The jury is still out, but early reviews this spring training are showing that MLB has succeeded in speeding up the game significantly with the pitch clock in place. Even with other new rules that primarily address beefing up offensive numbers, the pitch clock has had the biggest impact and may be the biggest change we have seen in the game since the designated hitter became a part of it…
I have been away for a little while, and during that period, a lot of baseball news trickled in. One item I wanted to address was the Evan Drelich book on the Houston Astros 2017 scandal titled Winning Fixes Everything. First off, the title of the book. It says it all. This was/is a corrupt baseball organization that got away with cheating their way to a title. As much as…
I started working on this piece with the intention of showing that the 2023 rule changes are significant to the game, and this season will show major changes that baseball has seldom seen. That morphed into a look at baseball history and the rule changes that have occurred over the years. Maybe I went too far, as dipping back into the origins of the game and rules at the outset…
This piece has virtually nothing to do with the Dodgers, but I figured a little levity was in order as we reminisce about the worst promotional event ever in the history of baseball. The late Tim Russert, former host of NBC’s Meet the Press, was a law school student in Cleveland in the mid-seventies. He summed up the 1974 Cleveland Indians promotion, “10 cent beer night” with an extremely telling…
It is reported that one of the Dodger owners in he Guggenheim group, Todd Boehly, was seeking to purchase the Washington Commanders of the National Football League. His interest in the team has waned in the past few days, but if Boehly wanted out and decided to sell share of Dodger’s ownership, we are talking “big” money. Amounts that few of us could ever imagine. Here’s the kicker though. If…
This spring, we will witness the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic (WBC). I call it Bud Selig’s attempt to copy soccer’s World Cup. It’s an interesting concept, and the idea is noble. We’d like to see the game globalized and allow amazing athletes on the other side of the globe to prove their abilities as “baseball” players instead of soccer, basketball, or rugby, or cricket. But there are…
Most readers here are old enough to remember what it was like to be a Dodger fan before the internet age. It was through the box scores and the Sporting News for those outside of southern California. For L.A. area natives, Dodger News was essentially limited to the pages of the LA Times, The Herald Examiner or (depending where you lived) the Valley News, SG Valley Tribune or Long Beach…
James Outman had 16 Major League Plate Appearances and 13 official at bats last season. He went 6 for 13, with two doubles, a homer, and three RBI. He walked twice and he struck out seven times. This was over a four-game stretch from July 31 to August 4, one at Colorado and three at San Francisco. He struck out in 6 of his final 7 at bats. The only…
The criticism of Andrew Friedmans lack of off-season moves is being read in social media circles and blogs like there’s no tomorrow. Many fans are expressing their opinions without a clear understanding of the ramifications and penalties levied to teams that sign free agents. I entered in a mini heated debate with a respected writer the other day who is insistent that the Dodgers sign a top tier free agent….
This is the time of year where everyone has an opinion and that means the intelligent and the morons. Unfortunately, the latter seems to get a lot of play. The calls from some for the Dodgers to break the bank and shell out hundreds of millions on 30 year old stars in deals that pay them into their 40s is beyond insane. Hasn’t anyone learned from the Pujols deal? Talking…