23 posts
We Win!!! Orel Leonard Hershiser. Tommy called him “Bulldog.” Born in Buffalo, N.Y., on September 16, 1958. His name is etched in Dodger history alongside many of their greatest pitchers. Most of that praise comes from one magical season when the stars aligned, and he was the…
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…
Occasionally, I have a little more information than some of you (at times), but it s not nearly as much as it used to be when I had several members of the Dodgers Organization on Speed dial. Jeff probably has a lot more inside connections than I do now. Since Andrew Friedman became President of Baseball Operations for the Dodgers, I have very little inside information and that is by Andrew s
am sure that Dave Roberts will downplay this, but Kenley will be given every chance to re-claim that role and I would not be the least bit surprised to see him do so. How many relievers in baseball RIGHT NOW have NEVER had a season with an ERA above 3.71?
Showdown between the Rays top pitcher, Charlie Morton (Joe Buck will tell you over and over again that he’s absolutely great!) and Walker Buehler. As in most games, the Dodgers had several objectives: 1. get off to a good start; 2. run up Morton’s pitch count; 3. Keep Buehler’s pitch count down; 4. Keep the Rays off the bases; and 5. Score more
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
Thomas John Watson Sr. was an American businessman, who served as the President, Chairman, and CEO of International Business Machines or IBM as we call it, from 1914 to 1956. In the early 1940’s, some on the board of directors were lobbying to remove Watson as IBM s President because inventories were too high. It was after the depression and business was not flourishing and they wanted Tom Watson out. At that
One of the many female artists (and trust there were many) on whom I had a boyhood crush, was the great country-western singer, Skeeter Davis. I loved her name, I mean how could you not love the name Skeeter? After reading some of the comments on Saturday and Sunday, I was reminded of her and her biggest hit song “The End of the World”, which goes in part(with apologies to
It all comes down to that, insofar as the Dodger players are concerned. Nothing less than 10 more wins will satisfy them. They want that World championship. It s just that simple. That s the goal and that s is all they are focused on. So, it was no surprise to see the Dodgers show up with their lunch pails and systematically dismantle the Nationals pitching. It was also no surprise to see
All season, many readers here and Dodger fans, in general, have been beating the drum and chanting the mantra that the Dodgers bullpen is somehow inferior. Pedro Moura of The Athletic wrote this: Despite their substandard start, despite fans’ continued frustration, despite the front office’s decision not to add much in July, Dodgers relievers finished the season among the best in baseball. Their 3.85 ERA was tied atop the National
I was going to save this for the off-season, but with 2Demeter2 s fantastic blog yesterday on the Technological Advances in Player Development, I put this blog on the fast track. So let me start with this: I am not sure how it all worked out, but I can tell you that in the past, I have fired people, but we agreed privately (for the sake of their career) that the
Let me preface this by unequivocally stipulating that I believe that Dustin May has a much higher ceiling than does Ross Stripling. Dustin May has had a great start, but has not yet faced any good offensive teams to establish his 2019 bona fides. May is a career starting pitcher and a sudden move to the bullpen could prove to be as problematic as it was for Walker Buehler. I
It has been widely published that the Dodgers are 31 years between World Series Championships. All Dodger fans want to forget that, but what if…I know it sounds like the Kratt Brothers. For those with small children or grandchildren you probably know Wild Kratts. Brooklyn was nine World Series and lost their first seven: 1916 and 1920 (as The Robins – managed by Wilbert Robinson) and did not return for
Dear Dave Roberts, We think your lineups are stupid and that you rest the wrong players while playing the wrong players. We think there are only two things wrong with you: (1) Everything you say, and (2) everything you do. We know a lot more than you do about this. We have managed for years while sipping our beverages of choice and cursing your every move. That is why the
Usually when change is involved, things get worse before they get better. That s true in just about everything: life, business and sports. Since this is a Dodger Blog, you might be wondering what that has to do with the Dodgers. So, I am talking about three pitchers in general: Joe Kelly, Kenley Jansen and Clayton Kershaw. I think that before Spring Training, the Dodgers had a plan with each pitcher .
So, this is not meant to be contentious, but rather, an exchange of ideas. Yesterday, AC said this: I absolutely agree with Mark that AF will not overpay for anyone. Where Mark and I disagree, is that I believe that to AF it is especially true with relievers. Ummm, Jeff, I mean AC, I agree. 100%. I totally agree that it is especially true with relievers. However, where we may
I do not look at skeptics as a negative. I think we are all skeptics. I think everyone is asking what the Dodgers could do “IF”… The difference is that while the questions are the same, it is how most of us perceive and respond to those “IF” questions. MT, 59inarow, and Bobby do not see many negative outcomes of any of the questions, if any at all. MT sees
Last Wednesday the Dodgers announced their minor league coaching staffs. There were some changes of assignments within the organization, some not returning, and others added from outside. The shuffling of the assignments is always a bit mind boggling as some coaches move to lower levels such as Justin Viele moving from Rancho Cucamonga to Great Lakes and Seth Connor moving from Great Lakes to Ogden. Others moved up such as
That the Dodgers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory is obvious. However, the implosion of the bullpen (Chaggy in particular) is a symptom, not the disease. The symptom manifests itself when the disease is active. The disease is FailureToScoreRunsItis. Last night, Dodger hitters left 12 runners stranded (combined). At the trade deadline, FAZ acquired two of the biggest bats on the market in Machado and Dozier. Add in a
Heading into a double-header with the Giants and having the bullpen implode is going to give rise to some roster changes today. Before I get into that, you should consider what Vegas Dodger said, so eloquently: Guys you need to relax….even though after the Rams 1 pick tonight I went out to the casino, choosing not to watch the game, sensing a negative outcome. Doc Roberts is getting frustrated with
Don t think about that too long. It might hurt your brain. I know it did severe damage to mine well, I ll blame it on that anyway! Here we are less than two weeks from OPENING DAY and we know a lot, but we don t know what we don t know, and that is the conundrum under which we currently operate. What We Know We Know OK, I ll get this first
A lot of Dodger Fans have written this guy off for 2018 and have traded him away already except that he is still with the Dodgers. There is perhaps no more polarizing Dodger than Yasmani Grandal. He was acquired by the Andrew Friedman front office who traded the fan favorite (at the time), Matt Kemp for him. I am certain that is part of the reason Yasmani is so vilified.
Ryu gets tattooed and now there is a problem with the starting pitching? I do not consider Ryu anything more than a #7 on this team. I have no idea whether Ryu would have pitched better with regular rest or extended. Maybe his curve just does not work in Colorado. I have no delusions that Ryu will be anywhere close to the pitcher he was before his shoulder problems.
