I used to own www.kershawshankredemption.com, and it may mean more to me than it does to you… or not, but Game #5 was a real redemption for one Clayton Kershaw from his previous bad outing. He’s now 9-8 with a 4.11 ERA in the postseason. IF he can keep that up, he can get his cumulative postseason ERA to below 4.00. This year, Clayton’s playoff ERA is 2.50 with a…
Never underestimate the power of focus. Conversely, never underestimate what happens when you lack focus. Case in point: Yasmani Grandal: For whatever reason, Grandal is at home with his wife (again)… at least in his mind. Three passed balls, 2 errors. Strikeouts, can’t advance runners. His head is somewhere else. There are no excuses – you do or you don’t do. I’ll talk about what I think the Dodgers should…
Today’s the day we have been waiting for. It seems like forever. It seems like 30 years to me… But, today the Dodgers statrt the final leg of the journey to the World Series. Did I mention that 30 years was enough already? We have had so much analysis that we now feel paralysis. I’m ready to wach the games. I’m ready to see what the roster is. I’ll keep…
With the Yankees being TKO’ed by the Red Sox, the slate is set. The Red Sox play the Astros while the Dodgers play the Brewers. Many Dodger fans didn’t think the Dodgers would be one of the last four teams standing…. but here they are! Think about this: The Dodgers are one of the TOP FOUR TEAMS IN BASEBALL! I think that the Dodgers will be one of the last…
For six straight years, the Dodgers have been NL West Champs. For three straight years they have won the NLDS and headed to the NLCS. From this point on, it’s really World Series or Bust, but this 2018 version of these Milwaukee Brewers are tough… and opportunistic. While we are at it, let’s no forget that the Atlanta Braves, even though they just burst upon the scene, they were pretty…
Sean Newcomb is left-handed and almost no-hit the Dodgers once this year. The other time the Dodgers faced him, they lit him up. Which Newcomb will they face today? Maybe it’s not which pitcher they face… maybe it’s what approach the hitters take and you will see a different approach because there will be different hitters tonight. Most likely this will be the lineup: C – Grandal (You don’t take…
It’s really as simple as that! The regular season is over and this is the “Mini-Playoff” to determine who wins the West. While everything is “reset to Zero,” I think it might be good if we list what this team did this year without Corey Seager, because frequently it was all about one of the following: What a stupid lineup Doc ran out (there were complaints yesterday and it turned…
We should know the answer by later in the afternoon (EDT). The Dodgers will play: At the Brewers in the Wild Card game; At the Cubs in the Wild Card game; Verses the Rockies in Game 163; or Verses the Braves in Game 1 of the NLDS. It could take me until this evening to explain it all, so we will just wait and see what happens, but the best…
Pitchers and hitters don’t progress from one stage to another in a straight line. That’s what we would like, because we like predictable. We like things neatly arranged and sequential, but baseball player development happens so differently… and sometimes, so maddeningly different than what we like, that we are frequently frustrated beyond belief. This time last year, Striker Buehler, who was then named “Walker” Buehler, was stinking up the joint…
The Determined Dodgers fell down several times this season, but they got back up and kept themselves in the running. This Band of Brothers understand that as long as you are within striking distance, it’s how you finish, and they are now finishing what they started… and stumbled… and got back up – they never stopped running! In 2008 Heather Dorniden-Kampf, the favorite, was competing in the 600 meter race in…