Yesterday Evan gave us a great read on Ralph Branca – the man – not the unfairly maligned baseball player. With his reference to Jackie Robinson and “shot” it brought me back to another historic moment in time and an article I had written eight years ago about one more little known Dodger who too was a better man. George Shuba – now there’s a name that I suspect doesn’t…
When I coached youth baseball and at the high school level, travel baseball and specialized training weren’t as readily available as is it is today. We had materials and videos written by Tom House, including the “Winning Pitcher”, “Power Baseball”(written with Coop De Renne) and of course Nolan Ryan’s “Pitcher’s Bible”. For hitters, you had Charlie Lau’s “The Art of Hitting .300″ and“A Hitting Clinic: The Walt Hriniak Way”. Of…
There will only ever be one Clayton Kershaw but the Dodgers did sign another Clayton on January 17. They had previously selected left-hander Clayton Andrews in the 40th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft but he didn’t sign. He did so with the Brewers in 2018. The new Clayton on the block is 24-year-old infielder Clayton Daniel. He was acquired from the Cubs in a trade for right-hander Casey…
Every time I hear that it makes me wonder if the person who said it was repeatedly dropped on their head as a child. What other possible explanation could there be? Maybe insanity? Let’s just say that the fans who say that Guggenheim & Company are just “greedy bastards” – only concerned with profits are right. That’s all the more reason the greedy bastards would want to win. What? Why?…
In 2016, a rookie was called up at the end of the season and in 95 AB’s he hit .179 with a .263 OB% while striking out 45% of the time. Obviously, he was a ZERO, ZILCH, NADA. Nothing to see here… move on. Many people were unimpressed. “He needs to spend another season at AAA.” This kid was 24 years old and only hit .179? He was obviously way…
Right-hander Jack Little was selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Stanford University. His three-year teammate at Stanford, outfielder Brandon Wulff, was also selected by the Dodgers in the 17th round. Although the Dodgers picked Little with starting in mind, he had been a reliever exclusively at Stanford with a total of 53 relief appearances in his three-year career with the…
ASStericks! 2Demeter2 came up with that and I give him his props for that… actually I am jealous that he thought of it before me. Henceforth (or is it Hinchforth) they are no longer the Astros, but rather… the ASStericks. Here’s is what 2Demeter2 has to say about the cheaters: 2Demeter2 Having just completed reading Commissioner Rob Manfred’s 9-page report regarding this matter… there were many things that made my…
It’s been said that baseball is one of the most “conservative” of all major sports. Baseball players, managers, coaches, executives, and owners typically succumb to the notion that once a particular idea or system gains broad acceptance, it is almost impossible to change. As one author stated: “Baseball’s ‘Conventional Wisdom’ is, at times, venerated as inviolable dogma akin to Holy Scripture. Woe be unto the those unto ye heretics who…
Many bloggers and national sportswriters are suffering from severe cases of cabin fever which is akin to “seasonal affective Dodger disorder (SADD).” In case you don’t know what that is, here is an overview on SADD: Seasonal affective Dodger disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that’s related to the fictional failure of the Dodger front office to acquire all of the top free agents so that the already “stacked…
It is highly doubtful that the Dodgers are done this off-season in trying to improve their roster, but let’s suppose this is it. If the Dodgers make no further moves this off-season. How will the season turn out? I say they still win the N.L. West by 7-8 games. They finish the season with 96 wins. They prepare for the postseason with a trade deadline deal to put them in…