First Piazza, now Lo Duca !?!?

Is there a rule that says that once the Dodgers get a great catcher who has matured with the team and has dreamed of playing for the club, and that all the fans know and love that he gets traded away to the Marlins?

Dodgers, Marlins Make Six-Player Trade


The Dodgers on Friday sent three key players, catcher Paul Lo Duca, reliever Guillermo Mota and right fielder Juan Encarnacion, to the Florida Marlins for pitcher Brad Penny and first baseman Hee Seop Choi in a six-player trade that could trigger two more deals that would net Arizona ace Randy Johnson Ñ considered the best pitcher in baseball Ñ and outfielder Steve Finley before today’s 1 p.m. trade deadline.

No, you don’t trade Lo Duca for Randy Johnson. No way. This team is working on its own and Lo Duca is a big part of that.

Packing their bags Friday afternoon in Petco Park were Lo Duca, a popular All-Star catcher who was considered the heart and soul of the team for several years, Mota, one of baseball’s premier set-up men in front of closer Eric Gagne, and Encarnacion, who signed with the Dodgers last winter.

“It was a little surprising, just because we were playing so well,” said Lo Duca, who broke down and cried during an interview. “I could understand it if we were tailing off a little bit, but we hadn’t been. …

“This team has a chance to go a long way. We have fallen short in the past, and the fans of L.A. were really excited this year to maybe make it to the playoffs, so it makes it difficult. I felt like I was a decent part of what’s been going on. So it makes it a little tougher.”

Lo Duca, who is batting .301 with 10 homers and 49 RBIs and has spent all 12 of his professional years in the Dodger organization, was a favorite among fans and teammates.

All I can say is the Dodgers better at least get to the NLCS — they haven’t won a playoff game since 1988.

U.S. Tweaks Language of Sudan Resolution at U.N.

While the most vocal objections to the resolution’s emphasis on sanctions had come from Algeria, China and Pakistan, there exist major differences over what course of action to take even within the European Union. France’s foreign minister, Michel Barnier, said Tuesday that the African Union should be permitted to solve the problem without outside involvement, while Germany has favored tough action from the international community and British Prime Minister Tony Blair went so far last week as suggesting sending troops.

The New York Times, July 29 2004

Why the hell are we dragging our feed on Sudan? How many more villages have to be razed? How many more women have to be raped? How many more men have to die?

The only explanation that I can see is that China is Sudan’s biggest trading partner, but what about these other guys?

The African Union? You’ve got to be shitting me. What have they done — ever?

Edwards/Obama in 2012?

My parents want to see me more before I head east, and so (sorry Maria!) I’m flying down back to LA on Friday night, returning Tuesday and will see most of you guys on Thursday!

I introduced Rachel to boogie boarding yesterday. She seemed to take to the waves pretty well.

Before Rachel and I got on the road to head northward, I finally sold my laptop. So for $100 difference (with a rebate), I’m getting something similar to Boyk’s iBook. 6 hrs of battery life, a bigger screen, and a 66 MHz speed boost. But in order to sell this, I went through the worst craigslist experience ever.

So I posted my AlBook on craigslist LA and SF both. I got an offer from this dude from Topanga. We exchanged a few emails and finally he called me this morning to ask me about it — asking why he should buy it when he could get something better for a few hundred dollars more, and I said that he’d get Bluetooth, and audio in and a few other things. But I also pointed out that it would be about $100 more than the list price because of sales tax. “Oh — Apple is a California company?”

Red flag number one.

“Well, forget about it, then. Go sell it to someone else.”

So close to an hour later, we were all ready to go, and I got a call.

“Hi Cyrus, this is [redacted]. I changed my mind. I’d like to buy it.”
“Ok, good thing you caught me. I was just about to leave.”
“Well, can you come down to Santa Monica?”
“Not really. I have my car, and I could get there, but I have all my stuff set up — could you just come meet me here in Topanga?”
“Alright fine.”

So we got underway. We drove up the 405, up the 101, into Topanga from Woodland Hills and after driving up and down some of the canyonside, we finally found him. He was a hippy, house-sitting for someone else. The house was adorned in Buddhist stuff, a marijuana pipe (that Rachel pointed out to me later), a stack of shoes outside the door, sparse furniture, a futon, and several djembŽs (West African drums). I showed him the computer, created an account for him, deleted my own stuff. All was going smoothly. He had me sign a contract — and then, as I was asking for the money, he said:

“Oh, I told you that I had to go to the bank.”
“No you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did. Well I have to go over the hill (10-15 drive away) to the bank to get the money — or I could get you a check, but . . .”
[annoyed] “Ok, but you didn’t say that.”

He said he was from Arkansas, and moved to Venice Beach to get into the movie business. He only likes Topanga and Venice in LA. As we pulled out, reaching Topanga Canyon Blvd., he points to a delapidated school bus parked on the shoulder.

“That’s my bus. I make candles in there. I could have taken it, but I try to drive it as little as possible.”

It also was revealed that there were problems with the brakes.

We got to the bank, he withdrew $900 in 20s, and gave them to me. Rachel, understandably, was seething at me. I got him back in the car, drove him back over the hill while Rachel waited for me, trying to say as little as possible and trying to go safely, as quickly as possible. He tipped me $20 (which I gave to Rachel) “for your shuttle fees.”

*sighs*

I have a roommate

So now I have a roommate for real: Ian Lague, of Oregon. I met him at the Columbia new student orientation. He’s cool.

Greetings from SoCal

Rachel and I are in SM until Wednesday. We’re going boogie boarding tomorrow. She bought one on Craigslist LA tonight from some guy we met at a Topanga Blvd Starbucks for $5. Also hit up Diddy Reise on the way home. Most excellent.

LA Shortcuts

Even though I don’t live in LA anymore, Nick posted some great tips from a courier service on how to beat LA traffic. I’ll be in LA Sunday through Wednesday next week. I leave for the Big Apple in 13 days. Jeez.

Today’s my last day of work at B2. It’s been pretty good, and I’m glad that I’ll get to do some work freelancing after I leave.

Anyone up for heading to Roscoe’s in Jack London Square late tonight or tomorrow night? And/or seeing Bourne Supremacy?