grilledcheese

Sweeney was a piece of the deal that brought Utley to LA. I always get a kick out of weird turnaround trades.

Aging I agree with, but overpriced is a matter of opinion. $4.5MM for a solid veteran hand as a backup C in a spot where the other options are Jesus Sucre or Tyler Marlette (who hasn't played a game in the Bigs yet). Ruiz is basically the same price as Chris Iannetta, and better on both sides of the ball.

I like that deal, since it opens the door for Austin Barnes to be the backup catcher, or by some weird turn that spot goes to Jack Murphy. I think the upside on Barnes is higher, since he has also proven to be a pretty reliable 2B and can play 3rd or an OF position if absolutely necessary. Murphy isn't much of a hitter, but he's been very good defensively for OKC. And the weird acquisition of random pitchers begins for LAD!!

My apologies if this is better suited to another section. So, my 7 year old has bit heavy into the Pokémon TCG. I have never been into card games, so I have no collection that he would have been gifted. In looking around online, grabbing a big lot so that he can go about building a deck so he can start actually playing seems to be a little cost-prohibitive. Does anyone have any tips for helping me get this dude up and running? We've been buying boosters, but the patience needed on stacking enough cards to build a deck is running out for young Riley. I do have a pretty goddamn dope swap meet/dirt mall near me that I haven't had a chance to get out to yet, so that might solve our problem, but I am trying to find some alternate methods to get him going.

I read that there is pretty decent evidence that he was not at the helm. Apparently he was on the telephone with someone, and that person heard him giving instructions to the person at the controls, then the phone went dead. Also, that is coming from his longtime family attorney, so who knows how accurate that statement is.

A couple of years ago, I saw a concept for rebranding that a fan did that I thought was pretty bitchin. He used Moses Cleaveland as the mascot, as he was the guy that started the settlement and that the town was named for. He kept the Swinging Wahoo as a template, but turned it into a white guy from the 1700's.

Jesus, was Hendricks fucking good last night. On the flip side, Kershaw was not. Nothing really had any bite on it, and since they didn't to worry about any one put-away pitch, CHC could just wait for mistakes and hammer them, and goddamn, did they ever! The last few games as sloppily played as they were for LAD, I couldn't see anything short of perfection getting them past game 6 and 7. They very obviously were way less than perfect. Like they used to say in Brooklyn, wait till next year!

The rap on Baez is that apparently he was told to "slow the game down" and he misunderstood the meaning of the phrase. I'm not sure if it's true, but Rick Monday has brought it up on a few occasions on radio broadcasts. He has never been a terribly fast worker, but there was a point in time this year where he wasn't quite so bad. Baez on the hill and runners on is fucking maddening. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I am super conflicted about this series. Going on the road down 3-2 should bum me out, but I am feeling pretty upbeat about tomorrow night. I dig that Hendricks is a tall order, but they beat him in game 2, so why not do it again in game 6? Any way it ends up shaking out, I love the way this team has played to get them to this point, so I will take whatever outcome lands in their laps. It looked pretty goddamn dire in the NLDS, and that worked out alright, so I am Paulie Positivity from here on out. Lester had a really great showing, but I think the best part of it was him skipping the ball like a rock to ensure he could get the ball over to 1st to finish off the 2nd. Buck said he was staring into the Dodger dugout like he was trying to be intimidating, but I just don't get a scary vibe off a bounce pass. Good work all the way around for CHC.

Man oh man, what a fucking asskicking my boys took last night. Urias looked good until he didn't anymore, and Zobrist laid down a motherfucker of a bunt to get that rally started. I think LAD got fucked on that play on Gonzalez, but who knows if it changes anything. Urias probably ends the inning coming to the dish next, but you never know. Toles didn't do the team any favors in the 4th with the throwing error, and I can't fault him for going all out to try to make a play on the dying quail Fowler hit. Shoddy defense made that lead far more insurmountable than it should have been. 4 E's don't win you ballgames, that's for sure. Best of three now, I'd love to see them take a lead back to Chicago and make the Cubs go through both Kershaw and Hill to have to win it.

Obviously, I'm feeling good about the direction this series has taken so far, but I know that if the bats wake up, it's going to be a tough row to hoe to get 2 more wins. I would imagine that it can't possibly be the LHP factor, since CHC was better against LHP in AVG, OBP, and SLG this year, but it's hard to think that every single bat on the club save Baez and Bryant has just gone stone cold, but it seems like that's exactly what is happening. Weird fucking game, this baseball. Even Baez and Bryant aren't really getting productive hits, as they each have only driven in 1 apiece, but they are hitting. I'm pretty tuned up to see what kind of start Urias has today. I know lots of folks were questioning the decision to throw him to CHC, NYM and SFG right when he was promoted, but as it turned out that he might have faced any of the three in the playoffs, it kind of appears like the FO was rather forward thinking in pushing him in against those teams, as opposed to easing him in against tomato cans, like when you develop a boxer.

Goddamn that game! I hate the IBB as a strategic move, and I fully understood it in that situation, but boy howdy did it burn Roberts. If it works, it's genius, because they immediately got to Rondon, but that's a heartbreaking way to go down in game 1 of a playoff series. Here's hoping we get a reset and go back to LA with a split. And that picture is fucking glorious, made slightly better knowing what Fowler then came to the plate and did.

What the fuck was the thought behind sending Werth B6? Both the coach and he had to have seen that Toles was cutting it off and getting the throw in. What a fucking series, though. Love seeing a grinder game like that fall in your favor. Outside of #22 shutting it down, especially to get that goddamn Murphy, my favorite moment of the game was probably that AB Turner worked for a BB in the 4th. I am blasting off right now, super hyped for the Cubs on Saturday. Dodgers in 6.

You rooted for Uribe in blue, do it for Hill and Reddick and Ethier and Blanton and Chavez. Did I get them all currently on the roster? I left out Geren, but he counts too. Dan Johnson is in the system right now trying to make a comeback as a knuckleballer, so throw him in as well.

How dare you sir!! Although I do appreciate you giving LAD the nod in Thursday's game 5. I too am hoping for a Dodger - Cubs NLCS.

I agree that he was gassed, but I thought that he K'd Harper, his line is not quite indicative of the game he put together today. And what a terrible time for Baez to plunk a guy. He's hit 3 batters in 145 games in the Bigs. And goddamn that Daniel Murphy!! What a stud that dude is. The fucking filth that Blanton had working showed that he should have been the guy to relieve Kersh, and you are correct, probably at the start of the 7th. He also allowed Justin Turner to walk away, which seems to have worked out pretty well for LAD so far.

Lefties against Ross' fastball got him at a .441/.505/.591 slash. If this LHB heavy lineup is going to make a difference, today is the fucking day. As much as I believe in this team and the FO staff, I can't take winning the West every year and falling short time and time again. I was 2 months away from turning 10 the last time LAD won it all, I want to be able to celebrate the way only an adult can, by crying tears of joy and toasting the good name of Vin Scully. Here's to Clayton hopefully dazzling his way through 6 or 7 today and handing it over to what has been a pretty excellent pen, yesterday excluded.

But the Coyotes actually were the Winnipeg Jets, so that history makes sense. The Senators club that won the WS in 1925 is now the Twins. On top of that, the Nats have laid claim to both iterations of the Senators, as in their "Ring Of Honor" they have said that "anyone who has made a significant contribution to the game of baseball in Washington, D.C." is eligible for inclusion, so the teams honored are the Homestead Grays, both Senators teams, the Nats themselves and the Expos. Fuck me, as I type this, Jansen implodes, allows a HR to Werth, BB's Murphy, hits Harper, Gets Rendon and then gives up a 2B to Zimmerman to clear the bags. Stripling comes in and gives up a Sac Fly to Heisy, and the Nats have hing 4 more on LAD, now lead 8-3 and here come Melancon. What a goddamn gutpunch. Urias tomorrow to try to send this thing back to Washington.

Time for MaeKen to put in some work and take a 2-1 in this series. I have no beef with the Nats outside of my hatred of the Expos being moved but goddamn is Daniel Murphy easy to hate. He blasted LAD last year, and the dude just keeps coming up big in this series. Well, hopefully Dusty will bumblefuck his way through some pitching changes and the Dodgers can capitalize. Although, he seems to have cured himself of that particular problem for the most part. Also, what is with the Nats and their pennants honoring the 1924 WS and the 1925 and 1933 AL Champs? They mostly ignore the team they once were, and lay claim to another team in the league's history?

No love for the Northstar comics? But agreed, anything past 3 is hella wack, but I have a bad movie soft spot for "The Next Generation".

For the last 10 years or so, my Dad and I have had conversations about what should be done with the thousands of hours of tape on Vin. My best suggestion as of yet is to put out records of some of his tales to use as bedtime stories. I would listen to Vin read the goddamn dictionary. Someone should get him to do a GPS add-on while he still has the pipes to do so.

As beat up as I am about LAD getting swept by SF to end the year, Bumgarner - Syndergaard should be pretty goddamn great. Here's hoping the Giants get tomahawked and NYM goes on to CHC. Also, I have no idea how to feel about Dodger baseball without Vin behind the mic. I'm heartbroken, but for fuck's sake, he's 89 and deserves to spend his last few years as laid back and stress free as he can. I spent his last game listening to him on the radio, the same way I first had the pleasure of hearing him do Dodger games when I was little. In order to best honor his legacy, the Dodgers should take the great Jake Taylor's advice and win the whole fucking thing.

Has it really been 10 years? Holy shit, thanks for making me feel old as hell. I miss the green and gold board.

I think it would be cooler if there was a Kelly Gruber or a Lloyd Moseby jersey in that sea of Donaldsons, but Key or Stieb are also excellent choices. Bumgarner is hella bitch-made to lots of players. For a guy that wants to play baseball sheriff and get up people's asses about the tiniest of supposed slights, he sure does do a lot of fucking chirping on the mound. I think in a different era, he's not quite as tough, because a guy like Gil Hodges or Carl Furillo probably fucking breaks him in half if he runs his mouth to them. For all the tough talk, it didn't really look like Bumgarner wanted Belt to clear a path so he could scrap.

Fuckin A that is what pennant race baseball should be like. That SFG pen is leaky as fuck. What did STL and NYM do tonight? By the way, I just want Puig and Bumgarner to box, I'm sick of them just barking at each other.

I don't know about HRs in general, but Grandy is the second guy to hit a game tying jack and then a game-winner. John Mayberry Jr. did it for PHI in 2013. Mayberry's game-winner was a grand slam. EDIT - Just looked it up, the only other player to homer in consecutive extra innings was Art Shamsky, who did it for CIN in 1966, but the Reds lost that game to the Pirates.