A Dose of Reality

It will a shame if Kershaw’s career with the Dodgers ended last night that way. Hopefully we can get him a second World Series Championship if this was the final inning he will ever pitch. A true Dodger in every sense of the word. Class personified. Next move the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

Two down with two to go. Personally, the best thing for the Dodgers right now is play the wild card game and not have to play game 163 up in San Francisco. Because if they have to play game 163, Scherzer would most likely start that game. Giants play tomorrow afternoon, so the Dodgers will know if they have a chance to tie or are the wild card team before their game starts. Padres have done an excellent job of folding. That team is a mess. Who let that Giant fan on here and what the hell does he know about Dodger fans???? They said that CK left the game with forearm discomfort. In my mind, that puts him out of the playoffs. I also think it reduces the possibility of Kershaw returning next season if it turns out to be something that needs to be repaired by surgery. Urias, Buehler and Scherzer are a pretty formidable trio for any team to face. Felt happy for Beaty getting the PH homer. Albert comes through again. I absolutely love that guy. He gave Beaty a real bear hug. And I am an expert on those!

Now Giants can kindly lose the next three games while Dodgers win the next three. That would be the ticket! yeah, let the Giants play the cards and Dodgers get home field advantage the rest of the way.

The Padres have to let Tingler go. They have basically given up and it appears he has lost the clubhouse.

Wonder if they’ll give Skip Schumacher a shot to manage or in the world of stranger things have happened how about Bochy to the Pads.

The bottom of the fifth. Pretty cool TT. Lets hope it catches. Rally boys! Show it like you know it.

If it’s the UCL I don’t see CK going out this way. Mark just may be right and he will retire or maybe he gets the surgery, sits out a year and comes back. It’s doable.

The Dodgers haven’t quit but unfortunately the Padres have.

No to trading Trea.

I hope nobody turned the game off.They done stepped up.

I just saw the way the giants scored their second run. it’s amazing, pure luck

Chip away. The guys need to step up so Kersh doesn’t get the L.

So I do. Sadly

Did you guys see Kershaw come out with the ball in his hands? do you think he knows something? or does it mean something?

Graterol sucks. He’s on my hope to get traded list.

Those games that Doc gave up on earlier in the season is haunting us. And those games that Doc rested multiple guys are haunting us.

It’s the UCL

Regardless of how far we advance this year, there is a chance he just threw his last pitch. Ever.

If that elbow hurt, does he really want to go thru surgery at his age? And then miss all 2022 anyway?

CK looks to have lost 4-5 MPH on his FB and will need to most likely go to the BP in the post season.

I hope he comes back on a two year contract and retires as a lifetime Dodger but it’s fairly obvious his best playing days, like maybe all of us, are in the rear view mirror.

Love the guy and do not want to see him ever in another uniform but he needs to re-sign for maybe a two year $25 AAV and that would be recognizing who he is, what he has previously accomplished and what he means to the community and his Dodger legacy.

It’s difficult to see this happening to Kershaw.

It’s crazy to think that this could be Kershaw last appearance on the mound as a Dodger

We don’t know, but every time Kersh walks out there, it has the potential to be his last DS start. I, for one, hope not.

Get the magic back, Clayton!

Tonight’s Lineup:

HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG

M. BettsRF 122-455 57 23 10 .268

C. SeagerSS 102-342 55 15 1 .298

T. Turner2B 190-585 68 25 32 .325

J. Turner3B 145-522 84 26 3 .278

M. Muncy1B 121-489 92 36 2 .247

A. PollockLF 113-374 67 20 9 .302

C. TaylorCF 128-501 73 20 13 .255

A. BarnesC 42-195 23 6 1 .215

C. KershawP 8-36 3 0 0 .222

You guys are a shining example of “spoiled fans.” Giants fans are happy if we even get into the playoffs. Frustrated you paid too much for players that don’t get you where you want? What exactly do you want? The dodgers have won over 100 games. I don’t see any room for complaint. True, the dodgers are not as glued together as the giants where every player is expected to fill in for almost every other player, but then you’d have to change things down to the basic infrastructure of the dodgers. But then it’s easier to hand over the money vs developing the well-skilled qualities and emotional bonds your players should have. Look at philly–toxic clubhouse–thanx to them we got highly skilled hunter pence, master team pastor who was DYING to leave the phillies! Their fans & ownership were atrocious!! oh thanx to them for gabe, too!

When I met Ted a couple of weeks ago, I was showing him my Volpe collection. The portraits they used to give out every week at Union 76 stations. I was explaining to him that I used to buy the packs of player pictures, 5X7 black and white photos that you used to be able to get at the souvenir stands at the coliseum and Dodger Stadium for 50 cents. There were 20 player photos in the pack. And usually Walt Alston or one of the coaches. I had bought some on EBAY a while ago, but misplaced them so I could not show him what I meant. Well, I saw something behind one of the Volpe prints and it was the pack of photos I had purchased. I looked them over and figured out they were from 1960. When the Dodgers moved to Dodger Stadium in 1962, the photos started having autographs on the bottom. The earlier ones had the printed names. The names on these were printed. So the players I have are Jim Gilliam, Frank Howard, Wally Moon, Maury Wills, Norm Larker, Larry Sherry, Norm Sherry, Charley Neal, Duke Snider, Stan Williams, Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres and John Roseboro. The cool thing is that they are in pristine condition. No stains or creases.

Here is what is happening in my world. This is a typical e-mail we have been getting from vendors:

XXXXXX, Inc. truly appreciates your business and the opportunity to service your water purification product needs. We are committed to delivering only the highest quality products and services that exceed your expectations and keep your business operations running smoothly.

As you are aware, the business conditions in North America have continued to become more challenging. What seemed to be a supply-demand imbalance as the markets recovered, is a rate of inflation that is higher than what businesses can control. We have seen cost increases come from freight, tariffs, material cost surcharges, utility costs, and production and wages increase requirements. This has added up to double-digit increases year over year and we have continually absorbed these costs, including those impacting the supply chain.

We have been successful this year not to pass through the various cost increases to our valued customers, but given the degree of inflation we must institute a minimum 12% price increase effective November 1, 2021, on all products. Please be assured that XXXXX has been working hard to minimize the impact of global shortages and cost increases during the pandemic. Our commitment will always be to offer excellent products and service at a fair price.

… and of course, we have to pass it on. I have never, ever seen these types of price increases. Many of you wished for this… Here you go!

Oh, and by the way, my Medicare went from $367.00 a month to $553.00 a month and my Aetna Supplemental insurance went to $207 from $145.00. This is insanity and you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

DODGERS NAME MIGUEL VARGAS AND HYUN-IL CHOI BRANCH RICKEY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers named infielder Miguel Vargas as the 2021 Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year and right-handed pitcher Hyun-Il Choi as the 2021 Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Vargas, 21, hit .319 (154-for-483) with 23 homers and 76 RBI in 120 games split between Great Lakes and Tulsa. He started the 2021 season with Advanced-A Great Lakes, hitting .314 (49-for-156) with 11 doubles, one triple and seven homers in 37 games. He was promoted to Double-A Tulsa on June 6 and finished hitting .321 (105-for-327) with 16 doubles, one triple, 16 homers and 60 RBI. Among qualifying Double-A batters, Vargas ranked third in average (.321), sixth in OBP (.478), seventh in SLG (.523) and third in OPS (.909). The Cuban native was a Non-Roster Invitee to Spring Training this season, playing in eight games and scoring two runs in nine plate appearances. He has been with the Dodgers since signing as an international free agent on September 7, 2017 and has played in 297 minor league games, spanning four different levels with a .316 (371-for-1174) batting average and 32 homers with 183 RBI.

In his first full minor league season, Choi went 8-6 with a 3.55 ERA (42 ER/106.1 IP) and 106 strikeouts in 24 games (11 starts). The Seoul, South Korea native began the season with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga, posting an 8-3 record with a 3.17 ERA (23 ER/65.1 IP) and 75 strikeouts in 24 games (11 starts). He ranked third in Low-A with eight wins, while his ERA and WHIP ranked among the top 10 pitchers in the Cal League with at least 70.0 innings pitched. He was promoted to Advanced-A Great Lakes on July 31 and has made nine starts for the Loons, going 0-3 with a 4.17 ERA (19 ER/41.0 IP) and 31 strikeouts against 11 walks.

Vargas and Choi will both be presented with their respective awards and honored in a pregame ceremony at Dodger Stadium on Friday, October 1 prior to the Dodgers’ game vs. Milwaukee and will be available for media at 5:00 p.m. on the field.

I have this to say about Bellinger. If you look back over all the seasons and look at the 15 youngest players, Cody was 23, to ever win an MVP award, only a couple, one would be Lou Gehrig, played at a high level the entire season. Some started hot and played at a lower level in the second half. Some started slow and got better as the season progressed. But there are only a handful of players who won the award at his age or younger. Most of them are in the Hall of Fame. Gehrig, Waner, Mays, Musial, Aaron, Ripken, Bench. A few were pitchers, Clemens, Blue. Hal Newhouser won back to back MVP awards when he was 23 and 24. Those not in the hall include Mattingly, Canseco and Jeff Burroughs. Canseco comes closest to Belli in average. Bench finished under .300 and had more HR’s in the first half and a lower average. Waner got much better the second half. Gehrig was a monster in both halves. Aaron, Mays, Musial, were pretty steady the entire year. Burroughs started off slow and then had a very good second half. His BA at the end was .301. SO yeah, I cut Cody some slack for his batting problems, especially this season. In 19 he played more games than he ever had at any level, and considering he was a third year player at age 23, expecting him to keep up the torrid pace he had early in the season is unrealistic in today’s game. Harper who won his when he was 22. He had a slight drop off in the second half, but he and Bellinger are the only two players from this era on the list. Will Bellinger rebound? That remains to be seen. But for now, I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. I think for most of the rest of his career, he will average about .275 with 30 plus homers every year. His swing is still too violent to be a consistent .300 hitter. Something he will only achieve with a modified swing that means more contact.

No question, the Dodgers are better at pretty much every position, in the bullpen and in the starting rotation. So I agree with Mark. Yet the Giants are probably going to win the NL West title. The Dodgers certainly had chances to overtake the Giants, maybe an injury here and there or a bad outing or Kenley’s bad week left them short. A bad third strike non call by the ump. Or losing two out of three at home against the Colorado Rockies when they had a chance to take over. Obviously everything played right for the Giants even other teams faltering late in games, losing by not catching a fly ball, a routine play. Hey, stuff happens.

If the Dodgers can get past the wild card, which is definitely a crapshoot, they can win the World Series again — if they play like they are capable of playing.

The Giants are an old team with players producing big years and that likely won’t happen in the future. The reason the Dodgers won eight straight titles was the farm system, key trades (because of the farm system) and picking up an AJ Pollock, a couple of relievers and another move or two along the way.

But the Dodgers are going to have make the right moves this winter and there are some decisions to be made, Corey Seager being one. This is going to be one of those Adrian Beltre and Mike Piazza like decisions, impacting the Dodgers both short and long term. Honestly, Seager is a must. I really want them to sign Max Scherzer, but there is more risk. He’s older. Scherzer is a luxury. Seager is not. That said, I want them to sign both players.

Good article today, Mark.