A Proportional Response: The Prince Fielder Situation

Fielder caressed in the fat above his knee

Last night Prince Fielder was plunked by Dodgers reliever Guillermo Mota in retaliation for Manny Ramirez being hit innings earlier. The Mota response appeared appropriate in light of the fact that his teammate, Manny Ramirez had hit a home run earlier in the game and was later hit by the Brewers......unwritten rules and all: you hit our star we hit yours.

The game was also a laugher at the time Prince Fielder was hit just above the knee.....17-4 in favor of the Dodgers.

The issue however, will linger into tonight's game because Fielder went loony-toons and tried to break into the Dodger clubhouse to get after his old teammate, Mota. What to do?

I hate both Manny Ramirez and the Los Angeles Dodgers but this is a case where I am in support of the LaTrine.

Ordinarily I would suggest treading lightly when handling the emotions of a 260 lb man who has jail-house looking tattoos on his neck and is still white-knuckling a piece of lumber. This is a precarious position for any human being to be in let alone a thin framed hurler dutifully attempting to uphold the game's unwritten code. However, I would also contend that Prince Fielder, as one of the game's top stars, has too much to lose in an attempt at assault. It's additionally noteworthy that any pitcher who has to square off in a bare-knuckle affair with the burly Brewer will have the aid of catcher Russell Martin accosting said Brewer from behind. To that end.....

Go up the ladder tonight and bean that fat fuck right in the ribs!!!

I'm countin' on you LA.


(Link to Fielder @ LA Clubhouse doors video)

Bud Selig: A Real Man of Genius

Manny and his three ring circus will arrive on Friday at which time his suspension for Performance Enhancing Drugs will be lifted, permitting him to reemerge against the Padres.

Well the suspension was already lifted....... since Manny's already played games in Albuquerque and up the road in Lake Elsinore within the last few days. It may seem odd that a player suspended for 50 games is playing right now, but really it's not. It's quite brilliant. It wouldn't be fair for Manny to show up on Friday July 3rd without the proper "fitness regimen" that an eight game minor league stint provides.

It is in the dialogue between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association that these concessions are haggled over and it takes a true Leader to approve of these negotiations. That leader is Bud Selig and he doesn't get paid $17 million a year for doing nothing....

“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”
-Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey's seminal work, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, is required reading amongst the elite performers in the business world of which Bud Selig is no doubt an adherent. Bud Selig, as Commissioner, has MLB's ladder leaning against the right wall. How else could you explain ONLY two players' names being leaked from the confidential PED test administered in 2003 (Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa)? Selig's brilliance is not limited to slow leakage, though.

"Hace calor en Albuquerque.....Yo soy listo para un Isotope frio. Me gustan Isotopes."
(It is hot in Albuquerque...I am ready for a cold isotope. I like isotopes)
Seriously...direct quote...Manny being stupid Manny

It is his silence regarding Manny Ramirez's allowance to play baseball for a Dodger minor league affiliate while on suspension that is the true sign of leadership. To showcase Bud's ability to lead, MLB officials came up with "Rule 9(i) rehab" (from Bill Plaschke of the LA Times):

When negotiating the drug policy three years ago, baseball officials felt they had to allow for minor league rehab assignments in order to get union agreement on a 50-game suspension total. The union was claiming that, otherwise, with the player needing to get back in shape, the suspensions actually would amount to more than 60 games.

Officials were also receiving pressure from their clubs to allow the players to do rehab assignments during the suspensions, instead of later, so the teams did not have to pay the players while they were in the minor leagues.

In the end, the baseball bosses were so desperate for any sort of penalty, they caved in to everybody. And perhaps they hoped that everyone would be so happy the druggies were finally being punished, nobody would notice.

Genius!

Now that's having your ladder leaning against the correct wall. Leadership, people. Leadership.

Bud Selig: A leader for a new time.
Managers do things right; leaders do the right thing. This is the primary difference between a good manager and a good leader. A good leader is passionate about excellence and must therefore strive for continuous improvements and change. In other words, a good leader knows that insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.

Friday night's game is sold out....I can only hope that the intrigue is a result of reasonable fans going to the park to boo ManRam and not an impending Dodger fan exodus from LA arriving in SD Friday night. This is San Diego and unfortunately I believe it to be the latter.......

Padres get Series split with Dodgers

Tony Gwynn Jr. continues to get hits.....it is eerie. Adrian Gonzalez is seeing fewer and fewer pitches. Kevin Kouzmanoff continues to dribble weak grounders to the left side. Heath Bell continues to save games.

Relax, guy. Your Dodgers are still in first and your T-Shirt sales are sure bound to pick up once "He with the shriveled raisins" returns.

Dodger Fan Sad Face

On to Anaheim where the Padres will meet The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim* for a three game freeway series (*English Translation:The The Angels Angels of Anaheim).

I dare you to extrapolate...

81-81....I did the extrapolation for you...read & listen on Friar Faithful (do I sound hypocritical?)


Gonzalez sparks rally in 8th, Bell shuts door in 9th
[SD Union-Tribune]


Dodgers falter at the finish against Padres
[LA Times]
Enjoy both SD & LA perspectives on the Padres' get-away-day victory thus earning the four game split. It never hurts to Beat LA...

Jeff Moorad is soliciting your advice on moving in the fences at The Bark Park.....maybe he'll consider a park renaming ceremony as well.
[XX1090 with Scott & BR]

I don't buy Heath Bell's closing song: Blow me away by Breaking Benjamin

Perhaps it was too obvious to go with: For whom the bell tolls by Metallica.....but it's obvious for a reason: IT'S PERFECT!!!

I suppose as long as Heath "Wii" Bell keeps saving games it really doesn't matter does it? But it would have been cool to hear those bells and Cliff Burton's bass, no?

159 Mas...am I really going to do this?

Dodgers 5 Padres 2

Game 3 Observations:

• Manny's hair is beyond comment

• David Eckstein had an awesome 10 pitch at-bat in the 1st. The talk of game 1 was DE's sac bunt in the 1st. These seem like trivial things to get excited over...so I won't. But they are pleasant things to see and hopefully represent a sea change.

• Walter Silva was lucky to give up only 2 runs. We're in trouble with him as our #3.

• In addition to speed, Evereth Cabrera has a hose.

• Kouz needs to show up in April or it'll be a hell of a hole we're diggin' ourselves out of.

• Mujica and De la Cruz had live looking arms....so we've got that goin' for the pen.

• Steve Quis asked Manny stupid questions during the Postgame. How dare you accuse Manny of having been in a "funk".

• Baseball is hard to blog....too quick a turn around time between games so here's my Opening Day part II....

I really should skip the remainder of Peavy's starts...this decade.

I missed all of the pregame festivities. My cheap ticket was nullified by the pregame bar tab. I too was excited to see a bunt in the first-curse thy moneyball of '08. The Padres have lost 9 consecutive games I have attended including the sweep in the Bronx last June. Jake Peavy has lost the previous 5 times I've seen him pitch. San Diego should be embarrassed by the shear number of LA caps in the stands and the pathetic absence of SD caps. Is it any wonder San Diego is labeled as a joke of a sports town. One man's opinion.

Editor's Note:
Sure the team isn't going to be great...err...good this season. And I would have encouraged people to stay home had we not seen a change in the status quo....but with Moorad on board and the number of price accommodations we've seen thus far...well I think it is a reasonable olive branch until things get turned around. I can wait until the draft before I begin to organize boycotts.

In summation: 5 for$5 is awesome and Dodger fans are far too plentiful (droves of Dickies in The Bark on Monday)

Donnie Baseball in LA

When I say I hate the Yankees people laugh and threaten that they can produce a picture of me wearing a Yankees Starter jacket. It's all very true.

I grew up with Don Mattingly as my my baseball idol.....and I hate George Steinbrenner for not having delivered a World Series ring to ol' Donnie Baseball.

Now in my old age I have come to hate the Yanks for more analytical reasons.....they swept the Padres in '98 and they are upsetting the current economic balance of the free world....and of course I hate Tino Martinez for replacing Don Mattingly and then rocking Mark Langston in Game 1 of the '98 Series when we all know it should have been a called third strike on the previous pitch. I'm over it.

Today, Don Mattingly is the hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers and he joined Darren Smith yesterday afternoon. It put a smile on my face despite his current association with that miserable team from up the I5...

Don Mattingly with Darren Smith
[XX1090-Audio]

...and I do have gray #23 hanging in the closet. I really should try to get it signed since he makes frequent visits with those Douchey Dodgers.

Beat LA...Beat LA...Beat LA....

We did.

Enjoy this headline from the Los Angeles Times and think of all the royal blue wearing Royal A-holes who have cluttered up our park the last two days...

We only have ourselves to blame San Diego......only you can prevent the 2009 Invasion of A-holes.