The Bell Toles for Andrew

July 14, 2018

Andrew Toles has a great story – out of baseball, stocking groceries and back to baseball.  From the outhouse to the penthouse and even after that he has endured even more adversity in the form of injury. However, he apparently is healthy and ready to contribute.  I am going to make the case that he can contribute to the Dodgers success in the biggest way by playing CF and leading…

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Changes to the Game is Inevitable

July 12, 2018

NFL Attendance has peaked and is going the other direction.  Baseball purists say that baseball is healthy and why change the game?  The answer is really simple: while there are certainly some young fans, baseball is not as popular among the Millenials and Gen X as it was during the Baby Boomer Generation.  I guarantee that in the next few years, there are going to be substantially fewer crowds watching…

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When It’s The Middle of July…

July 11, 2018

…and you have two players below .600 OPS (Barnes and Forsythe) and one barely above it (Utley @ .621), it’s time for some new blood. It’s bad enough that the Dodgers have four other KEY HITTERS hitting .245 or lower: Pederson, Bellinger, Grandal and Hernandez. The diference is that their OPS are all .779 to .843. We all know what the definition of insanity is. Let’s face it: Barnes, Utley…

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Tough Decisions

July 9, 2018

… AND SOME OF THEM MIGHT NOT BE POPULAR. It was said that the entire Dodger team watched Walker Buehler throw a simulated game yesterday – he’s not just another arm.  His stuff is electric and he should ready to start next weekend against the Angels. I have heard that he likley will not have a cap on his innings this year (within reason).  I expect to see him log…

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Do You Remember…

July 8, 2018

… when the Dodgers could have traded for Cole Hamels for SVS and JDL?  (Neither do I, but some insist it is true.) … when every Dodger fan wanted Sonny Gray? … when Dodger fans wanted David Price? … when Dodgers fans were upset that Zack Greinke was not resigned by the Dodgers? I remember… …when FAZ signed Anderson, McCarthy and Kazmir? … when FAZ got Barnes, Hernandez, Grandal, Taylor,…

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Dodger Chatter: 2018 Amateur Draft

July 7, 2018

Much disappointment has been expressed because the Dodgers couldn’t sign their first round selection this year.  High school right-hander J.T. Ginn chose to attend Mississippi State University and perhaps enter the draft again in 2020 after his sophomore year. I was 100 percent sure that the Dodgers had a commitment that he would sign or else why would they select him with their first overall selection when some very good…

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Maybe This Team is Built for the Playoffs and World Series

July 6, 2018

With the Dodgers epic struggles early this season firmly fixed in the rear-view mirror, the fan expectations are lukewarm… at best.  However, here the Dodgers sit, tied for first place with the D-bags and I tend to like it that fans are not too excited (I like it a lot) because conventional wisdom is frequently wrong.  Don’t get me wrong – the 2017 Dodgers weren’t bad, but they were a…

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Why Floro and Neal… Again?

July 5, 2018

I already see that the FAZ Bashers are up in arms over the  re-acquisitions of right-handers Dylan Floro and Zach Neal from the Reds in exchange for right-handers Aneurys Zabala and James Marinan.  Probably the most important reason is that the Dodgers also got some international bonus pool  money from the Reds, which may be the key to the deal.  I know that the bonus money can only be assigned in $250,000 increments, but as yet, I have not…

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Happy 4th of July Everyone

July 4, 2018

I’m off to go boating with my daughters family today… so this is short! My wife and youngest son are doing a 4th of July event with their ice cream trucks and my oldest son is in Long Island today. So, it’s just me… Fireworks at Dodger Stadium have been cancelled due to the Dodgers smoking hot bats! Max “Freaking” Muncy should own 2B. With Gold Glove Caliber players at…

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Heart and Soul: Matt Kemp

July 3, 2018

Well, that was fun…. and much needed too.  An offensive explosion never hurts a team that is struggling with hitting.  If I had told you  in Spring Training that Matt Kemp would be an All-Star (and maybe the heart and soul of the team), that Max Muncy would be leading the team in HR and OPS’ing over 1.000 and Ross Stripling would be the Dodgers ace, you would have signed…

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