The Dodgers now have 110 wins, blowing their old record to smithereens! They now have a four-game winning streak and could sweep the hapless Rockies. The Dodgers are the first NL team in 100 years to win 110 games. The Dodgers team ERA sits at 2.79. They lead all of MLB in starter ERA and are just .07 points behind Houston for the TOP Bullpen ERA. The Dodgers are way ahead of Houston in WHIP and BA. The Dodgers have a lot more swing-and-miss in their bullpen. Don’t forget that the Dodgers lead all of baseball in OPS, Runs, and OB% and are second in BA.
Dodger Notes and News
- Mike Grove and Andre Jackson are two big arms that I believe are best suited for the bullpen. They both can pitch multiple innings… or one… and they have the stuff to do so. They both seem to lose focus at times, but if they knew that they only had to pitch a limited number of innings, whether that be one, two, or three, I think they would be “Ross Stripling on steroids.”
- Bobby Miller could ultimately fall into that category at some point. He also seems to lose focus at times. Is this just a symptom of the video game and web device generation? Could be. Is Ryan Pepiot part of that equation? He’s more likely to be trade bait.
- OTOH, Gavin Stone is a “Stone Cold Starter.” He is honing his focus every game, and it is “laser-like.” I expect to see him in the rotation next season. Over the season, he has drastically cut down his walks.
- What rational person says, “trade Cody Bellinger and throw in a few million to sweeten the pot?” Hello, he either will be tendered a contract or he won’t. Trade? Are you crazy? I think after the season is over, we will find out that his shoulder is still on the comeback trail, and the Dodgers will tender him. Belli has never let his hitting problems carry over to his defense or baserunning. He has never stopped hustling as you saw last night. “It’s starting to kind of show some fruits as far as his work,” Roberts said about Bellinger. “The trajectory of his balls are better. You know, not just the high fly balls and the long, loopy swing. Even in that last at-bat, the ball was off the plate but to shorten up and move it forward was huge. He has been competing. Now it’s good to see him getting some knocks.”
- If Gavin Lux needs surgery on his neck, then my trade prediction is off! BTW, he is hurting; you can see it on his face with certain movements.
- The Dodgers stand to lose several players to the Rule 5 Draft this winter. Most likely: Ryan Noda, Drew Avans, Hunter Feduccia, Eddys Leonard, Devin Mann, and a couple of others. I think they will protect Jonny Delucca and Jose Ramos. This is by no means a complete list… just an overview. More on this later…
- The Dodgers aren’t giving Miguel Vargas much runway. So far, he has 45 ABs, and I hear people say, “he isn’t ready.” What makes you “ready?” Back in 2011, a young player had 123 ABs and hit .220. The next year, he hit .326 with .963 OPS and 30 HR, finishing #2 in the AL MVP race. I’m not saying Miguel Vargas is Mike Trout, but I do think he is ready. The only way he makes the playoff roster is an injury or in place of Gallo. He probably won’t be there.
- Why aren’t charges being filed against Trevor Bauer’s fake accuser? If the video is time-stamped (and it is), why wait? Bauer is promoting his clothing line to minor leaguers. He has that right, but he IS somewhat “tone deaf.” I never suspected he was a choirboy!
Life and Death Stuff
Friday night, my wife and I went out to a sports bar with our salespeople, who had another great month. We try and do that five or six times a year for team morale. I dropped her off at the office to get her car and was in the office for a few minutes. I got home about five minutes after she did. The garage door was open, and I could hear our dogs going crazy in the backyard. I didn’t think too much about it. Many of you know that I have a license to carry a handgun. It’s always in my back pocket (it is a .380 that looks like a wallet). However, I also have a huge magnet under my dash where I have my 9mm. At night, I take it out of the truck and keep it in the house in case someone wants to break into my truck.
So, I took the 9mm in my right hand and got out of the truck. As I turned to go to the garage, I looked face-to-face with a neighbor’s 160+ pound white German Shepherd. Now, let me give you a little background: My neighbor has told all the neighbors not to try and pet or touch this dog if they are a man. He is fine with women but hates men. He is in a fenced backyard, but we found out later that a contractor accidentally left the gate open. The dog has never been out before. I have been around dogs all my life, and I happen to have a very big dog… but not this big.
So, we made brief eye contact, and I asserted myself (so as not to act afraid) and said: “Go home, Duke ... Go!” As I said that, I unlocked the safety on the gun instinctively. He immediately charged me from about 12 feet away. I shot him once, expecting him to stop. He didn’t… so I shot him at point blank range. He whimpered, looked at me, and ran away. My next-door neighbor saw it all happen and went with me to his owner’s house. At first, they saw he was shot in the leg, but they took him to the animal emergency hospital, and the other bullet was in his chest. I normally have hollow points in it, but I still had “range rounds” in it. They said I did not hit any vital organs, but the emergency center said, “never bring this dog back as he is too vicious.” No shit!
I am sorry I had to shoot him, but he is also a menace, and he might have killed me. If I had my gun in my pocket, I would have never been able to pull it, take off the safety, and shoot. I realize he could have killed me. Twenty years ago, I’d take my chances, but at 69 years old, he would have done some major damage to me. By the grace of God, I was carrying my gun in my right hand. That is all that saved me. My neighbors both came over and said that I did nothing wrong and that they did not blame me. I know I had no other choice, but I still feel very bad. Having to shoot someone or something is no fun to me. Two days later, it still bothers me.
Mark,
Please email me your email address? I ‘m unable to post today’s Sunday lineup because I’m going to Scarsdale New York to visit my newborn grandson Anthony. This makes number 5, 3 boys and 2 girls. Couldn’t be happier.
Congratulations AVF!!! Have fun with that new baby boy, future Dodger, or at least Dodger fan! 😉
Congrats. Great day! Scarsdale is a nice area.
Oh man, that is some sad stuff Mark. I love dogs and I know that you do too. It must be heartbreaking for you, even though it was a vicious dog. But, you did what was necessary. People shouldn’t have dogs like that. It’s dangerous for everyone around. Thank God you had your gun in hand. Crazy!
Wow Mark! Scary episode in your garage; you were lucky to have your gun with you. It sounds like this dog is a real threat to the whole neighborhood and its owner should do the right thing and have it put down before it hurts someone!
I am happy that Belli is making more contact and beginning to get his hits. I hope it continues because he could be an important factor defensively AND offensively in the playoffs.
I’m gonna take a guess and say the pocket gun is a Walther PPK as you said it’s like a wallet and a .380. Am I right? I know the 9mm was not a Glock as you had to click off the safety. So judging your personality it could be a Colt combat commander or copy of or maybe a Sig. But I owned all those handguns in my past so really just wild guessing.
The .380 is a S & W Bodyguard. 12oz. And the 9 is a Mossberg MC2 C which I think is incredible.
Walther PPK a nice piece.
Talking about Stripling. He is having a breakout season with Toronto
I am happy for him. He will be 33 next month. Hopefully he can get one good contract.
Scary stuff Mark. I have been bitten once a very long time ago. Usually I am really good with animals, but the dog you described sounds more like a wolf. Great win last night. Love comebacks. About Bellinger, I am in your camp. I do not believe his shoulder is fully healed. Same kind of feeling I had when Kemp had such a lousy season in 13. But in 14 he rebounded and looked more like Beast Mode. Cody had some really good at bats last night. I could also tell that Lux is not right. But they need his bat in the lineup if he can make it through what obviously looks like an uncomfortable injury. Joey Gallo even had a couple of nice at bats last night. Tony Larussa is supposed to announce he is retiring next week.
110 wins is amazing.
If you are really going to let the (very reasonable chance of) the Dodgers not winning the series devalue how great it is, I feel bad for you
Agreed, it’s been a great year! The series would be icing on the cake, but really good cake is pretty darn good without the icing too!
Cheers
That’s funny. I was thinking about this the other day. This is a loser’s mentality. This is a participation trophy mentality. This is a great season, but to be considered one of the best team’s ever, you can’t make an excuse in your argument. You have to come home with the ring to be considered one of the greatest teams ever, end of story. Just like you have to win multiple championships to be a dynasty. Both are riding on the outcome of the coming postseason. In the immortal words of Reese Bobby, “If you’re not first, you’re last!”.
I feel bad for fans that accept failure and make excuses for it. I feel bad for those that are already preparing themselves for defeat. And I feel really bad for those that complain all season about a historic team, failing to realize its greatness and at the same time, choose to accept failure. The only thing that matters in sport is winning. No one remembers the silver medal or the runner up for a title. No one cares that the Seattle Mariners won 116 in 2001 because they couldn’t get the job done when in counted most.
They are one of the greatest teams ever to not win a World Series.
Not,
They are one of the greatest teams ever.
Do you see how different those two sentences are?
S
I guess you didn’t read what I wrote, but it’s all good!
There’s a chance, evidently, I might be feeling bad for you.
Hope not.
Joe Davis is doing the Bears and Giants game.
As a Bears fan, he was the only fun part of this game. We suck
No love for Justin Fields, he,he!
I flew to Chicago last weekend for the game. So far this year, I am not impressed by him whatsoever.
So explain to me again why Gallo is in the discussion for a spot on the playoff roster. Take Thompson, take Vargas, take Outman. Take anyone other than Gallo. Nice guy-tries hard- but the results are abysmal.
I remember when they said that and more about Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger.
… and to top it all off, the Dodgers have lost 49 games this year. How will they ever win with guys like Gallo?
Actually, the Dodgers winning percentage with Gallo is slightly higher than without him… not that it means a lot.
I’m not saying that about Muncy or Bellinger. Nor CT3, Lux or Trace. Just Gallo. He is a reasonable gamble for a team with time to invest with him, maybe the off-season, but with 2 weeks to go before the playoffs I think we have better options (see names above)
Are you saying that if we had 9 Gallos we would never lose a game?
Scary story about the dog. Sheesh.
As for the Dodgers, I’ll join the chorus that Gallo isn’t showing us enough yet to really justify his presence. Trayce had two more hits today — two-thirds of the team’s total–and Belli’s deep sacrifice fly was another promising sign. Also, Taylor has started to hit again. An OF of Betts, Belli, Thompson and Taylor works.
But we’re waiting for Gallo.
He’ll get more runway, I suspect, because AF has invested some of his ego in the deal. That’s an advantage Gallo has over guys alternatives like Outman or Rios. That’s nice for Gallo but it kind of sucks for the other lefthanded bats who might otherwise be under consideration.
Sure hope Vargas starts proving he really belongs on the postseason roster. So far it’s been underwhelming.