MLB Top Prospects

February 15, 2020

While I favor LAD farmhands and follow them closely, I am a fan of MiLB baseball period. I scour through the top publications to see what prospects the Dodgers might have some interest in, or in my opinion should have interest in. The top three baseball publications have all reported their top 100 prospects and the Dodgers are prominent in all three. Their least representative publication is MLB Pipeline (MLB)…

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The Big Blue Wrecking Crew

February 11, 2020

With the addition of Mookie Betts and the maturation of other YOUNG players, I think it may be time to bring back that moniker. The name “Big Blue Wrecking Crew” has been utilized any number of times throughout Los Angeles Dodger history, even on a LP Album featuring Steve Yeager, Rick Monday Jay Johnstone, and Jerry Reuss. But, it has generally been applied to the group of Dodgers who bashed…

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Some Pre-Spring Training Random Thoughts

February 2, 2020

A short Super Bowl Sunday, busy at work weekend, random thoughts post.  •      My last post was replaced by the tragic news of the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and the 7 others who lost their lives in the crash of the helicopter in Calabasas, California •      This is written on Saturday morning, and I wouldn’t mind at all if this post is replaced by one, announcing the happy…

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The Best Pitching Staff in Baseball

February 1, 2020

Disclaimer: I am not saying that the LA Dodgers have the best pitching in MLB. However, the possibility exists that they COULD. They certainly have the quantity… the quality is in question by some. At the age of 28, he won the CY Young and the MVP with a 24-5 record and a 2.40 ERA. Over the next few years, here was his ERA: Age 29 – 2.64 ERA Age…

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What is Driveline?

January 20, 2020

When I coached youth baseball and at the high school level, travel baseball and specialized training weren’t as readily available as is it is today.   We had materials and videos written by Tom House, including the “Winning Pitcher”, “Power Baseball”(written with Coop De Renne)  and of course Nolan Ryan’s “Pitcher’s Bible”.   For hitters, you had Charlie Lau’s “The Art of Hitting .300″ and“A Hitting Clinic: The Walt Hriniak Way”.  Of…

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“The Dodgers Only Care About Winning the NL West”

January 17, 2020

Every time I hear that it makes me wonder if the person who said it was repeatedly dropped on their head as a child. What other possible explanation could there be? Maybe insanity? Let’s just say that the fans who say that Guggenheim & Company are just “greedy bastards” – only concerned with profits are right. That’s all the more reason the greedy bastards would want to win. What? Why?…

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The Mookie and Price Dilemma

January 6, 2020

I know that many are afraid of a Betts/Price trade because of the financial concerns for David Price, and I can understand that.  So I went back and looked at the Nick Punto trade (I know Mark’s favorite subject); a previous time when the Dodgers assumed a huge financial obligation for a perceived benefit.  I pulled the below article: https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2018/3/29/17104518/gonzalez-beckett-crawford-red-sox-dodgers-trade-retrospective One of the lines that caught my eye was when…

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11 WINS TO GO!!!

September 30, 2019

Most often when I attempt to communicate the concept of time with my younger grandchildren, I talk in terms of “sleeps.”   “Three more sleeps and I’ll be there, or 2 more sleeps and I go home.”    We’re at that stage of the season, where we can communicate similarly about the Dodgers.   11 more wins, and we enjoy the parade!! Last year, we were flat out overmatched by the Red Sox. …

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A Case For Ross Stripling

August 18, 2019

Let me preface this by unequivocally stipulating that I believe that Dustin May has a much higher ceiling than does Ross Stripling. Dustin May has had a great start, but has not yet faced any good offensive teams to establish his 2019 bona fides. May is a career starting pitcher and a sudden move to the bullpen could prove to be as problematic as it was for Walker Buehler. I…

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Anal About Analytics

May 17, 2019

Sometimes the people or players who help you get to a certain place or benchmark are not the people or players who can take you to the next level. I have witnessed this firsthand as US Water Systems has grown from 22 employees two years ago to almost 50 today. Some of the people who helped get me to certain places aren’t capable, or willing to go to the next…

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