I started to write an analysis of the World Series, but what could I write that hasn’t been written and re-written? At one time, it seemed like it was me against the world as the FAZ-Bashers were relentless, but so was I, as I understood what they were trying to do, and I bought in early. Now, most Dodger fans are on the FAZ Bandwagon, but it’s extra sweet for…
As I am sitting in my Friday office chair at Starbucks, waiting for my two former Giant clients and our regular Friday coffee business/baseball chat, I just cannot stop smiling. A lot of the regulars came up and congratulated me knowing how faithfully I have worn my Dodgers jerseys win or lose. Today it is Kershaw, on back to back days. It’s been raining all night in NorCal, so I…
Early in the year, Chase Utley was mired in a horrible slump and fans started calling for him to retire. Dave Roberts had faith in him and after hitting .122 in April, he bounced back by hitting .314 in May, and he has been serviceable since then. He plays great defense, is a wonderful teammate and at 39 years of age, he just looks to be over-matched at the plate…
In Andrew Friedman’s first year as Predident for Baseball Operations, the Dodgers were bounced in the National League Division Series. The next year they went a round further before losing to the Cubs in the National Lgeague Championship Series. Right here, right about today, they are ahead of the Cubs 3-0 and on the cusp of being in the World Series for the first time in 29 years. Since the…
It was only a month ago that many fans and national pundits said the Dodgers were the biggest choke artists in the game The Diamondbacks and the Indians were the hottest teams in baseball and were everyone’s darlings, while the Nationals had the best 1-2 starting punch in baseball which should play well in a short series. The Dodgers dropped to 4th or 5th in the power polls, even though…
This was a great series. Sure some can point out the RISP issues, but I contend that Zack Godley, Robbie Ray, and Zack Greinke had something to do with that. They are all good pitchers who have battled through problems all year. The DBacks had the 3rd best ERA and 7th best WHIP in all of MLB. They have an outstanding pitching staff. The DBacks won 93 games, tied with…
Rant & Rave Sunday Saturday morning I was listening to MLB Radio and the announcers were saying that the Dodgers 1-4 hitters had to have a good series, because their 5-8 hitters were “almost irrelevant.” Yeah right! Conventional wisdom is often wrong and never were they so wrong as last night when the Dodgers 5-8 hitters scored 7 of their 8 runs. It appears that Roberts and the front office…
I was stuck on the tarmac in Houston for three and a half hours Monday evening so I pulled out my Kindle and re-read “The Best Team Money Can Buy” by Molly Knight, and a few things really jumped out at me. But the biggest one is that Clayton Kershaw is a creature of habit… maybe borderline OCD. On the days of the games he pitches, he has a very precise…
As we await to find out who the Dodgers play in the first round of the playoffs, I think it’s appropriate that we look ahead and see what types of changes could be on the horizon for the Dodgers in 2018. Changes in Players Of course, we do know that Andre Ethier’s contract us up and unless he wants to sign a “Chase Utley” type contract, his Dodgers career is…
The Dodgers just completed the best season in the LA Dodgers history and some fans are still unhappy! I am convinced that if the Dodgers win the World Series and don’t sweep everyone, everygame, some fans will say “Yeah, but they did it the hard way – they should have won 11 games in a row. FAZ should be fired!” The Dodgers just took two out of three from the…