The Stuntmen in 2021

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1. Sounds like a great plan Mark. Enjoy your semi-retirement. You’ve earned it.

   Your son does fantastic work. I can see why you’re so proud of him.

2. Awesome deck. I am inviting myself over to watch next year’s WS and will bring beer! Let me know when u get to California. I’ve got more restaurants for u both to check out! Speedy recovery after your surgery!

   1. Everyone is invited to next year’s World Series.

      We are Foodies!

      We are building this next Spring at the bottom of the deck and will have a TV there too:

      

3. Congratulations on your semi-retirement. I think you’ll really get into the “where the wind blows” thing. We certainly have.

   Beautiful deck and you are right to be proud of your son. You seem to appreciate your blessings, especially your family, and gratitude just adds to the joy.

   I think we’re all amazed and pleased with your Covid recoveries. I will pray for a successful surgery and rapid healing. I trust that you will be back on your feet soon.

   All the best.

4. Mark, I prefer to watch the games from a hot tub! Will that be a problem?

   1. Adding one in the Spring.

      1. Awesome! The good fruits of your labor. Enjoy!

5. Beautiful deck. Enjoy your semiretirement. You may want to make reservations for your RV. Because of this virus, many are buying RV’s. In Idaho, I hear you cannot pull into a camp ground and get a space without a reservation. They are full. Enjoy Mark.

6. Congratulations Mark. Sounds like you got your s+++ together. And the deck looks great. Your son did an awesome job. My boy is a wiz on computers and with A/C units. Me, I could not build anything except plastic models. My Lincoln logs rotted from lack of use. I loved Hatcher. He was a character. There were a couple of guys on the 81 team like that also. Johnstone was one. And Derrell Thomas was the other. Tri-MVP’s that series were Cey, Guerrero and Yeager. Steve Howe was nails out of the bullpen. And they were aided in game 6 when Lemon pulled Tommy John in the 4th inning of a 1 -1 tie. Frazier came in and blew the lead and took the loss. His 3rd in a 6 game series. Shades of Cash pulling Snell in the 6th leading by a run. Had a nice quiet Veterans day and got free red, white and blue pancakes from IHOP.

7. Bauer won the Cy Young. I think Freeman will beat out Mookie for the MVP. I thought it was amazing that Bauer became the first Reds pitcher ever to win a Cy Young award. I know they had some very good pitchers in the past who had outstanding seasons. But I did not realize they had never had a pitcher win one.

8. Hands down, Mickey was the heart of the Stuntmen… Like Bear I enjoyed what Derrel Thomas brought to the table for the Blue… Heck he even donned the tools of ignorance a couple of times… His basket catches in the OF used to make Lasorda grumble and I loved that…
   Extremely happy for Maeda and Ryu. and their accomplishments post Blue…
   Once again, I hope Gavin Lux is given his chance at 2B right outta the chute in ST and know it’s his job to win…

   1. “ Once again, I hope Gavin Lux is given his chance at 2B right outta the chute in ST and know it’s his job to win…”

      I think 2B is Lux’s spot to win and he will be given that chance. It is not his to lose though. The Dodgers do not give positions to players to have until they lose them. Players have to win their job with the current Dodgers.

      All our current young ‘stars’ have had to earn their starting spots, and some are still in the process of doing that. Seager, Bellinger, Urias, May, and Gonsolin have or are earning their spots. Verdugo was in the process of earning a spot when he became Mookie. Barnes earned time and then Smith grabbed the spot. Barnes earned some of that back this post season.

      We don’t know what the back stories are with Lux this year. I don’t think you will see the Dodger hand 2B to Lux until he earns the spot but he will be given an opportunity to earn it.

      2B is his spot to win but not his spot to lose.

9. Arguably if Gonsolin had the same FIP and ERA+ over the full year, in the AL.

   He would have been in the Cy Young race!

   Maeda and Ryu had a combined 1.63 ERA+ while May and Gonsolin 1.76! Thirty fewer innings, though.

   The Dodgers traded four of their 2019 starters and won the Series.

   1. They only traded 2 Bluto. Ryu and Hill were free agents.

10. That is pretty impressive. Player development is the backbone of this franchise!

11. Gorgeous deck, Mark. You should be very proud of the job your son did. Wow, it was awesome. Is he the father of your new granddaughter?

    Mickey Hatcher and Jay Johnstone, as I have said before, always will be two of my favorite Dodgers. The gave the team excitement, good play, morale boosting, and a lot of heart.

    1. He is Violet’s Father… and an amazing kid. Of course, I am biased!

12. Gorgeous deck Mark! That is a castle right there.

    I like your breakdown on all the lefty bats on the roster and coming up in the system. It’s a real problem and one that I pointed out immediately as the offseason started. Like I said, someone needs to be traded. It could be Rios, Lux, Muncy or Ruiz, so don’t hug too hard on these guys.

    RH bats and relievers. AF confirmed these needs in a recent interview. It will be interesting to see who he comes up with. I like Kris Bryant as an under the radar move. He had a down year last year and only has one year of team control until he’s a free agent. He had a down year last year so he shouldn’t cost a ton in prospects. He might be the perfect transition to Hoese. I’m not sure if we’re a great trading partner with the Cubs, but Bryant would be a great fit on our end.

    1. Bryant? Not sure I follow the logic. He’s gonna cost a ton.

       I just did a BR projection analysis of third base for ‘21. With Turner and Rios sharing time that position, with right at 600 plate appearances, shows 27 home runs and a collective OPS of .840. I’d take that. We just have to re-sign Justin. He’s got 350 plate appearances a year left in him.

       Nice deck Mark. I’ve been involved in a few projects like that. What did you do with the lumber you tore out? We used to refurbish stuff like that in Wisconsin. Some of the most interesting work I did back there was tear down, collect and refurbish old barn lumber. Full dimension old growth hardwood is rare and extremely valuable. Fun work. I enjoyed it. Wouldn’t anymore. That is definitely young man’s work.

13. Well it looks like Mookie has nothing on you with his 8 million dollar digs. Beautiful work by your son. Great pictures of all of you. I think Quinn and I could be buddies. Best of luck on your procedure and enjoy semi-retirement. I look forward to your posts and keeping the site alive and well.

    1. The only difference is that I have about $7.5 million less in my house. If it were in California, it would be worth $3 Million, but in Indiana, it’s $500K. It’s all about location.

14. Damn SoCal…I don’t know if I failed my paper or not!? My writing skills are weak to say the least.
    Oh well, I’m rooting for Lux to be our starting 2B.

    1. Semantics Peter.

       Frankly I think second base IS his spot to lose. The guy was one of the Top 5 prospects in all of baseball before this year and he earned that as a slugging minor league shortstop. If you can play shortstop you sure as hell can play second base and that is the spot the Dodgers have open for him. If he can’t just step in and take over it would be a sizable disappointment.

    2. Brian dozier

       1. Mispost while editing but didn’t see until too late to delete

    3. No problem

       I knew what you meant and debated to even post it as a response rather than a separate post.

       Just wanted to make the point that the Dodges don’t anoint a position, just give one a chance to earn a position. I hope Lux earns it. So far Dozier, Forsyth, Hernandez and CT3 haven’t. Muncy earned a starting slot but ended up at 1B with Cody moving to CF after earning 1B.

15. Darrel Thomas was one of my favorites. My coaches used to make me run laps when he saw me imitating his basket catches during batting practices.

    1. The basket catch. Man that’s a thing from the past isn’t it. Coaches hated that. We all did it as kids and every coach I had held the same opinion about it – not on this field.

       1. I wasn’t good at it so I appreciated seeing someone making that catch.

16. Good luck with the surgery tomorrow, Mark, and many happy hours in your RV and on the deck!

17. Mark, you have a very relaxing home with a great deck that overlooks a beautiful back yard. I moved back to the west coast a year ago from New Hampshire where I had a few acres of forested land. Too many mosquitoes though to let me fully enjoy it.

    Some can enjoy retirement and some can’t. I can and have. Hope you can let go of the work life and fully enjoy more leisure time. You sound like you are well on your way.

    Watford Dodger, I am picking Tiger Woods to win the Masters. DeChambeau should be able to give him a good fight though.

    Jerry Reuss and Jay Johnstone were my favorite pranksters.

    I love Lux’s quick hands. When he fields a ground ball you always know it is him due to his quick catch and throw. Very smooth. He is no doubt a better shortstop than Seager and some day he might move to the left side but for now, I expect to see him on the right side.

    I didn’t think Lux looked relaxed and confident hitting this year at least not as much as he looked previously. Could he be traded for a righty bat? Maybe.

    Would the Dodgers trade for Bryant? Probably not but if they did, maybe he could play first base and Muncy would be included in such a trade.

    Prediction 1: Hoese will be a Dodger in July and at that time will be the primary third baseman.

    Prediction 2: Turner will be signed to a one year contract with Dodgers or a multi-year contract with another team.

    Prediction 3: Pederson will be a Dodger next year and Hernandez won’t.

    Biggest surprise: The Dodgers will trade May and either Lux or Muncy for Glyber.

18. Praying for your surgery to go well.
    Beautiful deck.

    Jock goes and Hernandez stays.

    1. We both could be wrong.

19. So, just to be clear. I did not have surgery, It was a consult with a cardiologist. When I had Covid-19, they did a CT scan and found an aortic aneurysm. This was to follow up to see what the next course of action will be. Well, it turns out that the aneurysm is close to my heart and cannot be done with a robot. To do it involves full, crack your chest open, 8 hours, open-heart surgery on the heart-lung machine… which is why I am not having it.

    The Doctor advised against it and said there was a much larger chance of death by having the surgery. He says that it is stable and I may have had it for years and that due to my body size, he is not alarmed by the 4.4 cm size. He says 6.5 cm might alarm him.

    I have no BP problems, low cholesterol, and take no medication and he wants to follow up in a year and see if it has grown. He says there is absolutely nothing to worry about or do right about now. He just said don’t lift anything heavy. So, there you go.

    Move on folks, there’s nothing to see here!

    But, thanks for your well wishes!

    1. Good news, now take it easy Mark.

       Mickey Hatcher memory from from 1979 or 1980, Mickey was in his first stint as a Dodger, I believe he was wearing #44 then. I go to the game with a buddy who HATES the Dodgers, Mickey is playing RF, he goes back on a ball to the fence, catches the ball with his back flat against the fence, guy at 2B tags up, Mickey throws an absolute seed to 3B and turns it into a double play. My friend from that point forward was a devote Mickey Hatcher fan, to this day too, but proceeded to root like hell for the rest of that game and the series for the Dodgers as a tribute and homage to what he had witnessed. I believe that Mickey played some 3B and OF for the Blue when he first came up with them. So don’t be fooled or forget, Mickey was a good all around ballplayer.

20. Bum, Glyber will never be a Dodger…give it up man.

    1. Bum is very loyal to his favorites Bear. That’s exactly why he won’t give up on bringing Joc back until he signs somewhere else.

       It’s also why he isn’t going to trade you (although if you could bring back Glyber you’d be gone in a second)

       1. Trading me for Glyber? Ain’t happening. I would never move to the toilet that is NYC.

          1. https://www.timeout.com/newyork/things-to-do/50-reasons-why-nyc-is-the-greatest-city-in-the-world

             1. I have been to the big Apple plenty of times. And most of it is a pig sty. The people for the most part are ok, but some of them are just plain arrogant.

    2. Bear, winter is coming. Hibernate. I like Glyber and want him to be a Dodger. Every once in a while during these non baseball winter months, I plan to mention his name…get used to it man.

       Here is Glyber’s post season line that includes 21 games over 3 years.

       .342 .432 .605 1.037

       I would like to see him at first or third base. He has played middle infield full time since age 21.

       I like Archer and Lindor as well.

       1. I am a rare bear, i do not hibernate. Nor do I subscribe to bringing people to the Dodgers who have zero chance of coming to LA.. get used to it man. I do not think Archer has a snowball’s chance in hell of being a Dodger. especially after his performances over the last couple of years. And you seem to be the only person who thinks Torres is a good fit. Since LeMahieu did not take the QO, and he most likely will not be signed by the Yankees. They are going to need thier Torres. Another thing is that NY does not do business with the Dodgers all that much, and they have not made any deals involving star players that I can remember. Always fringe guys. Last one I remember was LA getting Segedin. They have only made 33 trades since coming to LA with the Yanks. As for Lindor, I believe, as do many others that he is going to be the main target of the Mets. And trust me, AF is not giving up the amount of talent that the Indians are going to want for a rental. As good as Lindor is, he is not Mookie Betts.

          1. Archer will be lucky to get a Major League Contract,

             He would be like 16th on the Dodgers pitching depth chart!

             Torres is 23 and a Big Time Breakout Candidate. The Dodgers could probably get him with Bellinger, Lux, May, and Ruiz!

             1. Geez, which is it? Nobody wants Glyber or he is the second coming of Trout? Maybe you and bear can get together on Zoom and find a compromise position on Glyber.

                Archer might not get a major league contract until he proves his surgery isn’t affecting his ability to pitch. I like his personality.

          2. Bear, I like Archer. I don’t think he will be a Dodger. I like Lindor. I think if he becomes a Dodger it will be as a free agent in 2022. I think the Yankees will try to sign LeMahieu.

             33 trades since 1958…that’s one trade every other year on average.

             1. I get you like his offense. But his defense is not that great. And this year his offense was non existent. As for Mark trading all those guys for him, I think his drugs are affecting his sanity. I would not trade Belli straight up let alone as part of a 4 for1 deal. Belli’s superior defense in CF plus the fact he is only a year older, sorry no way. I think the bombers might make a play to get DJ back. But he turned down the QO. If he does not want a guaranteed 18.9, I am sure he is not going to take some team friendly 2 year deal. The Dodger deal with NY I remember the most was after the 62 season when they sent Stan Williams, who blew game 3 of the playoffs in 62 for Bill Skowron. Skowron only played the one year, 63 as a Dodger. But he did hit a homer against the Yanks in the 63 series. i also remember then trading Gene Michael to the Yanks. Most of the trades have not been for major names.

             2. I believe Mark was hyperbolating Bear. It’s common with guys who are Colts fans.

21. “Mickey was a good all around ballplayer.“

    Not according to the stats. He had a helluva series against Oakland, but other than that he was not much more than a replacement player.

    Gleybar, with an e, is not likely going to end up in LA. He’s better at second than short, but his obvious value is his stick. This year doesn’t count. He can hack and the Yankees would only move him if he’s a clubhouse problem and I haven’t heard that. He’s not even arb eligible until ‘22. Typically you don’t trade arb eligible players who hit 38 home runs and OPS over .800. That said, if they were to trade him it would be for blockbuster starting pitching and international money. I don’t see it.

    1. Even Ray Charles can see that we don’t see it!

    2. I would have been in favor of getting Gleybar until I found out he had that “e” in his name.

       1. It was just added today.

          If there was no e it would be pronounced Gleeber, and that would be weird. But there is an e so it’s pronounced Glayber, which makes perfect sense, don’t you think?

          Interesting report in the Athletic regarding extending Seager. Makes sense to attempt it this winter considering where Covid is likely to be come Spring. With Bora$$. in front I really expect it to happen.

          1. That Seager article by Molly Knight was interesting. I love this line:
             “He is coming off the best season of his life, during which he grew his brunette locks into a messy pandemic mop and played like his hair was on fire. ”

             Mookie is about a year and a half older than Corey and signed a 12-year deal. I doubt Boras would want Corey to sign for anything less than 10 years if he signs before reaching free agency. I don’t think he’d agree to anything less than 10/275 if they sat down right now.

             The guys who are free agents this winter are going to have a really tough time, but the ones who are going on the market next winter should have a much easier time because I’m guessing/hoping/assuming that the pandemic will be mostly behind us by opening day 2022 and the clubs will be able to figure on normal revenue at that point.

             1. Seager – 10 years – $290 Million

             2. I said “I really expect it to happen”. What I meant was I really don’t expect it to happen. Didn’t catch the edit in time. Seager was healthy for the first time in quite a while. If he stays that way, for what I expect might be another shortened season, he’s in the driver’s seat. What will 3 top shortstops hitting free agency post Covid do to the market? They will all make bank so the one that blinks first will get the least amount. I don’t see Bora$$ blinking. Seager has a slightly higher career OPS but Lindor is the superior base runner and defender. Who will get the longer contract for the most money? Does it matter? It looks to me like this could come down to two National League clubs, one in New York, the other in LA. Wouldn’t it be interesting if Seager ended up in New York and Lindor in LA. It could happen. It’s a billionaire’s game now. Anything could happen.

       2. The e isn’t official until we get e-balls and strikes.

22. Can I hear something for Michael Pittman, Jr.?

    1. Sure.

       Great USC receiver.

       How’s that?

    2. Good to see him healthy. Our Colts have been thin at WR and QB who can’t throw past 20 yards. Together it’s killing the running game.

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