The Dodgers Swiss Army Knives

March 10, 2019

The Dodgers under Andrew Friedman are known for their versatility. Both of their catchers can play 2 or 3 other positions. CT3 can play 6 positions while Cody Bellinger can play 4 positions. Max Muncy and Justin Turner can play 3 positions and David Freese can play 2 positions. However, no one can play more positions than one Enrique Hernandez. Right about now, Kike Hernandez is the “flavor-of-the-week” for some…

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Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard

March 8, 2019

After yesterday’s game, the Dodger’s record sits at 7-5 this Spring… not that it means absolutely anything. So far a few things have caught my eye, other than the fact that Joc Pederson looks totally lost: Cody Bellinger, Austin Barnes, Kike Hernandez and Daniel Castro (who?) look locked and loaded. Ross Stripling and Rich Hill are being stretched out. There are way too many arms for the bullpen… thus the…

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Going on the Offensive

February 22, 2019

I often border on the offensive… however, that picture is pretty cool: Orel Hershiser and Russ Martin. How many teams have two starting catchers who can play several other positions? Russ Martin is a catcher who can also play LF, 3B, SS and 2B… probably 1B as well. Austin Barnes, who is also a catcher, can also play 2B or 3B. Now, I am not saying they are Gold Glove…

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Starting Something

February 15, 2019

My wife and I walked into the restaurant on Valentines Day at precisely 5 PM for our reservation. I was stopped by the valet who pointed out to me the sign that said “Coat and Tie Required.” I went back to the car and rummaged around only to find a jacket that was stuffed behind the spare tire. I shook the dust off of the wrinkled corduroy jacket and tried…

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Change Is In The Air… And It’s About Time!

February 7, 2019

I told you all about 6 months ago that the DH was coming to the NL. As usual, that was met with a lot of skepticism (maybe some mocking as well), and I have to confess that since there was nothing mentioned about it this offseason (until yesterday), I thought that maybe it was a dead deal. Well, it still may not happen THIS YEAR, but it turns out that…

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What Comes Next Is Not So Simple

December 27, 2018

Before we start this discussion, let’s remember that the time between the Holidays is a real dog when it comes to the Hot Stove League, thus, these really are the Dog Days. OK, let’s look at what the Kemp-Puig-Wood-Farmer trade produced.  The Dodgers sent Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood, Kyle Farmer and $7 million Dollars to the Reds for Homer Bailey and two nice prospects. Very simply, the Dodger…

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Last Year’s Bullpen Problems Were All Kenley Jansen’s Fault

November 30, 2018

Many people blame Andrew Friedman and/or Farhan Zaidi for the demise of the Dodgers bullpen in 2018.  They surmise that they failed to adequately equip the pen with the requisite number and quality of arms. Actually, “demise” is a pretty harsh word.  The Dodgers and the Red Sox, the two World Series teams, both finished the regular sesaon with identical 3.72 Bullpen ERA’s.  The Dodgers did have the better WHIP…

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The Sophmore Jinx

November 16, 2018

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…

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And Then There Were Four

October 11, 2018

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…

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The Dodgers ARE in. HOW is the Question…

September 30, 2018

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…

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