I thought it would be nice to profile one of the 13 members of the Brooklyn Dodgers still living. Carl Erskine. I was actually a little surprised that there were 13 who were still alive. I mean we all know Sandy and Carl were, but the others, well it was just nice to see that many are still with us. Besides Sandy and Carl, Bob Aspromonte, Eddie Basinski, Tim Thompson, Chris Haughey, Don Demeter, Bobby Morgan, Tommy Brown, Joe Pignatano, Roger Craig, Fred Kipp and Jim Gentile still survive. The oldest is Eddie Basinski who was born April 11th, 1922. 99 years young.
Of those 13, Erskine and Koufax had the longest tenures with the Dodgers. Sandy 12 years and Erskine 12. Erskine was born in Anderson, Indiana on December 13, 1926. His full name is Carl Daniel Erskine. His family is originally from Scotland. Originally they settled in Virginia, but towards the end of the nineteenth century, they moved to Boone, Indiana. Eventually, they settled in Anderson, which at the time was known as the glass-blowing capital of the world. That changed when spark plug giant Delco-Remy settled in the area. Carl was the third son of Mr. and Mrs. Matt Erskine.
Erskine would become known for his curveball during his playing days. It was taught to him by his dad. The difference was Carl’s was overhand style, and his dad threw sidearm which made the ball come in somewhat flat. Feeling he needed to improve his son’s pitch, he purchased a book about pitching. While holding the book in his left hand, and a ball in his right, the elder Erskine accidentally let loose of the ball and it crashed into a kitchen cabinet smashing several dishes. Matt later admitted that it was the best break he ever had on a curve.
Carl would wander out to local diamonds to play. He would play sandlot, park league, and American Legion ball. The high school coach, Charles Cummings asked him to play on the team. At first all he did was throw batting practice to the varsity, but his talent was obvious and by midterm he was on the team and stayed there for the entire 4 years in high school.
In 1945 he graduated from high school and was drafted into the Navy. After basic, he was stationed at the Boston Navy Yard. He approached the rec officer and asked to join the team explaining he had pitched sandlot and high school ball. The officer asked how much he weighed and Carl replied 165 pounds. The rec officer said they had enough pitchers. So Erskine played for a semi-pro team on Sundays.
Later, in 1948 at a game at Ebbets Field, a fan started yelling at Erskine. There was a rule against socializing with fans, but this guy was persistent, so Erskine walked over. The man stuck out his hand and said ” shake hands with the dumbest SOB in the world. I am the rec officer who would not let you play for the Navy. With guys like me in charge, I am surprised we won that damn war! ”
While stationed in Boston, the Braves were hot on his trail and wanted to sign him. But Erskine stalled them saying he was underage. The Braves said no problem since the All-Star game was in Boston that year, his parents would come and he could sign with them present. Being a loyal Dodger fan, he sensed a problem and contacted Stan Freezle. Freezle was a Brooklyn scout who had been in contact with him. No problem, his parents would come to Boston not as the guests of the Braves, but of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Before the game, Mr. and Mrs. Erskine are sitting in the big parlor of the Hotel Kenmore and who walks over puffing a big cigar, Branch Rickey. He told Erskine that he heard the Braves were interested in signing him, and Boston would never sign a player Brooklyn was interested in. He asked how much the Braves had offered and how much it would cost to get him to sign with the Dodgers. Erskine told him Boston had offered 2500. And said would 3000 be ok? Rickey replied, we are not going to give you 3000, we are going to give you 3500. How does that sound?
But after he was discharged, the commissioner declared him a free agent saying the Dodgers had violated the ban on signing players while still on active duty. Rickey wanted to get his 3500 back, and a bidding war began. Phillies offered 11,000, the Red Sox 10,000. But Erskine telephoned Freezle and told him he would sign for 5,000.
This next part is one of the coolest baseball stories I have ever heard. 10 years later, on May 12, 1956, after pitching his second no-hitter, he was interviewed after the game by Dizzy Dean. Dean asked, who signed you? Carl said, Branch Rickey. Dean retorted ” cheapest man who ever lived, I played for him in St. Louis, paid peanuts, about 2 bags a week. “
Erskine then told Ol Diz that he actually got 2 bonus’s from Rickey. This caused Dean to turn towards the camera and say ” Folks, this young man belongs in the Hall of Fame, not because he pitched two no-hitters, but because he got two bonus’s out of Branch Rickey! “. Erskine later learned that Rickey had been prepared to go as high as 30,000$.
Erskine reached the majors in 1948, a year after Jackie Robinson debuted. That made him one of the first white players to have colored teammates. But some incidents in his youth made him uniquely qualified to deal with the situation. In 1930, there was a lynching in a town called Marion, about 30 miles north of Anderson. Erskine’s dad took him up to see where it had happened. Two blacks had been taken out of jail and lynched in the jail yard. He could see the branch where it happened, and there had been a scramble and people had taken souvenirs’. There was still a piece of rope on the tree, and Erskine later remarked, I saw a lynching rope before I was 10.
While playing on a team in Cuba in 1946, he played on a team with Chuck Connors, Solly Hemus, and Danny Gardella. They were managed by Negro League legend, Martin Dihigo. He would strike up a friendship with a pitcher named Max Manning, who would never play in the majors, not because of his skill, but because he was black. That season was the start of a long friendship. They would trade pitching tips. And later when he was inducted into the Glassboro College Hall of Fame, Erskine sent a glowing letter of recommendation. The experience helped him a lot when he joined Brooklyn and their growing group of black players.
He started out in the minors in 1946 pitching for Danville in the Three I League. He would marry his wife in 1947. They would have 4 children. He was at Ft Worth in AA ball, he was called up and got his first action in relief against the Pirates. He was used mostly in relief. He also spent time in 49 and 50 at Montreal’s AAA team. He got his first victory in relief against the Pirates.
Erskine made his first start on August 5, 1948. After his first pitch, he felt a sharp pain behind his shoulder. He did not know it at the time but he had pulled a muscle. It was an injury that would haunt him for the rest of his career. The Dodgers riding 3 HR’s by Gene Hermanski to offset 6 Dodger errors to come back and beat the Cubs 6-4 giving Erskine his 3rd victory. He told Burt Shotton about the injury, but Shotton either did not believe him or did not care. He finished the season 6-3 with a very damaged shoulder.
Back in those days, a player was judged on performance, and with 22 minor league teams, no one was guaranteed a slot. Erskine struggled and was sent back to Montreal. He saw a doctor there who checked his throwing motion and suggested some exercises to build up the shoulder. Erskine would pitch with some measure of pain his entire career.
He joined the Dodgers for good in 1951 and went 16-12. He was in the bullpen warming up when the call came from Dressen to send in a pitcher in the 9th at the Polo Grounds to face the Giants with 2 on and the Dodgers leading. Bullpen coach Clyde Sukeforth said Branca and Erskine were both ready, but Erskine had just bounced a curve in the dirt. Dressen went with Branca and we all know what happened. Erskine was later asked, what was the best pitch he ever threw, and he replied, the curveball I threw in the dirt at the Polo Grounds.
1952, Erskine threw over 200 innings for the first time in his career and finished with a 14-6 record and a 2.70 ERA, which would be the lowest in his career. On June 19th, an overcast day in Brooklyn, Carl faced the Chicago Cubs. In the 5th inning, with rain imminent, he walked the Cubs pitcher Willard Ramsdell and the sky’s opened up. The players retreated to the clubhouse and played cards as was their custom, the game of choice was bridge. About 40 minutes later, just as Erskine had a 4 heart hand, they said the game was back on. Erskine put on a dry uniform, went back on the field, and completed a no-hitter. Had he not walked the pitcher, he would have had a perfect game.
Dodgers won the pennant in 52 and went to the series against the Yankees. Erskine got into 3 games, starting 2 and going 1-1 in the series loss to the team from the Bronx. October 5th, which was the anniversary of his wedding, he was facing the Yankees and leading 4-0 in the 5th, and the next thing he knew he was behind 5-4. Dressen came out and Erskine was thinking 5 must be my unlucky number, 5th wedding anniversary, 5th inning, 5 runs allowed. And in those days, when Dressen came out, you did not say anything, you just handed him the ball and left.
As Dressen gets to the mound he says ” Isn’t today your anniversary?“ Are you taking Betty somewhere nice?” Erskine replied in the positive. Dressen hands him the ball back and says, well, see if you can get these guys out before it gets dark”. Erskine retired the next 19 hitters and won in extra innings and Erskine took his wife out to celebrate his anniversary and his first series win. “
In 1953, Erskine would have his only 20 win season, going 20-6 with a 3.54 ERA. He was 6th in the MVP voting. Remember, there was no Cy Young award yet. Brooklyn again won the pennant and faced the Yanks once again. Carl got into 3 games but went 1-0 as the Yanks continued to own the Dodgers. That 1953 team was one of the best Dodger teams ever fielded. And their 105 wins stood as a team record until Roberts 2019 team bested it by one. They hit a combined .285, with 208 HR’s, again beaten by the 19 team, Snider hit 42, Campy 41, and Hodges 31. Erskine struck out 14 Yankees in his start in the 3rd game. A record that stood until some guy named Koufax topped in in 1963.
In 1954, Erskine won 18 games, losing 15. His ERA was over 4 and he allowed 31 HRs. Brooklyn was second to the hated Giants. Newcombe had returned from the Army. With a new manager, Dressen was not retained after demanding a multi-year deal and not getting it. Walter Alston was the new skipper. With no series to play, Erskine went home to Indiana to enjoy the off-season with his family. His shoulder was still a problem though, and over the next couple of years, it would increasingly affect his performance.
1955. Next year finally arrives in Brooklyn. Erskine though drops to an 11-8 record. He has some flashes but is clearly not the same guy. He started one game in the series and lost. But as we all know, Podres wins the 7th game, and there is bedlam in Brooklyn.
1956. Erskine would have his last decent season as a Dodger. He went 13-11. He pitched 186 innings, the last season he would be over 100. On May 12th, facing the Giants, Erskine, whose shoulder was hurting every day, and stung by criticism of one of the Giants chief scouts, Tom Sheehan, who said “the Dodgers are over the hill, Campy and Jackie are too old and Erskine can’t beat anyone with that garbage he throws”.
Carl went out and they were ahead 1-0 in the 6th when the over-the-hill gang scored two. They traded zeroes until the 9th and then Alvin Dark hit a weak grounder back to Erskine and he had no-hitter #2. Robinson grabbed the paper and went over to Sheehan who was sitting in the Giant dugout, pulled out the clipping waving it in Sheehan’s face yelling, “How do you like that garbage?”
The Dodgers won the pennant again. And played a 7 game series with the Yanks, eventually falling in 7. They won the first two, lost the next 3. They won game 6 1-0 behind Labine, and then were shut out in game 7, 9-0. Erskine would lose his only decision. It was the last time he would pitch in a series. He finished with a 2-2 record and an ERA of 5.83. Considering the Yankee teams he was facing, and all of his appearances were against the Yanks, that was about the norm.
In 1957, the Dodgers last season in Brooklyn, he went 5-3 and only appeared in 15 games. His shoulder was really bothering him worse than it ever had. The Dodgers moved to LA in 1948 and Erskine again in limited activity went 4-4 appearing in 31 games. He came back in 1959, giving it one more try. He went 0-3 in 10 games and retired. His final record was 122-78 with 14 shutouts, 71 complete games, and 2 no-hitters.
He went home to concentrate on his family and business. And taking care of his 4th child, Jimmy, who was born with Down Syndrome. It is perhaps the greatest example of the man’s compassion. Most people thought the child should be in an institution, but Erskine and his wife Betty wanted to raise him themselves. And it is because of this that Erskine became very involved in the Special Olympics. He has always said that without his son his life would have been a lot emptier.
After his retirement, Erskine went on to become very successful in business. He got his life insurance license, he also served on the Indiana Bankers Association as Chairman in 1991 and 92 and also served as the Vice-Chairman of the Board for the STAR Financial Bank of Indianapolis….in Marks neighborhood. On top of that, he served as a coach and Anderson College for twelve seasons winning 4 conference championships.
Carl will be 95 years young in December. He is still living in Anderson. I often wonder, as I also do about Sandy Koufax, how good he would have been had his shoulder been healthy all those years. The two best curveballs in Dodger history between these two. And guys like Hershiser, Drysdale, Sutton, and Podres, never threw one no-hitter, let alone two.
In other news from Chavez Ravine, Trea Turner will be flying into Los Angeles on Friday, according to Juan Toribio of MLB.com. Friday will be the 10th day after Turner’s positive COVID-19 test, meaning his minimum quarantine period will have elapsed. But at this point, it’s unclear if he will be immediately activated by the club.
Great story, Bear. Carl is a real Gem. I was at Dodgertown in Vero Beach when he played the National Anthem for the last time the Dodgers played there. He also used to be my banker when he lived in Anderson. He is one of the most genuinely nice people I have ever known. He never liked to talk about him… it was always about you. If he saw you on the street, he always greeted you with a smile. The first new vehicle I ever purchased I had Gary Erskine, his oldest son, as the loan officer. I also have an autographed copy of his book. Great Man who is winding it down.
It’s best to talk about this rather than the bums who played last night! The strategy of working the count doesn’t work when you have a pitcher throwing strikes. That way, when they hit, they all hit, and when they don’t all hit, no one hits. See the ball, hit the ball. Sometimes the first pitch is the best one you will get. Hit it!
Carl Erskine. I remember him being on the team as a relief pitcher in ‘59. I thought he was an old guy then. He was 32. He was pretty much done by 30.
We sure showed those cheaters who’s boss, ey? 5-5 in our last 10. 15-13 since July 1st. We seem to have trouble against good pitching. Wonder why.
Maybe Scherzer can shut them out for 6 and we win 3-2.
Agree about jumping on the first strike. The numbers given on McCullers clearly showed that. ,400 OPS after first pitch strike. Maybe the Dodgers didn’t know that. Whatever. Another stinker to put in the rear view.
Had he pitched in this era, his shoulder would have been fixed long before it became the problem it did.
I was really impressed how Walker pitched without being on his game. He was very wild, not hitting spots at all but he just kept grinding it out. It’s unfortunate that the game ended up that way.
Max Muncy was beyond frustrating. So many pitches that ended up right in the middle of the zone. Dude needs to be a lot more aggressive with strikes.
The fans really showed up to let the Astros know how they felt about them. Didn’t seem to matter much, I guess they’re used to it.
Doc says in his post game interview that V-Gone is healthy.
Sometimes you just have to tip your cap the other team. You can’t ’em all.
A poor showing against the team you’re most likely going to play in the World Series.
Muncy has not been the same since the Colorado series. Strikeout after strikeout in key situations. Probably not getting much sleep nowadays. Just put the ball in play sometimes does the job. We can’t b counted on to do that. Houston tried to let us with a big error but we were helpless. In my mind I just keep thinking we gave up our number 1/2 prospects for this team. Against good teams we are helpless.
Turner used to never strike out and with 2 strikes he would make u pay. Father Time gets to us all. In a key situation Muncy, turner, smith, Taylor, bellinger can’t b relied on to even make contact. In Arizona Muncy strikeout against Aguilar who was sent down. The moment just seems too big for most. Seager has at least made contact.
Buehler has been fantastic but in the biggest game to date he couldn’t get the 8 hitter out. He just wasn’t sharp but he battled. Every time you think now we are going to step to the challenge we disappoint. The Giants, pads, ASStros. This team HAS to be better right? I have always heard it is darkest before the dawn. Well it is looking rather dark at the moment.
I think you hit the nail on the head regarding Muncy…..the new baby has probably had a huge effect on his life. It will take some time to adjust. He is not unreliable like Cody or Lux.
Cameron Gibbens made his Tulsa debut last night and pitched 2 scoreless, hitless, walkless innings and struck out 4 batters.
This year with 3 Dodger minor league teams he has a 0.89 WHIP and a 17.1 K/9 rate.
I am high on this relief pitcher. He is one of my favorite Dodger prospects.
As for last night’s Dodger game: Frustrated.
Wow, what an article…thanks again Bear. I absolutely love reading these stories. Being born in 1952, it seems I relate very well to these men. I’m hoping to read an article about all of the former Brooklyn Dodgers still alive today.
The lynching was certainly the low point, but that was somewhat offset by the raising of a Down Syndrome child with so much love was a great conclusion. Like you said, back then, that was probably unheard of.
Thanks again, Bear.
Carl’s son, Jimmy, is a very highly productive person and is always by Carl’s side.
Carl and Betty have done an amazing job with Jimmy.
Kind of reminds me of the relationship Pederson has with his brother, Champ. Thought it was classy that the Dodgers gave the kid a ring too.
Thank you TM> I will research that first chance I get. I am researching one now about Dodgers who served in war time. It was requested by a reader yesterday.
As for the game, as most of you probably know, I live in the east and I usually start heading to bed between 10-11, which is 7-8 west coast time. So, I find out about the final score at 7:00 am and I watch the game highlights at that time. So, what can I say?
I was nervous going into the game because it seems like we lay an egg in big games this year, especially against good teams. They had their ace pitching as did us, but as I looked at their lineup of hitters, I think they have 6 with 60 or more RBIs….we have I think 3. I became even more concerned as I said my nighttime prayers and said goodnight to the world.
Needless to say, I was not surprised we lost and was actually relieved we didn’t lose 1-0 instead. I really HATE losing 1-0 games. 3-0, not so much. I wonder if there is a direct correlation between Max’s hitting juxtaposed with a screaming infant at night wanting the bottle? Also, I’m not angry at Cody for striking out in the 8th with two on because no one else was able to get a clutch hit. Trea Turner can’t get here fast enough.
I do think we come back to win tonight….often times we do bounce back after getting punched in the face hard, like we did last night. Go Scherzer….I hope you get a few more runs than Buehler got.
0 for 8 WRISP. 13 Ks. A few of those Ks were on pitches outside the zone called strike 3. That’s the thing about hitting with 2 strikes in this league. These umps, for whatever reason, are willing to call you out on pitches that are not strikes and therefore much harder to barrel up. That is why you just cannot afford to look at fastballs down the middle. Opposing pitchers know that about the Dodgers. With the exception of Seager, this team takes strike 1. The strategy is to “work the count”. With strike one down the pipe you just worked the count in his favor. Here’s a thought, hit that cookie into the bleachers and the chances are pretty damm good he won’t make that mistake again. Now you are working ahead in the count. McCullers went 6.2 and struck out 9. He threw 110 pitches, only 67 were strikes. He got strike one then worked the edges. Simply put, with our ace on the mound we got out pitched. Will they learn from this game? I doubt it.
I wonder if Dodgers batters are told to take the first strike in order to get opposing pitcher’s pitch count up there. Not wanting a 5 pitch inning.
But I agree, like Seager, I always was looking to hit the first pitch in my hey day. Why not? I know the pitcher wants that first pitch to be a strike.
I do not think they are told, I think that is the overall hitting style they are taught. The Dodgers are known for getting into deep counts. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it does not. In his last at bat with 2 on and 2 outs, Muncy looked like he was just trying to stay alive, then he chased a pitch that was so low and away he had no chance of hitting it and the inning was over. It would have been ball 4 and loaded the bases for Turner.
Several of those pitches would been ball four. Not even close.
McCullers los tría locos con lanzamientos en Sinker entre 95 y 93 Mph y les bajaba la velocidad con sliders entre 85 y 83 Mph y constantemente abriendo con strike, ponchando a varios sin tirarle en las esquinas con lanzamiento lento, no se porque sus entrenadores no se dieron cuenta (si no se enteraron). Pero donde no me queda duda es que estudiaron bien a nuestros bateadores y McCullers estuvo magistral ayer.
Good job Bear. Carl was my absolute favorite Brooklyn Dodger pitcher. I can still remember the WS game against theYankees in which he struck out 14. That was in 1952 my first year as a Dodger fan. He struck out Joe Collins four times and also another Yankee four times. Any guesses who that was without looking it up.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane Bear. And thank you Carl Erskine for the memories,
I think, not sure it was some kid named Mantle. It was game 3 of the 1953 series. 14 K’s against the bombers. Pretty impressive stuff. Erskine later said when Collins came up in the 9th, there was a runner on, and nursing a 1 run lead, Carl was worried about Collins hitting another HR off of him. He had done that before. Collins was worried about striking out for a 5th time. So he threw him the nastiest curve he could and got a weak grounder back to him, threw Collins out, and into the history books. When Koufax struck out 15 in game 1 of the 63 series he got Kubek, Tresh, and Mantle twice and Richardson 3 times. The Dodgers struck out 10 times in that game.
It was an unknown player. You are correct – Mickey Mantle.
I wonder if that kid ever made a name for himself in the majors…………wore # 7 I think….Carl wore # 17.
Good column on Erskine. Always like reading about the Boys of Summer. Those were the days, a simpler time. Love the Dizzy Dean peanut line.
Okay about last night. I guess you can spin this any way you wish, but the Dodgers just aren’t a consistent offensive bunch. Maybe it has to do with all the injuries, players like Betts and Seager getting back in the swing of things. But it’s getting old. Another blown opportunity to gain ground.
Time to kick it in gear. If not now, when? I’m sure there is a sense of urgency or maybe it’s a sense of tomorrow will be better (we still have plenty of time) but the team needs to play like there is no tomorrow, need to win the game each day. Too many mistakes, mental and physical, breakdowns in pitching. Not taking advantage of opportunities, particularly with runners in scoring position with no outs or one out.
Although this team is hanging in, wading through all the injuries, the depth hasn’t been there, not like last year. Some of the players they bring up to fill in pretty much produce nothing but strikeouts. That should catch Friedman’s attention when it comes to putting together 2022 roster.
Although the story is still being written and the Dodgers could catch fire any day now, there are days I think this team is simply floating past, not able to overcome their own shortcomings. Maybe Turner will ignite the offense and Scherzer will stabilize the rotation and Knebel will make a difference in the pen.
Or the Dodgers will be playing wild card games, hoping they get the lucky bounce.
For the amount of payroll invested in this roster, the Dodgers aren’t exactly getting their money’s worth. I realize money doesn’t buy results, but this team seems like they’re underperforming. When all is said and done, will that be the final chapter?
The Dean peanut line is classic. I remember listening to Ol Diz on broadcasts a few times. He was a real character. Too bad that when they made the movie of his life he was played by a song and dance man, Dan Dailey. His brother was played by Richard Crenna. Yeah, same guy who was in The Real McCoy’s and the first 3 Rambo movies. Joanne Dru played his wife, and newsman Chet Huntley had a cameo in the film.
I watched him on Saturdays’ Game of the Week. Usually he would give us a few bars of his rendition of The Wabash Cannonball. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA-TWIfu7FU
Thanks for the kudos guys. One of the things that makes writing here a joy. Report on MLBTR this morning says the Dodgers are close to signing Cole Hamels. A couple thought’s on last nights game. For all of the booing that was going on, the Astros seemed to not let it bother them at all. And only three of the players who started were on the 17 team. Correa, Altuve and McCullers. I am glad the fans gave them hell, but the throwing of trash cans and balls on the field continually interrupted Buehler’s rhythm. But he still pitched well enough to win. Now, Doc can say Gonzalez is healthy all he wants. But, he clearly is not the same pitcher he was last season. And he gives up too many walks. The walk before Alvarez’s homer, was a nail in the coffin. One run, they had a shot against the pen. two, well, you have to string hits together and they had not done that all night. How about Mookie at 2nd base? Two nights, two amazing defensive plays. Only plus from last night is that the Giants lost to the D-Backs and Madison Bumgarner.
Vi Gon ocupa una visita a AAA para aclarar sus ideas, tal vez esté un poco “sobrado” y requiere recordar sus inicios y enfocarse en su trabajo disipando de su cabeza el humo del campeonato ganado.
Btw the lefty Gilbert for Arizona pitched a clean inning with 2 ks vs Giants last night. He was in our system. Arizona now has former Dodgers Gilbert and DeGues ? In their pen. Gilbert worked the 8th.
de Geus, but close enough. He like deGrom does not capitalize the first letter. That was Gilbert’s MLB debut too. Check a lot of the systems, there are former prospects and players on a lot of teams.
The first rule of hitting is to get a good pitch to hit. That is taught first in Little League. As one progresses through each level, the best hitters will be the ones that punish mistakes. And what is a mistake? Simply put, it’s the pitch down the middle that gets punished. Sound too simple? Well, it is.
Throughout history we hear stories of dead red hitters. Dick Allen is the first one that comes to mind but there were many others. Specific pitch in a specific location. For me it was fastball thigh high middle in. I looked for that and if I got it I could hit about .400 against it. I know this, I never let it go by. It doesn’t matter when you see it, if it’s a down the pipe fastball you barrel it up. It will be the best pitch you’re going to see in that at bat, why in the world would you take it? And here’s something else I know for a fact, you put that pitch in play at 100+ velo the pitcher won’t do that again.
What are these guys being told? They played right into McCullers hand. He owned them and he knew it.
Absolutely. When they had two on and Muncy up and he worked the count to 3-2, he chased one that was easily ball 4 low and away that even had he hit the ball, it would have been an out. Ump made a few bad calls, but was consistent most of the night.
You know Badger, it’s fine to go into a game with a plan. Maybe it’s to work counts and get the starter out. Maybe it’s sitting on a particular pitch. Whatever. But make an in game adjustment. When you’re eating out of the guy’s hand, you might think about changing your approach. Look for something early and don’t take it and don’t miss it.
Just wait till everyone gets healthy and we have our full lineup then we’ll ………..
win a few lose a few. But, I am looking forward to having Betts and Turner setting the table for Turner, Muncy and Seager. Taylor too although he had an off night. Bellinger at least was hitting the ball in the right direction.
That’s not good enough to catch the Giants! Wild card game is a crapshoot
Oh, I think it is more than enough to catch SF. They are playing right around .500 ball right now. Their starting pitching is starting to show some cracks. SD is most likely going to lose Tatis either for the season, or extended time. Have some faith my man.
Wonder how y’all feel about the possible Hamels signing. Word is he will need about a month to get ready.
Love it, especially with the possibility Gonsolin and Kersh are done for the year.
All these signings lead to the formation of a super team that could be headed for a winner take all game. Fortunately we have big game buheler, and SD does not have that. They likely start Yu, but he is erratic at best. Our bats will be different by then too with Trea in the fold and Corey heating up.
Buehler or Scherzer against that lineup is a win win for me. But I think they are going to overtake the Giants and win the division.
Dodgers to sign Cole hamells!!! Is Clayton healthy???
CK had some residual soreness after his last bullpen session. They have not announced when his next one will be, and the Dodgers are pretty closed mouthed about those things. He was scheduled to start this weekend.
I don’t have a strong opinion about the possibility of bringing in Cole Hamels. I haven’t seen him pitch in quite some time. When I did see him pitch last he didn’t seem to have a lot to offer with a fastball that struggled to touch 90. He’s always been a control / command guy, so I guess there’s some hope. It looks more like an insurance move to me. But, that change up was one of the best I’ve ever seen.
I don’t know what to think about V-Gone either. After rewatching the 8th inning, it looked like they intentionally pitched around Correa and then he throws a freaking changeup to a lefty and left it in a very hittable spot. It was the only bad pitch he threw in the zone the entire inning and everyone else managed only weak contact. Will Smith setup low and away, so he obviously missed his spot as it ended up right in most lefty’s wheel house. Right at the bottom of the zone, just in from the center at a batting practice 84 MPH.
The thing that really pissed me off was bringing in Treinen in the 7th to pitch to 8,9,1 in the lineup. But, you know the Dodgers gotta try to exploit platoon splits. Curiously, Treinen gives up one hit in his inning, to a righty and V-Gone gives up one hit in his inning, to a lefty. Se la vie in the land of Dodgers baseball.
It’s all poppycock anyways. I have never seen a team win a game by putting up a zero. And I have yet to hear of a team that has gone an entire season without getting shut out. Sometimes the other team wins.
Another low pitch count inning for Treinen and he doesn’t get a 2nd inning yet again!!!
This teams talent is overwhelming on paper but not on the field! Where’s the fire?
Sheesh Cassidy, they have won 64 games. Only the Astros and Giants have more. Only 2 other teams have as many. Overwhelming on paper? They are not even at full strength, so how does that matchup? You get that entire rotation, and an experienced bench and pen instead of AAAA players, and it is a whole different team.
You’re right of course Bear. But, that lineup last night was all first stringers and they looked completely overmatched.
Yes they did, and they did not do anything to adjust. But here is a fact. After their series with the D-Backs and a set with the Rockies, who can be unpredictable, The Giants have 20 straight games the rest of this month and into September against contending teams, Mets, A’s, Mets, Braves, Brewers, a 4 game set then the Dodgers. Over the same period, the Dodgers play the Phillies, Mets, Pirates, Mets, Padres, Rockies and Braves. So the chance to make some hay is there. And by the times they meet the Phillies, they should have Turner in the lineup, and I think he is going to make a huge difference in this team.
It is official, Dodgers have a deal in place to sign Cole Hamels. He will go to Camelback Ranch to build up arm strength.
Teach the staff how to throw a change up Cole.
Well, they got what I thought they needed, extra starters. Hope they can go 6. 7 is the new complete game marker. In fact, we probably have fewer 7 inning starts than we usta have complete games. Today’s superior athletes are candy pants sissies compared to the old guys. Even a mediocre Carl Erskine got 71 complete games in 12 years, 5 of those years he was mostly used as a reliever.
The way Doc and the Dodgers handle the disclosure of injuries I suspect we will soon find out CK needs TJ. Have we seen his last pitched game as a Dodger? Does he retire or sign somewhere else in the off season?
Ewwwww. I hate this post!!
Kidding but I do hate the content. I don’t want to see Kershaw go down on an injury nor do I want to see him in another uniform.
No one knows what his status is. I am pretty sure he would love to retire a Dodger.
I sure am glad Mookie played second and protected his hip LOL. That said, he made a web gem play at second, sprinting, spinning, falling down, tumbling, twisting to throw back to first.
I was never much of a Muncy fan but he proved me wrong. Much of his high OPS is due to the number of walks he gets and that has worked well for him. But he has to put the ball in play on the first pitch against a pitcher like Kershaw or McCuller.
I think Bellinger has tremendous bat to ball ability but is not using it. I really dislike how close to the plate he stands and stands has a double meaning for him. Great posture at the plate but unless he wants to be a model, maybe he could benefit from less posture. He is also a good bunter.
Joc’s line against lefties this year: .295 .360 .397 .758
Joc’s line RISP this year: .311 .337 .527 .864
Joc would no doubt have been better than the rummies we’ve run out there.
Pollock plays Jocs position and he’s not bad!
Pollock was signed to play CF. But, yes, he has found a home in LF.
If Belli was just back a little bit, it would help him step INTO the ball instead of back in the bucket like he often does along with the silly head dip. Even 3-5in would help him IMO.
Kershaw
Scherzer
Price
Hamels
Jansen
Betts
Turner J
Pujols
8 potential HOFs on one team
And a future HOF manager at the helm
Not bad for a WC team
I do not think Hamels is close to being a Hall of Famer Watford. 163-122 career record is a little weak for HOF consideration, and he is only 7-6 in post season play. He was very good when he was with the Phillies. But the injury bug has bitten him bad. I think Kershaw, Scherzer and Tio Albert are locks. Mookie gets another MVP award, and another ring and he will be close to being a lock. Price, Turner, Jansen not so much. If JT had become the player he is now a few years earlier maybe. Jansen not close to being near the top of the greatest closers ever. And if a guy like Billy Wagner, who has close to 100 more career saves than Jansen does and is 5th all time, and not in the Hall, Jansen has no shot. Price has fewer wins than Hamels, Turner has been in the league 13 years, but only a regular for 8 of those seasons. His career totals are not going to be strong enough. He has just over 1100 hits. No MVP awards, 2 all star appearances. Just not even close.
I only see 4 and not a manager to be seen. No chance unless a serious run of old Yankee proportions comes to be.
Kershaw
Scherzer
Betts
Pujols
Short sighted Jason. Roberts is right there on the top step every night.
How so?
Bochy is a HOF manager.
How do the two compare?
How is Roberts a HOF manager? Serious question.
You missed the joke. He is always on the top step so he is not short. A little early to say he is a HOF manager. 600 career wins is not even close to the greatest. But he is only 999 away from Tommy. Who knows, maybe he goes somewhere else and manages a couple of Series winners. Bochy was no genius until he got to SF. He was good with the Pads but they never won anything. And Bochy is not in the hall yet. And for all his supposed greatness as a manager, he was only manager of the year once, 1996. Roberts matched that in 2016.
Jason – was only messing with the Manager shout
Michael – I know you’re right but it just struck me how many quality veterans we have, not just here at LADT, but also on the team.
Very big game tonight- time to make a statement.
Early alarm call again…
Your comment was more fun than the ones that peed on it Watford.
Peed on it? I thought he was serious.
Can we please get Kelly in the game tonight against Correa !!
He may get a 146 day suspension for an inside pitch but I just want to see that AB and hopefully a fastball to the ear.
I hope you’re kidding Jason about hitting somebody in the head. How about we just beat em.
Is beating him more better than beaning him? 🙂
BOTH is a GREAT recipe.
I think you over salt your food.
I agree with you, Jason!!
It’s funny how you mentioned that. I was thinking that Kelly should have pitched the 8th with Correa due up. I think Doc is afraid to let him go out there and get a suspension.
I don’t mind throwing at a player, but anywhere near the head is off-limits and a line that shouldn’t be crossed. But, cheating to win a WS, then running your mouth afterwards is pushing that line.
I think he meant Rear, not ear.
They did and Correa won the battle with a HR. But, Altuve struck out 4 times.
Great post again Bear. Very enjoyable read.
* Mark Timmons, were you at last night’s game? I swear I saw a guy that looked like you taking pictures pre-game from behind home.
* I know we lost but it was an entertaining, old fashion pitcher’s duel for 6 innings. I enjoyed Mookie at 2nd and Striker’s pitching. This was fun to watch until the 8th. Great atmosphere.
* Kirsten Watson has some hooks. She looks like she could Palm a slick bowling ball.
* You guys have done a great analysis of the problem with taking pitches and working counts against top quality pitching. Working pitch counts and hitting behind in counts just doesn’t work with McCullers. You have to look for a pitch early and let it eat.
* Beaty might have had the worst AB ever in the 7th.
* The broken bat oppo flare by Belli was a good swing. He didn’t break down his lower half to go the other way like he usually does now.
* I really like Doc staying with Buehler thru the 6th. He didn’t have his best strikeout stuff but one earned through 6 is impressive. Doc trusted his pitcher. I’m sure Buehler appreciated it.
* I wondered about Treinen in the 7th. It seemed too early for him unless the thinking was for him to eat 2 innings while we waited to get the bats going. But instead he went with V-Gon for the 8th, down 1, and Treinen done. That wouldn’t have been my pick for sure. I’m not second guessing the move; I first guessed the move. It’s like there’s a set script of who pitches out of the pen while we are winning, tied or down by a little or a lot. V-Gon would have been my last choice in this game. I was thinking, just get 3 outs so we can remain 1 run down. But NO, the dreaded walk was followed by a bomb. It might seem like no big deal with our lack of offense but being down 3 instead of 1 changes everything in a game like this. We have better pitchers for the 8th in that situation, IMO.
Altuva getting picked is the highlight of my evening, I guess his “warning buzzer” didn’t go off fast enough, this time.
* Pollock is playing great but I want him to get new shoes. Ones that make him look fast. He is pretty fast. Show the sleek track look at em. Yours look like Clem Kadiddlehopper’s. (for those old enough to remember that character)
I’m excited to see Scherzer tonight. It would be nice if the bats showed up too.
Maybe “looking slow” is a plan. Might be what has helped him steal 3rd a couple times lately?
Great article, Bear. It is fantastic to learn more about the players from that era. Erskine was a little before my time, but such a great baseball career and a life well lived (with more time left).
I still miss the times when players spent all or most of their career with one team.
The Dodger team in the last decade has been mostly homegrown and castoffs like Muncy, Taylor, And Turner. The recent trend towards buying the best players like Bauer, Scherzer, Betts and Price is not as appealing to me. I still hope the Dodgers pull it off, but baseball games and championships are won by good teams doing the little things in close games. The Dodgers have been poor at executing in close games, and it almost seems that instead of focusing on getting better at the little things, they are just pulling out the checkbook to try to fix it.
I do not read comments during the game. So when I got up this AM and started to read some of the comments, I was amazed at the current tenor of the discussion on “working the count” in general terms. I do not recall specific individuals who were espousing this concept, but I would think that all RVS apostles were pushing it. I recall a few years back when I complained about this concept that became an increasing staple in the RVS batting regimen. It may have come down from the computer printouts, but RVS pushed it to the max. Many on this site were upset with Corey Seager because he would not go along to get along with this concept. I listened to Doc on post-game shows saying they are working with Corey to be more patient. The prevailing thought from many here was the team has to work the count on the starting pitcher to get to the relievers more quickly.
Gee, the rest of the baseball world has learned how to attack this offense. Throw strike one and then work the corners and get them to chase, roll over, or popup. With the increased launch angle and big swings, the rolling over or popup was easy to predict. The better starting pitchers take advantage and work to get to the best of the late inning high leverage relievers. The best hitters will beat up all day on bad pitchers.
Many on here have lambasted Gavin Lux, a 23 year old kid who was the overwhelming 2019 MiLB player of the year, not just for LAD, but for the entire MiLB. I have read that he too often looks like a deer in headlights when at bat. I dare say that those of you who are most critical never saw Gavin play at Tulsa or OKC. In 2018-2019, Gavin played 224 games at Tulsa and OKC, and I know I watched at least 100 of them. (Advertising special – MiLB TV is great to see future stars). The Gavin Lux many of you are complaining about now is not the same Gavin Lux in 2018-2019. That Gavin Lux attacked the ball. He was not working counts. Most of the time, he swung at the first strike he saw. He hit to all fields. He had outstanding oppo power. Now maybe he will have to change teams to get back to that psyche. But he is truly a gifted hitter who I wish would go back to his 2018-2019 attack mode.
What has changed. First and foremost, the pitching is better at MLB. But Gavin is no longer attacking first strike. He is “working the count”. I will never be convinced that this is not pushed to the max by the ML club. A concept pushed by computer geeks who never played the game and put on a pedestal by a coach who could not hit the Mendoza line in high school. I am not talking about a coach who peaked in MiLB, but a coach who peaked in Little League.
I will never forget my son yelling at the TV when Sean Newcomb nearly no-hit LAD in July 2018. This was the first game after his stroke that we watched together, and he was disgusted at the number of first pitch strikes that went by. Of the 26 outs Newcomb got, he had 17 two-strike counts, and got 16 outs (8 on K). The team did in fact work the count. Newcomb threw 134 pitches that day. He would center cut strike one, and then nibble. I told him that the Dodger strategy was to “work the count”. He responded horse****. “You do not take the bat out of the hands of professional hitters. They got to that level by recognizing pitches and reacting. Pitchers are tough as it is, but when you give them 0-1 and 0-2, you, as a batter, will not be successful.” Yes, my son was a AAAA player. He accumulated: 3,824 PA, batted .270/.354/.449/.804, 122 HRs, 218 doubles, 6 triples, 385 BB, and only 607 K (less than 16%). He may not have lasted long at the ML level, but he never allowed the pitcher to dictate to him.
So without it being a spoken hard and fast rule, the players are strongly encouraged to “work the count”.
BTW, VGon or Kendall Graveman???? I know who I wanted.
https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/66153/rubbing-mud-first-pitch-swingers-receive-major-advantage/
The idea isn’t to automatically swing at the first pitch you see, it’s to be ready for that get ahead fastball. I don’t know what RVS is “teaching” about working the count but I know from years of experience the best way to get ahead in the count is most certainly NOT to look at strike one down the pipe. You want to make sure you get ahead the rest of the night hit that first cookie against or over the fence and I promise you that pitcher won’t do it again, unless it’s a mistake, in which case you know just what to do with it.
I have been advised that the concept is “working the count, to get the pitch count up”, especially early in the game. This came from somebody very connected and very familiar with the situation. Nobody is proclaiming that the hitter must take a strike, but it is strongly hinted that if you swing at the first pitch you better do damage. The number of first pitch strikes this team takes gives credence to that advice. That concept is not all inclusive as it is not deemed as important for relievers because the goal is not to drive up their pitch count. It is also a concept that is no solely practiced by LAD, but they do try to perfect it.
BTW, I was given this advice a few years back, so this concept predates RVS. However RVS has pushed it to the max. Just as the FO has found a field manager that espouses their strategies, they found a true believer in RVS. I am not advocating that Doc and RVS are bad hires, just that I do not always agree with the team’s apparent strategies. I stopped harping on it because most everyone approved of the concept. Who am I to say I am right and they are wrong. It was advice that was shared with me, and one that I did not agree with.
Yeah, I do understand the strategy, and I’m not against it. In fact, the point is – this is not about one at bat. You get the reputation of crushing dead red you will accomplish driving the pitch count up for the next two at bats. You get the reputation of taking the first pitch. you will be behind in the count right away.
Eric Karros has to be the poster boy for taking the first pitch. It was always the best pitch he would get.
Hamels is reported to be “officially” a LAD. He signed a $1MM major league contract with a reported $200K bonus for each start. So it would appear that Hamels is convinced he is signed to be a starting pitcher. What that means with respect to the health of CK, we will have to wait and see.
My gut tells me they would not do this unless they felt the need to give Kershaw more time, or, worse, shut him down.
Those are my fears as well. I hope we are wrong.
Yeah, me too.
Use an opener for each Hamels game and you’ll save yourself a lot of money.
AC, nice analysis as always. My two cents on the matter…
The new age style employed by RVS made sense when it was developed. It combatted the abundance of sinker slider pitchers who threw at the bottom and often outside the zone. Work the count, pull the ball and put it in the air with backspin was the mantra. Getting the starter tired when they tend to leave the ball up in zone worked for a while until pitchers started adjusting. The sticky and associated spin rate begat the return of the four seamer up in zone and when you’re trying to hit the bottom third of the ball, it becomes a recipe for disaster.
An analytics heavy front office compounds the issue. We all have heard the term “Small Sample Size” and people throw it around quite often trying to disprove trends. The general rule is, the larger the sample size, the closer the results you get from the sample are to the population. The population being all results. The sample size being a representation of the total population.
The rule of thumb for sample size is, in order to be closely related to the population a sample size of 20-30% is recommended. So, when you have a bunch of stat geeks upstairs, they will not change their strategy until the sample tells them to. They can’t believe the information from the sample until it reaches that 20-30% threshold which equates to close to 1/3 of a season and probably then some additional time to implement any change.
When you have a one trick pony that never played like RVS, and a front office that’s slow to react while waiting for the sample to become large enough to justify it, you get what we’re seeing today. A team that looks like it’s slow to adjust. This isn’t just apparent in their hitting approach, but also in their use of the shift and their reluctance to beat it. Add in the human nature as it relates to the nerds upstairs. They built their value on developing certain truths based on analysing years of data. It goes against human nature to admit that things changed and their philosophy should change along with it.
These are things that an experienced manager can see without the use of analytics. The old school manager would read the game and adjust accordingly. The Padres are a good example. Not only did they see that a hole is created on the shift that can be exploited, they also noticed the reluctance to run in modern baseball, because the nerds said the risk of the out outweighed the benefit of moving up a base based on their years of statistics. What they failed to see because they didn’t play the game at a high level is that the success rate for stealing bases when they came up with that truth is no longer applicable because the skill of holding runners and throwing them out was diminished because no one ran any longer.
We’ll see how much this makes a difference for the rest of the season and onward. But, it’s certainly worth the thought of trying new things even if they’re actually old things like having a manager using in his eyes on the field as much as he uses them on his eye pad.
My son was a very good breaking ball hitter. He learned in college to recognize a slider and attack it early in the count. Pitchers kept throwing him sliders because they could not get fastballs by him. He learned and adjusted. Just like every hitter, hitting that slider with 2 strikes becomes very difficult. He tried to avoid that 2 strike slider. Not always successful.
He must have better than average eyesight. The tight slider spin can be difficult to pick up early. I think that was Kemp’s biggest problem. He waved goodbye to a lot of low and away sliders. I tried to lay off anything breaking down, but sometimes you gotta swing. The key to success? Don’t try to pull it. Try to hit a line drive right through the pitchers pie hole. You’ll miss that, but you might find a hole on the oppo side of the field.
That was my problem: I could not hit what I could not see… and I was good at it!
Beltre had the same problem as Kemp early in his career, then he owned it. Mondesi had that problem as well. It takes a lot of discipline to lay off that low and away slider. Pollock has gotten better at it this year. He basically said he’s tricking himself to be aggressive in one spot instead of telling himself to lay off of it. Whatever works, eh?
It took me only pitch to learn not to swing at a waist high down the middle of the plate ball in a fast pitch softball league. That damn ball wound up high and away, how high and away you ask, well, the catcher couldn’t catch it and had to pick it up at the backstop. Me, I walked back to the dugout with new information.
Very good point about hitting that slider early in the count. You look at one spot and if that slider comes in, you can react and give it a ride. It’s a lot harder to do that with two strikes when you have to protect the whole plate. That’s when it leads to chasing low and outside.
Sometimes things are just a blessing in disguise…
I know that I’m going to be in the minority here, but I was recently thinking about Kershaw’s role in a postseason rotation. Of course, these thoughts were precluded by my own delusion about the possibility of the man who’s name shant be uttered coming back in time for the stretch run.
Even if you check stats right now, you’ll see that you can make a case that Clayton is the worst starting pitcher in rotation. Bauer, Scherzer, Bueller are definitely better while Urias’s ERA is just .01 points higher, he’s very even when you look at their stats as a whole. Clayton also has the worst Win Loss Pct of all Starting Pitchers including Gonsolin and Price.
We all know what Kershaw’s postseason numbers look like. They’re not horrible, they’re not great. They are very uneven. He’s thrown a couple of gems, but he has a long history of burying his team with little chance to come back. A crushing experience for his teammates no doubt when their “Ace” digs a hole and buries them inside.
Kershaw’s value nowadays is a inning eater that gives you a chance to win more often than not. But, in 18 starts he’s given up at least 5 in four of them, gave up 4 and couldn’t get out of the first in one of them and gave up 3 in four innings in his most recent appearance. That’s being no so good for 1/3rd of his starts.
We all know that whatever the Dodgers say about a player’s injury is BullSH*t. But, it sure looks like they like to take a conservative route with respect to injury recovery for certain players. Biology is not an exact science, so it’s hard to predict when someone will make it back for injury, illness, mental health or anything else that has to do with the body. So, it makes a lot of sense to add options like Duffy and Hamels just in case.
My guess is that they don’t mind building up Price a little more and they already have Bueller, Mad Max, and Urias. Maybe they were pleasantly surprised with Mitch’s latest outing and want to see him pitch a little more as a starter to evaluate him for next year while giving Clayton a little extra time for the stretch run.
The big but here is what the future holds for CK. It’s a feel good story to have him retire a Dodger. His hometown team doesn’t look like they’re going to compete any time soon. The Dodgers gave him a fat contract based on prior performance and even extended him because he had their balls in his hand with the opt out clause. Clayton hasn’t made 30 starts in a season for 6 straight years now. He’s no longer a stopper or a workhorse and he doesn’t have a good track record coming out of the pen.
I really think the writing is on the wall. This is Clayton’s last hurrah with the Dodgers and they’re going to give him a little more time to get right to make a push at the end of the season. They have some options in case he gets hurt trying to do so. I think we’ll see Clayton back mid August just ahead of Duffy and Cole.
Friedman has Plan B, C and D in place now.
As he should. I know it exasperates fans when we do not know the injury status of LAD players, but we should not expect to always know the status. What we do not like is to be lied to.
Last week’s response to CK’s status was perfect (IMO). Doc said CK had some residual soreness after his sim game. He would not speculate what that would mean for his anticipated August 7 start against LAA, and that he would leave that up to CK and the doctors. Those are the facts and that is all, we as fans, are entitled to.
I also do not think that Doc is the liar some label him as. He spews the company line. Nothing more. He does not make up stuff on the fly. Believe him or do not believe him, but he is only giving out what the FO wants him to say. His instructions, when they ask you this…you say this.
It was mentioned earlier about sample size. I was curious so I took a quick look at sample size as it relates to baseball. One article I found ( which I hope isn’t a bunch of bs) said stabilization is dependent on the a given stat. The link below lists number of at bats for stabilization.
https://redlegnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/chart12.png
Interesting to note, according to this article one needs 910 at bats to batting average to tell how well a player performs. So basically 2-3 years. Strikeouts, on the other hand, only require 60 at bats.
This got me thinking about Cody. As Mark points out, he has a history which is pretty good. So we can expect he will return to his career average. However, because of his shoulder surgery, it is expected that he will need upwards of a year before he returns to normal. So, in the meantime, we basically have a different data set. Could he get better over the next few months, I hope so. But it’s just as likely he will stay around where he is currently.
My concern with Bellinger is that he’s tweaking his stance (ostensibly to better handle velocity) and it not only hasn’t helped with Velo, but has all of his timing off.
There’s lots of visual references to the new stance and approach.
Anthony Rendon, you know, the guy who didn’t like the “Hollywood life style” so signed with the Angels, is having season ending surgery.
For what, you ask? For right hip impingement. And this is why I don’t think we can count on Mookie to sail smoothly on through the end of the season. He certainly could, but his hip could also cause him more problems.
One more reason AF might have jumped on the Trea Turner trade when he did.
If Mookie continues to play second, what happens to Pujols? Against lefties, he’d play first with Muncy sliding over to second. Can’t happen if Mookie is there. Muncy could play 3rd but JT is in the way.
Then there’s CF and RF. Turner can play center. Does Cody move to right? If he’s not hitting do you still play him? If not who plays RF? The best lineup requires Mookie in RF. But with his hip problem is that possible?
A hip impingement is very different that a hip pointer.
You beat me to it.
Was Roberts told to say it was a hip pointer?
Tonight’s better win lineup:
1. Mookie 2B
2. Muncy 1B
3. JT 3B
4, Seager SS
5. Smith C
6. Taylor CF
7. AJ LF
8. Cody RF
9. Scherzer P
Cody batting 8th, one step closer to being benched
I like this line up a lot. But then again I liked last night’s line up a lot.
I like this lineup better.
Wait, it’s the same players.
At least Belli is 8th now where he currently belongs if anywhere.
I’d rather have our pitchers up rather than him right now. At least they know how to bunt!
This lineup looks like it should be able to win one out of two games against the Asstros.
Good comments today about hitting approaches and organizational philosophies.
In 2019 the ML average on the 1st pitch was .340. 0 and 2 it’s .149. The numbers are remarkable predictable. When you’re ahead in the count, averages are much higher than behind in the count. We all know that but sometimes we don’t know how much difference it actually is. I said that earlier in the year when Mookie was taking center cut fastballs for strike one. And making outs not getting anything good to swing at later. I have talked about facing a really good pitcher, going 0 for 3 (or 0 for 4 when pitchers stuck around that long) and revising my night I never saw anything all night I wanted to swing at. Good ones don’t make many mistakes.
Those get me over pitches to get ahead need to ambushed. Piss on driving up the pitch counts. You will see plenty of pitches when behind in the count. they’re just not strikes.
I’ve had 18 and 19 year olds that have been coached up in youth leagues to never swing at anything spinning until they had to. Any pitcher who could throw a decent breaking ball had those kids down 0 & 2 all day long. That’s .149 average, all day long. I had a pitcher / power hitter kid who refused to sit on a fat breaking ball before he was down 0 & 2. I ask him one day why we didn’t work on throwing hanging curveballs during our bullpen work. He said it was because hanging curves are meat and easy to hit a long way. My next question was, “then why aren’t you hitting them”.
Players passing up green light specials in advantage counts just drives me crazy. They get a mind-set about taking pitches and refuse to adjust to make the pitcher pay for falling behind.
And Hitters need to talk with pitchers more and pitchers need to talk to hitters more. It might help the thought processes and get away from a set and passive approach with an advantage count.
The other approach I stress was “you are hitting until your eyes say “take” instead of taking until you eyes say “hit”. It’s a big difference.
LOL
08/04/21 Los Angeles Dodgers optioned LHP Cole Hamels to ACL Dodgers.
08/04/21 Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent LHP Cole Hamels.
08/04/21 Los Angeles Dodgers designated RHP Yefry Ramirez for assignment.
Ahhhhh, the reward for pitching two scoreless and hitless innings in relief.
Nelson to IL with elbow inflammation. I’m guessing we don’t see him again any time soon.
We’re cursed!!!
Nunez recalled.
Rats.
Amazing amount of injuries this year, especially to some of the top players. Per Spotrac, here are the MLB players making $30 million or more this year:
Trout-36 GM/1.9 Bwar
deGrom – 15gm/5.0 war
Cole – 21gm/4.1 war
Arenado – 103/ 2.9war
Greinke – 22/ 1.8war
Strasburg – 5/ -0.1war
Scherzer – 19/ 2.4
Verlander – 0/0
Machado – 101/ 4.2
Price – 28/ 0.4 war
Bauer – 17/ 2.5war
Kershaw – 18/ 2.1war
Sale – 0/0
Cabrera – 84/ -0.1war
Of the 14 players making over $30 million, only 3 players have a WAR of 3.0 or higher:
DeGrom, Cole, Machado.
And 5 players have a WAR under 0.5.
Buyer beware on the large, long-term contracts.
Good start for the Dodgers with a Will Smith bomb. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a winning streak.
Odorizzi is not McCullers to state the obvious! Good to c Mookie being Mookie. Now stay healthy!! Turner and Muncy couldn’t hit Bear right now. That is why u need a deep lineup to pick each other up. I think I know whose place tturner takes.
Hell, I couldn’t hit me. My fastball is about 28 MPH.
Can’t believe SportsNet LA is blacking this game out. Disgraceful
Game just came on SportsNet, in time to see Pollock explode!
That happened to me too. But it came in fine on my Roku App. It was also on the SportNet Deportes Spanish Channel…for next time. 😉
More sloppy defense
What a difference a day makes. From frustration to jubilation. I just hope it becomes more consistent. Joe stated recent Dodger wins = AVG of 10 runs per game which is actually incredible and is an example of a Super Team. However, 1.5 runs per game in the recent losses. Its boom or bust. I’d like to see a nice string of 4 or 5 run games with some good pitching and defense. If so, we can get on a roll. It will make me feel much more comfortable about the post season when we will face good pitching each day.
Hope Joe is almost done reading his sign stealing encyclopedia.
I’d really rather listen to the Dodger fans booing Altuva.
Max looks mighty good in Blue.
Scherzer is great. The Passion needed for some players
How great does Max Scherzer look in Dodger Blue. I can see a 1987 redo of Doyle Alexander’s 9-0 run in Detroit after the trade. Of course Atlanta had the last laugh on that one, as the Braves got future HOF John Smoltz in that trade.
I would b happy with a 9-0 run. Doc better have a backup in the ninth.
Now no hesitation, get Blake up. Period!
Why will Robert’s never take Jansen out until he gets us beat.
absolutely nothing wrong with the Dodgers’ bullpen – it’s the best in the league!
I was OK with Joc and Enrique Hernandez leaving via FA because you can’t keep em’ all. I would hate to see CK and even Corey in another uniform, but I can say without any hesitation I will not lose any sleep when KJ signs his one-year FA “make or break” contract with the Rays next year.
He’s been a good Dodger, but it’s time to see him gone and the $19 million in salary used for other pieces or to re-sign Corey. Bye-Bye KJ. Knebel can’t get here fast enough.
That’s for sure. My TV s getting sick of me cursing at it every time Kenley pitches.
I still feel comfortable with Kenley closing. With a four run lead!
He almost blew it. 2 run jack, single, had to strike out the last 2 hitters to keep from having Altuve come up representing the tying run. Muncy another ofer with 2 more K’s. Turner also took the collar. Bellinger with a ringing double to left. No K’s. That is an improvement. 4 more long balls tonight. Put some more distance between themselves and the Padres who blew a lead in the 9th, and another in the tenth. Scherzer is everything I thought he would be.
And more! I love his intensity. The guy is just a winner! And Pollock continues to rake!
Lol…..I’m glad you are not the manager. I NEVER feel comfortable when he is on the mound.
Why must KJ do this to me? I want to live to a ripe, old age (like some of you other guys!). Otherwise, great win! We’re starting to get a glimpse of how great this team can be, finally. Key is the bullpen and avoiding injuries through the rest of the season. However, given how crazy a ride it has been so far, I expect (fear) more drama ahead.