Standings as of 6/29/08

National League
East	W	L	Pct	GB
Philadelphia Phillies	44	39	.530	--
Florida Marlins	42	39	.519	1.0
New York Mets	40	41	.494	3.0
Atlanta Braves	40	43	.482	4.0
Washington Nationals	33	50	.398	11.0
Central	W	L	Pct	GB
Chicago Cubs	49	33	.598	--
St. Louis Cardinals	47	36	.566	2.5
Milwaukee Brewers	44	37	.543	4.5
Houston Astros	39	43	.476	10.0
Pittsburgh Pirates	38	43	.469	10.5
Cincinnati Reds	38	45	.458	11.5
West	W	L	Pct	GB
Arizona Diamondbacks	41	41	.500	--
Los Angeles Dodgers	38	43	.469	2.5
San Francisco Giants	36	46	.439	5.0
Colorado Rockies	32	50	.390	9.0
San Diego Padres	32	51	.386	9.5

Interesting. Only one change in the NL this week. It's the Astros taking the fourth place slot in the NL Central away from the Pirates. And after getting swept by the Mariners, the Padres manage to stay three percentage points above them. And the Rays are now the best team in baseball with a .605 average. The Cubs are tied with the Angels for the third best. I'm keeping this short in lieu of what's going on in my house.

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Today was a fairly decent day at work. After work, I went out with Sarah and Rachel for dinner. We went to Mimi's Cafe, hadn't gone there in awhile. Then I went to Nina's to feed the dog. I get home, and my mom tells me to call Tina (in case you're wondering ... she's a relative who I share the same parents with, but I will not call her the title for someone who is related to you and you have the same parents). I call her. She tells me that she's moving back in on Tuesday and needs either my room or the room my brother is in. What the heck? How does she expect us to empty out one of our rooms for her in less than two days? In fact, I only have ONE day to do all this. And why? Because I have no backbone. Neither do my parents. Because they are letting her move back in. And letting her take over. Because that's what she does. She takes over. She steamrolls anyone who gets in her way.

Not only does she expect me to give up my room ... but she also expects me to help her set up her things, like her cable and computer. Are you serious?

What's the plan?

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to get up, drive some stuff over to the Public Storage in our neighborhood. I already have a unit reserved. I'm going to rent that unit and start packing my stuff in it. I'm going to leave the necessary things in the house. I am so angry.

I don't even want to think about what living with her is going to be like. It was HELL the first 20-something years. What do you think the next YEAR is going to be like? I don't want to even think about what the next WEEK is going to be like. Makes me want to take my baseball bat and smash some things in .... like my skull. That would be difficult to do, wouldn't it? SIGH. I'm contemplating going to sleep so I can get up early tomorrow. Or start packing things up NOW.

In case you missed it ...

Geoff Blum talks on the Scott and BR show about what went down between Astros' pitcher Shawn Chacon and general manager Ed Wade. Also appearing on the Scott and BR show earlier this week was umpire Jim Wolf, the older brother of Padres (former Phillies' and Dodgers') pitcher Randy Wolf.

Believe it or not ... someone picked up pitcher Brett Tomko (aka Bombko). Who would be fool enough to pick him up? The same team who picked him up towards the end of last year. The Padres. Guess third time's the charm. Different situation coming in this time. Last time, when they signed him, they were in a tight race for the pennant. I think he was a big part of the reason why the Padres didn't make it to the play-offs. This time, he comes in ... and the Padres are already in the basement. Guess they figured it couldn't get any worse, right? Hmmm maybe they'll pick up Loaiza next. Isn't there a saying that goes... "fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me." What happens the third time?

And one more time... the Dodgers beat the Angels without getting a single hit.

More on the Chacon incident.
Chacon-Wade incident a rarity in player-manager confrontations
Astros pitcher Chacon attacks GM

It's almost been a year since the death of Mike Coolbaugh, the first base coach for the Tulsa Drillers, the AA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. I'll try to put up a page for him when the day comes. But as the days tick by, please remember his family as this will be a difficult day for them. His two young sons ... his wife ... his baby girl who will never know her father ... And again ... pleae remember the Montoyo family as well. Pray that baby Alex is doing well and that his family may one day put this all behind them.

Dodgers WIN while being HITLESS

		LA Angels			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	2
		LA Dodgers			0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	1	0	2

WP: C. Billingsley (7-7) S: T. Saito (12) LP: J. Weaver (7-8)

Ok, so I can't get the Box Score to past correctly ...

If there was ONE game I got to be behind home plate for, this would've been it. The Dodgers manage to WIN a game against the ANGELS without even getting a hit. The Angels kept the Dodgers to ZERO hits, but still LOSE the game. Why? Two errors, a stolen base, and a sacrifice fly. That's how.

I really really really hope that they offer this game on ITunes' MLB.com games of the year!!!

My first complete game SHUT OUT

That's right. Shut out. As in ZEROs all across the board. The Dodgers BEAT the White Sox today, FIVE to ZERO, with ERIC STULTS pitching NINE shut out innings. When the top of the ninth came, I was very EXCITED to see Eric Stults come out and finish the game. I'm going to make this real quick. This time, I went to the game with Nina, Kevin, Sherisse, Roxie, Jon, and their girls Julia and Natalie. Man, you thought the White Sox were going to get ahead in the very first inning when they had Pierzynski on third base, Dye on first ... but thankfully Swisher flew out to end the inning. Then the Dodgers struck in their half of the first inning. Pierre singled, stole second, and advanced to third on the error by Pierzynski. Then Ethier singled him in. Ethier himself got to third when Kent reached safely on the error by Dye. Martin brought home Ethier and advanced Kent to third. Unfortunately, Kent would be thrown out at home in the following play.

Kevin noticed an interesting thing. When the third out was a fly ball to one of the other outfielders, Andre would start running in before the ball was fully caught. I joked that it was probably because he had the longest distance to go. There were a few balls hit hard by the Dodgers that you thought might've had a chance to go out. During the game, Sherisse was trying to explain a few basics to little Natalie. So she wouldn't get confused by the White Sox wearing gray, she broke it down to the team wearing white and the team wearing gray. The cute part comes when Natalie starts calling the White Sox the "Stinky feet" or "stinky socks" (no offense to any White Sox fans out there). And then Sherisse would ask her who was on the field and stuff. Natalie would say "White team!" and then later "Dodgers! WHOO!!" Super cute. Jon got up to use the facilities and he stopped to get Natalie a pink Dodger hat. Julia, who already got a camo Dodger hat the last time we took them to a game, saw Jon coming down and got real excited. She told Natalie, "Look! Daddy bought us Dodger hats!" Turns out, it was just for Natalie. Who actually asked her mom earlier in the game if she could get on.

One more thing. SoSG's very own Steve Sax was the guest in Autograph Alley today. The one game where I didn't leave early for batting practice. Normally I leave to get to the game when the gates open so I can stop by Autograph Alley and get into the field level for batting practice. But that's usually when I go with a friend or a smaller group because then it's easier to get everyone to agree to go. With a larger group, it's a little harder. Funny thing was. Both Julia and Natalie wanted to get autographs. Too bad. Steve Sax would've been a GREAT one to have. I have several of his baseball cards that I would've given Julia and Natalie to get one signed.

That's it for now. I want to get off early enough to play a little MLB the Show. I haven't played since before baseball season started. Then I played three games the last two days ... EACH. Unline the real Dodgers, my team is 21 - 1. I only lost the first game of the season. And in the last six games, I've only allowed less then two runs if any ... except for one where I gave up five. And I usually get like three home runs each game ... sometimes from the PITCHER. Then again, that's why it's a video game.

Today was the last day for in-stadium voting for the All Star Game. We punched out 140 ballots!

Standings as of 6/22/08

2008 National League - Standings
Philadelphia			42	35	.545	-
Florida			40	35	.533	1
NY Mets			37	37	.500	3.5
Atlanta			38	39	.494	4
Washington			30	47	.390	12
CENTRAL			W	L	PCT	GB
Chicago Cubs			48	28	.632	-
St. Louis			44	33	.571	4.5
Milwaukee			41	34	.547	6.5
Pittsburgh			36	40	.474	12
Houston			35	41	.461	13
Cincinnati			35	42	.455	13.5
WEST			W	L	PCT	GB
Arizona			39	37	.513	-
LA Dodgers			35	40	.467	3.5
San Francisco			32	44	.421	7
Colorado			32	44	.421	7
San Diego			32	45	.416	7.5

Yay! I finally figured out how to get rid of all that extra stuff. Onto the standings. As you can see, the only change in the east is the Mets moving up and the Braves moving down. As for the Central, no change. The Cubs are still on top of the Central and the National League. As for the West ... Looks like the Padres are back in the NL West cellar. They went from third to last in ONE week. Guess that can happen when you lose to the Yankees and the Tigers. Guess that's what happens when you only win one game out of your last six. Whereas the Dodgers won four games of their last six. It got a little scary last week when the Padres were only a game behind the Dodgers. Now we're back to being 3.5 games ahead of the third place team, while still being 3.5 games behind the first place team.

Well, the top teams in the NL and AL haven't changed. The Mariners are still the worst. Only change is that the Rockies are no longer the worst team in the NL. But it will only take a game for the Padres to climb out of the cellar, since they are only half a game behind the Giants and the Rockies.

In case you missed it ...

Prince Fielder hits an "inside-the-park" home run... because Alex Rios didn't know that the ball being stuck under the padding didn't mean it was a ground-rule double. The Mets' Ryan Church had something similar happen on June 3rd, when Giants' Fred Lewis hit a ball that got stuck above the fence.

I happen to see this video when I was looking for bloopers. Ryan Freel lost control of his bat, which went flying into the stands. Anyone who was at the Diamondbacks-Dodgers game in April where a woman was struck by the broken-end of a bat imagine something similar happening with a whole bat? Well... it didn't hit anyone ... though it almost hit the beer vendor! Okay, at the end of the video ... it looks like the small end of the bat might've hit the vendor ... like in the hip...

Don't look now ... but the Dodgers might be taking some cues from the Padres. They placed TWO of their starting pitchers on the DL this week ... albeit, only one of them was an All-Star last year. Brad Penny and Hiroki Kuroda went on the DL this week... just a day apart. Even though Kuroda was placed on the DL on the 19th, it's retroactive to the 13th (he last pitched the 12th). Penny was placed on the DL on the 18th, but it's retroactive to the 15th (he last pitched on on the 14th).

This week wasn't a good week for managers. Willie Randolph (Mets), John Gibbons (Blue Jays), and John McLaren (Mariners) were all fired this week (Tuesday -very early Tuesday morning, Friday, Thursday respectively). Three managers in four days ... they skipped Wednesday ... that would've been interesting to have a manager fired each day between Tuesday and Friday.

On the Fourth of July, the Hollywood Bowl is having a special Dodgers-themed event. You can read about it on the Dodgers website or www.HollywoodBowl.com.

Oh yeah ... remember Brett Tomko (aka Bombko)? Well ... ten days ago, he was designated for assignment. Now ... he's been placed on unconditional waivers. Is there anyone out there fool enough to pick him up?

You can add Roy Halladay onto the list of pitchers getting hit in the head with line drives, after two other pitchers who were hit earlier this year. Only Chris Young has yet to come back from the DL. Good news ... it's been a month since he got hit ... and he's now throwing off the mound. I heard him talk on XX Sports Radio about how he still couldn't smell or taste anything, or even BLOW his nose! That's some serious business there.

There's a great entry on LAist.com about the first Wrigley Field in L.A.

And please please please remember to keep the Montoyo family in your thoughts and prayers!

At last!

Randy Wolf on the Scott and BR show!

In other news ...

Willie Randolph was fired this morning. He's no longer the manager of the New York Mets. I was surprised to hear this, considering the Mets beat the Angels yesterday. Tough luck for Jerry Manuel, the interim manager, since the Mets LOST to the Angels today.

The Dodgers put Brad Penny on the 15-day DL, a move which Dodger fans probably feel probably should've happened about a MONTH ago. They also sent Kuroda back to L.A. to get his shoulder examined too. Come on guys, let's not turn into the San Diego Padres now.

And as of this post ... I need 3 more visitors to get to 1800!

Standings as of 6/15/08

2008 National League - Standings
EAST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	STRK	L10
Philadelphia	41	30	.577	-	21-13	20-17	381	291	Lost 2	6-4
Florida	37	32	.536	3	22-15	15-17	337	339	Won 1	5-5
Atlanta	34	36	.486	6.5	25-11	9-25	321	282	Lost 1	3-7
NY Mets	33	35	.485	6.5	20-14	13-21	322	316	Won 1	3-7
Washington	29	42	.408	12	14-21	15-21	266	343	Won 3	4-6
CENTRAL	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	STRK	L10
Chicago Cubs	45	25	.643	-	29-8	16-17	387	279	Won 2	7-3
St. Louis	42	29	.592	3.5	23-14	19-15	334	310	Won 2	6-4
Milwaukee	36	33	.522	8.5	20-12	16-21	308	321	Won 1	5-5
Pittsburgh	34	36	.486	11	21-15	13-21	343	366	Won 1	5-5
Houston	33	37	.471	12	17-16	16-21	311	345	Lost 5	2-8
Cincinnati	33	38	.465	12.5	21-14	12-24	314	352	Lost 2	4-6
WEST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	STRK	L10
Arizona	37	33	.529	-	22-14	15-19	330	304	Lost 2	5-5
LA Dodgers	31	38	.449	5.5	18-15	13-23	292	297	Lost 5	3-7
San Diego	31	40	.437	6.5	20-18	11-22	269	324	Lost 1	7-3
San Francisco	30	40	.429	7	13-22	17-18	281	322	Lost 3	5-5
Colorado	28	41	.406	8.5	16-16	12-25	291	355	Won 2	7-3

I'll make this quick. Only two changes in the National League. In the central, the Pirates and Astros have switched places. Whereas in the West, San Diego is slowly climbing up the ladder ... they went from last place to third in about three weeks. The Dodgers meanwhile have stayed at second place, with the game margin going back and forth. Now they are just only ONE game away from losing second place to San Diego. Well... I guess one game from being tied in second. Let's hope the Dodgers can go into Cincinatti and sweep the team that is 12.5 games back in the Central Division.

Now ... who has the best and worst records of the Majors?
American League Best: Boston witha 44 - 28 record has over taken last week's first place Angels who now has 42 - 28
National League Best: Chicago Cubs 45 - 25 = .643 (they have won five and lost one in the last week. Need I say more?)
American League Worst: Seattle Mariners 24 - 45 = .348 (they've won two and lost four in the last week)
National League Worst: Colorado Rockies 24 - 39 = .381 (well, winning four games and losing two didn't help them move up in NL, but they gained 1.5 games in their division)
I'm sure you can figure out who's the best and worst overall.

Onto the Dodgers ...
I'm only going to mention the following stats.
Home Runs: Russell Martin hit his fifth homerun on 5/15 (his last home run was on June 7), Andre his sixth on 5/14, and Andy LaRoche his first on 6/11.
Strike Outs - Matt Kemp went from having 63 strike outs last week to 68. Well, he did miss two games thanks to a suspension ... and he did strike out several times against Randy Wolf on Wednesday. Since the eighth, he has only played in four games ... in which he struck out three times on Wednesday and twice on Saturday.
Batting Averages - the first number is from June 8th, and the second number is from June 15. The number in parenthesis () are points dropped or in Loney's case, raised. For the positional players, I listed them from who has the most percentage points earned, and going down as they decreased.

(3) Loney's went from .280 to .296 (+16) going 9 for his last 19 (.474)
(9) Pierre's went from .276 to .275 (-1) going 7 for his last 27 (.259)
(2) Martin's went from .314 to .310 (-4) going 7 for his last 25 (.280)
(7) Ethier's went from .299 to .286 (-13) going 3 for his last 20 (.150)
(8) Kemp's went from .307 to .293 (-14) going 2 for his last 13 (.154)
(4) Kent's went from .257 to .239 (-18) going 3 for his last 19 (.158)
(5) DeWitt's went from .298 to .279 (-19) going 3 for his last 20 (.150)
(6) Berroa went from .200 to .167 (-33) going 4 for his last 17 (.235)

Young went from .286 to .300, having only played in 6 games, going 6 for 18 (.333)
Maza went from .238 to .239, having only played in four games, going 2 for 6
Sweeney went from .130 to .118, having only played in four games, going 0 for 5

In case you missed it ...

Please, remember Alexander Montoyo in your prayers. I came across this article, "A Father's Gift, A Father's Hope" while looking at the ESPN MLB webpage. This little picture of two little boys, a little five-year-old holding his baby brother who has a little helmet on with the name "Alex" on it, and something told me to read this article. Baby Alex was born with Ebstein's anomaly, which is a congenital heart defect where only one chamber of the heart is functioning, so blood isn't pumped in the proper quantity or direction. Baby Alex hasn't reached his first birthday yet, and when it does, it will mean so much to his family and his survival. He has already had two open-heart surgeries among many many other procedures. His father, Charlie Montoyo, is the manager of the Triple-A Durham Bulls. If you can, please check out the article. There is also a webpage for you to make a donation to help this family who needs not only our prayers, but our help as well. I think it's great how the baseball organization is rallying to help one of their own. I just wish they (and we all) can do more for them and many other families like them. Charlie is doing a great thing by helping young men achieve their dreams of making the bigs. Let's help him achieve something greater ... helping his son survive.

Nothing unusual about the Mets getting rained out, right? Except, during the rain out, SIX members of the Rangers team decided to have a little fun and go slip-sliding on the tarp. This resulted in the New York crowded to chant : Let's go Rangers. Hmmm maybe the Mets should've joined in on the fun.

Here's the game recap and video clip.

Remember good ol' Esteban Loaiza? Who was released by the Dodgers and picked up by the Royals? Well, he found himself on the DL again.

Anyone remember Russell Martin's first year in the bigs when he got slammed by Chase Utley? Or last year, the collision with Angels' Erick Aybar (I think it was him)? Since Russell Martin is my FAVORITE player, I have a tendency to sympathize for catchers more than any positional player. Like last year, when Mike Napoli got injured blocking the plate. And even more recently, Josh Bard going down when Pujols took him out after he took out Chris Young (unintentionally of course). Here's one more name to add to the list of catchers hurt this year. Yadier Molina. He was taken off the field on a backboard after a collision at the plate with Eric Bruntlett.

"Bid for an unique experience at the Hollywood Stars Game"

Remember earlier this year, with the autograph debacle? How only the people who could "afford" autographs could get them? I got this e-mail about "bid on unique Hollywood Stars game experience." I knew about the "bids" when I looked at them for the coliseum game. Did you know those little kids who take the field with the players before the game .... did you know that the minimum bid starts at $120 (for four tickets). Is this for every game? Do you have to be able to "bid" at least $120 for your kid to take the field with the Dodgers and get their autographs? They also have bids for official bat kid (400), honorary photographer (400), honorary coach (400) and to announce the celebrity line-up (also 400). See what I'm getting at? I don't know if this is JUST for the Hollywood Stars game ... but geez ... $400 bucks is a LOT to shell out. Personally, I'd love to bid for the honorary photographer ... but I don't have $400 to make the minimum bid. Good thing I already have plans for that day.

The "Bids" for the "Unique" experiences at the Hollywood Stars game
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/la/ticketing/auction.jsp

Five hour drive + Four freeways + One sun burn ... still no win+

Five hours ... that's what I'm guessing about how long I spent driving to and from San Diego for the game against the Padres. And what do I get? A shutout. My very first Dodger shutout by another team. Oh yeah ... and a little sunburn. Let me start at the beginning. I got up, showered, and headed to my car. Only problem was ... my dad was blocking the driveway. I got his spare key out of his hiding spot, but it wouldn't start the car. So I had to go back inside the house and get the other spare key to start the car and move it. Then I picked up Maria and we were on our way. The 5 south was pretty busy ... so we hopped on the 10. I had intended to take the 605 back to the 5, but that was even worse. We got on the 57 instead, which took us back to the 5 right by Angel Stadium. So .... four freeways ... 5 to 10 to 57 to the 5 again. We had to stop at a rest stop somewhere around San Clemente ... there were these cute little squirrels EVERYWHERE. And the ocean was gorgeous. When we were getting close to San Diego, I noticed the driver in the car next to ours. He was wearing what looked like military clothes (army was my guess) and driving a brown mustang. We took turns taking the lead till we got to Sea World. I thought it was funny that we drove for so long together without intentionally doing it. Funnier that there were a bunch of army guys at the game. Wonder if he was one of them. Maria said he probably got off at Sea World.

We got to downtown San Diego and I drove around looking for somewhere to park. We ended up at the corner of 11th and C. We decided to walk down the park. We got there and walked around and took pictures. We walked around to see what Petco Park had to offer. I loved the little room with the Play Stations, where you can play "MLB the Show". They had this year's game on a PS3 that we tried. They also had last year's game on PS2. There was also the Power Alley, which is pretty sweet. Too bad I didn't have the guts to try them. There was a pitching one, where you picked a batter and you threw a ball at the interactive screen. The other one was a batting, where you picked a pitcher, and you watched the pitcher on this screen. When he threw a pitch to you, a ball comes flying out of the screen and you try to hit it. Maria got a soda and two hot dogs, one for her and one for me. It was two-for-one day. I got a soda and a hamburger.

We went to our seats, which were in the shade when we got there. It was rather cool and windy in the shade. I was wearing a tank top and a cap-sleeve t-shirt. Since it was so cool, I ended up putting my Dodger shirt (which had Wolf on the back) over my t-shirt. Maria decorated my t-shirt for me. She put an outline of a howling wolf on the front with Wolf written over it. Wolf came out eventually during the infield drills. He and Pierre hollered their hellos I guess to each other.
I bought a Wolf mask/cap/thing at Party City during the weekend. Maria decided to put it on. A guy in front and a guy behind us commented on it. She didn't even know who Wolf is. :-

D Before the game, there were a bunch of Army recruits sworn in. Then a bunch of Army guys took the flag out onto the field for the star spangled banner. An army sergeant (I think) sang the anthem, and did a beautiful job of it.

Martin was supposed to have today off. I heard that on the radio yesterday. But Kemp accepted a two-game suspension for his fight with Torrealba. Since Kemp was out of the lineup, Martin was put back in. Kent also had the day off. So, with Kemp out, Jones out, that put Pierre back in center. In the bottom of the first inning, some fan above us shouted out "Hey, right fielder, you suck!" Too bad he doesn't know who the right fielder is, or else he would've known that Andre Ethier does NOT suck. How the Dodgers played today however .... DID. Kuroda gave up a THREE-run homerun to Brian Giles, then followed it with solo homerun to Adrian Gonzalez. He didn't get out of the inning until he went through all nine batters. The trouble didn't end there. Two innings later, Kuroda got pulled after he walked in another run ... with the bases loaded. Park was put in then. Loney made an amazing, diving catch, saving a throwing error from Martin in a pickoff attempt. Young also made an incredible, diving catch towards the end of the game. Other than that ... that's about it. In the fifth inning, Berroa's bat shattered and almost hit Peavy. In the bottom of the seventh, Edgar Gonzalez got on second. Adrian was up to bat. The guy behind us yelled out "Knock your brother in." My mental response? Just don't knock your little brother out.

The Padres had the usual Smile Cam, Kiss Cam, and Bloopers. They also had a Pop-Up Video about one of the players. It was cute. Remember those pop-up videos from VH1? Where they would play a music video and little bubbles would pop up with random information? I liked that. They also had another game where a fan was given a certain prize (I forget what) and was given a choice if he wanted to upgrade. There were three hats, and one of them had a jersey in it. He chose the right hat and got the jersey. Then there was the guess the attendance. It was different than what they do at Dodger Stadium. Well, today's game it was. They had the five digits up, but the first two were blank. The fan had to guess if the first digit was higher or lower than a certain number (2) and then the second digit (8). She got them right, and won $40 Padre dollars (I think) and an autographed baseball ... I forget who it was by ... either Adrian Gonzalez or Brian Giles. They also had an activity where they slung prizes into the stands. Wasn't too crazy about that ... short range and all. In the bottom of the seventh inning, there was a little kid cracking up a few rows behind us. Super cute.

Oh yeah ... and the sunburn? Since I was wearing a t-shirt, and had put on plenty of sunblock ... my shoulders, arms, and neck were fine. It was my knees that took the brunt of the burn. Not the whole knee ... but just the inside part of both knees ... about sixth inches wide and from the bottom of my knee cap to the top... sort of ... I guess ... My right knee is more burned than my left. Interesting, huh?

On our way home, I wanted to stop by Pedro's Tacos for dinner. Nina told me about this place. There wasn't an exit for it going North, so I had to get off, turn around, and head back south to get to it. My fried chicken taco was awesome, but I didn't like my grilled chicken taco as much. Maria had the carne asada tacos. Nina wanted me to bring her back some ... so I did. I had a bite or two of hers. They were really good! Next time, I'm getting the carne asada tacos. After we ate, we went next door to CVS so I could get some stuff for my sun burn.

Maria and I declared that we wanted to go to another Padres game. But probably not against the Dodgers. As much as I love the Dodgers, I'd like to be able to go to a Padres game (hopefully one where Wolfy is pitching) and be able to cheer for the Padres. Hopefully no one disowns me after saying that!

Boooo!!!!

I saw rumors that Jake Peavy might be coming back, and that he might start on Thursday. I just checked, and he's scheduled at the probably pitcher for Thursday. BOOOO!!!! I'm not booing because he's a GREAT pitcher and probably will get the winning decision. I'm not booing because I don't like Jake Peavy, because I do. I'm booing because I was really looking forward to seeing Randy Wolf pitch. I even found a wolf mask at a party store to wear for the game. I got a green t-shirt for my friend to decorate for me. I may still wear the t-shirt, but not the mask. Booo!!! These were my reasons to even going to the Dodgers-Padres game on Thursday.
1. It's the DODGERS and the PADRES
2. Randy WOLF was supposed to be pitching.
3. It was an afternoon game, which meant I could leave early in the morning and still get back at a decent time.
4. I wanted to go to a Dodger game at a different park. San Diego is the closest to L.A.

Standings as of 6/8/08

National League
East	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	East	Cent	West	Streak	L10
Philadelphia Phillies	39	26	.600	--	21-13	18-13	12-9	14-9	12-6	Won 4	8-2
Florida Marlins	34	28	.548	3.5	20-13	14-15	15-12	11-9	7-5	Won 2	4-6
Atlanta Braves	32	32	.500	6.5	25-11	7-21	16-16	6-10	8-5	Lost 3	3-7
New York Mets	30	32	.484	7.5	17-11	13-21	15-15	4-6	9-11	Lost 4	4-6
Washington Nationals	25	39	.391	13.5	14-20	11-19	13-19	9-11	2-7	Lost 3	2-8
Central	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	East	Cent	West	Streak	L10
Chicago Cubs	40	24	.625	--	26-8	14-16	4-4	18-15	18-5	Won 1	7-3
St. Louis Cardinals	38	27	.585	2.5	21-13	17-14	5-1	20-16	11-9	Won 2	6-4
Milwaukee Brewers	33	30	.524	6.5	19-10	14-20	8-10	17-13	8-4	Won 1	7-3
Houston Astros	32	32	.500	8.0	16-11	16-21	7-6	13-16	11-8	Lost 2	2-8
Pittsburgh Pirates	30	33	.476	9.5	18-14	12-19	10-11	15-18	5-4	Won 1	5-5
Cincinnati Reds	30	34	.469	10.0	19-10	11-24	11-12	9-14	7-8	Lost 2	5-5
West	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	East	Cent	West	Streak	L10
Arizona Diamondbacks	34	29	.540	--	21-12	13-17	7-10	5-10	20-8	Lost 1	4-6
Los Angeles Dodgers	30	33	.476	4.0	18-15	12-18	6-7	11-13	12-11	Lost 1	4-6
San Francisco Giants	28	35	.444	6.0	13-19	15-16	8-7	6-14	14-11	Won 3	6-4
San Diego Padres	28	37	.431	7.0	18-17	10-20	8-8	8-12	11-15	Won 5	7-3
Colorado Rockies	24	39	.381	10.0	14-15	10-24	5-6	8-11	9-21	Lost 1	4-6

Well... we're still second. But now the Giants are two games behind us, while we're four games behind the Dbacks. And the Padres are just three games behind us. And that's who we're playing next. Hmm we don't see the Giants till July 4th. After we play the Padres this week, we go to Detroit then Cincinnati before coming home to face the Indians, White Sox, and Angels.

Now to the break down. In the East ... The only changes really are the Mets moving down a slot, thanks to being swept by the Padres. The Phillies have also gained three games on the Marlins, going from half a game ahead of the Marlins to 3.5 games. The Cubs are still on top of the Central, but they also have the best record in the Majors. Who would've thought. Their lead over the Cardinals hasn't changed. The bottom four of the division is still playing musical chairs. Wonder who will be on the bottom in a week. Now to the West ... which was pretty hot this weekend. Check out my previous post to see how the West did this weekend. Again, none of the teams of the West has been able to move up or down from their slot in the West. The leads have changed ... the Dodgers gained a half game on the Dbacks, but everyone else in the Division also gained leads. Instead of being 4.5/3.5/1.5/2.5 games between each other, they are now 4/2/1/3 games between each other.

Now ... who has the best and worst records of the Majors?
American League Best: Los Angeles Angels 39 - 25 =.609 (Boston Red Sox is very close behind with 40 - 26 = .606)
National League Best: Chicago Cubs 40 - 24 = .625 (the Phillies aren't too far behind with 39 - 26 = .600)
American League Worst: Seattle Mariners 22 - 41 = .349 (Two games behind the Ro4yals)
National League Worst: Colorado Rockies 24 - 39 = .381 (just barely behind the Nationals who are 25-39 = .391)
I'm sure you can figure out who's the best and worst overall.

Now onto individual stats. Here's where I'm going to focus mostly on the Dodgers. I'm going to list the Dodgers with the best and worst stats in the following categories (with the minimum of 100 at-bats): averages, games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, walks, strikeouts, and GIDPs. Let's see if you can guess the right ones.
Best: (In case of Walks - most walks; strikeouts and GIDPs - who has the least)
Average - Russell Martin with .314 (Furcal still has .366, but he's been on the DL)
Games - James Loney with 3., Russell's second with 61, and Kemp third with 60
At-bats - James Loney wtih 235, Kemp with 219, Martin with 210 (everyone else is under 200 still)
Runs - Believe it or not, Furcal still has the most with 34. But since he's on the DL, Russell and James are tied with the most with 30. Kemp is behind them with 29, Ethier with 28
Hits - Kemp leads with 66, James and Russell tie with 65, then Ethier with 58
Doubles - Kemp has 14, Ethier has 13, Furcal on the DL with 12, then Loney with 11, and Martin with 9
Triples - Loney has the most with 3, then the following each have two: Furcal, Kemp, DeWitt, and Hu. Believe it or not, only two other people have a triple. Jones and Kent.
Home runs - Kent leads with the way with 8. Then you have Kemp, Loney, Martin, Ethier, DeWitt, and Furcal each with five.
RBIs - Kemp with 35, Loney with 32, DeWitt and Russell are tied with 29.
Walks - Martin with 39. The next closest are Jones and DeWitt with 20
Strikeouts - Pierre has the least with only 10 (TEN???) in 192 at-bats. As usually, Furcal is second with 15. The next active player is actually Hu with 21 then Kent with 24.
GIDPs - Ethier has only grounded into a double play once, with DeWitt has done it twice.

When it comes to averages, we've got three players above .300 (Furcal, Martin, Kemp) and you have two more who are VERY close (Ethier .294 and DeWitt at .293). You notice that you'll see a lot of the same names throughout each category.

Worst: (In case of Walks - who has the least walks; strikeouts and GIDPs - who has the most)
Average - Hu has the worst average at .159 (while Jones on the DL is at .165). The next player with at least 100 at-bats with the worst average is ... Jeff Kent at .251.
Games - The only player with the least amount of games who has at least 100 at bats and is not on the DL ... is Hu in 49, then Kent in 53
At-bats - Hu has 107, Jones has 133
Runs - Hu has only 13, then Jones with 18, and Kent with 21
Hits - Hu has only 17, while Jones (DL) has 22. Then comes Kent with 48.
Doubles - Hu only hast one double, while Jones (who is on the DL) has
riples - Believe it or not ... Russell, Andre, and Pierre don't have a triple yet
Home runs - Do I really need to say who has over plate appearances WITHOUT a single home run? Hint. The two smallest guys on the team. Hu and Pierre.
RBIs - Jones and Hu both have only RBIs
Walks - Jeff Kent and Hu have the least amount of walks, with only NINE
Strikeouts - No surprise here, right? Matt Kemp has struck out 63 (!!) times. So much for Jones being the Whiff King ... he's second with 45.
GIDPs - James Loney has grounded into THIRTEEN double plays. Jeff Kent has done it five times less than James.

Other fun stats. Martin and Hu both have the most intentional walks with four. No surprise there. Andre Ethier has been hit by a pitch the most, with four ... I think there was a stretch where he was hit two or three games in a row. Ethier also has the most sacrifice flies with five. Do I really need to tell you who has the most stolen bases and been caught stealing the most? Blake DeWitt is 6 - 7 with one double, one triple, and a walk with the bases loaded. The one at-bat where he could've been 7 - 7 with the bases loaded ... he struck out. The next player behind DeWitt is Russell Martin who has two hits in five at-bats, with a walk. Then it's Matt Kemp with three hits in eight at bats, with one double and a grand slam, and FOUR strikeouts. It's okay, Loney has struck out four times with the bases loaded as well. He had ten at-bats and got only three hits, with a double and a triple.

Maybe next week I'll do pitching.

In case you missed it ...

Russell's new look
He said so himself that he doesn't like the way it looks on him. Since the Dodgers lost on Sunday, does that mean come Tuesday it'll be gone??

Remember the umpire Brad Penny knocked out with a 96 mph fastball on April 26? Kerwin Danley started his rehab assignment in the minors ... and wouldn't you know it? He was umpiring a game between the Las Vegas 51s and the Tuscon Sidewinders when he got hit in the chin with a warm-up pitch. It must've felt like deja vu not only for Danley, but back-up catcher Gary Bennett was there as well as Bennett started his rehab stint with the 51s on Friday.

Speaking of injured umpires ... Umpire Jerry Layne took a foul bunt off his mask on Saturday during a Royals-Yankees game. He got a mild concussion and went back to work the next day. He didn't work the game, as another umpire was called up to take Layne's place. Want to guess who took Layne's place behind home plate on Saturday? The one and only, Jim Wolf. Hehe. I never thought about this ... but the article said Wolfy had to go put on his gear ... does that mean each umpire travels with his own gear for when he works behind the plate, like the catchers have their own individual gear?

Red Sox - Rays Fight much better than the Dodgers - Rockies Fight

Peavy is supposed to be coming back next week. Unfortunately, it might be Thursday against the DODGERS! No! That's supposed to be Wolfy's start! Wolfy is the reason why I bought tickets to Thursday's game. Besides the fact that the game is against the Dodgers. When else am I going to see Wolfy pitch? Please, please, don't take Wolfy's spot on Thursday. Can't he take Banks' spot on Wednesday and let Wolf pitch Thursday? Or have Peavy come back on Friday? Anything but taking Wolfy's spot.

Friday night - How the West was Won
Arizona 3 (Webb 11 - 2) - Pittsburgh 1 (Snell 2 - 6)
Los Angeles 3 (Kuroda 3 - 5) - Cubs 0 (Gallagher 3 - 2)
San Francisco 10 (Lincecum 8-1) - Washington 1 (Bergmann 1-3)
San Diego 2 (Wolf 4 - 4) - New York (Santana 7 - 4)
Colorado 6 (Corpas 1 - 3) - Milwaukee 4 (Mota 2 - 4)
Notice how all the teams the West faced (except for the Brewers) were held to less then a run? While other than the Rockies and the Giants... the other Western division teams only scored no more than three runs. Interesting.

Saturday night - The West Keeps Rolling
Arizona 3 (Cruz 2 - 0) - Pittsburgh 0 (Grabow 4 - 2)
Los Angeles 7 (Lowe 4 - 5) - Cubs 3 (Zambrano 8 - 2)
San Francisco 6 (Sanchez 5 - 3) - Washington 0 (Hill 0 -3)
San Diego 2 (Adams 1 - 0) - New York (Feliciano 0 - 2)
Colorado 7 (Reynolds 1 - 3) - Milwaukee 7 (Bush 2 - 6)

Sunday Night - Sorry, no sweeping allowed ... unless you're a Padre or Giant
(Technically ... the Giants play the Nationals one more time on Monday)
Arizona 4 (Davis 2 - 3) - Pittsburgh 6 (Dumatrait 3 - 3)
Los Angeles 1 (Penny 5 - 8) - Cubs 3 (Marquis 4 - 3)
San Francisco 6 (Zito 2 - 9) - Washington 3 (Mock 0 - 1)
San Diego 8 (Guevara 1 - 0) - New York 6 (Wagner 0 - 1)
Colorado 2 (Francis 2 - 6) - Milwaukee 3 (Suppan 4 -4)

Suspensions: (Most of which were probably appealed)
Matt Kemp (Dodgers) - Four Games
Yorvit Torrealba (Rockies) - Three Games
Coco Crisp (Red Sox) - Seven Games
Jon Lester (Red Sox) - Three games
Sean Casey (Red Sox) - three games
James Shields (Rays) - six games
Jonny Gomes (Rays) - five games
Edwin Jackson (Rays) - five games
Carl Crawford (Rays) - four games
Akinori Iwamura (Rays) - three games.

What do think? Were these suspensions fair? And someone tell me again ... why was Sean Casey suspended? Why was Dioner Navarro not suspended???

Okay, so these are some oldies ... but I forgot to publish these.

Rays batboy makes an amazing catch.
Who didn't see this coming? Tomko gets sent to the bullpen. Enough said.

Bobblehead, Ball, but no Win

When I bought my tickets, I asked my friend Nina if she knew for SURE if our friend Alan was going to go to the game with us. I asked her repeatedly before I bought our tickets if he was definitely going. Why? Because after I bought the tickets, Alan changed his mind about going. And Harold said he didn't want to go. Why? If you haven't been paying any attention ... the Lakers played the Celtics in Game One of the NBA finals. And guess what? They had the same outcome as the Dodgers did. They LOST. The Dodgers lost, 5 - 4. It's the curse of the Bobblehead! Anyone know what our record is when they give away bobbleheads? I just looked it up, and they did win on the night they gave away the Joe Torre bobblehead. But last year, I know they lost when they gave away the Nomar, Russell, and Furcal bobbleheads. Not sure about the Tommy one. Come to think of it ... I think they lose on fireworks night too. So, after much scrambling and asking anyone I could think of... Nina's dad decided to take the extra ticket. And I bit the bullet ... so for this game, I ended up paying like $36 for the tickets (mine, Nina's, and Jack's) and I paid for parking. Sigh. Maybe I should give up baseball until I can actually afford to buy tickets for everyone since I seem to be doing that anyway. Or till I can find friends who can actually pay for their tickets. Never mind.

We went to Subway and got our food before the game. We had time while we waited for the gate to open to eat some of our food. We got in, parked, and stopped at autograph alley before going into the Stadium. Rudy Law was the guest in Autograph Alley. Nina was supposed to take pictures of Rudy signing our stuff, because Matt and his cousin told us to always have a picture of whoever it is signing your things for authenticity. Apparently, they had something signed by Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart (I think) and when they tried to find out how much it was worth, they found out that they needed an "official" autograph to compare the ones they got. So, Nina took my camera and took pictures of Rudy signing my scrapbook ... except she got mostly my back and not Rudy. Grrrr ... should've done it myself.

The Dodgers' batting practice was lackluster for the most part. They weren't hitting very hard. Maybe they were saving their strength for the game ... and when they game started ... it took about four innings for their bats to warm up. Chan Ho Park came over and signed a few autographs. Again, Nina was too slow to get over there to get anything signed. I was on the phone with my assistant manager from work, so I wasn't able to do it myself. After the Dodgers finished up, the Cubs took the field. Then came the highlight of my game. That game was my 11th game this year, 29th overall. And one of the Cubbies hit a ball that came FLYING into our section where we were standing. I told Nina to watch out. I see this ball that is moving very quickly. It bounced off a seat and I watched it as I tried to catch it as it bounced RIGHT AT ME. It came right to me... but I didn't catch it. It bounced off my hand, off another seat, and onto the floor right next to me. I dove to the ground and grabbed it before anyone else could. And came up squealing like a little girl! I finally got one. Even though it was hit by a Cubbie. The other one I almost got was by a Red Sox. A few balls later, another one came right to us again. But this one landed in the row behind me, and I couldn't see where it was. I wanted to get it for my friend/coworker Maria who I brought to the game. It was her very first Dodger game. Jack spent most of the batting practice talking with a couple (Caucasian male, Filipino female) who has season seats in the Field Level behind home plate. The guy didn't know that people from the other levels were allowed into the field level for batting practice. During batting practice, there was this adorable little boy dressed in Cubbie clothes. His dad got him a little bat, and he started hitting a wiffle ball around like a golf ball. Super cute. Great hand-eye coordination for someone so young.

Before the game began, we grabbed a handful to All Star ballots to do during the game. Want to guess how many we were able to fill out? I'll tell you at the end of the post. As usual, the kids took the field. Two kids got a little lost. Blake DeWitt's kid had to be directed by a security guard, and Andre's was a little lost too. When the Cubs were in San Diego this week, the announcers were talking about how there were Cubs everywhere. He was right. There were so many Cub fans in our section. The whole row in front of us were Cubs. In the top of the second inning, one Cubbie showed up, sat down, and said out loud: "I smell. I smell bad." Gee, thanks for sharing!

In the top of the third inning, Nina and I got up to go to the concessions. I wanted to get a soda. They didn't have the souvenir cups yet when we got up to the Top Deck. She wanted a popcorn helmet. The helmet for herself, the popcorn for her dad. On our way up, she went up one way and I went up the other. She almost ran into the camera man on her side. It took us a bit to get our food. While I was in line, the girl behind me if this was where she could get the ice cream in a helmet. Unfortunately, they don't serve those on the top deck. I told her she had to go down to the Reserve Level, if they let her, to get it. When we got back to our seats, the Cubbies in front of us already mutilated one of their Takaishi Saito bobbleheads. They tore his head off and were taking pictures with the headless Saito, positioning it like if they were going to eat it. One of them made a comment about Saito being a Japanese player, and his bobblehead being made in China.

There was a Cub fan in our row, and after a Cub did something great during an inning (I don't remember what ... maybe they scored a run), he jumped into the row in front of us that was full of Cub fans and was yelling "GO CUBS!" and giving the Cub fans hi fives. The Cub fans were kinda freaked out by this sudden outburst. After the other guy went back to his seat, the Cub fans in front of me were joking about "are you okay? he scared me." One guy said, "I had to pee, but now I don't." During the Seventh Inning stretch, I dropped my phone as I was getting up. It fell into the row in front of us. Unfortunately, there was beer spilled on the floor and got on my phone. At least it didn't damage it.

The Cubbies in front of us were interesting. In the start of the game, they all pulled out a dollar to pool for a "game" they played. It took me a few innings, but I think the game was ... they were betting on where the ball would land (on the mound, grass, etc) when the player/catcher/umpire threw the ball back to the mound at the end of each inning. Then they talked about the most random things, like skirts, leggings, sweaters that are dresses, muu muus, football, and other things. Towards the end of the game, the guy in our row leaned forward and asked the Cubbies if they would sell their bobblehead to him for five bucks. Two of the Cubbies just gave him theirs. Wonder if they were still in one piece. Two or three of them were talking about baseball cards. I think one of them wanted an A-Rod card.

Kemp made an AMAZING catch, which Edmonds matched with one of his own. In the top of the ninth, Fukodome came up and singled into right field. Andre slid into the WALL and made a loud crashing noise that you could hear all the way from our seats in the top deck. Maria said it looked like Andre was limping. Well, as you know, the Cubs took the one run lead in that inning. When the bottom half of the ninth inning came up, we managed to load the bases! One of the Cubbies said to his friends, "If Kerry Wood walks in the tying run, I'm giving up baseball." Well, he didn't. He struck out Matt Kemp instead, who in turned broke his bat in frustration. Hmm maybe he was wondering if he should've take that suspension. Coincidentally ... about 120 miles south of us ... the Padres and Mets were tied 1 - 1 ... until the Mets walked in the winning run for the Padres by hitting ... Paul McAnulty ... The funny thing was, I was listening to the Padres show on XX Sports Radio ... and they were saying they couldn't remember when something like this happened. I believe it happened to the Dodgers last year ... with Juan Pierre. Okay, I found it. I knew I had the article in my scrap book. It happened last year, on Sunday, May 27th. Against the CUBS!! Here at Dodger Stadium. Randy Wolf started the game and pitched six scoreless innings, and the game went into extra innings. Anyone remember this game? It's the one where Russell made that incredible catch and landed on the lucky lap of a woman who has a fourth-degree black belt. The same one where they Dodgers forgot how many outs were in the third inning, including pitcher Randy Wolf. The same game where in the eleventh inning, Ramon Martinez slipped on the basepath and you thought for sure they had him picked off ... except catcher Michael Barrett threw to second and Martinez made it to third. At this point, pitcher Angel Guzman had already walked two batters. Carlos Marmol came on and walked Furcal to load the bases before he hit Pierre with a 2-2 count pitch.

Overall, even though the Dodgers lost, it was a good game. We went from 4 - 0 to tie it up ... and then lose it in the end. Maria really enjoyed her fast game. When I dropped her off at her place, she said she was looking forward to her next game. As she was leaving, she threw her hands in the hair and said "I love baseball!" Sweet. Another Dodger fan is born.

One more thing.

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