Diversions
Forget About the Game for a Minute! Some of you are losing your minds about the one Dodger loss. There s no need to cuss and dis-cuss it. Sunday, we will have more information good or bad. We will talk about that when it comes but right about now it s time to think about something else. I was born in 1953 and the only reason that is significant is that
Forget About the Game for a Minute! Some of you are losing your minds about the one Dodger loss. There’s no need to cuss and dis-cuss it. Sunday, we will have more information – good or bad. We will talk about that when it comes… but right about now it’s time to think about something else.
I was born in 1953 and the only reason that is significant is that I am getting close to having every Dodger Media Guide back to that point. It’s pretty cool to be able to go back in Dodger time to that particular year. Below is one that is significant:
Here’s what I have… so far. I just need 8 or 9 more…
Built Ford Tough
This is going to read like a commercial, but six years ago, I bought a 2013 Ford F-150 and 122 thousand miles later it was the best vehicle I have ever had. It started every day without fail. Went through 2 feet of snow. Never failed and… oh… it was fast at 375 HP. Here’s the deal: other than two sets of tires and oil changes, all I spent on this truck in 6 years was $2,600.00.
The 2013 F-150 was still looking good and running strong, but I’d rather get rid of it too soon than too late. I’m a pickup truck type of guy and have been looking at the new ones. I almost bought a Raptor but that’s just not me. Finally, at the end of the model year, I traded it in for a new one. The 2019 Limited F-150.
I didn’t buy the Raptor, but it has the Raptor engine (450 HP) and goes 0-60 in 5.1 seconds and does the quarter-mile in 13 seconds at 102 MPH. Not bad for a 6,000-pound pickup. Well, it is the fastest production pickup ever… except for the 2004 V-10 Viper. This is a V-6 Twin-Turbo. BTW, it gets 23 MPG on the highway. I am loving it! FYI: I am a hot rodder at heart.
I am headed to KC for the Colts-Chiefs game Sunday. I fully expect the Colts to lose, but I will have my Colts Blue on. Enjoy the Dodgers game. I will be watching it.
The Desert Dogs won 2-0 and the only Dodger hitter (Devin Mann) was 0-3 (he is hitting .077). However, Mitch White, Marshall Kasowski and Brett de Geus pitched scoreless innings to preserve the win..de Geus got the save.
More from Dodger Talk
Dodgers Food Trailer
I did this interview a couple of weeks ago with Chef Mike, who runs the Dodgers Food Trailer for the Great Lakes Loons. They are there for every home and road regular season and playoff game. They prepare three meals a day for approximately 50 people (players and coaches). Since games end late most evenings, they do not prepare breakfast. Many of their hotels have a complimentary breakfast anyway. However,…
Meet LAD 2026 Draft Picks 1-12
3 picks were High School players (2 SS and 1 OF). There was a college OF, college catcher, college SS, and 10 college pitchers. Of all the talk for a need for a catcher, the only catcher the Dodgers selected was Luke Bard, son of LAD bullpen coach Josh Bard. Bard was a 4th year senior from Houston Christian University. He is not a prospect, so the Dodgers are still…
Interview with Paul Beachy – Team Bus Driver For The Great Lakes Loons (LA Dodgers Minor League Team)
It’s been a few days since I did this interview. We have evidently been working my son-in-law (the video guy) like a rented mule at US Water Systems. However, I am taking him to London with me in a few days, so maybe Watford will buy him a pint as a tip, but he’s a dang Red Sox fan, so there is that! I thought that it would be interesting…
Thanks for Your Service: Chris Taylor
I was going to do this post when Chris announced he was retiring, then he changed his mind, but since the chances of him ever playing for the Dodgers again are slim and non-existent, I will go ahead with this post. He unretired, went on the IL, then decided to call it quits on May 24th. Taylor was born in Virginia Beach VA on August 29th, 1990. He attended Great…
Discussion (88)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Hello everyone. Let us root for Ryu and our team tonight.. Hoping for good game.
Sanchez is listed as the starter today, and who comes in to piggyback? Sherzer? He may go game 4. Corbin? That would flip the lineup. Martinez is turning traditional thinking on it’s head and Doc should play it straight if Ryu pitches well. Talk from DC is Strasburg goes game 5 if needed, Corbin comes out of the bullpen. Can’t wait for tonight’s game where we all see how the Dodgers respond. This could cause serious problems for the Nats for the next series but Martinez is not focused on that, he’s trying to take out the best team with his best weapons, his Big 3.
If you’re swingin against spinnin you ain’t winnin! Has to be our motto today. Be patient, stay in the zone, wait on his fastball and run Scherzer’s pitch count up and get into that bullpen! Ryu will do the rest!
Yesterday, I posted this just before comments closed:
“DC posted the other day about Johnny Podres – a guy who came up big when the Dodgers needed it most. There are certain players who have that knack – think of Sandy Koufax for instance. Others fold in the clutch like a house of cards.
The Dodgers have played in the post-season 7 years in a row. So several players have a track record. Unfortunately, many Dodger hitters have come up empty year after year in the playoffs.
Bellinger: .164/.227/.320/.547, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 132 PA
Seager: .208/.280/.340/.619, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 118 PA
Hernandez: .193/.317/.375/.692, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 104 PA
Pollock: .136/.240/.409/.649, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 25 PA
The Good:
Turner: .310/.412/.497/.909, 7 HR, 31 RBI, 221 PA
Freese: .286/.360/.538/.898, 10 HR, 36 RBI, 225 PA
Taylor: .267/.403/.475/.878, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 124 PA
Pederson: .243/.331/.505, 7 HR, 12 RBI, 122 PA
Muncy: .232/.386/.464/.850, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 70 PA
In short, I don’t think that the Dodgers can depend on Belli, Seager, Kike or AJ in the post-season. Each of them (except Pollock) have a track record of falling apart in the playoffs.
Who will step up? So far Muncy has. Anyone else?”
Today, Molly Knight wrote this over at The Athletic:
“But what should terrify Dodger fans is Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager continuing to be MIA in the postseason.
The Dodgers are in a short series fighting for their playoff lives, so we don’t have time to sugarcoat this. In 122 postseason plate appearances, Bellinger has an OPS of .547. His career OPS in the regular season (.928) is almost 400 points higher. To put his October hitting into perspective: Bellinger’s OPS is only 100 points higher than Clayton Kershaw’s playoff OPS.
As far as Seager goes, I remain perplexed. Three years ago, when he won Rookie of the Year and finished third in MVP voting, I marveled about him to a veteran NL West pitcher who had just faced him, and he shocked me by saying Seager was the easiest hitter in the Dodgers lineup to face. He went on to say that Seager almost always swings at first pitches, so there’s no reason to throw him a strike there. He then told me the Dodgers shortstop can’t lay off sliders in the dirt and basically only hits mistakes…. In 118 postseason plate appearances, Seager now owns a .619 OPS. His career OPS in the regular season is .853.”
I don’t think that anyone really thinks that the Dodgers should look to dump Cody or Cry. But I don’t think that either can be relied upon in the post-season.
Andy, I agree with you on your assessment of Cody’s approach to hitting an outside pitch. It’s kind of shocking that a player as athletic as Cody looks so non-athletic with his swing on a outside pitch. He has improved so much this year with hitting, so it’s odd that this is his approach to an outside pitch. Also, I never have liked his huge swings. It works against poor or mediocre pitching, but against playoff pitching that approach doesn’t work. He cannot hit a fastball 94 and above between the belt and letters. As strong as he is I don’t know why he feels he needs to swing so hard. Earlier in the year he talked about “kissing the ball with his bat” when talking about his improvement with hitting to the opposite field. That seems to be currently out of the plan for Cody.
About replacing Cody and/or Seager that doesn’t seem to be a wise decision. Talk about overreaction. They are so talented and will only get better, especially Seager. He is learning how to play with a new body and repaired body parts. How much pain was he in the past? We don’t know. If we move either one of them, who do we have that will be better than them? I would imagine that most teams would be thrilled to have developed such talent. I wouldn’t think they are going anywhere.
Looking forward to today’s game. I think we will do a better against making Scherzer work and get his pitch count up. And, hopefully our bats will wake up.
I hope Big Watermelon (Ryu) Comes through today and shuts down Nats offense. Dodgers need to get to Crazy Max early and hit some home runs like Brewers did that last game. Swing for the fences in that ballpark. I would put Freese. Lux looked overmatched against Strasburg and Max. I would play Beaty instead of Pollock in LF . The key would be to get to Nats bullpen and the likes of Rodney and Strickland if Dodgers do that they can win this series easily.
Anyone who has played baseball, watch Cody stepping in the bucket or first base with his front foot and his front shoulder flying open. He can’t hit the outside pitch and loses power doing it this way. Why aren’t the Dodgers coaches and video people making him aware of it ?
Just bought my tickets for game 2!of the NLCS. That’s how I feel about this series!
Man, is Gerrit Cole going to get paiddddd!!!!!
Wow, I thought you closed the comments because everyone was being too stupid. Nice truck! It’s too bad the game’s on so late tomorrow, too much time for people to continue to freak out.
I’m curious though. Someone said something about Belli / Seager not performing in the post season. I’m wondering what thoughts people have on what to do about that if the pattern continues. Do you send them packing? I mean, MVP candidate and a high ceiling offensive shortstop that handles the glove well? You can’t sit them, they’re the young core of the team.
I also thought about their maturity. Really, both only have about 3 years of experience. Are they ready to lead the team to victory? And if not, are they too young to give up on?
Regardless, those two guys are expected to produce if this team is going to do damage in the post season. But, sometimes a pitcher is just on and it really doesn’t matter who’s in the box against them. And sometimes, you just have to step up and beat great pitching.
Last night wasn’t a great result and it wasn’t the best game all around for our boys, but we were still in it all the way until the end. A little luck and maybe a different outcome.
It’s gonna be a long day tomorrow waiting for 4:45 to roll around.
So I believe the team will continue to do what it did all year, win the series.