Yes, next season marks 31 years since the Dodgers last won a World Championship, but Dodger fans have alot to be thankful for anyway. There’s some work to do, but we are not perrenial losers like the Padres… and now the Giants. I could go on… and on… but I won’t! I have to deliver a bunch of Thanksgiving meals before our own family Thanksgiving at 6PM. HAPPY THANKSGIVING, my…
When you get to the World Series, you have a good team and no matter what, you are in position to win it. Ask the 1988 Dodgers. It seems absurd to me to blame the guy who assembled the team that got to the World Series for the loss. In 2017, they were the best team. In 2018, the Red Sox were, but does the best team always win? I…
In the United Kingdom, the “sophomore slump” is more commonly referred to as “second year blues”. A sophomore jinx is the popularly held belief that after a successful rookie season, a player in his second year will be jinxed and not have the same success. Most players suffer the “sophomore jinx” simply because scouting reports on the former rookie are now available and his weaknesses are known around the league. Many players have suffered the sophmore…
This time two years ago, and again, this time last year, the Rabid Friedman Bashers (RFB) were predicting that Clayton Kershaw would opt out of his contract due to the Dodgers failures in the World Series. The Bashers look for anything they might spin their way to make Friedman look bad and when that fails they move on to something else. I’m not sure she meant it as a compliment,…
With Hyun-jin Ryu accepting the Dodgers qualifying offer, the Dodgers are now able to field an all LH Rotation: Kershaw Hill Urias Ryu Wood Of course, they would have to leave Buehler and Maeda out of the rotation in order to do that. Not only that, but the Dodgers have some prospects who could possibly slot into the rotation as soon as 2019. Everyone has an opinion as to who…
The Dodgers Will Win The NL West a 7th Consecutive Season… and then what happens next depends upon what happens over the next few weeks. By early next week, we will find out if Yasmani Grandal takes the Qualifying Offer – my guess is he will not unless some personal circumstances dictate he stay in Southern California. I think some other team (and there are lots of interested teams) will…
Right about now, we have a few more days until we find out if Hyun-jin Ryu and Yasmani Grandal accept or reject the Dodgers Qualifying Offers. I predict that Ryu will accept and Grandal will reject. Then the fun begins… in the the measntime, the Dodgers have a few vacancies to fill throughout their organization. They are in need of a third-base coach, hitting coach and, what else….. Oh yeah……
In 2017, the Dodgers struck out 25.5% of the time and in 2018, it went up slightly as they struck out 25.7% of the time. They were not even close to being the worst in baseball in striking out, but they were in the bottom 30%. In 2016, the Houston Astros almost led the AL in strikeouts. Tampa Bay barely beat them. In 2017, the very next year, the Astros…
I was going to discus the State of the Pitching, but now I am going to wait until next week when we have a better idea what is happening with one Clayton Kershaw. That can change everything. Also, what follows is something that I think needs to be discussed. As most of you know, the Dodgers won the World Series in 1988 as heavy underdogs, and then did not again…
Before We Start… At least we now know that Clayton Kershaw wants to stay with the Dodgers, if possible, AND the Dodgers want Clayton Kershaw to be a Dodger for life, if possible. I think this is more than an “extension” – I think it may be a lifetime services contract. There’s a lot to discuss and decide. The fact that both sides agreed to postpone the deadline shows that BOTH…