The Dodgers ended the season in the same way they began the season…with a convincing win. Sandwiched in between were 41 more victories, for a season record of 43-17. That calculates to a 116 win season in a 162 game season. That is a pretty good year. The Dodgers were 6.0 games better than San Diego, the team with the 2nd best record in the NL. The Dodgers were 3.0…
The Dodgers will be entering the playoffs as the overwhelming favorite to capture their first World Series championship since 1988. They will start the playoffs as the best team in MLB; however, there have been more than a handful of Wild Card teams that have won the WS, and by definition they were not the best team in MLB for the season. But they were the best at the end. …
Our Boys in Blue have clinched yet another NL West Championship. That streak has now reached 8, and is one behind 9 consecutive AL East Titles by NYY and 14 consecutive Divisional Titles by Atlanta. Out of the previous seven, the Dodgers have won two pennants, with no World Series Championships. NYY’s streak was from 1998 through 2006. The Yankees won five pennants and three consecutive World Series Championships for…
We are now down to the last week, and we have no more idea as to who will be the Dodgers Wild Card opponent today than we had at the beginning of the season. Because the 2nd place teams in the Central and Eastern Divisions are relatively close, there are six teams that could fall to the #8 seed. Only two NL teams have actually clinched a spot in the…
Boy, I need to say that Corey Seager has gone into a slump more often. HR (13), double (13), single, 2 RBIs, a couple of good plays at SS. But he sure did choke with that weak ground ball to first when he needed a triple.☺ This is a different Corey Seager from last year. He is now tied for the team lead in RBIs with 36 with Mookie. It…
It took 50 games, but the Dodgers are the first team to qualify for the playoffs. They marched into San Diego with a precarious 2.5 game lead and not playing very well at all. Game 1 in SD was a match up of probably the team’s two Aces, Clayton Kershaw vs. Dinelson Lamet. The Dodgers broke on top first with a walk, double and ground out to score a run. …
As Mark is prone to do, he has laid down the gauntlet. If you don’t bow down to Doc and AF you need a STUPID tattoo? I have supported both gentleman for the most part, but while I would have difficulty blaming AF too much (because of lack of insider knowledge), certainly Doc has opened himself up to scrutiny. Let’s start with AF. The Dodgers lost 2 healthy mid-rotation starting…
As baseball aficionados we all know who should play, who should play where, what the best batting lineup should be, how to “correct” batting stances, etc. We are all more knowledgeable than the Presidents of Baseball Operations, or the managers, or the pitching coaches, or the hitting coaches. We have all played the game, some at advanced levels. But to my knowledge, nobody on this site has ever climbed the…
55 years ago today, perhaps my favorite non-WS game I ever watched or listened to played out on my transistor radio. It was a Thursday evening. School had just started, and we had just completed our third day of my 9th grade year. I was forbidden to be listening to my transistor radio, but I chose to ignore the rules and listen anyway. Of course that is another story that…
Second base has been an enigma for the Dodgers for the last two decades. The concern does predate AF, but he has not found the remedy for the position. The opening day 2B for LAD during the AF era has been Kike’ (2 years), Logan Forsythe (2 years), Chase Utley and Howie Kendrick 1 year each. The best bWAR during the AF era was Kike’ last year at 2.2. It…