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March 08, 2007
Dodgers: Night game tonight
Woohoo!!!! Finally caught up on some sleep, got up, ran some errands, had a nice, relaxing lunch and rolled into work around 2. Wouldn't want to do this every night, but it's nice once in a while. They're having a postgame fireworks display after tonight's game with the Marlins, and they are claiming it's the first postgame fireworks ever for a major-league spring training game at Holman Stadium. What I'm discovering is that Vero Beach isn't that bad when you're not sleep-deprived and cranky. They held Clem Labine's funeral here today. I didn't attend, but our columnist Kevin Modesti, who is in town for the week, did, so he might be posting about it. No Dodger news so far, but the day (night) is young, so keep checking. Peace.
Posted by Tony Jackson at March 8, 2007 11:15 AM
Comments
Tony & All-
What are your thoughts of Nomar @ 3B & Loney @ 1B. I know Grady mentioned it ... has Nomar taken balls @ 3B or gotten any practice at all in at that position?
If Betemit/La Roche don't seize that position, I think James Loney needs to be given a crack @ starting @ 1B.
Thoughts?
Posted by: Nick at March 8, 2007 11:27 AM
Great question -- I completely agree. Do you think Nomar's body could possibly hold up playing a defensively intense position such as third for an entire season?
Also, I think it comes down to the following question: Does getting Loney's bat into the lineup instead of Betemit/LaRoche have more value than the additional errors Nomar would most likely commit trying to play third?
Posted by: Andy at March 8, 2007 01:25 PM
I think that moving Nomar to 3rd marginally increases his chances of injury. However, if La Roche and Betemit continue to struggle and Loney is hitting .400 it's almost necessary.
Also, how much worse would Nomar's defense be than either Betemit or La Roche. All three of them are average gloves ... I think you have to choose based on maximizing offensive production.
Have you personally witnessed Nomar preparing in ANY way for 3B?
Hopefully Betemit comes and renders this point moot, but it's good to consider the opposite in case it does become reality.
Posted by: Nick at March 8, 2007 01:59 PM
No, haven't seen Nomar taking any grounders at third all spring. My guess is they won't do this at all unless they commit totally to it, and I'm not sure they're even thinking about it yet. But it could become an issue in another week or two if Betemit continues to struggle.
Posted by: tony jackson at March 8, 2007 06:39 PM