The Trolley Dodger

With the consistent inconsistency of Hong-Chih Kuo — not to mention Brett “10-run cushion” Tomko — Ned Colletti has talked in interviews about looking to add another starting pitcher. Alongside the elusive power bat, which he’s been trying to get through free agency or trade since the off-season, this will likely be his primary focus for the foreseeable future. (He’s talked about getting another reliever, too, but maybe that will fade if Chin-Hui Tsao stays healthy and Mark Hendrickson stays serviceable.)

While there are potential Plan Bs (well, Plan Cs) lurking in Las Vegas, e.g. Eric Stults and DJ Houlton, it stands to reason that some of the potentially available big leaguers will be attractive.

The biggest name being linked to the Dodgers at the moment is Mark Buehrle, whose midseason negotiations with the White Sox are turning into a brouhaha to match the South Siders’ sorry season. The latest from the Chicago Sun-Times is that the pitcher has turned down a four-year, $56 million extension (due to a denied no-trade clause, reportedly), and thus is back on the block. As much as he’s been on and off the block recently, it’s a wonder he hasn’t pulled something. From the article:

The source also told the Sun-Times that general manager Ken Williams wasted no time taking phone calls from both the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers about a possible trade involving the left-handed starter.

Talks briefly opened up again after the Sox’ 8-1 loss to the Royals on Friday night but quickly died.

It’s anyone’s guess if the two sides will reopen negotiations. Williams had set Friday as the cutoff.

Mark Buehrle is a 28-year-old southpaw from Missouri who is currently sporting a 3.33 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, with 66 Ks and 20 BB over 100 innings. That WHIP would tie him for third in the National League behind only Jake Peavy and Chris Young.

While we’re on the subject, check out who are the current top six NL pitchers in WHIP:

1. Jake Peavy (SD)
2. Chris Young (SD)
3. Rich Hill (CHC)
4. Ted Lilly (CHC)
5. Brad Penny (LAD)
6. Derek Lowe (LAD)

We faced #2 last night and unfortunately lost despite the late heroics. Tonight, #1 and #5 face off. Gotta love the ever-burgeoning Padres vs Dodgers rivalry.

Buerhle has no less than 200 innings pitched per season since 2001. I also like the fact he’s all about the low pitch counts. Oh, and the no hitter he tossed a couple of months ago isn’t too shabby either. (Actually, he was a Sammy Sosa walk away from a perfect game, then picked him off moments later.)

Who would we have to give up to get him? Young guys, I would assume — the White Sox are in meltdown.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE

A poster on Dodger Thoughts (“silverwood” in today’s thread) had this to say about Buehrle:

Buehrle is incredibly overrated. Awful last year, with an embarrassing K/9 rate.

NO THANKS.

So I looked the following up and posted it there. I don’t know, 2007 Buehrle doesn’t seem that embarrassing lined up with our current staff:

Buehrle has a 5.94 K/9 rate so far this year. Brad Penny’s is 5.96. Derek Lowe’s is 6.30.

Penny: K/BB 2.50, K/9 5.96, BB/9 2.38, H/9 7.75, WHIP 1.13

Lowe: K/BB 2.31, K/9 6.30, BB/9 2.72, H/9 7.55, WHIP 1.14

Buehrle: K/BB 3.30, K/9 5.94, BB/9 1.80, H/9 8.10, WHIP 1.10

Not arguing for or against, just sayin’.

For completeness’ sake:

Wolf: K/BB 2.66, K/9 8.40, BB/9 3.16, H/9 9.48, WHIP 1.40

Kuo: K/BB 1.93, K/9 8.01, BB/9 4.15, H/9 10.38, WHIP 1.62

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes, though, a picture doesn’t tell the whole story. Take this one:

At first glance, an idyllic scene showing a crowd watching a baseball game, some years ago. Beyond that, just an interesting photo.

Adding another couple of pieces of the puzzle is that Ansel Adams was the photographer, and it was taken in 1943. You might be able to guess that the mountains in the distance are in California, which they are — the Sierra Nevada).

Seeing those buildings in the background, if you know California or US history during WWII, might enable you to fill in the rest of the story: this was taken at the Manzanar Relocation Center in the Owens Valley, a euphemistic name for the Japanese-American prison camp located there from 1942-1945. As the Wikipedia article on Manzanar says:

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the Secretary of War to designate military commanders to prescribe military areas and to exclude “any and all persons” from such areas. The order also authorized the construction of “relocation centers” to house those who were to be excluded. This order resulted in the forced relocation of over 120,000 Japanese Americans—two-thirds of them were native-born American citizens, the rest were prevented by federal law from becoming citizens. Over 110,000 of those were imprisoned in the ten American concentration camps.

Some 11,000 were held at Manzanar. The photo above doesn’t say anything about the weather in the Owens Valley, which varied between scorching summers and deadly-cold winters, nor much about the internees’ lives which, suffice to say, weren’t as idyllic as the photo.

Thanks to the Shorpy photoblog, which posted “At Bat: 1943″ today.

You know, I love San Francisco — heck, I was born just north of there — so I wish no ill will on that great city.

But if it’s not too much to ask, an extremely localized earthquake right now would be really cool, causing the entire AT&T Park to slide into McCovey Cove.

Why right this second?

Mostly, the doubly concentrated evil of Yankees at Giants.

I haven’t seen a mention about this in the Dodger news, but the Tampa Tribune lets us know that the Saturday Dodgers/Devil Rays game will feature both teams in retro uniforms.

The Rays will take on the look of the old St. Petersburg Saints on Turn Back the Clock Night at Tropicana Field. The visiting Los Angeles Dodgers will pay homage to their roots by wearing blue and gray throwbacks to the Brooklyn era.

Their roots and mine.

The reporter, Bob Bellone, grew up in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn (“corner of Church and Nostrand avenues”). That wouldn’t have been too far away from Ebbets. And in fact, as Bellone reminisces:

We heard the most joyful noises while sitting on the roof on summer days and nights – those of fellow Dodgers fans cheering on our flanneled heroes up Bedford Avenue at Ebbets Field. The rest of us religiously followed the action through the radio calls of young broadcaster Vin Scully.

Bob shares other memories, some bittersweet, about the Boys in Blue — from the article, if I’m reading it correctly, his family moved to Long Island (and the Dodgers moved to LA) before he could see them play in person.

Like many brokenhearted Dodger fans in New York, he adopted the Mets when they appeared. Some former Brooklyn players eventually wound up with the Mets…

…but all I could do was imagine being among the adoring crowds who witnessed [the Dodgers'] glory years.

My father helped by sharing tales of his peering through knot holes and other openings in the wooden fences of Ebbets Field when he didn’t have the nickel required to join Hilda Chester – the cowbell-ringing First Lady of Flatbush – in the bleachers.

Tonight at 7:10, more than a half-century late, I’ll finally see players wearing Brooklyn in blue script across their chests.

And that, no matter what your favorite team, is a special thing.

Today’s lineup:

1. Furcal, SS
2. Pierre, CF
3. Martin, C (Age: 24)
4. Kent, 2B
5. Gonzo, DH
6. Loney, 1B (Age: 23)
7. Kemp, RF (Age: 22)
8. Ethier, LF (Age: 25)
9. Abreu, 3B (Age: 22)