I was not happy with the use of Troncoso today. It seems like he works almost everyday.

When he came into the game the Dodgers were down two runs, and he had pitched the night before. Weaver, Milton and even Claudio Vargas (none of whom appeared the night before) were, to the best of my knowledge, all available.

At the very least, after finishing up for Belisario in the 7th, Troncoso should NOT have been asked to come out for the 8th.

I have an interest in her progress on the diamond in the future. Some years ago, I coached in the Air Force, the best softball players (from all around the world) on the AF team, to the Interservice (AF, Army, Navy, etc.) annual championship. Have a gold metal hanging on my wall. And one year I took a combined team of the best in the AF, Army, and Navy to the Nation Championship.

Let me tell you, in some practice games, they beat some men’s teams. This team was not a women’s team — but a real players team. All of them were stars.

And now, I believe that some lucky women get scholarships to college if they are good enough.

Blessing on you, your wife, and family.

I too missed the game, at least the telecast. As always, I was blacked out of the big FOX game on both Extra Innings and MLB.TV (where I at least was able to get the radio broadcast). I hate when the Dodgers play day games on Saturday (unless it’s against an eastern team appearing on FOX in NY).

Regarding Ethier hitting in front of Manny. If memory serves me correct, Andre was hitting over .300 when Manny was suspended, and had been hitting 4th behind Manny prior to that.

That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to see him hitting 3rd in front of Manny. However, I also recall that Matt Kemp hit .342 in 2007, and spent a lot of time hitting 3rd. Also, having Kemp’s speed near the top of the order is a definite plus. Knowing that Manny is behind him could make Kemp a more patient hitter, and of course, there would be all those fastballs asking to be hammered. Who knows, he might get so good that pitchers would pitch around him to get to Manny.

I don’t think Furcal’s lack of hitting has anything to do with him hitting 2nd. He wasn’t hitting earlier in the year when he was leading off prior to Manny’s suspension. In fact, when Pierre first replaced Manny, he didn’t hit at the top of the order.

Here’s a potential lineup with Kemp hitting third:

Furcal
Hudson
Kemp
Manny
Ethier
Martin (to break up the two lefthanded hitters)
Loney
Blake