It Wasn’t Pretty

November 22, 2020

It has now been 26 days since the Dodgers celebrated their World Series win on the field in Texas. 26 days of pure joy for most Dodger fans. Some bad vibes being aimed at Turner for coming back on the field to celebrate with his team mates, but mostly just joy and the biggest feeling RELIEF! I have not gone whole hog getting World Series swag. I ordered a hat,…

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First, Foremost and Always: It is Still a Business

November 20, 2020

Wednesday the Dodgers announced “layoffs across the organization.” Right about now, I do not know who has been laid off. I would be surprised if this included anyone in player development and the baseball ops side of things… but you never know. Allegedly, the Dodgers have lost over $100 Million in 2020. If you are on the side of labor, you might say that is way overinflated and if you…

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How Do You Like Me Now?

November 18, 2020

In October of 2014, the ownership of the Dodgers decided to go in a new direction and named Andrew Friedman President of Baseball Operations. GM Ned Colletti was moved to another position in the organization and Friedman brought in Farhan Zaidi as the new GM. At the time, the only thing I knew about Friedman was that he had been running the Tampa Bay Rays. I knew they had gotten…

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Men in Black Part 2

November 16, 2020

Back again with my second installment about the 10 men in the hall who were umpires. Looking back and remembering some of the umps I do, I cannot help but wonder what has kept guys like Augie Donatelli and Shag Crawford out of the hall. Only the Vets committee knows for sure. But today’s story profiles a couple of pretty good umps and one really versatile one who excelled in…

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AC’s Musings

November 13, 2020

We need to end this myth that Mookie cannot hit LHP.  Over his career, against LHP, Betts is slashing .297/.379/.509/.888.  Mookie’s career against RHP – .302/.372/.526/.897.  Those seem like even splits to me.  Over his career, Mookie has faced RHP 76% of the time.  I think it is more likely that Betts was unfamiliar with NL LH pitchers, and after a year on a new team and a new league,…

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The Stuntmen in 2021

November 11, 2020

Of course, Kike was a defensive wizard while Mickey was a defensive liability, thus the large glove. Mickey was a better hitter… for average, while Kike had a lot more power. Both were great teammates and the clubhouse was better with them. In Hatcher’s 12 years in the Majors, he put up 2.9 WAR. In 7 seasons, Kike Hernandez put up 10.2 WAR in half the AB’s as Hatcher.

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What Will Dodger Baseball Look Like in 2021?

November 10, 2020

NOTE: This coffee cup was given to me by a very special friend who is now fighting cancer. I pray that you beat that bastard, Bob! Thanks for the mug. I think that the mug pretty well sums me up! There is a lot of time between now and Spring Training and it could be a cold, contentious Winter on the labor side as MLB and the MLBPA continue to…

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Upcoming MLB vs MLBPA Negotiations

November 8, 2020

Yes, baseball is a game played by a bunch of kids.  In MLB, they are very rich kids paid by very rich owners.  As much as most of us want it to remain strictly a game, we cannot.  MLB is a business played at a very high stakes level.  While the face of MLB (Rob Manfred) and MLBPA (Tony Clark) are problematic (and I am being kind), the high priced…

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