When we look back at past MLB seasons, history has shown all too often that it always isn’t the best team that wins the World Series. Usually, it is the team that peaks at the right time that takes the title. It doesn’t happen often, but there have been seasons when a team with close to a .500 record has reached their peak in October and won it all, while juggernauts…
Mike Scioscia. Many images come to mind, and moments also. Like when he took Dwight Gooden deep late in game 4 to tie the Mets. Gibby would eventually win the contest with a homer of his own in the 8th. The other would be the number of bone-jarring collisions at home plate he was involved with. To this day, I still think he was the best they had at blocking…
On December 13, 1963, the Chicago Cubs, looking for a RHP, traded Jim Brewer and C Cuno Barragan to the Dodgers for Dick Scott. The trade would be very one-sided in the Dodger’s favor even though Barragan never played a single game in L.A. Scott spent 1964 with the Cubs and was gone. Brewer would go on to be an integral part of the Dodger bullpen for 12 seasons. A…
The Padres gutted their farm system in order to acquire veteran players and a superstar so as to be able to compete with the Dodgers. Even though they gutted the farm, they still cannot hang with the Dodgers! A team does not become great because of one player. Otherwise, the Angels with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani would be bound for the World Series… again. It takes a team to…
DISCLAIMER: If this does not apply to you, don’t sweat it! When Andrew Friedman took over as President of the Dodgers, he made several moves that most Dodgers fans mocked and ridiculed, such as signing Brett Anderson, Brandon McCarthy, and Scott Kazmir. They mocked the trade of Dee Gordon and then went Bat-Shit Crazy over the trade of Matt Kemp and FedEx for Yasmani Grandal and others. Fast forward a…
I have been away for a long while and will return to posting a piece now and then, now that I start this new phase in life called “retirement.” Some random Dodger bullets running through my mind. As disappointed as many fans are that the Dodgers didn’t land a mega superstar such as Juan Soto, I am actually relieved that the farm system remains intact and strong. Soto is definitely a…
Mark was right! He called it early. We didn’t have to do anything at the trade deadline. Well, he’s part right. There are no major holes to fill on this roster, we actually had to create holes so we would have open spots for a couple of players that are coming off the 60-day IL, so we did do something. The net result was restocking the farm while opening roster…
May 1, 1920. In the city of Boston, the police were uneasy in the murky morning mist. Between intermittent showers, they stood with shoulders hunched against the chilly air as they trudged out in extra details, alert to the morning headlines, “Guard against Bolshevik uprisings here. As it turned out, the only battle that day took place at the local ball field as the Bostons, and the Brooklyns battled for…
When Joc Pederson was in AA, I predicted that he would be “no more than a 4th or 5th outfielder.” In some ways, I was right. Joc was, is, and always will be a platoon player. That is unless he suddenly figures out how to hit lefthanders. In other ways, I was wrong in that Joc has surpassed anything that I anticipated for him. Up until today, when James Outman…
Doc just took all the pressure off of Max Muncy by announcing the following: “The results haven’t been there consistently, I’m aware of that. But I do think that stuff under the hood has shown better for me. … I’m going to continue to give him runway. I certainly still expect quality at-bats, but right now, I’m gonna ride with Max. … It’s gonna be that way until it’s not.”…