Part One The Beginning Leroy “Satchel” Paige. He threw his first professional pitch in 1926. He threw his last in 1966, forty years later. In between those years, he threw more pitches in more games and ballparks than any other pitcher in baseball history. He was, in fact, a living legend. He was also a great promoter, of himself. But beyond that, he was probably one of the most talented…
By design, Bobby Miller has not pitched in a Major League Spring Training Game, and I do not think he has played in any minor league or B-Games either, as he allegedly had a “sore shoulder” when he arrived at Spring Training. Allegedly, it is OK now, but the Dodgers are ramping him up slowly. It seems unlikely that he will pitch in the Freeway Series as he did last…
You know the rest, but in case you forgot: It’s how they finish! Sometimes we get caught up in the hype, and we believe that small samplings mean something when in reality, they mean nothing. A lot of you have criticized me because while you believed that James Outman was the second coming, I believed that his fantastic start (in 13 ABs) was more like “Lucky.” And while I am…
In 2008, my wife, son, and I were at the last game in Vero Beach at Dodgertown. It was a packed house. Clayton Kershaw was a wide-eyed rookie. Carl Erskine played the National Anthem on his Harmonica, and Tommy Lasorda addressed the crowd by saying, “I know you will have another Minor League team here soon, but if you don’t root for the Dodgers, you won’t get into heaven.” Vero…
It’s pretty obvious to me what Andrew Friedman is doing. I was going to say “trying to do” but no, he is actually doing it. He has all but PROMISED the 2B job to Miguel Vargas, and he has four older guys (Taylor, Peralta, Heyward, and Thompson) fighting for two positions in the Outfield. I believe that he believed that introducing one rookie at a time was the way to…
The jury is still out, but early reviews this spring training are showing that MLB has succeeded in speeding up the game significantly with the pitch clock in place. Even with other new rules that primarily address beefing up offensive numbers, the pitch clock has had the biggest impact and may be the biggest change we have seen in the game since the designated hitter became a part of it…
Jim Lefevbre, Dodgers second baseman and Rookie of the Year in 1965. I remember him well. James Kenneth Lefevbre was born on January 7th, 1942, in Inglewood, California. He was the second child of Ben and Virginia Lefevbre. He had an older sister and two younger brothers. Ben was a hitting coach of some renown as a coach for the American Legion and college (Pepperdine) baseball. Some of the major…
If Trayce Thompson can produce the same kind of year he did last year, then I’m OK with him, but he can’t! A player has to get about 150-200 ABs before you can really make a determination as to how well they may perform. Small samplings mean very little because of the “luck factor” – both good and bad! Consider this: Trayce hit .292 in June (25 PA) with 11…
Almost Zero! Almost Zip! Almost Nada! In case you haven’t been paying attention to the Cactus League, the KC Royals have scored 110 Runs and given up 67 Runs. They have a 12-2 record, and if you think Spring Training means something, then march yourself right up to the nearest sports book and bet your life savings on the Royals because they are going to win the World Series. However,…
The player who I think will replace Trea Turner will be 23 in August. That is Miguel Vargas. Trea Turner was 23 years old in his first full season. Just like Miguel Rojas, Trea was 22 when he had a “cup of coffee” with the Nats (44 PA) and hit .225. The next season he hit .342! Even though he is not as fast as Trea (he’s faster than you…