133 posts
May second, 2021 . The Dodgers were playing the last game of a four-game set in Milwaukee. The Dodgers had lost the previous three games to the Brewers. The day before, they lost in 11 innings, 6-5. They were 1-6 in their last seven games. They were a half-game out of first…
This is a re-run of an article I posted on TBLA back on July 28, 2015. It provides a glimpse of Matt Beaty as a pre-MLB player. Great Lakes Loons third baseman Matt Beaty is enjoying his first season of professional baseball simply doing what he loves to do. Beaty was born in…
I continue to read about the sensational LAD prospects. Mark has the Dodgers as a top 10 MiLB organization while no major publication does. After the loss of Keibert Ruiz and Jo Jo Gray, the publications dropped them to mid-level (around 15). Certainly not bad, but also not…
Please excuse the timing of this post. It was written early last week, however I was rushed to the ER with what turned out to be a TIA or mini stroke. I was in the hospital being pricked and probed for nearly three days, but came away with a clean bill of health. So now I am…
Winning 106 games ain’t what it used to be. The Dodgers have been in the playoffs for nine consecutive years, but it was a shock to learn that before this run (which is not over), the longest stretch for consecutive years for the Dodgers to be in the playoffs was two! TWO. 2…
After 150 games, the Dodgers are trailing the San Francisco Giants by just one game. The Giants have the best record in baseball and the Dodgers are just one game behind them for the best record. Both teams have today off and then the Dodgers play the Rockies, who have been very…
I know we were all bummed out over the results of this weekend series with the Giants. First, a pitcher they had owned all year shuts them down. Then they rally to tie and then go ahead. Then they lose in extras on an error on a easy play. They come back on Saturday behind some…
I would seldom say that, but the Dodgers and Giants are 9 and 9 in the W – L column and tonight’s game breaks the tie. Whoever wins will have the advantage for tiebreakers, home field advantage or whatever tie needs to be decided by their season records against each other. It…
I don’t have much time today, so this format seemed appropriate. If you are so inclined, read what Dan McLaughlin writes in the National Review with regard to the Trever Bauer Debacle. It is at least very thought provoking. One has to wonder how long Max Scherzer’s arm will hold…
That is not the law firm defending Trevor Bauer, but it is the four most scrutinized members of the LAD organization. I started to respond to Mark s post from yesterday, but I got called away for errands. It then got too long for a response, so I decided to make it my own post. I am writing this before Game 1 with NYM, so this could all go to H***
Earlier in the week, there was a little difference in opinion with respect to the Billy McKinney acquisition. I continue to read how porous LAD’s defense is, and with a gimpy Mookie Betts who may need late-inning defensive help to get him off his hip, a slowing AJ Pollock, questionable defense of Matt Beaty, and the need for CT3 to spend more time in the infield, AF went out and
A statistician had one foot in a bucket of ice water and one foot in a bucket of boiling water. He said, My feet feel great, on average. He meant that the average temperature of the water in the two buckets was comfortable. This may be true, but the average temperature doesn t tell the entire story. If you put one foot in ice water and the other in boiling water, on
Been watching with a lot of interest the comments of fans on all sorts of posts on social media. I have to personally believe that too many think this is last year s team and that is not the case. Several key pieces from the Champs are now plying their trade elsewhere. Some key pieces of this team have not played enough to make an impact. How many thought back during
I believe Urias will keep up his outstanding work and take lessons from his pounding by the Giants. Buehler to me is an enigma. He has some of the best stuff in the league, yet he has only 4 decisions. But I expect that to change. All in all, the team has underperformed according to the fans. I think with all the changes in the roster, the lack of the DH, injuries to very key players, and the underperformance of their catalyst, Mookie, the team has performed about as one would expect missing so
While I’m at it, let’s talk about Friedman for a bit. Where’s that vaunted depth I’ve heard so much about? Anybody with just a little bit of baseball knowledge could have seen that Dustin May would go down for the year, Gonsolin would miss significant time and that your number one prospect, Josiah Gray would get injured. Now’s the time to see that depth.
There is a lot to unpack about last night s game, but to blame Dave Roberts for putting in his closer in the 10th inning is just plain silly. If Blake Treinen did his job, Kenley would not have been needed in the 10th. Before last night s game, Kenley Jansen had given up 1 run and 2 hits in his 11 appearances in May! Even after last night s debacle, his ERA
When the news came out that Albert Pujols was a free agent, I immediately wondered if Andrew Friedman would consider signing him, but then I heard that he was insisting upon a starting position, I immediately dismissed it. There was no way Albert would start for the Dodgers except maybe a spot start or two and as a DH when the Dodgers play in AL parks. Well, evidently, he could
Maybe Monday s comeback win and Kenley Jansen s dominant save was what the Dodgers needed to turn around their sinking ship. Last night, the Dodgers won 7-1 behind a dominant seven innings by Julio Urias and 6 up and 6 down by Jimmy Nelson, who is now taking to the bullpen like a fish takes to water. It s not going to be all fairy dust and ponies right away, but you
You can say that and you would be correct, but you would not be right. There is a whole lot more to it than it was a AAA pitcher. Failure causes doubt. Success breeds confidence. It doesn t matter whether it was a AAA pitcher or Cy Young, when a player or a team breaks out and scores runs. The fact that they broke out is the prime consideration. Confidence breeds
In case, I have to explain it (and I am sure I will), that is sarcasm. Actually, the 1899 Cleveland Spiders own the worst single-season record of all time (minimum 120 games) and for all eras, finishing at 20–134. This didn t happen much last season, but it has happened with regularity the previous five or six seasons. What didn t happen in 2020 was that the Dodgers really never had a losing streak
It was an ugly game. Kershaw was bad (as he frequently is in Coors). His curveball had no bite. I am not worried about 91 MPH in the first game. But 91, without his curve, is an issue. Even Ray Charles can see that. This loss had nothing to do with Dave Roberts he did not play an inning or have an at-bat.
With eight more days left in Spring Training, all thirteen (13) of the position players are set (barring injury). There is nothing left to decide. Here s the list: Will Smith Max Muncy Gavin Lux Corey Seager Justin Turner AJ Pollock Cody Bellinger Mookie Betts Chris Taylor Austin Barnes Edwin Rios Zach McKinstry Matt Beaty Noisy and Peters may be back in the heat of summer when a fan (I mean
CT3 has earned the 2B starting job so has Gavin Lux. It may be a platoon in the beginning, but we shall see how it plays out. McKinstry and Taylor will get a lot of playing time.
LA DODGER TALK is not your normal Dodger blog site. Even Ray Charles can see that no other Dodger site has a Dodger historian like Michael Norris. Michael or Bear as we know him, is a National Dodger Treasure! What he lays down is not available anywhere else! Then we have 2Demeter2, who has committed to trying to write one blog a week wherein he will give his opinion from
No, we are not talking about a couple of games, we are talking about a double post. Michael Norris (aka/Bear) has the first half on Lou Gehrig and Mark Timmons has the second half on last night s debacle. June 2. Now Lou Gehrig Day Bear When I was a boy, back in the day, my baseball hero was not Babe Ruth or Duke Snider. It was Lou Gehrig. Why? Well, I
The Spring is three games in, and to draw any conclusions would be foolhardy. But I still have some observations from what I have seen thus far. For the first three games, the pitching has been outstanding. Albeit, without Matt Chapman and Matt Olson, Oakland’s offense is just north of woeful, as is Colorado without Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon. The Giants did not play but a couple of regulars .
Disclaimer: What we are seeing is through the microcosm of Spring Training. Current performance is not evidence of future prospects. It is a small sampling. Some of it is skill and some of it is luck. Take it all with a grain of salt. The Position Players It was great to see Gavin Lux get two hits in three at-bats. If anything, all he needs is confidence and he should
I am sad to say that it appears to me that Street Smith s Baseball Yearbook has ceased production. Since I was a kid, I have always bought Athlon Sports Baseball Preview, Lindy s Sports Baseball Preview, and Street Smith s Baseball. It appears that Street Smith s has bit the dust and Athlon and Lindy s can t be far behind. Time marches on but the nostalgia seems to be waning. Print
There has been a lot of talk by MLB fans in general how the Padres may have caught the Dodgers. On the East coast, most in NY and Atlanta believe they have better 26-man rosters. Dodger fans of course take offense at such a charge. None of the four teams are finished completing their rosters, but I thought I would take a more in depth look at a Dodgers/Padres comp,
In a November 15, 2015 article authored by Matthew Moreno at dodgerblue.com, Andrew Friedman and Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten maintained that the extravagant spending for the Dodgers would not continue, and that the 2016 season would provide a small opportunity to make progress toward balancing the scale. According to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times, Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly recently echoed a similar sentiment, going so far as to
