No Game Thursday Rants and Raves

June 21, 2018

Willie Calhoun has regressed immensely since the trdae to Texas. He is hitting .276 with a .321 OB% with just 6 HR in 300 Plate Appearances.  Everyone knew he couldn’t field – now it appears he can’t hit. Some former Dodger prospects are showing their worth:  Andrew Heaney and Zach Eflin are OK starting pitchers. Victor Arano is pitching well in relief for the Phillies. Scott Schebler is having a…

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Rancho Cucumonga Potential Prospects

June 1, 2018

Reviewing Class A players and projecting is very premature, but it does get done.  That is why so many A level and even rookie level players are included on Top prospects lists, only to fall out later.   The most difficult jump in professional baseball is from A Ball to AA.  So there is a lot of guessing that goes on with these evaluations.  Depending on the age, it is doubtful…

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I Knew This Would Happen…

May 21, 2018

Well, I have to admit that I was wondering if it really would, but it seemed like the Dodgers were cursed.  Everything they did went wrong.  Roberts couldn’t manage.  The hitters couldn’t hit and the pitchers couldn’t pitch.  Players were dropping like flies and the ones who weren’t seemed useless. I knew it would happen.  I knew the Dodgers would break out… but my confidence was starting to get shaken. …

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A New Paradigm

May 19, 2018

Will The Dodgers Be In On Harper And Machado? Everyone assumes that only a few teams will in on Bryce Harper and Manny Machado as free agents next winter, but I think that a lot more teams will be bidding on their services in the offseason than many people think.  Machado may get traded this year, but he won’t sign a long term deal and the Dodgers should not waste…

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These are the times that try men’s souls

May 16, 2018

Thomas Paine wrote sixteen pamphlets entitled The American Crisis which summoned up the American revolution in the winter of 1778 as the Continental Army froze at Valley Forge: “THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman….

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Blow It All Up!

May 13, 2018

I was a reading a piece the other day about how some basketball teams are built to win in the regular season, but not the playoffs.  Case-in-point:  the Toronto Raptors, led by Kyle Lowry, Demar DeRozan and Serge Ibaka. They shine in the regular season but cannot advance in the playoffs. Love or hate LeBron James, he steps up in the clutch.  Of course Dodger Fans remember Kirk Gibson’s Home…

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It’s Ground Hog Day… Again!

May 11, 2018

I think I will just run this post everyday until something changes… if something changes. These guys make Mendoza look like a superstar and it’s the same every day.  They can’t advance runners, can’t move runners, can’t bunt, can’t hit, can’t homer, can’t pitch.  It’s the same thing every day and it’s going to stay that way as long as these batting averages are next to players names: Taylor –…

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There Are No More Excuses For Anyone!

May 9, 2018

… and that includes Dave Roberts. Last night was a classic example of what is wrong with the Dodgers.  Trailing all of the game, in ther bottom of the 9th inning, the Dodgers Kike Hernandez homers off a RH pitcher (Write that down, Doc-a RH pitcher) to tie the game.  Chris Taylor quickly strikes out and Alex “I am screaming to be sent back to AAA” Verdugo meekly grounds out. …

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Here’s How I Would Fix the Dodgers

May 6, 2018

It’s time to see what Kike Hernandez can do as a regular – put him at 3B until JT comes back. Pederson goes to CF. Muncy and Valera go back to OKC. Too many weak bats. Hudson goes back to OKC and Cingrani goes on the DL. The team is under siege and decisive action is required. Things have to change and they have to change now! Puig will be…

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A Confederacy of Dunces

May 6, 2018

In 1980 a book by that title was released eleven years after the authors suicide, no doubt caused by the premise of the book, which is both depressing and true.  The author John Kennedy Toole, was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Price. The premise of the book is that “When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.”…

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