DON’T THEY KNOW IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD?

One of the many female artists (and trust there were many) on whom I had a boyhood crush, was the great country-western singer, Skeeter Davis.  I loved her name, I mean how could you not love the name Skeeter?   After reading some of the comments on Saturday and Sunday, I was reminded of her and her biggest hit song “The End of the World”, which goes in part(with apologies to the songwriter for the changes made by me) as follows:

“Why does the sun go on shining?

Why does the sea rush to shore?

Don’t they know it’s the end of the world?

‘Cause the Dodgers don’t know how to play anymore

Why do the birds go on singing?

Why do the stars glow above?

Don’t they know it’s the end of the world?

It ended when we lost last night

I woke up in the morning and I wondered

Why everything’s the same as it was

I can’t understand, no, I can’t understand

How the Dodgers even stand a chance”

Arguably, the Dodgers just finished their greatest regular season in history.   Let that sink in for a minute. This year was the most wins ever for the Dodgers.  Ever!   Admittedly, the 1889, 1943 and 1953, teams had better winning percentages, albeit not by much, but they each played fewer games than the 2019 Dodgers.  I’m not here to argue which was the better team.   I’ll leave that to another day.   

Apparently, according to some, the Dodgers were able to win this many games, with a manager who can’t manage, and who constantly makes the wrong in-game decisions.  Dave Roberts is so bad that he doesn’t even know how to put his players in the best possible position to succeed.  I’m also led to believe, this is, primarily, because he is totally incapable of making any decisions on his own and is merely a puppet for the front office.   Shoot, anybody with half a brain and a remote control with good batteries, can do a better job than Doc.   Several of you on this board, from the comfort of your family rooms, have made it known, that you can easily make better decisions than him.   Case in point, why would he start Pollock in any of these games   Yet, despite his foibles and incompetence, and I repeat myself, this team had the most wins ever!  

If having a manager like Dave Roberts isn’t bad enough, the Dodgers were somehow also able to win this many games with players who are mediocre at best.  And, to the extent they do perform, they are never clutch and for some reason (perhaps the change in the weather or the sun setting earlier in the day), they absolutely cannot perform in the postseason.   It appears that the Dodgers front office, player development, analytics department, fitness department, and coaching staff are totally incapable of figuring out how to develop players who have enough stamina and skill to play beyond 162 games.  Cause after that, the air rapidly goes out of the balloon.  It’s my understanding from what I read, that this is the fault of the front office because they never acquire the right players, they are afraid to spend money and they can only build a team for the regular season.   In any event, whatever the cause, I certainly hope they hire some nerds who can figure out how to get the Dodgers over that hump.   If not, they should fire the whole lot!!   But alas, and I repeat myself again, the most wins ever!   

I mean, seriously, just take a look at Clayton Kershaw, arguably the best pitcher in Dodger history and certainly of the last decade in the majors.  For 162 games, he’s okay.   Not as good as he used to be, but he’s okay.   Probably good enough to be voted into the Hall of Fame.   But, once October rolls around, forget about it.  He can’t hold a candle to the great Patrick Corbin, no way.   I mean, take a look at Corbin’s first outing: 6 innings pitched, 3 hits, 2 runs 5 walks, 9 ks – that’s what a top of the line pitcher does in the clutch.  I’m telling you, he’s great, definitely destined for the Hall of Fame.   The Nats also have the invincible Max Scherzer, who in his only start this postseason pitched 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 3BB while striking out 6.   I’m telling you, that’s just the type of pitcher we need.   Let’s forget the fact that the Nats only squeaked by the Brewers Scherzer’s start because the world’s greatest closer forgot how to pitch and decided to imitate Kenley Jansen.  That, and because of a ball that took a weird bounce in the outfield.    Kershaw, on the other hand: Well he pitched 6 innings, allowed 6 hits, 3 runs 1 walk and 4 ks.   Clearly, he sucks.   I can’t explain to you why Roberts, Honeycutt or Prior can’t fix him and make him a better pitcher.   How is it possible to rely on that quality of a pitcher to start any kind of meaningful game at this time of year.  2 batters hit by a pitch, that’s unfathomable!!   Let me regress from my rant for a moment and acknowledge that this line of thinking ignores how baseball is a game of inches.  Trea Turner’s ground ball barely scoots by JT (probably because JT is cheating in because of the possibility of a bunt by the speedy TT).   Then, let’s look at Rendon’s 2 run double in the second inning.   As good an outfielder that Bellinger is, it appeared to me, that he took an absolutely horrible route on that ball.  Moreover, he started his jump awkwardly several feet away from where the ball hit the wall.   Under normal circumstances that looked very much like a ball that Belli would catch 9 out of 10 times.   Yet, baseball a game of inches.   Had both those plays been made, we would be singing a different song about Kershaw.   They weren’t and we aren’t.  That’s what makes baseball the great game it is.   The night before, the Dodgers benefitted from Howie Kendricks’ miscues.   That’s how it goes.   But then, I speculate on what could have been and that, unfortunately, doesn’t fit my narrative that the end of the world has arrived.    It’s not just Kershaw, it’s the bullpen.   Again, are we seriously passing off Jansen as a closer?   That’s a ridiculous notion.   No, what we need is someone reliable, like Josh Hader or Carlos Martinez or a serious lockdown guy like Roberto Osuna.  That’s the ticket.   Oops, I just checked the latest scores.   Maybe we should forget about those 3 guys.  And what was Roberts thinking bringing Squirt Gun Kelly into a game with an 8-2 lead.  If ever there was a momentum killer, he would be it.  Why didn’t he bring in one of his starters, like the genius manager Dave Martinez is doing.  

And don’t even get me started on the offense.   Bellinger, Seager, Pollock, and Lux.   Come on now, everyone knows these guys can’t play.   Flailing away at pitches that any average 12-year-old Pony League player can tell are out of the strike zone.   Heck, from the comfort of my recliner, I can clearly see that they shouldn’t be swinging at those pitches.  They should, like me, be able to see that those pitches are balls from the moment they leave the pitcher’s hand.   See the ball, hit the ball, that’s all I ask.   It’s very simple.  Also, these players need to learn how to work the pitcher and get his pitch count up.  Don’t swing at balls and make him throw strikes.   That’s what I would do.   I would swing at strikes only and further, only those that I can barrel up.   I mean seriously, what’s the point of having RVS, Brant Brown and Adam Bates, if they can’t let these players know what they’re doing wrong.   Hitting Strategist?   What does that even mean?   It can’t be that hard to hit a 98 mph fastball or a 90 mph slider, can it?   With all the analytics and video available to them, these coaches should be able to tell Bellinger that he’s stepping in the bucket.  They should also let Seager know not to swing at sliders in the dirt.   I can’t understand why they don’t do that.   On top of that, apparently, these players are selfish and they aren’t good teammates.   Instead, they only think of themselves, swinging for the fences.   Enough already.   Frankly, they need to stop playing these guys and put in some real players like David Freese, Matt Beaty or Austin Barnes (doesn’t matter that he’s not on the roster).  They know how to hit.   Plus Doc, or whoever is giving him the orders, never put these players in the right spot in the line-up.   He should bat them in right spots.   I could go on and on and on, and on, but I fear this will never change, because, for the most part, our organization, from top to bottom, does not have a clue as to what they’re doing.   Let’s face it, our team just can’t match up against the great Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg or Patrick Corbin.   No way, no how.   Heck, for the love of money, they can’t even hit the junk that Anibal Sanchez offers up.  

Obviously, there’s a just a “smidgeon” of sarcasm in the above.  For the naysayers, particularly those who are not as old as others on this blog, let me remind you about one of the great moments in Dodger lore.   DC recently wrote a masterful post on Johnny Podres pitching a shutout to secure the Dodger’s first World Series title in 1955.   That is, and always will be, one of the greatest moments in Dodger history.    What you might not recall about that series, is that the Dodgers lost the first two games.   Game one, Whitey Ford outdueled Don Newcombe as the Yankees won 6-5.   The Yankees won game two by a 4-2 score, as Tommy Byrne threw a complete game and Dodger starter Billy Loes couldn’t get out of the 4^th inning.   It was the end of the world for Brooklyn fans everywhere.   “Here we go again” and “We’re a team built to handle the National League, but we aren’t good enough to handle the mighty Yankees” were laments heard throughout the New York subway system.   “Dem Bums,” beloved as they might be, just were not good enough.   Despite the naysayers, some fans chose to keep on singing, “Mmmm, you’ve gotta have heart. All you really need is heart. When the odds are sayin’ you’ll never win, that’s when the grin should start.”   “When your luck is batting zero… huh, huh, huh…get your chin up off the floor. . .huh, huh, huh . . . mister, you can be a hero . . . huh, huh, huh . . . You can open any door . . . There’s nothing to it!”   And then, after a back and forth and very tense series, surprise upon surprise, the Dodgers won 4 of the next five games and showed that they were, in fact, very much good enough.   I’m sure that when  Johnny Podres and Roy Campanella leaped into each other’s arms it still ranks as one of the happiest baseball days, if not the happiest, for Brooklyn, and those still alive from that time look back on it with great fondness.  No more “wait until next year.”  

The world was definitely about to end.   But, as the great philosopher, Yogi Berra said: “It ain’t over until its over.”  Then, with 2 outs, 2 strikes, Russell Martin decided to get his chin off the floor and laced a double to the wall, scoring two.   5 more runs followed and the sun began to shine in my family room.   The Dodgers remembered how to play baseball.  And,  Corbin, well maybe he isn’t quite ready for the Hall of Fame.  

We’re up 2-1, but make no mistake about it, the Nationals are a very good team and they’ll give the Dodgers a battle to the end.  But, my friends, please remember, the Dodgers are also a very, very good team who won’t give up and will battle to the end.  I definitely want them to close it out tomorrow.  I also hope that Rich Hill pitches out of his mind, and throws another almost perfect game.  However, if the Dodgers do lose this series, I’ll certainly be disappointed, but I’m here to tell you it’s definitely not the end of the world.   Win or lose, I’m going to keep loving dem bums!!!  A couple of days ago, DodgerBlueMom shared a wonderful poem written by Laura Ding Edwards.  I end with a portion of that poem with a slight alteration:

“So breathe it in and let it out, allow the ebb and flow.

The Dodgers can win this way, they always do.

The Dodgers are Warriors you know!!”    

Glendale lost again, 6-5 as Gerardo Carrillo went 3.2 innings and gave up 3 runs, but he did strike out 8. Omar Estevez was 2-4 (.300) while Jeren Kendall was 1-5 but had just 1 strikeout. That’s something…