One of the players who I respected the most when I was growing up was Ernie Banks. I do not think I have ever seen anyone who enjoyed playing more than he did. He always had a great smile and the man could hit. The man loved the game. Ernest Banks was born in Dallas Texas, on January 31, 1931. He was the second oldest of 12 children born to…
A couple of weeks ago, I made the short trek from Indianapolis to Ft. Wayne, Indiana to see the Great Lakes Loons play the Ft. Wayne Tin Caps. I have to say that the Loons front office was simply amazing. Chris Mundhenk (President and GM) and Brad Tunney (Announcer and Director of Communications) started by accomodating my request and making it all happen! Ben Schulman and John Nolan of the…
A large number of other blogs give you a blow-by-blow game recap. It’s a free country (well… maybe) and you can do that, but it might drive you crazy. See, it’s a 162-game season and if you micro-manage every game, it might really drive you crazy… or at least skew your vision. If the Dodgers win (like yesterday) I never get too high and if they lose, I never get…
It has always been hard for me to rank the Top Ten Dodger Prospects, but I am going to give it a stab here before to the All-Star Break. Sometimes the criteria for ranking prospects is a little hazy to define. Do you rank a AAA player who is close to being MLB-Ready higher than someone who may look like a superstar in the making but is in A Ball?…
What changes will really occur in the next 30+ days? Let me start with what will not happen: Dave Roberts will not be fired; Robert Van Socyoc, Aaron Bates, and Brant Brown will not be fired; Gavin Stone and Bobby Miller will not be called up; Dustin May, Victor Gonzalez, Blake Treinen, Tommy Kahnle, Danny Duffy, Jimmy Nelson, Daniel Hudson, Walker Buehler, and Andrew Heaney will not be back; and…
That’s what happens when you build such a deep pitching staff. What the Devil was Andrew Friedman thinking? He just assembled a cast of too many pitchers and was too easy on some and too hard on others… or at least that’s the rumor. Well, Caleb Ferguson isn’t happy with how long the Dodgers took on his rehab and he thinks he should not be on the IL, even now……
There is an old saying “All hat, no cattle” which is an American expression referring to someone who is all talk but no action. It is also used to describe someone who presents the appearance of something they aren’t. It is similar to the British expression “all mouth and no trousers”. Watford Dodger can confirm the authenticity of that statement. In the Dodger’s case, it is “All Hit, No Runs.“…
When I was sticking up for the concept of playing Max Muncy, I never had any idea that he would drive in 5 runs yesterday. I’m glad that he did, but what about today? It’s one game. Yes, it’s progress, but it is a small sampling. I will be vindicated or indicted at the end of the year. As Ted R. said, we will see if I am pulling stuff…
One-third of the 162 game season is over! The Dodgers are in first place in the NL West, 2.5 games ahead of the San Diego Padres and 5.5 games ahead of the Midgets. It should not be lost on anyone that the Dodgers have had their #1 and their #2 starters perform poorly and that the #3 and #4 starters have been in the IL most of the season. Let…
I tend to believe that in baseball as well as any sport “what have you done for me lately?” rings the bell loudly and that when a pitcher has a 6-0 record, a 1.59 ERA, and a 0.88 WHIP, he deserves to be called “Ace!” This is especially true when that same pitcher leads the NL in ERA. Welcome the much maligned (by Dodger fans), Tony Gonsolin!, Dodger Ace! Actually,…