We Live Up to Our Name

It was almost sixteen years ago that I started LA DODGER TALK and up until a year ago, when I took a year off, it has been pretty much part of my life.  When I originally started I had some rules which gradually eroded over the years.  I am not going to get into the details or blame anyone, because to solve a problem you have to recognize your share of responsibility because if you only blame others, you will never solve it.  As Dr. Wayne Dyer said:

“All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making another feel guilty about something by blaming him, but you won’t succeed in changing whatever it is about you that is making you unhappy. ”

Again, I am not going to re-hash the past, but I am going to go back to rules on this site.  I don’t have to look far to come up with rules that I like. Jon Weisman  of Dodger Thoughts had the right idea and I am stealing some of them from him.  He won’t mind!  In fact, he used to be a reader.  I can’t say if he still is or not.  As VP of Communication for Showtime, he has certainly moved up the food chain.  Here are his rules that I am adopting:

Thank You For Not …

  1. using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
  2. personally attacking other commenters
  3. baiting other commenters
  4. arguing for the sake of arguing
  5. discussing politics
  6. discussing religion
  7. using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
  8. making the same point over and over again
  9. claiming your opinion isn’t allowed when it’s just being disagreed with

This is the place to discuss Dodger baseball and other stuff that you might want to share about life, sports, etc.  I am a Duke basketball fan, a Colts football fan and a Pacers Pro basketball fan and I can’t guarantee I won’t bring something about that up on occasion.  ‘PAT McAFEE RETIRED?  IS THAT A JOKE?

Anyway, let’s talk Dodgers – It’s only 13 days until Spring Training!  Whoooooooo Hooooooo….

It’s up to you all to choose the topic today!

This article has 27 Comments

  1. The rules are fine. But it appears that some smart baseball people won’t be joining in here because of them. I agree with the rules, but the fun of these sites is to engage in baseball talk, and if some other stuff is thrown in along the way, we should be able to ignore it and get to the baseball. I am able to ignore the stuff I don’t want to read and get to the baseball jewels that are sometimes hidden there. I have an advantage that I don’t know any of the people commenting, so the personal stuff to me is irrelevant. I think the personal needling/personality hits are boring and don’t add anything to any site. But a little non baseball junk is ok with me. It keeps it fun.

    1. Bobbie17, I almost disagreed with you until I looked up the definition of needling (I never claimed being smart) and thus we’re on the same page as the keeping it fun part. Knowing you’re surrounded up there in the middle of the enemy’s stockade brings a chuckle sometimes when you’ve expressed frustrations. But there it is, “almost disagreed” shows it’s easy to take things wrongly but without differences it would be boring in any community. As far as talking about baseball, well, for right now I’ve got nothing. I’m just trying to be part of all this.

      1. I am not going to be super strict. I am sometimes sarcastic. It’s just that religion and politics are off limits. Most of the vitriol on blogs I have seen comes from those two things AND making the same point over and over again AND arguing for the sake of arguing. Throw those four things out and we have bliss.

        Again, you can strongly disagree with someone without being disagreeable. Making the same point over and over would be (as an example) saying that FAZ is to blame every time something goes wrong or different to your way of thinking. “Carlos Frias was DFA’ed – that’s stupid.” Really? You could say “I think that they made a mistake in DFAing Frias.” Catch my drift?

        1. I catch your drift. And after finding the true meaning of needling I don’t think I ever stepped too far out of bounds during our friendship. I always keep in mind I consider all here as friends and I hope that is vice-versa as well. Oops! There I go repeating! Mark, your friendship to all has long been proven as this site is really a gift that you pay all the expenses. Thank you for that and much more.

          1. Let’s just be ourselves – I’m sure we will disagree – no apologize for that. You are always welcome.

  2. Any time you follow the advice of Jon Weisman you’re doing well and way ahead in the game. I always enjoy reading your blog Mark, however, I think you would have to agree, he was the Vin Scully of Dodger bloggers.

  3. So, from what I read, it appears that the Twins wanted JDL, Alvarez and Calhoun and the Dodgers may have offered JDL and Calhoun, but not Alvarez. I would have done that deal and evidently the Dodgers would have too, but I am OK with Logan Forsythe. I remain skeptical that Calhoun will every play 2B for the Dodgers. I think he still gets traded, maybe in a package with some vets.

  4. Mark, to your prediction a couple posts back about Grandal hitting 40 homers. I don’t see that happening for the following reasons: 1) He’s a catcher and won’t play enough games even if he DH’s every game in an AL park that he otherwise may have been rested, 2) He hits too far down in the order, 3) While he has a good OBP he doesn’t spoil pitches consistently to get the pitcher to make a mistake 4) if I remember correctly his home run ratio is a lot lower batting right handed.

    1. Jimbo, The reason I said that was because this was the first offseason he has been healthy and not rehabbing an injury. He’s also on a vegetarian diet and is in the best shape of his life. He was in 115 games in 2015 and 126 in 2016. I look for him to be in about 145 this year. With more AB’s he will hit more HR. With good health he will hit more HR. He’s entering his prime years, so I think he will hit more HR and by the way, he claims he has more power RH than LH, so I am raising the bar. Maybe he only hits 35, but when the Dodgers traded for him, I predicted he would hit 25 HR and he has done that. I took a lot of flack when I said that, so I expect it now too. I respect your opinion. Time will tell who is right, but contrary to what some people think, I have no problems with anyone disagreeing with me. I’m not always right. The whole basis of a blog is to agree or disagree.

      1. No flack. Overall, I liked and understood the trade. To me Kemp is valuable only in the AL where he can DH.

  5. I could make an argument for this lineup:

    1. Forsythe 2B
    2. Puig/Ethier RF
    3. Seager SS
    4. Grandal C
    5. Turner 3B
    6. Gonzo 1B
    7. Pederson CF
    8. Toles/SVS LF

    If Grandal is healthy and hits between Seager and Turner, he could be a devastating Cleanup hitter. Sometimes hitter become better because of who hits in front and in back of them.

  6. I think Grandal is just hitting his stride as an MLB player. If he stays healthy and keeps learning his craft, he could be an all star. Having consistent pitchers would help his resume. I like pitchers who are easy to catch, instead of having to jump all over to block balls. Our top 3 starters seem to be easy to catch. The others? I still think Urias is all over the place, but hopefully he will become more of a control sort of guy.

  7. I just heard that Sergio Romo may be coming to the Dodgers. If so, it’s Bye, Bye Joey Blanton!

  8. HI MARK!!! IT IS SO GOOD TO HAVE DODGER TALK BACK. IT REALLY MAKES MY DAY WHENI I SEE YOUR. POSTS. THIS HAS BEEN A BAD HEAR PHYSICALLY FOR ME. BJT, LATELY I HAVE BEEN FEELING BETTER. THE DODGERS CAME CLOSE LAST YEAR, BUT I THINK THIS IS THE YEAR. YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY MARK. JUST WANTED TO SAY BY NO MEANS AM I AN EXPERT. I JUST LOVE MY DODGERS. EXCUSE MY ALL CAPS BUT COMPUTER. NOT WORKING. LOOK OUT FOR 2NAMES. THIS YEAR. JULIO URIAS AND CODY BELLINGER. THEY WILL LEAD US TO THE PROMISED LAND

    1. Dino,
      I have wondered about you. I am glad that you are feeling better. Godspeed.
      I know Urias will be good this year and I am hoping Bellinger gets the chance.

  9. Man I hope not! The thought of Sergio Romo on the Dodgers makes me want to vomit. I’ve hated the mere sight of the guy while he was on the Giants. It would take awhile to get used to seeing his sorry mug in Dodger Blue. Then again, if he struck out Posey with the bases loaded, I might cut him some slack.

  10. Romo only pitched 30 innings last year and gave up 5 HR. His best days are behind him. No thank you.

  11. I am pretty cynical about relievers. You never know what you will get. They have on years and off years. I would be willing to give him a chance. I also think that Hatcher or Baez might also be lights-out this year. It’s a fine line between success and failure but both have plus stuff.

    1. His fastball velocity is averaging 86-87 MPH. He throws a lot of slider and hung a lot of them last year. He hasn’t been elite for 3 years.

  12. Yeah, telling Joey that they have to make a decision so he has to make a decision. I think Joe wants 2 years but I doubt the Dodgers will give it.

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