A Confederacy of Dunces
In 1980 a book by that title was released eleven years after the authors suicide, no doubt caused by the premise of the book, which is both depressing and true. The author John Kennedy Toole, was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Price. The premise of the book is that When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.
In 1980 a book by that title was released eleven years after the authors suicide, no doubt caused by the premise of the book, which is both depressing and true. The author John Kennedy Toole, was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Price. The premise of the book is that “When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.” Just to be clear, “a dunce is a person considered incapable of learning.”
This morning, I perused about 15 Dodger Blogs on the web and, while there are a lot of smart fans out there, there are some who just do not have a clue. I shudder to think how they get through life. To a man, the Dunces are against FAZ (Friedman and Zaidi), call for their firing, and spend most of their waking hours deriding everything they do.
“Yeah, the Dodgers won, but it was in spite of FAZ.”
“Yeah, the Dodgers lost because of FAZ.”
“Yeah, but they won’t win 104 games again.”
“Yeah, they traded for so-and-so, which was stupid.”
“Yeah, they didn’t trade for so-and-so, which was stupid.”
“Yeah, they don’t understand sabermetrics.”
No matter the outcome, good or bad, the dunces (I prefer the word “moron”), spin it to make FAZ look bad! I wanted to stop and post on several blogs “What is wrong with you people?” But, I then realized you can’t tell dunces anything as they are incapable of learning. There! I feel better. Hopefully no dunces reside here.
Don’t get me wrong, FAZ has made plenty of mistakes and I don’t agree with everything they do, but under their leadership, the Dodgers are recognized as one of the best organizations in baseball and have a very robust farm system that is likely still Top 5. Actually, we have a lot of varying opinions here on this blog and most are highly rational and well-stated. We don’t all agree on the lineups and pitcher usage and some people fall in love with a player regardless of their warts. That’s what fans do. Let me remind you that hindsight is also 20/20,
The great Astros wasted two first round picks in back-to-back years on players who are now out of baseball. In 2014, they took Brady Aiken when Kyle Schwarber, Nick Gordon and Trea Turner were on the board. In 2013, the took Mark Appel when Chris Bryant, Jon Gray and others were still on the board. Bad picks, signings and trades happen to everyone. The Dodgers are loathe to trade certain prospects – whether that is the right decision will be decided by history.
You may not agree that the Dodgers have not traded for a big time player (Stanton) or pitcher like Gerrit Cole… and that’s fine. If Cole keeps pitching like he is now, it’s hard to argue with AC that he’s not worth Verdugo or Buehler, Diaz and a couple of other prospects. But, we don’t know. Time will be the judge. Also, what Buehler and Verdugo become will be part of the verdict. Right about now, the Dodgers could really use Cole and maybe their failure to trade for him has caused the Big Dodger in the Sky to curse the team this year. “I gave you the resources – now you are going to hell.”
It feels like that sometimes, but I don’t believe it. I just think the Dodgers have had a lot of bad luck: Turner, Seager, Puig, Hill, Forsythe, Ryu and Kershaws and Jansens woes. I do see value in Daniel Hudson, BUT HE NEEDS TO GO TO AAA AND GET HIS ACT TOGETHER. He ain’t there yet! Also, the vitriol against Grandal has started again, even though this is how he ranks among all catchers in MLB:
- 3rd in RBI
- 6th in HR
- 4th in BA
- 2nd in OPS
- 3rd in Slg
- 3rd in OB%
- 2nd in BB
He only has 2 passed balls and is 22nd in fewest wild pitches. I don’t know what they want, but they seem to think he can be traded (even though they say he is horrid) and Barnes and Farmer will lead the Dodgers to the promised land. Kyle Farmer is hitting .224 and has caught a total of 7 major league innings! Take off your dunce hats! Farmer is no catcher. He’s a utility guy who can also catch. Maybe Will Smith is ready, but that’s a big leap of faith. Grandal is not going anywhere.
Soon, Turner, Forsythe, Puig and Hill will be back. Ryu will be in July or August. Chris Taylor is heating up as I predicted. This team will have to make a run in the second half and it just might be fun to watch.
Then Again… Maybe The Dodgers are Cursed:
DODGERS PLACE CLAYTON KERSHAW ON DL
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today placed left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw on the 10-day disabled list with left bicep tendonitis and recalled right-handed pitcher Brock Stewart from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Kershaw, 30, has made seven starts this season going 1-4 with a 2.86 ERA (14 ER/44.0 IP) and has held hitters to a .234 average, while striking out 48 against just 10 walks. The southpaw last started on Tuesday against the Diamondbacks, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out six in 6.0 innings as he did not factor in the decision.
Stewart, 26, who will make his second stint with the big league club this year, made his 2018 debut on April 30 against the Diamondbacks, allowing one run and striking out three in 1.2 innings of relief with the Dodgers. The right-hander has made four starts with Oklahoma City this season, going 1-0 with a 2.41 ERA (5 ER/18.2 IP) and has struck out 20 batters against just six walks, while limiting the opposition to a .200 average. In 2017, Stewart appeared in 17 games (four starts) with Los Angeles, collecting one save and posting a 3.41 ERA (13 ER/34.1 IP), while holding batters to a .226 average.
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Discussion (70)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I’m no fan of Harvey, but if Kershaw is out for any length of time should the Dodgers take a flyer on him?
M.T. – Parking at Train station is about $8… R/T bus with a bunch of die hard Dodger fans is free…
Luv Rancho… Great on my retirement budget and sometimes, maybe sometimes you get to see the future….
I like Grandal he is a quality catcher but he is not a good hitter. He has a lifetime .242 ave and has no business batting third in the lineup. To be sure he has an occasional hot streak which he had early but not now. He is streaky good at times but also goes into horrendous slumps. Since we can’t win anyway put Kiké in at third and play him everyday. Find out what he can do with everyday at bats. I would not waste one more at bat on a guy like Muncy when you have Kiké available. Play him every day somewhere. Play Verdugo everyday or at least until the all star break. Pitching is a problem, we need to get younger and Buehler is a start. I don’t know if there is such a thing as good health with pitchers we certainly don’t fair well with pitching injuries. We might get back in the hunt but I doubt it. We are not going to beat Houston, Yankees, Boston, nationals , and maybe cardinals anyway. It is looking more and more like an experimental year so experiment. If we are out at the deadline just retool. Just get rid of Forsythe either way, that is one place we have depth. All I have heard is depth depth but we apparently don’t have any at third because that is a black hole. Just play Kiké, at least until Turner comes back. We need to find reliable starting pitchers who can go 6-7 innings but so does everyone else. Our bullpen is being burnt up by weak starting pitching. Oh well just hoping things improve and they will just maybe not this year.
From the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons
Biceps tendinitis is an inflammation or irritation of the upper biceps tendon. Also called the long head of the biceps tendon, this strong, cord-like structure connects the biceps muscle to the bones in the shoulder.
Biceps tendinitis usually occurs along with other shoulder problems. In most cases, there is also damage to the rotator cuff tendon. Other problems that often accompany biceps tendinitis include:
Arthritis of the shoulder joint
Tears in the glenoid labrum
Chronic shoulder instability (dislocation)
Shoulder impingement
Other diseases that cause inflammation of the shoulder joint lining
Yikes!!
It is so hard trying to stay positive after watching the Dodgers lose their 3rd series in 4, with two against the Marlins and Padres. They lost 7 out of 11 against the west.
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What a contrast in watching two games today. I was having an early lunch at a restaurant with an outside patio, and of course the Giants game was on. I started watching in the Giants 4th and watched Alen Hanson get on an infield single. Then Austin Jackson got on an infield single. Braves pitcher Soroka gets two quick strikes on pitcher Suarez who is trying to sacrifice, then throws a breaking ball that stays up in the zone (very easy to see) with little movement and Suarez gets the sacrifice bunt. Then with two strikes, Gregor Blanco hits a shot to Freeman at 1st but Hanson was off on contact and beat the throw home. When was the last time the Dodgers had a runner on 3rd with less than 2 outs and go on contact? When was the last time the Dodgers made contact with a runner on 3rd with less than 2 outs? Jackson moves to third and scores on a sac fly. Giants scored two runs with only one ball hit out of the infield. Sometimes good things happen when you swing the bat and use speed.
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In contrast, today six Dodgers were called out on strikes. Swing the bat and try to make something happen. Bellinger did get two infield singles, one with 2 strikes. Last 7 outs today were strikeouts. 22 strikeouts the last two days against the Padres…THE PADRES. Eric Lauer (who throws like a BP pitcher) comes into the game with 8.0 IP, 13 hits, 9 runs, 6 walks, and 10 strikes, with a 10.13 ERA, and he looks like a CY candidate.
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Eric Lauer, who is 22, throws 102 pitches and goes 6. Ross Stripling throws 5 shutout innings, and is only allowed to go 68 pitches. Enter Tony Cingrani…2 run HR. Cingrani has been horrible after he left a game with a “dead arm”. He had two walks in the combined no-no. Is he hurt? The Padres let Lauer work through problems and he gained more confidence the more he went. Even the Giants Anthony Suarez gets to throw 93 pitches.
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I agree with those that say DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. The Giants were not scoring when Austin Jackson was at leadoff. Bochy moves him down and sticks Gregor Blanco at leadoff, and the Giants are off and running. The Giants are supposed to have an inferior minor league system to the Dodgers. Joe Panik goes down, and they bring up Alen Hanson who has been a tremendous plus for them. Pence goes down and they bring up Williamson. Williamson goes down and they bring up Slater. Cueto goes down and Suarez comes in and pitches extremely well. The Giants have lost their #1 and #2 starting pitcher, and their #3 to start the season. They were without two members of the bullpen that were supposed to be critical. They did get Will Smith back. They lost their LF and 2B. And with a supposed inferior farm system, they are 4 games over .500. Bumgarner is just about ready to begin throwing, and the Giants are ahead of the 4th place Dodgers by 4 games. And what changes do the Dodgers make? CT3 is still hitting leadoff with a sub .300 OBP and 38 K’s (24% of PA). The Giants call up Hanson and he plays. The Dodgers call up Valera and he sits. The Dodgers call up Locastro and he ends up in CF with Kike’ at 2B. Valera, Locastro, Muncy, Farmer, Kike’… How many utility players do the Dodgers need? The Giants have position players. Only Gorkys Hernandez is a Giants utility player.
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I see no energy, no drive. This is not the same dugout as last year. No worries, Tom Koehler will soon be able to pitch.
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Okay, I am done venting. My TVs are safe for another day. Beat the Snakes on Tuesday.
Kershaw biceps tendinitis probably out 2 months, ryu after all star games means probably the rest of the year, turner probably another month, hill well he should have done a rehab start but hey why won’t go but 4 anyway if he starts in may. Hill is going to set the record for most times scheduled to start but fewest times in a season where he actually did start lol after second thought Kershaw maybe August probably tweek back while rehabbing. Forsythe probably will move to 60 day so we can add newly acquired Brett Anderson from Oakland. Just in Anderson stubbed toe so out for the season. Nomo San has agreed to a minor league deal adding more depth to the rotation.
Come on AC, you’re my usual ray of hope… (venting is good though)
One day at a time, one series at a time… That’s all I got…