A Birthday and Belated Father s Day
Yesterday was my youngest son s 19th birthday, so we had plans to take him out to dinner last night. He s now past the age now where he wants a party like when he turned 18. Like his 18th year of life, his 19th birthday was very eventful. This is the kid who was All-City, All-Conference and All-State in football and was team MVP on a team that won the State
Yesterday was my youngest son’s 19th birthday, so we had plans to take him out to dinner last night. He’s now past the age now where he wants a party like when he turned 18. Like his 18th year of life, his 19th birthday was very eventful. This is the kid who was All-City, All-Conference and All-State in football and was team MVP on a team that won the State Championship… who then elected to spurn offers to play in college and instead went to Indiana University’s Kelly School School of Business. So, he is not a conventional thinker and those were his decisions solely. At age 18, he carried 19 hours in college, worked 32 hours a week at US Water Systems, bought a motorcycle and a monster truck, and in April, he bought his own house (without help from his parents, save a $5,000 graduation gift for his down payment).
The kid is a hard worker who goes the extra mile with regularity and as you can tell, I am very proud of him. Back to his birthday: I woke up to a cold shower and discovered our water heater had failed. So, I had my son pick one up at the plumbing supply house and we planned to install it after his birthday dinner. Typically unconventional, he picked The Rathskeller for his dinner spot with their German food. You may not know, but I used to be a licensed plumber (40 years-ago), so I was using the water heater installation as a teaching moment for him. We started at 9:30 PM and should have been done by 10:30, but Murphy was an optimist! If it can go wrong, it will, but people are smarter than pipes – at least that’s my theory – I wasn’t so sure for a while… but we finally took a hot shower at 3 AM! It was a long day and I’m happy the Cubs – Dodgers game was postponed!
It was a great birthday for a great kid – I guess he’s no longer a kid, but I remember when he was small beside me. Now I feel small beside him. There is no better legacy than your children and grandchildren. Love them every minute! He was named after my father, Stephen, who is still the best man I have ever known. I had a dream on Father’s Day in which my oldest son (who is 31), my youngest son and I, and my father were at a baseball game in Cincinnati which was where my father always took me. A grandfather with his two grandsons and me… it was a so vivid and such a great time. The mind can certainly play tricks because my youngest son never met his grandfather – he died two years before my son was born, and other than being a Cincinnati Reds fan, he was the greatest father in history. Miss ya’ Pops! That’s what my boys call me now… with my daughter, it’s just “dad.”
Dodger News:
- Flash: Kershaw could be back this weekend.
- Ryu taking it slow… probably after the All-Star Break
- As bad as Cody Bellinger has been, he is 5th in the NL for WAR among 1B.
- If you think WAR is valuable, then you have to believe that Yasiel Puig could be in danger of being benched. I wonder if they would trade him? This year, he has a negative defensive WAR. Toles or Verdugo could do better….
- Verdugo has matched his HR total from last year in less than half a season. He is red-hot right about now.
- Dodger WAR (Fangraphs):
- Kemp 1.9
- Muncy 1.8
- Bellinger 1.4
- Taylor 1.4
- Pederson 1.3
- Grandal 1.3
- Kike 0.9
- Puig 0.8
- Seager 0.5
- Barnes 0.4
- Corey Seager, who has missed most of the season has almost the same WAR as PUIG! Even Kike, who many fans malign, is better than Puig. It’s time for Yasiel to put up or go!
- If you look at WAR, you should realize that JT is at 0.1 and the Dodgers are still in the hunt. You can choosed to see what “IS” or you can see what CAN BE! Some of these guys are going to get hot.
- I would like to see Toles or Verdugo in RF.
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Discussion (64)
Disagree, not disagreeable
The Dodgers need to change their approach to hitting. I’m afraid they miss Hyers more than they thought they would.
Meanwhile, some sad news from SF. Awwwww:
Open on www.espn.comhttp://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23846007/hunter-strickland-san-francisco-giants-6-8-weeks-breaking-hand-punching-doorThis just in…..Brock Stewart still sucks.
Yeah, the Dodgers can’t hit with RISP, so….how in the hell are they 3rd in the NL in Runs?
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The answer is YOUR selective memory.
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Move on…
I like Brock Stewart… as a reliever, but tonight when he took the mound, he looked like a “deer in the headlights” and “glazed ham.”
Do you dispute his poor pitching performance? I agree the offense was terrible but his 6.11 ERA and 6th (?) call up from OKC clearly shows he’s not so good. Ray Charles could see the Cubs walk off once Doc had to go with Stewart. He just doesn’t have a big league out pitch and is a AAA pitcher. He’ll be sent out tomorrow.
Moving on………………
I think Stewart has stuff for the pen. The problem, I believe is that FAZ has him on a starters program. Prior to this year, he had a 5.50 ERA as a starter and a 2.60 ERA as a reliever. Unlike Ross Stripling, Brock does not have enough of a pitching repertoire to start. He needs to go back to OKC and work on pitching 1 inning and while they are at it, do the same to Alvarez and Hernandez: ONE INNING!
I am having a hard time liking Verdugo but I now prefer Verdugo in RF over Puig. Verdugo will probably hit lefties much better than Puig. Trade Puig.
Unfortunately there was a certain predictably about the outcome in the 10th when Grandal came up, followed by Stewart in Relief.
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The positive is that Hill pitched really well.
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Get Verdugo up now.
Other than health or the ability to stay healthy, I like the Dodger rotation of Kershaw, Stripling, Hill, Buehler, and Wood. If one falters or can’t stay of the DL, the Dodgers have Ryu and Urias in the second half and Fergusson I will venture to say will have a better outing each time he takes the mound.
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Before the Dodgers make a trade for bullpen help, they should move Maeda to the bullpen and as the rotation is free of the DL, move Wood to the bullpen as well.
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I do not expect Taylor or Bellinger to repeat last year’s performance. Belli should bounce back next year but for this year he is not going to be clutch WRISP. Turner should get back to clutch WRISP soon though. Belli should hit 7th or 8th until he looks more his last year self.
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Kemp is slowing down. He might need more rest than he has been getting. Next year the outfield might be:
LF Toles/Kemp
CF Pederson/Taylor
RF Verdugo