Monday Tidbits

• The Giants made their first cuts today: Ramon Ortiz, Ronnie Ray, Pat Misch, Todd Jennings, and Josh Phelps are all moving down to minor-league camp. Ortiz is no surprise, given his completely abysmal outings. Notably, Phelps' reassigment may indicate the Giants' confidence in Travis Ishikawa as a full-time player, as Phelps would have been Ishikawa's platoon partner at 1B. Rich Aurilia is still a possibility at first, but Ishikawa will most likely get more at-bats against lefties this spring rather than sitting out.

• Fangraphs: now with 100% more ZiPS!

• And $31.3 million later, San Francisco's finest double-agent finally takes the mound for the Dodgers.
  

Manny is a Dodger Again

Thank God it's over. Now we can get back to baseball.

Not Dead Yet

Ed. Note: Just checking in after a sweep of the Diamondbacks. Actual posts to resume sometime around September 27 or around that weekend.

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What were the odds that Brian Wilson would blow back-to-back save chances and Velez would bail him with game-winning hits?

One thing's for sure: the Giants, even in their present state, sure know how to play spoiler. I'll ignore the fact about the Dodgers sitting pretty in first place, because the Giants have the chance to spoil their hopes in the following weeks.

Walkoff x2

If the Dodgers miss the playoffs by one game, I think they'll look back at this game and wonder why they couldn't turn a 4-6-3 double play.

Rivalry Weekend

Pitching match-ups for rivalry weekend:

Brad Penny (5-9, 5.88 ERA) v. Barry Zito (6-13, 5.40 ERA)
Hiroki Kuroda (6-8, 4.21 ERA) v. Kevin Correia (2-6, 5.53 ERA)
Chad Billingsley (11-9, 3.01 ERA) v. Matt Cain (7-9, 3.60 ERA)

Fitting match-ups, eh?

Zito hopes to continue his streak of good outings while this will be Penny's first start since June.

The Giants seemed to have figured out Kuroda last time in LA--all 7 runs came off hits. This time, Kuroda and Correia are both coming off decent starts. Hopefully Correia can return to his late-2007 form and get the win.

And lastly, Sunday features the showcase match-up of the weekend, Billingsley versus Cain. It will be a fun one to watch, especially if you like pitching duels between two guys with overpowering stuff. Disclaimer: Billingsley pitched his first career shutout against the Giants the last time out.

The big question is not if the Giants can score more than one run for Cain on Sunday, but if 25 returns to Mays Field for the outfielders' reunion. If he does come, odds are that we won't know about it until he's on the field.

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OT comment starter: Excited for the Olympics? Y/Y?

Open Hate LA Thread

From the TFRJ vaults:

Breaking: Joe Torre to Manage Dodgers

From the LoHud Yankees Blog:

The Los Angeles Dodgers have decided to fire manager Grady Little and replace him with former Yankees manager Joe Torre, The Journal News has learned.

Torre, 67, could be named manager as soon as tomorrow, according to two sources close to the situation. Don Mattingly is expected to accompany Torre to Los Angeles as his bench coach. Torre is also interested in hiring Kevin Long, his hitting coach with the Yankees.

Torre is a good man, but I am now compelled to boo him.

Rumors of A-Rod to LA to follow shortly.

Schadenfreude

Alternate title: Mark Sweeney is still a San Francisco Giant.


Sween Dawg to Mays Field, over. Sabotage commences at o'nineteen hundred, over.

You gotta love it:

But Sweeney, a pinch-hitter who was picked up last week in a trade with the San Francisco Giants, made a mental blunder that resulted in the game's final out. Appearing to lose track of the number of outs, Sweeney strayed too far from first base when Juan Pierre popped up. Catcher Brad Ausmus caught the ball in foul territory and threw out Sweeney to end the game. Shea Hillenbrand was on second base.

Here's a little fictional anecdote posted on McCovey Chronicles:

On the last day of the season in LA, the Dodgers vs the Giants, bottom of the ninth, the Bums have Mark Sweeney on third base with only one out in a 3-2 ball game. The Bums best hitter, James Loney is at the plate, so they're feeling pretty good. The Dodgers need to win to get into the playoffs.

Suddenly, Sweeney takes off from third before Hennessey throws the pitch. They tag him out easily, to the shock of 50,000 mouthbreathing fans in Chavez Ravine.

James Loney is so shocked he takes 3 straight fastballs right down the middle without even realizing Hennessey threw one. The stadium is completely silent.

Sweeney bursts out of the dugout and rips off his jersey to reveal a Giants jersey underneath it. The Giants pick him up and carry him off the field on their shoulders.

Bye-Bye, Sweeney

Professional pinch hitter Mark Sweeney's been dealt to the Dodgers.

He was heating up around the trade deadline, so obviously that increased his stock. Though I won't root for him as a Dodger, he was a good teammate and performed well as a Giant, so I wish him well. Good luck in Lalaland, Sweeney.


May you get 20 more pinch hits... but all in Dodger losses

Ortmeier was called up to take Sweeney's spot.

It's good to see Sabean making... good on his word. It may be minor so far, but it's a step in the right direction. Hopefully this is another fleecing.

BEAT LA

Fun win yesterday. Lowry gets his 12th W through 5 2/3 innings, and the bullpen didn't allow a baserunner for the rest of the game. It's funny how the Dodgers fans hate Bonds, and yet they take pictures and videos of him at his at-bats. On his morning interview today on KNBR, Kruk said he'd never seen so many flashbulbs lighting up in a stadium.

Tim Lincecum is pitching today. TIM LEROY LINCECUM IS PITCHING TODAY. Whoo! It's good to have hope every few days. If Jeff Kent is playing today, I hope Timmy rockets a fastball near his head. And then strikes him out on 3 consecutive pitches, the last one being a wicked change that breaks Kent's ankles. Like what happened to Nick Swisher. You know, just for laughs.

Go Timmy, go Giants, BEAT LA!

[Edit 1:20 PM] I normally don't read Bruce Jenkins' stuff, but he has a pretty good article today about the Evils and their fans. I couldn't agree more with what he had to say about them. Beach balls (I saw one dropped on TV last night), arriving late, leaving early, and eating their children. Don't say nothin' 'bout no traffic, hear?

BEAT LA

Lowry (11-7, 3.40 ERA) versus Penny (13-1, 2.51) tonight. Hopefully the Giants offense keeps it up tonight, but Brad Penny probably will not make it easy pitch it back to where it was the first half of the season. Oblivion. Happy thoughts, now.

I'm not really sure if Barry is playing tonight. I've read inklings he might not, but there was an off-day on Monday.

Go Lowry, go Giants, BEAT LA!