THT - James Loney, Adam Dunn and the Black Hole of a season
I think the author's proposal that the financially insecure Dodgers sign Adam Dunn to play 1B this offseason and ship out James Loney for an OF is a longshot at best. But as long as we're talking about longshots, how about a trade built around Matt Kemp for Yonder Alonso (I'm sure we'd have to throw in one of the young SPs in as well)? Alonso would give LA a cheap, productive 1B. The Dodgers "get rid of" problem child Kemp, who's coming off a down year of 250/310/436 but hit 303/351/483 from 2007-2009 and still has two years before free agency. Slide him over to LF, and you have a fly-catching, dinger-hitting and base-swiping OF of Kemp/Stubbs/Bruce. Yes please.
More flip-flopping out West as Giants win, Padres lose
Juan Uribe tucked two home runs, including a grand slam, and six RBIs into a nine-run second inning that awakened the Giants' sleepy offense and propelled them to a 13-0 pasting of the Cubs on Thursday as they returned to first place in the NL West.
- San Diego lost 3-1 in LA. Mat Latos took the hard luck loss, which means we'll be skipping him this series.
- Colorado remains 3.5 games out of the lead after losing last night in Arizona. They'll square off against the Giants this weekend in what will be a critical if not the deciding series of the year for them.
TweetUp Night, Tuesday 9/28
There will be a special section for the Twitterati (sec. 145) with discounted seats. Since celebrity tweeters will be on hand, I'm assuming TheVole is being flown in. HT to Red Hot Mama.
Fangraphs - Votto’s SwStr% vs. Fastballs and Sliders
Some Predator-like graphs depict how often Joey Votto swings at fastballs and sliders, with some comparisons to the Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki. Votto swings (and misses) more than Tulo, which is interesting because he also walks more. Maybe he fouls off more pitches, I don't know. I do know that nobody has done more damage on contact than Joey Votto this year.
Mark Sheldon - Gomes has taken tough road to success
This was linked in the comments yesterday, but if you didn't read this, check it out. Pretty hard not to root for Jonny Gomes. There were times in his youth that Gomes, his mother Michelle and older brother Joey, lived literally hand-to-mouth. Occasionally homeless, the Gomes family would sometimes have to spend the night in a shelter. "It's two totally different aspects of life -- a hard time in baseball vs. the hard time in life," Gomes said. "The hard time in life is you don't know where your next meal is going to be."
The Real McCoy - Your limericks about the Reds
I'm sure some of the wordsmiths here can fashion a limerick, haiku, or some other ... word thingie as good as these.
RedsMinorLeagues.com - Post Season Awards
Doug Gray hands out the virtual hardware for Reds minor leaguers. Jordan Hotchkiss had a better year than I realized.
San Diego Entertainer - Mayor Sanders urges San Diegans to support Padres
"[W]hen you think about it, the 2010 San Diego Padres are a perfect embodiment of this city’s character. They’re tough. They relish the role of underdog. They play the game with passion and creativity." All traits unique to San Diego. HT to the Fay.
Ichiro ties record with 10th 200-hit season
Ichiro Suzuki stroked a fifth-inning single to center to collect his 200th hit Thursday, extending his own record with his 10th straight season reaching the milestone. He set the record last year, passing Wee Willie Keeler. Ichiro also tied the record for 200-hit seasons in a career, with 10, which he now shares with Pete Rose.