21 posts
This is a call up from the archives from an article I posted on December 7, 2016. The game we all love has changed considerably since the first published rules of baseball were written in 1845 for a New York baseball club called the Knickerbockers. Alexander Cartwright authored…
With Mark on the 10-day inactive list to attend to family business in Las Vegas (ever notice how these trips are never to Des Moines, Iowa or Wichita, Kansas?), Jeff (AC) was desperate for some assistance on the LADT writers roster. With his options limited, he had to resort to adding someone from the alternate training site, and had no choice but to call on me, the Zack Reks/Edwin Uceta
The St. Louis Cardinals have always been an iconic organization in MLB and arguably the most successful NL via winning more WS than any other NL team, trailing only the NYY. The Cardinals have won 11 WS in 19 appearances. They also hold the ire of Dodger fans as St. Louis has beaten the LAD in four postseason series (1985 NLCS, 2004, NLDS, 2013 NLCS, and 2014 NLDS) against a
Somebody made a point as to what the Padres transactions did for the psyche for the other teams. The Padres have now joined the Dodgers, Braves, probably Mets, and maybe the Nationals (with their pitching and Soto/Robles/Turner) to separate from the rest of the NL. Some team from the NL Central will get to the playoffs, because, well one of the teams has to. It is a rule. Because of
While I favor LAD farmhands and follow them closely, I am a fan of MiLB baseball period. I scour through the top publications to see what prospects the Dodgers might have some interest in, or in my opinion should have interest in. The top three baseball publications have all reported their top 100 prospects and the Dodgers are prominent in all three. Their least representative publication is MLB Pipeline (MLB)
Earlier in the week, I read an article from Dodgers Nation on the perceived struggles the Dodgers seem to have with signing elite free agents. There is no real answer, but a lot of potential scenarios. And then there was a comment during the week, “If the Dodgers do nothing much at all, is that good, are we glad that they chose not to try to improve the team, while
●Mercifully, the winter meetings are over. Lot’s of questions unanswered, but the main one for me is: Now what? As I wrote few weeks back, keep her steady as she goes. Also, remember, it was December 21, 2018, when the Dodgers surprised us with the Kyle Farmer trade. There’s lots of time between now and the start of spring training. ● It looks like Pedro Moura, of the Athletic, was
Let me preface this by unequivocally stipulating that I believe that Dustin May has a much higher ceiling than does Ross Stripling. Dustin May has had a great start, but has not yet faced any good offensive teams to establish his 2019 bona fides. May is a career starting pitcher and a sudden move to the bullpen could prove to be as problematic as it was for Walker Buehler. I
In a 401K portfolio, maybe you have only sufficient funds to NOT LOSE, but do not have that little bit extra to think about…what if. Or maybe you can invest your max in your 401K and want to keep that safe but have a little extra that you want to invest for something that may prove to be a very good return on your investment. Some of those investments will
Mark and I don’t always agree on everything Blue, although I think we are pretty consistent from a Macro view. But when it comes to the bullpen, Mark and I just do not see eye to eye. I have been a relief pitcher wonk since 1959 and Larry Sherry. Clem Labine would have been my favorite Dodger in the mid 50’s. I am not going to go through the history
Most teams realize that the best and least cost approach to building a perennial winner is through draft and development. With a little more than 3 weeks before the June Amateur Draft, teams are very busy looking at who the next Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, or Aaron Judge may be. If it were an exact science all three would have been the overall #1 pick and yet they were not .
Well, I was going to continue with my analysis of the NL West competition, but I thought that I would comment on the this past week and what the future may hold. Most Dodger fans got caught up in all of the Bryce Harper sweepstakes (including me), but as many of us said at the beginning of the Hot Stove League, a long term deal for Bryce Harper is not
It’s been a year since I first wrote that Max Muncy should be considered the LH hitting 2B (01-02-18). Most did not pay attention, but Max sure did take off in 2018. At 27, Max slashed .263/.391/.582/.973 propped up by 35 HRs in 481 PA. He has never shown that kind of power before. The closest he came was in 2013 when he hit 21 in the California League (A+)
There is not a whole lot to talk about that has not already been cut, bit, chewed, swallowed and regurgitated, and probably many times over. As we have also digested, all of us have favorite Dodgers; many who have moved on to other teams. I think Bums is holding a spot for Joc for when he gets to the HOF. One such Dodger fan favorite was Yasiel Puig. Unfortunately,
My apologies to the Wizard of Oz line, but it seems appropriate for me at this time. Please indulge me with a tribute to one of my all-time favorite Dodgers, Alex Wood. I do not know why I grew an attachment to Alex Wood. He has been someone I have followed since his rookie year, wishing that he could somehow find his way to the Dodgers. That was kind of
“A .209 hitter this year against left-handed pitchers, Puig was disgruntled by how he was limited to playing against right-handers, according to people familiar with his thinking who spoke under the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject. The frustration was said to affect his play, and Puig is now described as distrustful of management and open to playing for another team.” – Dylan Hernandez, LA
Some eyebrows were raised when news broke that the Dodgers were contemplating hiring 32-year-old Robert Van Scoyoc as their new hitting coach. Perhaps those eyebrows are still raised and locked into position waiting to see how things play out. One argument expressing doubt is that he has never played major league baseball so perhaps lacks the understanding of hitting at that level. I’m not sure that makes much difference
We all know that the one thing that the Dodgers must do is to find another catcher. The Dodgers gambled that Yasmani Grandal would not accept the QO, and won this time. They will get a supplemental pick between the 2nd and 3rd round, somewhere in the 80’s. That will be 4 picks before the third round. At the very least, they should get enough pool funds to be able
I understand the frustration in losing last night to the Padres. But I am not going to blame this on Doc or the lineup. The two questions I did have before the game were Kike’ and Freese in the lineup and Bellinger not. But Kike’ and Freese were fine last night and certainly not the problem. Kemp has been getting key hits lately, so I am not going to blame
I like contrarians. They keep us thinking. Sometimes we end up supporting a player more vociferously than may be called for. Think Bums and Joc, Mark and Grandal, MJ and Toles, and of course me and Wood. Most of us have been frustrated with how this season has unfolded and have made some disparaging comments regarding FAZ or Doc, or players such as Joc, Wood, Puig, Dozier, CT3, and lately
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
