WELCOME TO THE FALL CLASSIC 2018!! By the time the Dodgers and Red Sox square off in Game 1 of the 2018 World Series, it will have been 356 days since the Dodgers went down in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. It will be 30 year’s this month since the last Dodgers WS victory. This year’s WS can make all of those bad memories go away (at least…
Never underestimate the power of focus. Conversely, never underestimate what happens when you lack focus. Case in point: Yasmani Grandal: For whatever reason, Grandal is at home with his wife (again)… at least in his mind. Three passed balls, 2 errors. Strikeouts, can’t advance runners. His head is somewhere else. There are no excuses – you do or you don’t do. I’ll talk about what I think the Dodgers should…
One day you’re the goat, and the next day you’re the GOAT. Okay maybe not GOAT, but certainly greatest hitter on that day. After going 0-5 with 4 strikeouts and an error in Game 1, Justin Turner goes 2-4 and hits a go-ahead 2 run HR in Game 2. With CT3 on 1st base after an infield single, Justin Turner hit a 2-0 splitter that stayed up over the middle…
In a game where the two best hitters struck out 7 out of 10 plate appearances, this was a very hard game to watch much less write about. Unfortunately for the good guys, JT’s strikeouts were much more problematic than Christian Yelich’s. The Blue put up a good fight late, but Game 1 goes to Craig Counsell in his chess match against Dave Roberts. It appears that Counsell played Roberts…
With the Yankees being TKO’ed by the Red Sox, the slate is set. The Red Sox play the Astros while the Dodgers play the Brewers. Many Dodger fans didn’t think the Dodgers would be one of the last four teams standing…. but here they are! Think about this: The Dodgers are one of the TOP FOUR TEAMS IN BASEBALL! I think that the Dodgers will be one of the last…
For six straight years, the Dodgers have been NL West Champs. For three straight years they have won the NLDS and headed to the NLCS. From this point on, it’s really World Series or Bust, but this 2018 version of these Milwaukee Brewers are tough… and opportunistic. While we are at it, let’s no forget that the Atlanta Braves, even though they just burst upon the scene, they were pretty…
Sean Newcomb is left-handed and almost no-hit the Dodgers once this year. The other time the Dodgers faced him, they lit him up. Which Newcomb will they face today? Maybe it’s not which pitcher they face… maybe it’s what approach the hitters take and you will see a different approach because there will be different hitters tonight. Most likely this will be the lineup: C – Grandal (You don’t take…
Continued and persistent rumors of the demise of Clayton Kershaw seem to have been greatly exaggerated. Is this the game where Clayton may have actually recognized that he is no longer the early version of himself, and now must become a finesse pitcher? There is nothing wrong with being a finesse pitcher, but it just may not sit with him very well. In Game 2, he was extremely efficient. He…
Now that the regular season is through, we can begin to speculate as to what will make up the NLDS roster. It really shouldn’t be that difficult for 23 of the 25 players, but those last two will surely draw some scrutiny. IMO the givens: Starting Pitching (4): Clayton Kershaw Hyun-jin Ryu Walker Buehler Rich Hill Bullpen (8): Kenley Jansen Kenta Maeda Alex Wood Pedro Baez Scott Alexander…
We should know the answer by later in the afternoon (EDT). The Dodgers will play: At the Brewers in the Wild Card game; At the Cubs in the Wild Card game; Verses the Rockies in Game 163; or Verses the Braves in Game 1 of the NLDS. It could take me until this evening to explain it all, so we will just wait and see what happens, but the best…