Well, the baseball winter meetings are now a little over a week away. The big question for Dodger fans is what, if any, moves will the Dodgers make. A couple of free agents have come off of the board: Lynn to the Cardinals, Gibson to the Cardinals, DeJong to the White Sox, and the biggest fish so far, Nola back to the Phillies. Usually, there is a lull until the…
I did a post last year where I talked about the Asian players who the Dodgers have signed over the years. A few of them had a very positive impact on the Dodgers’ fortunes. The two very first were Park from Korea and Nomo, the Dodgers’ first Japanese signing. This year, there are two very good and very intriguing pitchers from Japan about to be posted. Yamamoto is supposed to…
From December 3rd to the 6th, baseball’s winter meetings will be held in Nashville, Tennessee. On Dec 5th, there will be a live broadcast on the MLB network of the newly installed draft lottery. MLB started this to deter tanking. It will give the top six spots in the draft to six of the following nine teams. Athletics, Royals, Rockies, Angels, White Sox, Cardinals, Mets, Guardians, Pirates. Teams that pay…
Coming off of two straight epic post-season meltdowns, is this Freidman’s most important off-season since he took over? I get the impression from reading many baseball blogs and websites that the Dodgers fan base wants something really big and really dramatic. I get the impression that half-measures and signing fringe guys is not going to satisfy the average Dodger fan. I see a lot of no more Peralta’s and no more…
Change is coming, bank on it. Change in baseball is inevitable. There will be tweaks to the rules, from the looks of things, a lot of player movement, and somewhere down the road, expansion and maybe a team or two moving to a new city. Rosters change every year. Just how much in today’s game depends on the number of free agents a team might have, prospects ready…
If I were to write AF, the following is probably what I would say. Mind you, I pull no punches, and I am pretty blunt. Don’t get me wrong, I think Freidman took a rebuilding organization and infused it with even more talent. And he did that while drafting low. But he has also had the luxury of pretty much-unlimited resources at his disposal. You cannot argue too much with…
I got to thinking the other day about why baseball is my favorite sport. And I also wondered why others choose this sport to be their favorite. It is not the easiest game to play. And it requires a lot of skill sets to play at the highest level. The greatest are usually said to have had 5 tools. Hit for average, run well, field at a high level, hit…
A few days ago, we celebrated Veterans Day. A day that we thank those who have served our country over the years. Protecting the freedoms we have all come to cherish. In a couple of weeks, the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor will be observed. There are not many still alive who remember that day and even fewer who survived it. What followed over the next 4 years was…
Believe it or not, this topic can generate some hot debate. Which players deserve the honor? And that is where the debate begins. The Yankees have by far the most retired numbers, 21. Number 8 and 42 are retired honoring two different players. 42 for Robinson and Rivera. 8 for Dickey and Berra. As we all know, 42 is retired throughout baseball. The Dodgers have 10 retired numbers, 1,2,4,19,20,24,32,39,42 and 53….
Recently I was asked by a friend of mine who reads this blog if I would do a story about Willie Davis. I thought that was a good idea, but since their careers started so close together, I thought I would just add Tommy to the story too. I hope it is something you all will be interested in. …