over a similar deal would have been a mistake. But no matter how you feel, even if the Dodgers were interested, that doesn't mean Mark Teixeira would be a Dodger right now. Lest we forget, MLB wheeling and dealing, like pimping, ain't easy.
With last night's stolen bag, Juan Pierre reached 100 steals with his third team. Only three other fleet footed ones belong to this particular club.
Rest and (hopeful) relaxation is in the works for Hiroki Kuroda. The same prescription (of a different variety) was given to Takashi Saito.
One game over .500? Is it possible? We'll see, as Chad Billingsley looks to beat Jonathon Sanchez with the series on the line. A dialed in Matt Kemp will also try to swell a hit streak to 17 games.
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I want to congratulate the young, long-haired fan in left field for consciously backing away from the ball that Lewis bobbled. He's a true fan. You could tell he knows the game and had his head in it. I live in San Francisco (proudly carrying the blue banner), and just about every single time a ball careens down the line, an idiot (giant) fan will interfere. I have long believed that giant fans are baseball's most clueless, ignorant and classless (they worship barroid, after all) ... just about every single one of them is Steve Bartman. I was watching the game on the local channel last night and the giants announcers didn't even acknowledge the heads-up play by that fan. Good going, young chap.
Posted by: Rufus Leaking | July 30, 2008 at 09:41 AM
Good call, Rufus. That was excellent fansmanship indeed.
Posted by: VA Blueblood | July 30, 2008 at 11:49 AM