On August 12, 1994, the MLB Players walked off and the player strike began. The strike ended 232 days later on April 2, 1995, making it the longest such stoppage in MLB history. Who is hurting? The fans. The same people they (both sides) are trying to keep coming to games, parking, and buying concessions and souvenirs. It is hard to measure attendance due to the pandemic precautions from both…
Editorial Comment – This post was written prior to the Blake Snell acquisition by the Padres. The longer this offseason goes without much movement, the more likely AF is going to get involved. The number of teams that want to jettison payroll is growing and is undoubtedly going to pique the interest of teams like LAD. While it will stress out fans who continually want to see something happen to…
The financing of a baseball season is going under the microscope this offseason and potentially into next season. There is no question that MLB lost several billion in revenues. According to Forbes’ estimates from 2019, as gathered by the University of Michigan sports economist Rodney Fort, MLB teams made a total of $9.9 billion as follows: REVENUE (IN BILLIONS) UNDER… CATEGORY NORMAL SEASON HALF-SEASON W/O FANS* Gate receipts $2.84B $0.00B…
A little less than a year before the birth of our son Andrew, Harry Chapin put the finishing touches to a song that emanated from a poem penned by his wife. The song was Cat’s in the Cradle. As I did not grow from a happy childhood, the song did not initially appeal to me. But as my career was taking off, and Andy was about two, the song began…
We need to end this myth that Mookie cannot hit LHP. Over his career, against LHP, Betts is slashing .297/.379/.509/.888. Mookie’s career against RHP – .302/.372/.526/.897. Those seem like even splits to me. Over his career, Mookie has faced RHP 76% of the time. I think it is more likely that Betts was unfamiliar with NL LH pitchers, and after a year on a new team and a new league,…
Well I am back. Hope you are all basking in the glow of the Dodgers World Series win. I know for me it will always be a great memory. So, my tale today is about the men who umpire our great game. Specifically 5 of the 10 men who are in the hall. The second half will be in the next installment. Think about that. Over 130 years of professional…
CLAYTON KERSHAW GETS HIS RING!!! We can put the Kirk Gibson HR and the Orel Hershiser team celebration into the Smithsonian, because we have new LA Dodgers World Series heroes. It took the 3rd time in 4 years for the Dodgers to finally cross the Championship line. Mookie proves to be a difference maker not only for the game but for a World Series Championship team. Corey Seager ends a…
Showdown between the Rays top pitcher, Charlie Morton (Joe Buck will tell you over and over again that he’s absolutely great!) and Walker Buehler. As in most games, the Dodgers had several objectives: 1. get off to a good start; 2. run up Morton’s pitch count; 3. Keep Buehler’s pitch count down; 4. Keep the Rays off the bases; and 5. Score more…
In 2017, George Springer was 0-6 with a walk and 4 strikeouts before getting a one out double off KJ in the 9th inning in Game 2. A sleeping giant had awoken. In 2020 postseason, the Rays best hitter, Brandon Lowe was in a miserable slump, but that ended when he took Tony Gonsolin deep in the first inning. And he wasn’t done. Gonsolin gives up a walk to Margot…
Much has been said and written about the Dodgers depth and how that makes them a very dangerous team. I do not think that there is a question (at least not for me), that the premier builder of the 40 man roster is Andrew Friedman. During his tenure, over the last five years in a 162 game season, the Dodgers have 485 wins, more than any other team in MLB. …