A Black Cloud Hanging Over Their Heads

Do you remember Linus, the character in Charlie Brown who always had a black cloud hanging over his head? That feels like the Dodgers right about now. We might as well listen to a little Meghan Trainor…

It’s pretty obvious that MLB hitters are looking to hit Yamamoto’s first pitch, and if not the first pitch, they are looking for certain parts of “The Zone” for a pitch. Yoshi was not bad last night, but he wasn’t good, and I think it was totally pitch selection and location. He threw 99 pitches, and 72 were strikes. Sometimes, you don’t want to throw as many strikes. Hitting against Yamamoto should be more difficult than it is. I think he will figure it out.

Jared Karros suffers from the same malady. Last night, he went 5 innings, allowing 6 Hits and 4 Earned Runs. He struck out 6 and walked ZERO. For the year, he has pitched 15 innings, struck out 17, and walked no one! That’s impressive, but hitters will figure that out. Sometimes, it’s better to be “effectively wild.” Karros needs to learn that… so does Yamamoto. Patience Grasshoppers.

We did see some signs of life from CT3 as he got a hit and drove in half of the Dodgers’ runs. Kike is still stone-cold, but the biggest problem with the lineup right about now is Freddie Freeman. He is hitting .259 and struck out 3 times last night. Is this just a slump or a permanent decline? He is 34 years old, but that would not seem to be the problem… to me. Maybe something is going on in his life that we don’t know about… or maybe it’s just a slump that will pass. Freddie at .259 is not what makes the Dodgers tick.

This is a slump – pure and simple. Knee-jerk reactions are almost always counter-productive. Maybe it’s over today… maybe it lasts 10 more games. The Dodgers will still win 100 games, and this is still the best time in history to be a Dodger fan. A friend of mine (who is a Cardinal fan) said to me yesterday, “Now you know what it feels like to be a Cardinals fan.” I replied, “No, I don’t because just like every year, we are going to win 100 games.”

Remember this losing streak because next month, they might go 26-4! Nothing to see he yet, folks. Move on…

I am also a Motorhead…

You may or may not know, but I am also a Motorhead; I love cars, but I drive a truck and have for over 30 years. My current daily driver is a 2019 Ford F-150 Limited. I typically keep a vehicle for 4-6 years, and I love my current one. It was a limited edition with the Raptor engine and is very fast.

Recently, I ordered the last of the naturally aspirated Mustangs to be built. It’s a 2024 Dark Horse with the 500 HP Coyote engine, but it’s two to three months away. This will be a car that I occasionally drive but I will just keep it in the garage, and the kids can fight over it when I am gone.

However, I am now planning on the replacement of my F150 and have decided what it is going to be. It might be a year, but here’s my next daily driver: