Holy Toledo! Dynamo at an advantage? (and it's about time for some GOOD news)

Continuing the theme here on Nutmegged for my half-baked theory that past performances in front of a particular ref have a predictive value on upcoming games, let's take a look at Baldomero Toledo, tomorrow night's main guy in the Dynamo vs. KC Wizards clash.

(Self-deprecating note No. 1: Take this with more than one grain of salt, for, while this worked for me three times in 2007, this year I'm 0-1 after Michael Kennedy failed me in the Revs game. Being out of town last week, I took a pass on doing this with the FCD game.)

Now that CONCACAF play is over until Champions League begins later this year, it's time to focus exclusively on MLS and finally getting some serious results. So it's nice that Baldomero will be trolling the field Saturday night. This will be the first time Sr. Toledo will see either team this year.

(S-d note No. 2: Normally MLS does this for me in the game notes, but they did not this time, so I looked back and did my own research, limiting myself to only the last two years for obvious Dynamo and patience-trying reasons.)

OK, no more notes, over the past two years Dynamo are 2-1-4 with Toledo out on the field. The last time they made his acquaintance was in the thrilling 4-1 extra time win over the candystripers in the Western Conference semis in November. Over those seven games, Toledo has handed out 17 yellows and no walking papers to Men in Orange, while also passing out 17 yellows and showing the door to four of their opponents (including two in the FCD game, one to Alvarez for kicking Brad Davis in the nuts and another to Drew Moor for, well, just being Drew Moor is enough, now isn't it?).

Kansas City, meanwhile, 2-3-0 with Toledo on the field over the last two years. Baldo issued 12 yellows and one red to Wizards' opponents during that time, while showing yellow to eight Wiz and kicking out two in one game (Jimmy Conrad and Davy Arnaud), a 1-0 loss to Galaxy last September, the last time he made the Wiz' acquaintance.

Interestingly enough, in the 12 games Toledo has worked involving these two games in the last two years, he has not worked games involving both of them at one time and in only one game (a 1-0 Wiz loss to DCU June 24, 2006), did he not show at least yellow to both teams as DCU got off unscathed that day.

So make of this what you will, but personally, I see this as an advantage for Dynamo, and with Eddie Robinson still out for this game, as well as probably Stuart Holden, Craig Waibel and maybe even Pat Onstad (I'm trying not to think about that one), I think we'll take whatever we can get!

And just to get everyone in the mood, here's the last time we saw Toledo. It just warms the heart.