http://www.baseballtoaster.com/ Baseball Toaster blogs en-us Wed, 4 Feb 2009 02:21:00 PST Wed, 4 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0800 support2007@baseballtoaster.com 60 http://catfishstew.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1182040.html Ken Arneson confronts his white whale in the final blog entry on BaseballToaster.com. "Load the harpoons, gentlemen, it is showdown time. Today, my adventure as a baseball blogger ends. I'm going down, and I'm taking Moby Dick with me." http://catfishstew.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1182040.html Wed, 4 Feb 2009 02:21:00 PST http://fairpole.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204218.html If you've been paying attention lately, you've noticed that Baseball Toaster has had a bunch of its knobs and switches and dials and wires fall off in recent months. Today, with the largest part of our engine leaving to join the Los Angeles Times, we are officially sending the Toaster to the scrap heap. http://fairpole.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204218.html Mon, 2 Feb 2009 20:56:00 PST http://cubtown.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1205053.html It hurts, any time you lose something you care about, something that's been a part of your life for years. It hurts, any time you watch as a community you love slowly fades away, as much by your own doing as anyone else's. You flog yourself with notes of things unwritten, things unsaid, with thoughts of what could have come to pass, with dreams of success left unfulfilled, and it hurts even more. But such is the way of the world. http://cubtown.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1205053.html Mon, 2 Feb 2009 20:55:00 PST http://humbug.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1205024.html Because I'm retainingScott Boras I'll hold out, and not join the chorus With new homes online. If you want me tosign, Bid a mil and a golden thesaurus. http://humbug.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1205024.html Mon, 2 Feb 2009 20:45:00 PST http://thejuice.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204605.html (Go to nsfwsports.com if you want to find Scott's new blog site.) http://thejuice.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204605.html Mon, 2 Feb 2009 20:11:00 PST http://cubtown.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204904.html I'm not sure what to say today. This being over feels momentous, and pedestrian at the same time, because while I've been here seemingly forever, I've barely shown my shadow since mid-season 2006. The truth is, this day has been a long time coming, at least for me, and the fact that it has become official is merely ceremony: I'm retired from blogging, and have been for months, if not years. At the very least I need to thank some people: Christian, for bringing me on board way back when; Alex, for being my partner when Cub Town first was born; Phil, for propping this beast up while I did everything in my power to passive-aggressively kill it; all my Toaster-mates for being brilliant partners and just flat-out good people; and Ken, for being the most gracious of hosts, for putting his heart and soul into making this joint purr like a kitten, and for doing all the remarkably pain-in-the-ass stuff that none of us would ever want to deal with, even if we had the knowledge-base to handle it. Finally, of course, I'd like to thank anyone who ever stopped by here to read what we posted. We weren't always perfect, and we weren't always timely, but we hope we at least gave a smile and a place to share our mutual love of the game and our team. Now, since this is my last post, I'd like to share the favorite thing I ever wrote on The Toaster. Oddly, it wasn't on Cub Town, but came from a round of Humbugardy that we played during the 05-06 offseason. We were all instructed to write the first paragraph of a novel entitled 'Tim Salmon in America,' and I think my entry was the best thing I've done here, which I could choose to be depressed by, but won't. In any case, here it is, the opening paragraph to my version of 'Tim Salmon in America.' http://cubtown.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204904.html Mon, 2 Feb 2009 17:51:00 PST http://cardboardgods.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204775.html (Note: The following is my farewell to the disbanding Baseball Toaster; the ongoing travelogue-in-cardboard Somewhere I lost Connection will resume at the new location of Cardboard Gods.) A god stands in a moment of contemplative reflection. Shadows give way to sun as he readies to move into the center of attention, that bright stage he was born to command. Behind him, the faces in the crowd that will watch his every move have been blurred to something like Monet's lily pads, those hypnotic omens of the inevitable dusk into which we'llall dissolve, as if the card was meant to whisper that all names, even those of the greatest among us, will eventually unravel to silence. In fact, the whole card aches with transience: by the time it thrummed in the palms of the boys of America the superduperstar had moved on, traded to Baltimore, the regal joy of the cards blazing gold uniform a lie. The most magnificent team of the Cardboard God era became an empty golden shell for the remainder of my childhood. http://cardboardgods.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204775.html Mon, 2 Feb 2009 17:24:00 PST http://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1201017.html All good things come to an end. So too is this blog. You can judge for yourself whether or not the second sentence is a subset of the first. http://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1201017.html Mon, 2 Feb 2009 17:07:00 PST http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1203229.html Dodger Thoughts is moving. http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1203229.html Mon, 2 Feb 2009 16:45:00 PST http://catfishstew.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204907.html I've told Wuertz jokes than this one. Fear not, there's only one blog post left on Catfish Stew. http://catfishstew.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204907.html Mon, 2 Feb 2009 16:44:00 PST http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204698.html ESPN.com writer and Dodger Thoughts bonne amie Molly Knight showed Yankee pitcher Joba Chamberlain who's boss. http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204698.html Mon, 2 Feb 2009 11:20:00 PST http://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204701.html The closing scenes from my favorite film: http://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204701.html Mon, 2 Feb 2009 11:10:00 PST http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204528.html You don't have to go home, and you can stay here. http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204528.html Sun, 1 Feb 2009 10:49:52 PST http://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204489.html I have little to say on the Super Bowl, except that since Slate writer Charles Pierce described the Arizona Cardinals appearance in the Super Bowl as at best a fluke and, at worst, a disgrace, I now feel obligated to root for Arizona out of pure spite for Slate. http://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204489.html Sun, 1 Feb 2009 01:26:36 PST http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204312.html For those who haven't heard, Andrew Lambo has moved to the top of the Baseball America Dodger prospect list. In 2008, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound 20-year-old outfielder from Newbury Park followed an .807 OPS for Class A Great Lakes by going 14 for 26 with three homers for Jacksonville. http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204312.html Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:48:00 PST http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204263.html Spurred on by a joke by Dodger Thoughts commenter Jim Hitchcock, fellow commenter Humma Kavula had a nifty idea today. http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204263.html Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:54:00 PST http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204083.html While it's not true that Andre Ethier's arbitration case will be settled in the Showcase Showdown, the Dodgers' winter caravan will take the team to a taping of The Price Is Right on Wednesday. A full schedule of the week of community events can be found here. http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1204083.html Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:56:00 PST http://cardboardgods.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1203987.html Somewhere I Lost Connection (continued from Larry Hardy) http://cardboardgods.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1203987.html Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:00:00 PST http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1203930.html The Dodgers' starting catcher will have "J. Martin" on the back of his jersey this season, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Russell Nathan Jeanson Coltrane Martin is doing so to honor his mother, whose maiden name is Jeanson. http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1203930.html Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:00:00 PST http://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1203916.html The upcoming World Baseball Classic has announced six rules changes for the tournament starting on March 5. http://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1203916.html Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:24:01 PST