The LA Dodgers as a whole were a pretty subdued group, save the rookies and AJ Pollock, as they celebrated their 7th consecutive NL West Championship. AJ Pollock could only watch the last six. He was part of this one. The rest of the team was subdued because they have been here before… several times and they know that winning the NL West is just another step in their quest for a Championship.
Never underestimate what 25 human beings can accomplish when they are hungry, have been denied in the past and are truly a Band of Brothers who are all singing out of the same hymnbook. It’s just September 11th and the Dodgers now have 94 wins, 4 more than Atlanta and 1 les than NY and Houston.
Last year, the Dodgers won 92 games. With 16 games left in the season, the Dodgers will win at least 102 games…. if they play .500 ball. I think it will be more like 104 or 105 games, but that’s not important. They know what is important. The next step is the NLDS and the step after that is the NLCS. None of this matters, if they don’t execute those next steps. It’s not going to be easy. The Braves, Nationals, and D-Bags are all tired of seeing the Dodgers win and they will be after them with a vengeance!
Say what you will about Dave Roberts: he is the “glue” that brought this tem together and holds it together. Bill Plaschke can write some really good or really dumb stuff, but today he was very good in The LA Times:
The last time the Dodgers failed to win a National League West championship, the opening-day owner was Frank McCourt.
The last time the Dodgers didn’t paint a clubhouse with champagne in September, the opening-day infield was James Loney, Mark Ellis, Dee Gordon and Juan Uribe.
The last time the Dodgers finished in second place, the opening-day winning pitcher was Josh Lindblom and the save was recorded by Javy Guerra.
The Dodgers have upgraded ownership and players. This team is so much better it’s not even in the same Zip Code. As he said: WOW. JUST WOW! He went on to say:
Dave Roberts, who took over the Dodgers in 2016, becomes the first manager to lead his team to division titles in his first four seasons as a big league manager.
Andrew Friedman, the baseball boss who built upon the strong foundation laid by Ned Colletti, is a neat five for five in division championships since coming to Los Angeles from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Plaschke demonstrated why this team is unique when he wrote this:
Before Tuesday, my favorite Dodgers moment this season was the June weekend featuring consecutive walk-off home runs by rookies Beaty, Verdugo and Smith.
But then Roberts topped that Tuesday night in the Baltimore visiting clubhouse when he asked his champagne-bottle-clutching team to delay the postgame celebration until somebody could face-time injured Verdugo and Max Muncy. Only when they appeared on raised smartphones was the champagne popped, at which point it was sprayed all over their video faces.
“No man left behind,” Roberts screamed, and that is how you win seven titles in a row.
Dave Roberts is the heart and soul and also the glue that binds this Band of Brothers together. They are all-in and ready for their October Reign. We are in for some kinda’ ride!
Photo Credit: (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
I was at Camden last night and it almost seemed a Dodger home game. A lot of Dodger fans in attendance.
In all my years of watching baseball I had never witnessed a game clinching game for the division crown. The team celebration was a bit subdued which is completely understandable.
Great year with 11 more wins needed in October. We got this!!
Awesome, im sure you enjoyed that experience. Hopefully we have 3 more of those.
Glad you enjoyed it Norcal – Camden Yards is on my list.
Was lucky enough to be at AT&T in 16 to see us Clinch.
No “Beat LA” that night.
Managed to get into the Team Hotel in Union Square for the celebratory party – that’s where the pic of me & CK was taken.
Had a great night mixing with the players – they were very friendly.
Good post today Mark – agree with all of it.
We are a very good team but we need people to stand up to be counted.
Very much looking forward the Post Season and the remaining games should be used to give our regular Starting Position Players as many ABs as possible, and our Starters as much rest as required while keeping sharp.
This is our time.
that’s great Norcal! What were you doing out there (besides the game?) I’m there 2-3x a year as my sister lives in the Baltimore area. Camden Yards is a a really nice park.
I went to the 2014 NL West clincher victory vs SF, but at home. Yes, if you’ve not been to one, it is kind of cool to “officially” clinch a postseason spot. Granted this year we’ve all expected this moment since March.
My daughter lives and works in DC and I came out for a father/daughter baseball trip. Camden is a beautiful park that is probably in the top five of all parks I’ve see (I’ve visited about 20 parks so far).
Going to tonight’s game as well with seats right behind the Dodger dugout. Dino Ebel threw a ball into the stands last night that was caught by a guy in the row in front of me.
Go Dodgers!
“I was at Camden last night and it almost seemed a Dodger home game. A lot of Dodger fans in attendance. ”
This seems to be almost universal. Any time I watch an away game on TV I am stunned by how much blue in the crowd, even in Boston. I was at one of the games in Tampa earlier in the year and I’m pretty sure there were more LAD fans than Rays fans at the game. I had a lady pull me aside after the game asking me where all these Dodger fans came from. I told her that the cost of living is so high in LA that we all have had to move to other parts of the country 🙂
Heartfelt congratulations to the L. A. Dodgers as they accomplished the outstanding feat of winning 7 division titles. Their season seemed hard at times and other times seemed easy but always a team effort with this goal in mind and beyond. More to come for this talented and classy group of young men and their manager, coaches and staff.
Why do the Dodgers since last year when they win the division they do not celebrate on the field anymore ? they did from 2013 to 2017 with players and staff running to the field. Now do they think they are too good to win NL West and does not deserve an on field celebration. I think one of the most exciting things in baseball is after a long season a team wins the Division. Is still a big accomplishment. Last year the same thing. I like on field celebrations. Like when Lasorda Celebrated and ran into the field. This is boring !!!!! They should do it for the fans and the kids watching and the players that have not won before.
I think they should do what they want… not what fans want.
It was subdued because they have a much bigger goal and I totally get it!
So why did they did it from 2013 to 2017 and has always been done by all teams ? Is not what fans want it just seems like because of fans they get paid the huge amounts they get paid and that is the exciting part of baseball. You celebrate after each stage and step until getting to world series. Just boring to watch this.
It does not have to be a “wild” celebration, I watched the video of the on-field celebration and saw genuine joy from the players and coaches. It was, IMO, an appropriate amount of celebration while being respectful of the Orioles, and recognizing that winning the NL West is not the pennant – that comes later. From what I watched in the clubhouse, the guys were much more enthusiastic.
They celebrated plenty hard in the locker room.
Yes but the stupid Direc TV Takes off the channel after game finished. I wanted to see guys running to the mound !
Very interesting look at the role and relevance of minor league team in light of new player development tactics
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/do-we-even-need-minor-league-baseball/amp/
Thanks for sharing this article Bluto! I’ve added it to my research file for the future posts on player development.
Roberts may have his moments with bullpen management, etc. but the reason Friedman hired him was what you pointed out Mark, making the guys wait until they got Muncy and Dugo on the phone to join in. He has built a tremendous feeling of “team” and that can’t be under emphasized when talking about their success.
Contrast that with the mess that is the Pittsburgh Pirates. Two of their relievers (including Vazquez) got into a fight last night and Crick is now out for the rest of the year. Crick is a total loose cannon. He’s the one who squared off with Puig when they had their brawl with the Reds a few weeks ago.
I have heard that Vasquez is somewhat of a prima donna and that several teammates have had issues with him. Jealousy? Maybe… Maybe not.
I’m not surprised with Crick. I think he’s overcompensating for the fact his first name is Kyle (see the George Carlin routine on Kyle).
https://youtu.be/iU-ESpiwV4o?t=312
note: the video clip has salty language and is NSFW, but I love Jomboy’s baseball breakdowns.
This is Crick’s second incident that’s come to public light this year. And that’s not counting his role in the Reds brawl. He and his 5 ERA have been complaining about preferential treatment For Vasquez all year. Kela has had multiple suspensions. The pitching coach got suspended after an incident with Crick. That locker room is a real shit show. Yet, Huntington thinks they’re contending next year.
Bet Vasquez is gutted he wasn’t traded to the Dodgers
It just doesn’t get old… Whether it was sneaking into the Coliseum to save my Dad a few bucks or watching the 9th last night on my computer…
Doc is a player’s manager and with AF at the helm we have seen great success… Now we need that last step!!! Go get em Blue…
Walker B. is a stud and I’m looking forward to watching his career with the Blue…
Carlos, I think they were just a little down because Puig wasn’t there with them to celebrate!
Yah, I thought the celebration was fine. Probably been a little different at home. My all-time favorite celebration was Charlie Culbertson hitting the homerun with two outs in extra innings to beat Colorado and win the NL West Title at Dodger Stadium. The tribute to Vin Scully and his words to the fans and song really made that moment special.
Then there was winning the title in Arizona and the celebration (after the stadium emptied) which concluded with the Dodgers jumping into the Arizona Holy Water and offending pretty much everybody in the state, including Senator John McCain. Loved it.
As good as this seven year run has been, just a sense, but 2020 could be even better. Sorry, I always have one foot in the present and the other in the future.
I am with you 100% (“one foot in the present and the other in the future”). Obviously nothing takes precedence over the 2019 post season, but a Dodgers fanatic cannot ignore that the 2020 team has the potential to be even better, and with Friedman in charge you know that the Dodgers will do the right things necessary to continue the “reign” ongoing — LONG LIVE THE KING!
I would like to applaud the efforts of Buehler who was magnificent along with Corey Seager and Gavin Lux whose home runs contributed immensely to the win. Caleb Ferguson was great too. Kudos to the whole team.
I’m one of those who says “get me a ring no matter what”. That’s why, as impressed as I am by a 7th straight trip to October, we need to cement this with a ring …
However, in all fairness, 7 times in a row is quite impressive, and this article from ESPN lays it out well:
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27590714/judge-dodgers-seven-straight-titles-not-world-series-crown-chasing
I am a LONG time Dodgers fan, and I love the regular season as it is the measure of a team’s talent, esprit de corps, depth, and commitment; IMO the regular season separates the really good teams from the pretenders, and wannabe’s. I also enjoy the post season (although I absolutely hate the wild card intrusion into the championship series), and want to see another World Championship banner flying over Dodger Stadium – BUT, IMO the short series playoffs do not always result in the 2 best teams making it to the World Series. Some complain that the Dodgers have failed in 2 straight World Series to bring home a championship, while I celebrate the uniqueness of making it to the World Series in consecutive years.
Totally agree with your comments SoCalBum. I also enjoy the journey getting them to the WS. Do I wish they would win a championship? Yes of course. I too detest the wildcard inclusion in the playoffs. Seems a money-making decision by MLB to me. On another question, not important, really just a curiosity on my part, but is Buehler’s glove larger than most pitchers on the team or is it just my old eyes?
Interesting question about Buehler’s glove size. It does appear to be large – perhaps to the maximum allowed under current rule 3.06 (“The glove shall not measure more than 13 inches from the tip of any one of the 4 fingers, through the ball pocket to the bottom edge or heel of glove. The glove shall not measure more than 73⁄4 inches wide, measured from the inside seam at base of first finger, along base of other fingers, to the outside edge of little finger edge of glove.”) I don’t think umpires pay much attention to glove sizes as most outfielders gloves appear to be much larger than the rule.
Thank you for the explanation SoCalBum. I did not know there was a rule for glove size. I realize the first baseman and catcher and others have different or bigger gloves but I just thought Buehler’s glove looked a little large. But, as I mentioned, not really important.
There will never be a Manager like Tom Lasorda and Walter Alston. Roberts has not been able to win in World Series and doing really dumb lineups and moves. Hope this time he has learned !!!
Tough crowd.
Tommy had 2 WS championships in 21 years of managing the Dodgers, Alston had 4 in 23 years.
How about giving Roberts a little breathing room. Two WS appearances in three years managing is pretty darn impressive.
Well hopefully he gets one this year. I really hope so but Astros look much better than in 2017 . Also Braves or Nats wont be easy !!
There’s nothing like playoff baseball in Dodger stadium even in the cheap seats! Can’t wait! Thx to all in the Dodger organization for making it happen once again!
In case some might have missed it, ESPN congratulated the Dodgers as only ESPN can.
https://disq.us/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fmarissarose_10%2Fstatus%2F1171622488909864960%3AqXLalxPri4VUPQIXZKEx1PjnBr0&cuid=4782392
No Man left behind except Garlick
Indeed! While Tyler White and his 22 at-bats has a great, bench seat to watch games.
Why is that SoCalBum in your opinion?
I believe that Garlick belongs on the bench at this time of the season as much as White, or Negrón, even if he doesn’t get an at bat. Garlick had 48 at bats for the Dodgers, slashing .250 / ,321 / .521 / .842 – much better than White.
He had some big AB’s when he first came up. He could be in AZ still working at the facilities, but it seemed like he should be involved. He did more than Lux did to get them there. I know they don’t want too crowded of a dugout, but seems like he should have been there. Tyler White takes up the space of two.
When I was putting my flag out this morning, the Dodgers clinching the NLW seemed insignificant at the time… May what happened this day in 2001 never be repeated…
OK I’ll get away from the podium…
Congrats to the Dodgers on a fantastically successful regular season. It would be great to win the next 16 and maybe get the HFA. Anyway good luck to the Dodgers on the 2nd season. The PS. After 7 div champs and 2 pennants only a WS champ will be considered by fans as a success. And who can blame the fans. Been a damn long time. GO DODGERS.
Lux is not starting today after the good game he had yesterday, plus you need to play him to find out what he has at the major league level. I hope what I read isn’t true and that is Roberts is only going to start Lux against righthanders.
Jedd Gyorko is starting at 3B today. I don’t know why he is still on the team. Freese is back and looks healthy for the playoffs, so that’s not it. Is Gyorko seriously being considered for a playoff roster spot? I mean look at all the talent we have for position players that have either been with the team since opening day or who have come up from the minor leagues and contributed.
Whose idea was it to hire Gyorko? He may have been great in the past, but not impressive to me now. Just my probably lonely opinion, but I think we have better choices for the roster. Sorry, do not mean to be too negative.
Gyorko may wind up playing a bigger role than we had hoped. Turner’s ankle is still bothering him and after x-rays were inconclusive, he’ll now have an MRI.
That may be why CT3 spent some time at 3rd yesterday because Muncy is not a good third baseman and there aren’t many other alternatives if Turner is out. Gyorko is one of those alternatives.
We’ve got better alternatives at 3B than Gyorko.
That’s why they pay you the big bucks.
Yo are smarter than Friedman.
I’m not smarter than Friedman. I never said I was.
Actually I like Friedman.
Mark, really?
From my grandstand seat, the Dodgers have no one to replace JT at 3B that will give any semblance of a real 3Bman. Defense should be a priority and 1B and 3B are vulnerable, at present. They have bandaids filling in. Gyorko is not a very good defensive player. He is not on the level of Kike or Taylor as a Swiss Army Knife. Plus, he can’t hit. I would move Seager to 3B, Taylor to SS, Kike to 2B, Beaty to 1B while JT recovers. Freese should be a DH, not a fielder. He is a liability at this point, on the field.
DBM – Every team in our position would really like a veteran presence… Martin, AJP and hopefully Rich Hill are good examples…
P.S. Heck I forgot Freese… Decisions, decisions..
Boy Belly is struggling right now. We have to get him right for the playoffs. He’s chasing outside the zone and he’s missing that middle middle pitch. He was just destroying that pitch in first few months.
Including his first at bat today, that’s 4 times so far in this series where I’ve said “oh my lord, how did u miss that pitch!”
His BA is down, but over the past 15 games he has a .415 OB%. He’s learning to take what they give him.
Belli has gone south, far south. He may not be coming back this season. He is probably a .275 hitter with power.
Wow, this game isn’t even an hour old yet and we’re headed to bottom of 5!
When you don’t get on base, time flies!
You can throw the bullpen ERA at me all you want but it isn’t going to change the fact that most of the bullpen allows a lot of runners on base and both Garcia and Jansen are prone to allowing home runs. Oh and Ferguson has been given opportunity after opportunity and has the same results ultimately. Plus Floro is nothing but a roogy. And I still don’t trust Kelly. Not to mention if Jansen allows a runner to get on you can bet that runner will be at 2nd base in no time and will probably score.
Are the Dodgers seriously going to lose to the Orioles? Seriously?
Is Jedd Gyorko seriously being considered for a playoff roster spot? Seriously?
Home field advantage guys. Home field advantage.
Whoops the bullpen doesn’t allow a lot of runners on base.
What it should have said is there are guys in the bullpen who seems like are still being considered for a playoff roster spot that allow a lot of guys on base.
Yawn!
Ever tried to play a Major League baseball game with a hangover?
If we lose 2 of 3 in Baltimore, then I”ll be disgusted. But we needed to come in and take 2 of 3, and we have that chance tomorrow.
2 of 3 against the 2nd worst team in baseball? We have home field advantage to consider and we need to take only 2 of 3 from the 2nd worst team in baseball when we are not leading in home field advantage?
The off season money and minor leaguers worth trading needs to go to getting good pitching.
Yawn!
You have no idea how much that means.
Alcohol = Dehydration.
Dehydration = Decreased Performance.
I just spent the day with this guy and we are partnering together to help increase performance and decrease injuries through better hydration:
https://www.terrylyles.com/
Yawn
Yawn!
Myself… I don’t look at the 300 ft view.
I look at the 35,000 ft view.
The 300 ft view will make you insane.
Always selling something. The product is called Mark, his way, his opinions, his knowledge. But, no guarantees with this product.
Yawn!
From an interview with Dave Roberts in The Athletic: “One hour later, Roberts answered one of many questions this summer about the balance between resting and clinching. “To think you can turn it on when you get to the postseason,” he said, “that’s unrealistic.””
100% agree!
Even more reason to worry, Rick.
We got lucky that Houston lost to Oakland, and the Yankees were rained out, though they will make that up. We are now a game behind Houston and 1.5 behind New York in the supposed battle for home field. But it’s actually 2.5 behind NYY and two behind Houston, because both of those teams would beat us on the relevant tiebreaker. So this loss tonight makes it much more difficult for us to get the World Series home field.
Tomorrow’s game is crucial, not because of home field, which we will likely lose, but because we very much need Rich Hill to be ready for the playoffs. And one hopes that the Dodgers will play their best players the rest of the way; although if we cannot get the WS home field, and we still manage to clinch the NLCS home field, we could legitimately rest players at that point.
A little cranky tonight! Remember your opinion is not my reality!
I thought a good thing tonight was watching Gavin Lux sing the words to God Bless America. Cheered me up. Nice young man.
I noticed that too DBM. He was the only one singing. The others were chewing gum or spitting sunflower seeds.