Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is a book about the history of popular folly by Charles Mackay. The book chronicles its targets in three parts: “National Delusions,” “Peculiar Follies,” and “Philosophical Delusions.” It attempts to educate the reader as to why intelligent people do amazingly stupid things when caught up in speculative endeavors. It explores how easily we can be misled and how illogically we can think when popular opinion influences us.
Mackay’s central theme in the book is that the tendency of humans to develop a herd mentality which leads individuals in the herd to act and react to various stimuli. The reactions are very similar and predictable and this “madness” leads to a downward spiral with undesirable effects. His book highlights several stories from the history of various manias that took place. There are lessons to be learned from them in the present day.
Across Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, many witch trials took place. The trials came about because, at the time, bad luck was attributed to supernatural causes. This mass-superstition proved to be extremely dangerous with thousands of innocent people dying as a result of the cases. Many of the trials had very low standards of evidence and often came about as a way to settle old scores between neighbors or acquaintances.
In England, a self-styled “Witch-Finder General” named Matthew Hopkins traveled around East Anglia, making a point of appearing wherever there was an accusation of somebody being a witch. He would assist the judges with his knowledge on witches, leading to them carrying out many miscarriages of justice. He charged a large sum for his services, using the fear of witchcraft, which had spread like wildfire amongst the public, to extort money from the local authorities. He received extra money for identifying a witch and devised tests such as tying the accused’s hands and feet together and putting them in the river. If they sank, they were innocent (but drowned). If they floated, they were deemed to be a witch and burnt at the stake.
Modern-day witch hunts continue to this day. There is evidence of this all around us. From entire groups of people being persecuted in various parts of the world to the online abuse of individuals where the pitchforks have been replaced with keyboards. When a person is accused and identified on social media, there is often no fair trial, no hearing of both sides of the story, and no critical analysis. When sharing information online, we need to be careful, especially if that information condemns or vilifies another individual. Nobody wants to be the target of a witch hunt, but we should also not want to participate in one. This is not a witch hunt.
In an interesting twist to the witch-finder story, the imposter Matthew Hopkins met an untimely death due to his own notoriety, using his own witch-finding method. An angry mob from a village he was visiting believed that to find so many witches, he must have been a wizard who had acquired a book from Satan. The book listed all the names of the so-called witches and he was therefore working with the devil. He was thrown in the river and tested using his own method. Some say that he sank, others say that he floated and was then tried and executed. What’s sure is that either way, he met his demise at the hands of the angry mob.
Today’s blog is about “Hating Dave Roberts Mania and Why You Should Seek Help“. I have kidded about that in the past, but I am not kidding today. I know very few of the people on this blog, but there are a few who spew hatred of Dave Roberts as if they are Racists against persons of Black and Asian descent. Of course, Dave Roberts is both, having an Asian mother and a Black father. The vitriol that they spew is both irrational and dangerous.
No matter what Dave Roberts does, it is wrong, but sometimes he gets away with it and he wins in spite of himself. That is what they believe and if the Dodgers win, it is in spite of Dave Roberts and if they lose it is because of Dave Roberts. Last night, the Mets were the recipients of some bloop, soft contact, lucky hits. It happens in baseball, but some morons (yes, you are morons) have such an irrational hatred of Dave Roberts that they create scenarios in their small minds to blame everything on him.
Look, Dave Roberts makes plenty of mistakes. We all do. Every manager has, does, and will continue to do so. However, in the instant case of Dave Roberts, to continually criticize him brands you as a Racist, a fool, a mental midget, a deranged person, or maybe all of the above. It’s hard to hear such drivel, over-and-over-and-over-and-over. You don’t have to like Dave Roberts. I have no desire to meet him. I had a desire to meet Tommy Lasorda and I did. Dave Roberts? Nah!
However, he has the highest winning percentage of any active manager and is #2 on the all-time list, with a .612 winning percentage. Of course, you will say that it’s is because he has such a good team. You evidently believe that if it weren’t for his stupidity the Dodger would win 162 games! As if no other manager had such a great team?
I am not saying you cannot criticize Dave Roberts, but when all you do is criticize the guy ad nauseum, it gets old very quickly and screams “I need mental help!” Now, I get that second-guessing baseball moves is a National Pastime to some, but Damn… Every Move? That is a compulsion or sickness. Maybe I have a different viewpoint because I run a multi-million (not billion) dollar company. I understand how easy it is to criticize moves I make from the “cheap seats.” Everyone is an expert… or so they think!
However, if you do decide that you will want to criticize Dave Robert’s every move, I suggest that you get a tattoo… so that we can all understand where you are coming from. If not, seek help!
Have a nice day!
Dodger News
- I am sure that Mookie Betts has the best physicians, but there are miniminally invasive arthroscopic options for hip bone spurs that could be performed and have him ready fpr the playoffs… maybe! Of course, one of the leading causes of bone supurs is the onset of arthritis, but that is not always true. I really doubt they do anything until after the saeson, but it does not look promising for him THIS year.
- V-Gone could be back this weekend, as could Gavin Lux.
- Justin Yurchak who hit .356 at Great Lakes is now hitting .432 with a .479 OB% and a 1.116 OPS at Tulsa. The 24-year-old LH 1B acts like he wants to get his ticked punched at The Show.
- Gus Varland pitched 3 innings and allowed 1 hit last night at Tulsa.
- 6′ 7″ Mark Washington pitchd 2 scoreless innings for Tulsa and struck out 4. He has a 2.31 ERA.
Discussion (53)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Well time to hit the hay, and I can sleep well knowing we are one game closer to catching the hated ones. The Padres are fading like a 50 dollar nag in a claiming race. Butane is still the best pitcher on this team. And Will Smith is about as clutch as they come. His HR traveled 444 feet. Second longest HR this season by a Dodger! Night all!!!
Well it goes to show once again that you need to wait until the game is over before you judge the results. As for the offense, how about giving some credit to the Mets pitcher, Walker? The guy did his job. And while you all were worrying about being no hit, Tyler Gilbert in his first major league start NO HIT the Padres. No mean feat with those hitters on that team, and the Rockies gave the Dodgers some help as Freeland beat the Giants 4-1. They are mortal after all. SO now they are 4 games back with 45 to play. Padres are now 10 games back of the Giants and 6 back of the Dodgers. They also lost Drew Pomeranz to season ending surgery today. And they are only 2.5 games in front of the Reds for the second wild card spot. Nice clutch hit by Bellinger in the 10th. That had to feel good and boost his confidence, especially after that horrible at bat where he swung at a pitch that was a foot off of the plate.
Remember, the “innocent until proven guilty” provision did not apply to Julio Urias. What Bauer has probably done is significantly worse.
My opinion of Bauer is that he is a serial abuser and, possibly a sociopath. He deserves at least a year’s suspension without pay. He should have to go through the full MLB intimate partner violence program. And when he returns, he should be “on probation” for the duration of his contract–at the very least. But I’m a woman who, at my age, is leery of men like him. I will admit to my prejudices. They have kept me alive.
One silver lining to our “dark days” and our endless pitching auditions is the learning that Vesia and Bickford experienced. You sure have to kiss a bunch of frogs to find a couple of princes! I hope we never have to go through this again!
Giants lost finally.
DODGERS WIN…..DODGERS WIN…….
4 hits was all we needed. Bullpen again is dominating. Who are these guys? VESIA, Bickford, Bruihl, White?
Nevertheless, it’s nice to see when the bats go cold, the arms heat up….and visa versa.
Okay, now time to check on my other boys….the New York Football Giants v the new york jets.
I just can’t believe Roberts, guess he liked that guy in that situation. And the guy did what he was asked to do,
It must be the bats we’re using!
‘m starting to get just a little concerned about Trea Turner. I’m wondering whether he may be trying too hard for his new team. He’s 6-30 a .200 average. Yes it’s a small sample but still………..
Cmon let’s be honest. Show of hands. Who was ready to light Roberts up for removing Bickford with Knebel? Buehler and the bullpen saved our sorry offense tonight! How good are Vesia and Bickford right now? I trust our bullpen a lot more than our offense right now. Without the long ball this offense is not consistently good enough to catch the Giants right now! Wake up bats!
Two one run games in a row maybe we’ve broken the trend
McKinney then Beaty, 6 strikes, nothing in play.
Any time Trea. His OPS as a Dodger is less than McKinney’s.
I am getting a man crush on Vesia
Striker Buehler Hotter than a plasma torch
Our offense has to pick him up, come on boys
Beatty is so due
I’m so tired of seeing McKinney in there.
The Mets pitcher has a no-hitter going on through six innings.
I have some questions regarding Doc. It seems to me that after every blowout win, the team has trouble scoring runs. Is that just my perception, or does Doc fail to motivate them? Also, when he was playing, he loved to use his speed and baserunning to win games. Now he does not seem to value the stolen base or trust his players on the bases. Hope he will allow TT to run.
With Julio Urius going on the il I would like to see Andre Jackson come up for a spot start. He is on the 40 roster and recently joined AAA OKC.
They need a good game from Butane today. He seems a bit off so far.
Wow, with no Urias for 10 days, our rotation will look like:
1. Scherzer
2. Buehler
3. Price
4. White +bullpen
5. All bullpen
Is this about right?
I think we can solve this problem of Roberts once and for all. All we have to do is go back in time and put Mike Scioscia, Joe Torre, Dusty Baker or anyone else you like in the position and see how it works out.
Putting Urias on the IL might have been necessary or might just be a way to have him skip a turn without having to give up the roster space.
If my calculations are correct, he’ll miss his start against the Pirates and be back to pitch against the Pads on the 24th.
The Dodgers have placed left-hander Julio Urias on the 10-day injured list due to a left calf contusion. The open roster spot will be filled by utilityman Zach McKinstry, who has been recalled from Triple-A.
And the wheels on the injury bus go round and round.
Exciting and interesting game. Certainly a festival for second guessers.
* Who are the 4 Dodgers who had 200 plus homers since moving to LA?
* I had to take a break from Orel yesterday. Of all the former pitchers who are now color commentators, Darling, Smoltz, Ek, Krukow, Cone, Glavine, Palmer, anyone, Orel spends more air time analyzing every aspect of pitching. I’m an interesting audience about all things pitching but he can even wear me out. When it comes to hitting and position play it’s out of his wheelhouse and he makes shit up. He still talks way too much.
* I watched the Mets broadcast and it was great. The Mets booth is a nice change. Ron Darling and Gary Cohen were very knowledgeable and flattering with the Dodgers. No flagrant home town bias. I got a ton of info I don’t get from Orel and Joe. They do their homework and had very cool old video and clips from Dodger past. They showed a letter from Branch Rickey’s scouting report on an 18 year old Don Drysdale that was great. They featured Big D on a couple of spots including an old video from the Joey Bishop Show with 6 Dodger players singing to honor Don’s performance. Don looked dapper in a Tux and sang too. Great stuff.
* They were questioning Doc pulling Graterol. And then not going to Treinen. not critically, just observations.
* When Mets skipper, Rojas, stayed with his righties pitcher to Belli, he was ignoring the match up. Went against the book. Darling said one manager made a decision and trusted his eyes, while Doc went with the script. Interesting observation.
* Barnes’ bunt attempt was pitiful in a big spot.
* Why cant we seem to communicate on pop ups? Every kid is taught priorities on pop ups and fly balls. Did we miss that?
* Lots of guys showing slow bats these days, like they’re under water. Long season.
* CT3 is awesome. 3 hits and a nice heads up baserunning play on the overthrow to pitcher, after Bellinger horseshit AB. It got us a run that proved to be very important. He continues to be our MVP.
* The Mets announcers reported K-bear, after being traded, hired Scott Boras as his agent.
Answer to the question: (I bet this was a yawner for you Bear)
4 Dodgers who had 200 plus homers since moving to LA:
Karros, Cey, Garvey and Kemp
No Piazza. I had him in and not Kemp, with his 2nd stint.
Boy this site gets testy sometimes. The Dog Days effect the fans too, I guess.
Tonight’s lineup with JT available off the bench:
2b Trea
1b Max
c Will
ss Corey
lf AJ
3b Chris
cf Cody
rf Billy
P Waker
What the hell was AF smoking when he signed Bauer?
From Noah Syndergaard
Hey MLB, ESPN whose dumb f@*#ing idea was it to change tomorrow’s game to a night game when we’re traveling to the West Coast after,” the Mets right-hander wrote in his Instagram story. “Won’t get in until Monday morning. Take on first-place (San Francisco) Giants later that evening. Brilliant!”
Wow. The Dodgers don’t even get an off day Monday. This is cruel,” the 28-year-old added.
I think its a plot by MLB to help SF.
What this all boils down to guys is that some of you dislike Roberts and others do not. We all agree he is not a great in game manager, or at least he has not shown that to be the case. He is definitely a players manager. I also doubt any on here dislike him because of his race. He is the first Dodger manager of color. I think those who say they hate him are going a little overboard. Hate is a powerful emotion and thrown about way too much. Hate drains ones energy, and at my age, I do not have the luxury of expending too much of it worrying about something I have no control over. Roberts is the manager for the next several years. He signed an extension, he does what management desires, and he soothes his teams egos, and in reality, he does that really well. Tommy would have bitten some heads off by now. He also would have a tough time dealing with the new rules. Tommy was every bit an old school manager. If you do not believe that, watch the video of him removing Doug Rau from game 4 of the 1977 series. It pretty much sums up Lasorda’s state of mind when things go south. Bruihl, under Tommy would have been gone the second he walked Alonzo. And not mollycoddled about it either. Alston had players he disliked who played for him who were Black. But he was never accused of being a racist because of it. And each of those players, Frank Robinson and Richie Allen spent exactly one year as a Dodger.
I’d like to see the Dodgers buyout Puig’s contract and utilize him as Bett’s backup.
Ted: Thank you for your response. You are making an assumption about the impact the front office has on in-game decisions. None of us really know. Roberts has been the Manager for 5 seasons (not counting this one). His teams have one 3 NL Pennants and 1 WS. However, I would argue if the Astros did not know what Kershaw was throwing in game 5, the Dodgers would have won that game and the series, which makes Roberts WS record that much better. To contrast the 2 Managers you mentioned, Alston won 2 NL Pennants and 1 WS in his 1st 5 years and Lasorda won 3 NL Pennants and 1 WS in his 1st 5. Very similar records but Roberts won almost 100 games/year while Alston averaged 87 and Lasorda 91 (only used 4 years for Tommy since his 5th year, 1981, was shortened by the strike). I understand you measure success by championships but I caution you on that measure. There are 30 teams and getting through the post season can be very much a function of timing.
B&P: Your posts are usually very good. However, you also sometimes play fast and loose with the facts. Saying Mattingly and Roberts have similar winning percentages with the Dodgers doesn’t make it so. Fact–Roberts has a .614 winning percentage with the Dodgers equaling an average of 99 wins/season. Mattingly has a .551 winning percentage with the Dodgers equaling 89 wins/season. While Mattingly’s winning percentage is quite good, he would finish 10 games behind Roberts. All I have ever said about Roberts is his record speaks for itself. Yes he has had great players, but so did Sparky Anderson, Bobby Cox, etc and he has performed better than all except Casey Stengel with the Yanks. The guy definitely makes mistakes, but, in fact, the results say he is a very good to great Manager.
All this vitriol less than 1year after winning the title. What’s it gonna be like for the next 31 years?
I have been critical of Roberts over the years. Mark has had several opening comments on the need for Roberts to go though it hasn’t happened recently. I have said that many other managers and managerial candidates could have been just as successful and many may have done better. Over time I’ve tried to figure out who is making the in game decisions. Up until recently I assumed it was Roberts. Now, I’m not so sure. Until we have an answer to that question, using Roberts to blame bad decisions and results on is a waste of time and energy. He’s not going anywhere and I have only so much criticism to go around.
His regular season decisions haven’t bothered me much in the last two years or so because it’s the regular season of 162 games. And, over time it’s usually the lack of execution by the players that are the cause of a defeat or bad outcome. It’s the post season that has really questioned his managerial skills (and pissed me off). Execution by the players is paramount for winning. Roberts’ job is to put players in the best situation to be successful. But, when a player isn’t executing he should be replaced. Or when the player is being successful he should be allowed to continue to do so. Like with allowing Urias to finish off the Rays in the last game in the WS. I believe it was the first time Roberts allowed his eyes to make a pitching decision in the post season. Not left vs right. Not pitch count. Not experience. It was actual, in real time, performance. Urias was dominate. This lead to the Dodgers first WS win in 32 years.
One of the worst decisions that Roberts ever made was with friendship with AJ Hinch. First, being friends with such a scum ball. Second, having him stay at your home after your good friend cheats your team out of a World Series victory. Talk about letting the wolf in the hen house. That AJ has some set of balls.
Another thing that bothers me about Roberts is his interaction with the media. And I know it’s not all his doing. He’s mouthing what the FO wants to make public. So, he takes a lot of abuse from fans and the media because of many things the FO may decide that doesn’t work out and that falls into his lap to poorly explain it away. One thing that I’ve grown tired of is Roberts and player post game interviews. Do we actually learn much from them? And why is there a need for our sideline reporter, Ms. Watson? She doesn’t appear to know much about baseball and even less about the Dodgers. Do we really need “so what were you looking to do with that pitch you hit for a HR?” “Oh, I was just was looking for something to drive.” Or “so what did you see from Buehler tonight?” “Oh, he was really dealing and dominate”. I’ve heard the same clichés and BS responses for over sixty years. So, when the game is over so am I. Highlights? I don’t need no stinkin’ highlights. I just watched the game. They have already shown Bellinger’s HR seven times from three different angles. If I really need to see it again I do on the Dodger site the next day. Oh yeah, get off my front lawn!
Back when I was a kid, we used to play baseball and football constantly. Looking back, it seems like the only things we did. Every day after school, me and few buddies would play some form of baseball, with tennis balls, or whiffle balls against a garage, three flies up, hot box, pickle, over the line at the park. Even with nerf balls soaked in water in our back yards. Once baseball season ended, it was “touch” or “shove” football in the streets in front of our houses or mud ball games at the part whenever it rained. I think I always had raspberries on my knees and even my carboard like toughskins would eventually need to be patched. Those expensive Levi’s were a no-go at the rate we would put holes in our knees.
I remember several occasions when someone would take their ball and go home. Everyone left on the field would move on and do something else together. The ball taker would spend the rest of the day alone, pouting in his room. The next day things would go back to semi-normal. But, the ball taker lost some trust from his friends and some street cred. The takeaway was that the rest of the kids all agreed that there was a better way to handle things than to take your ball and go home. That was the ultimate dick-move and worse than calling someone a “Jive-Chicken”. (That’s a reference from Will Farrell’s Semi-Pro Movie), back away from the racism!!!
The easiest ways to tell that you won an argument these days is when your opponent resorts to calling you a racist. The white guy calling the brown guy a racist is beyond words for me. Ironically, the white guy lives in one of the whitest states in the country and I live in California. Need I say more? Especially after I agreed with the thought of bringing back Puig, just hours earlier. I’m apparently as bad as being racist as I am in making a case pointing out bad managerial decisions.
I’ve gotten into some pretty long and drawn out arguments on this site. Some of the biggest ones include arguing that Verdugo is not the next Tony Gwynn and that he would eventually be trade bait because his bat doesn’t profile as a corner and his glove isn’t good enough for CF. I argued that K-Bear wasn’t needed and would eventually become trade bait, since AF already sang the highest praise on Smith. I argued that you can’t call AF the best GM until he wins some championships and that the Dodgers would blow past the CBT any time they want to. I stand by my record, and Doc being a crappy manager will eventually be proven in time. Doc has a very similar winning percentage as Mattingly during his stay with the Dodgers. He’ll probably have a better winning percentage than Tommy when his tenure is done. But, what he’ll never have on Tommy is a lifelong job with the Dodgers and rings and a Gold Medal from teams that were underdogs.
Call me a racist, take your ball and go home. It makes no difference to me. I’m just here to share my thoughts and read others, sometimes I try to make a stupid joke and sometimes I argue with frustration trying to point out their opinion is not fact. Sometimes I like to explain the math behind the validity of certain statistics. I don’t feel I have to right to express my opinion here. I respect that Mark is the King of his website. He can kick me off anytime he wants, as he’s done before. He’s the boss.
In a matter of a couple of minutes, I was called a dumbass, fool, stupid, moron until Mark took his ball and went home. Instead of cooler heads prevailing the next day, like when I was a kid, Mark double-downed and implied that I must be racist because I hate Doc. But, I love Puig? Oh well, that doesn’t matter, move along nothing to see here. Mark, you’re “the boss”, but you won’t be “a boss” until you learn not to take your ball and go home and call people a bunch of names. You’re pretty bright most of the time, but these actions do not make you better, they hold you back.
William, good comments and they make sense. I think Urias was coming out no matter what because Knebel was already warm. All it ended up costing him was a hitter. No harm no foul. If Dave has a fault, I do not think it is stubbornness. I believe his biggest fault as a manager is his loyalty and trust that certain guys in certain situations can get the job done. He hardly ever has another pitcher ready when the 3 hitter rule is reached. He usually does not get someone up until the second hitter has already been up and done what ever damage he can. Now someone made a point about Bazooka being in X amount of games over the last couple of days. Ok. makes some sense, but the guy was throwing 100 MPH and had struck out 2 hitters before Conforto’s double. This is where I think the inning got away from Roberts. Graterol had thrown 9 pitches, 7 for strikes. With that low a pitch count, I do not care if a lefty is coming up, I give Bazooka the ball. Dave plays the percentages, bringing in a rookie who has been in the bigs less than a week. And the inning goes south. I agree fans have the right to criticize. And I do it often. No one is perfect and every manager who ever strode onto a major league field is guilty of some gaff that cost his team a game.
Fans often criticize managers and coaches. Why should anyone be surprised at that? Joe Torre won five titles in NY, and was still not admired as a manager by many Yankees fans, and was essentially fired, offered an embarrassingly low contract for a year, so left as intended. Joe Girardi won a world title, and was fired a few years later. Francona won two, and was let go. There are more such examples in other sports. Criticizing Dave Roberts as a manager, is not unusual, or unwarranted., despite the fact that his teams have won a lot of games.
My opinion is that Roberts probably handles the players well. But he is not a good game manager. Of course, as a Dodgers fan, we see him more. But I’ve seen managers who seem to have a better control of game strategy, seem very aware of whom to use when, and just seem in command. Cash is like that. Kapler seems to be another. LaRussa. Bochy was.. Roberts seems stubborn, will not change a pattern, and for a bright man, does not see ahead like the best managers do. It is not a case of whether the team loses or wins the game, it is that I think he is an ordinary game manager at best. But he has a very lucrative contract, and might stay two more decades, and that would not change the fact. Who is right on this? It is an endless topic of conversation on blogs in various sports. But do not think that the fans are always wrong about such things, and that the owners or coaches are right.
As to last night’s game, anyone please rationalize the fact that Roberts sent Beatty up to hit for Urias, and then didn’t want him to hit. If he wanted to take Urias out after five innings, why call Beatty back when we made it 4-0? He wanted to save the pinch hitter for later, let Urias bat, and then take him out anyway? Maybe, but I doubt it. He seemingly was intending to pinch hit to try to get the fourth run with two out and a man on second of third, had the throw back to the pitcher not been errant, allowing Taylor to get to third, and then score on the fly ball.
So I think Roberts then wanted Urias to pitch another inning, but he couldn’t, because he didn’t get Beatty back in time. So we had to use t least four relievers, one per inning, and it turned out to be five. Having a pinch hitter come up with two outs and a man on base and a 3-0 lead, is not worth having to burn the extra pitcher. And as we saw, the bullpen gave up four runs in the later innings. Bloop hits? Sure, but there are plenty of those in baseball; if we threw out all the bloop hits, pitchers would have far lower ERAs. Keep using five bullpen pitchers in the last innings of games, and we will pay for it, and also wear them out. So I thought the whole thing was foolish.
There are a whole cadre of people to support managers, the entire Dodgers network is devoted to it, and always has been. So there should be counterpoint to that, unless we want to live in a patriarchal state where we are always told how to think.
Good morning Dodger fans and fellow bloggers. I think what happened yesterday on here was because everyone pilled on after the bad inning instead of waiting until the game was over. In the heat of the moment, anger took over and irrationality ensued. I was watching the game when Urias was pulled. Beaty was in the on deck circle, and when the run scored he greeted the runner and then went to the plate. But everyone in the dugout was yelling at him to come back. Problem is, once he gets in the batters box, he is officially in the game.
Even if he is not announced. So that was a minor gaff. Beaty walked, but they did not score again. Knebel came in and did his job. They led 4-0 and Graterol comes in, strikes out the first two hitters and then pinch hitter Conforto gets a double down the RF line. Now, with a 4 run lead, this is the place where I felt Dave overmanaged.
He pulled Bazooka in favor of Bruihl, who has been effective since being called up. Vesia was not available, so he uses Bruihl. Smith who hits lefty was the next hitter. Dave played the percentages. He hits a ball to no mans land in center and Conforto scores. The next hitter walks. Since there is the 3 man rule, Bruihl has to face the Mets biggest power threat, Alonzo. No brainer, you do not let that guy beat you, so they walk him.
Instead of replacing Bruihl after 3 hitters, and because Treinen was not ready yet, he lets Bruihl face another lefty who hits another dink shot to CF that is just short of Bellinger and 2 runs score. There is no defense for those kinds of hits. Now Treinen comes in. And with Alonzo on third, Smith lets one get by him and the game is tied. Of course by this time fans are livid. It’s all Roberts fault, what an idiot for replacing Bazooka and putting that putz in. But he was doing what every manager in the majors does now.
I have seen them do it against the Dodgers all year. The Phillies did the same thing when Bellinger was coming up. Against Bellinger it worked. Here, against the Mets lefty’s it did not. But it wasn’t like they were killing the ball. Conforto’s double was the hardest hit ball of the inning. So we get to the 9th. 1-2-3 and out, but someone in the left field bleachers was shinning a laser pointer in Muncy’s eyes. You could see the green on his chest and in his face. Jansen closes out the 9th and oh no, we go into extra’s. Our Achilles heel.
But Smith cranks a clutch 2 run HR and Jansen heads back out for the 10th. He allows the 1 run on a sac fly and then gets the last hitter. Nido on a lazy fly ball. Game over, one run win and extra inning win in the bank. You never win second guessing the manager before the final outcome. I read a lot of the crap that was on twitter last night before and after the bad inning. People just get irrational in their hate. Do I think Doc is a great genius? No, but he is doing EXACTLY what he was hired to do.
It is just that his job is more high profile and open to criticism publicly than any fans is. I have seen almost every part of the Dodger organization from the trainers to the players, to AF, to Dave to Kasten and yes, to ownership criticized by the fans on this and many other Dodger blogs. Some of them before the game is even over. I have been guilty of this also, so I am not throwing stones. But this season, I have tried to temper that by waiting until the game is officially in the books before opening my big mouth.
Roberts cannot control what the Giants are doing. It is not his fault his team has suffered so many injuries and has so many stars on the shelf. The Giants have had injuries too. The difference is, their replacement players have done a pretty decent job replacing the guys who went down. Estrada, the SS, did a bang up job filling in for Crawford, and Wade Jr., more than filled in until Belt was back. Other than Pujols, the Dodger bench players have not been all that productive since the first few weeks when McKinstry was doing well before he was hurt.
Look at the guys Roberts has been forced for long stretches to be without, Kershaw, May, Betts, Seager, Turner, Rios, Knebel, Gonsolin, Nelson, Lux and McKinstry. That is a huge pool of talent. And the Bauer mess has not made it any better. They won’t have Duffy until mid September, Kersh maybe around the 7th or so. Forget Bauer, he is not coming back. They are what they have to play with.
Hopefully as he gets more settled in, Trea will add a lot more to the equation. He has already had some moments, Unfortunately, we still have what I consider a weak bench. And a short one. Getting Lux back should help. But he did not have a good game at the plate last night in OKC. McKinstry is with the team, which is why he has not been playing the last few days in OKC.
Here is Twitter link to Bauer response.
https://twitter.com/baueroutage/status/1426566920648544256?s=21
Move on to baseball!
Trevor Bauer and his attorney posted a response to the Wash Post article on Twitter.
Bauer provides context to the relationship but I am not sure we will ever know the true story.
Not sure if Friedman should have known about this restraining order last year but I never liked making Bauer the highest paid player in baseball even without the off field problems.
Time to seek to cancel the contract and move on from Bauer.
In the last week or so I posted firm evidence that many great Managers with great teams had a winning % with those great teams less than the winning % of Dave Roberts. Suffice it to say, this empirical data more than disproves all the ridiculous constant negative comments about Doc’s performance. Yes, he makes mistakes (as all in positions of responsibility do) but please judge him on his overall body of work. Two criticisms over the last few days really say it all. First, he was criticized for not batting Justin Turner in the 9th 2 days ago. All batting him might have done was eliminate JT for the rest of the year. Secondly, he was criticized for taking Graterol out last night. Forget the fact that Graterol had pitched in 3 of the previous 4 games. Forget the fact that Graterol has been in and out of injuries this year. Forget the fact that Doc had the benefit of talking to Graterol. I am constantly astounded by people’s need to Monday morning QB. It is always easier to make a decision after the fact. If Bruihl had gotten the 3rd out on the 1st batter he faced, I guess Doc would have been a genius. WOW
Perhaps the greatest sign of a weak and nonexistent point attempting to be made…………racism. LOL
Also, quickly becoming one of the most useless words that use to actually mean something.
Mark, Roberts IS a beneficiary of a loaded team over his tenure. That does not mean that he is not still a decent to good manager. That same can be said for any manager that has routinely among the highest number of players into the All Star game and many more that don’t get in.
Are you saying the Roberts would have this winning percentage that you wax and shine almost daily if he managed the Mariners, Rockies, Mets, or any other team that has had a mediocre amount of success over the last 6-8 years? Of course not is the logical assumption, although we will never know for sure. Perhaps Robert’s brilliance would have made those, and most any by your logic, into perennial playoff contenders.
Would you also concede that there more than a few managers that could have guided these LA teams over the past few years into the playoffs against a rather weak NL West, or was Roberts the only one that was capable?
Please clarify.
Would Phil Jackson have all those rings if he coached the Nets, Kings, or another team all those years? Or was he just maybe a tad fortunate to have some of the best players in the history of the sport on his teams?
I don’t know what would have happened if Kapler, or anyone else, would have gotten the job all those moons ago. I do know what HAS happened though. Yes, they won last year but with this team, they really should have more. Is there really anyone that disagrees with that? Do you Mark? Are you making the case that this LA team over the last 6-7 years should be happy and content with their one title?
Yes, cheating in 2017 and the Sox were just a much better team in 2018 (only one game though) but were all the other teams over the years that they lost to? Nope, they can’t win every year and the better team does not always win. I think that everyone knows and understands that.
Players have to play and perform but as everyone here says over and over, leaders have to put them in the right spots. I still feel one his his biggest blunders of all time was leaving Kershaw in against the Nats after the first HR. How anyone can defend that I have no idea but maybe its racism? That’s about as stupid an argument as any so lets go with it.
I also know that outside of Posey (and even that could be debated) there isn’t ONE player on the Giants field that would start for LA. They have had, and still do, their fair share of injuries as LA has also. However, they win games they should and many that they shouldn’t. Why is that? Luck is surely a factor a couple of times but for months and months? C’mon….we’re all past the 4th grade. Could it be that solid leadership and management can squeeze more out of the same person via a variety of interactions, methods and motivation? Isn’t that true in sports, business, and really anywhere? Is that not also true of what is seen out of Oracle Park throughout the year?
Other than Taylor, and maybe Pollock(not sure he counts since he about career norm), who is the guy we are squeezing the most out of? Who is it that is just playing above the rim right now, or even throughout the year? My two stupid brain cells aren’t coming up with anyone.
Maybe there is something else? Like maybe leadership, smarter thinking, putting the BEST players in the BEST position to be successful, trying something new, etc? I would love for you to explain it to us racists and morons please with reasoning other than “lucky”, “over their heads”, or other meaningless terms. I’ll grab my white hood, my crayons and my helmet and try to keep up with your enlightenment.
FYI;
Trevor Bauer, the star Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher under investigation for alleged sexual assault in California, was the subject of a temporary order of protection sought by a different woman last year, according to sealed court records reviewed by The Washington Post.
An Ohio woman sought the order in June 2020 after repeated threats from the then-Cincinnati Reds pitcher, according to her lawyer and records separately obtained by The Post. Photographs independently obtained by The Post also show bruises on the woman’s face and blood in her eyes, which her attorney said was caused by Bauer punching and choking her during sex without consent
1 – Not to get political, but tech titans Twitter and Facebook are excoriated for shutting down anyone whose statements/opinions are inconsistent with management’s. But it’s OK if LADT does it apparently. That’s what happened last night.
2 – And now if you don’t approve of Dave Roberts you might be a racist because he’s black and Asian? This place is getting pretty woke.
3 – My view of Roberts hasn’t really changed. He was hired in large part to communicate the front office’s instructions about what to do or how to do it and to get buy in from the team, and to keep morale high, because the statheads in the front office have a non-traditional view of baseball that many players don’t necessarily like. Roberts has been very good at the job of Dodger Manager the way that it’s currently designed.
4 – Roberts is not a great X’s and O’s manager. But the Dodgers have what is probably the best analytics department in baseball so mostly he doesn’t have to be.
May have to pick up that book, Mark.
I usually get my wisdom from Jack Reacher books.
I guess we can cross the Giants off the list of teams that may pursue Cory Seager.
Roberts is always the idiot when players don’t perform but never the genius when they do. And where is the ire towards AF for not providing Roberts with enough quality depth at the end of the bench and the bullpen? And if it wasn’t for Roberts the dang Giants wouldn’t be so good this year! Have I left anything out?
Red Sox Designate Marwin Gonzalez For Assignment, Activate Kyle Schwarber
I asked my cousin, who’s an orthopedic surgeon here in LA.
He said Mookie should be back this year and be able to play, but later on down the line (not sure how far down the line that is), he may need a hip replacement .
Geez, Mark. You really play fair. You spout all this garbage year round about Covid & Biden & boycotts & Trevor Bauer and then as soon as someone posts their own crackpot ideas you call them “Racist” [sic].
I think he was going to use Beaty just in case McKinney hadn’t drive the run, but a run scored and 2 outs, why waste a batter? That’s why I thought about letting Urias hit and in the next inning still use the bullpen, and how stupid are some ESPN commentators who were already criticizing Roberts for taking Julio out of the game so early, these idiots do not understand and do not know the situation, Julio will only throw a maximum of 5 innings for the remainder of the season to take care of his arm, and thus be able to avoid as much as possible that in the playoffs he has what is called “dead arm”
Please, comparing Roberts with Lasorda is absurd and unfair, they were very different times, very different offices, very different teams, the game was simpler, you cannot compare them!
Tough words, Mark…..but certainly worthy to be considered and reflected upon.
I don’t usually comment during the game, and I certainly avoid being impulsive when upset, so I save my comments for after the game. So, my thoughts about Doc’s decisions from last night are this:
1. I don’t blame him for going with the southpaw Bruihl to face several lefties coming up. Bruihl has been awesome since coming up and his pitch location seems to be anti-home run, so I was okay going with him. It was too bad two guys got two bloop singles just in front of Cody. S**t happens!
2. I would have been okay if he stuck with Grat for 1-2 more hitters as well.
3. I was not surprised when Jansen came out to pitch the 10th because his pitch count was so low after the 9th inning. He only threw 19 pitches total for both innings. I like when Jansen doesn’t fool around and goes after them.
Conclusion: I give Doc a B+ for his bullpen decisions last night (would have been an A if he at least allowed Grat to pitch to one more batter to see if he could close the inning.)
Mark, I feel the need to add this one thought so there is no misunderstanding of your intention from your rebuke….are you saying that “anyone” who displays an incessant hate for Doc does it out of a spirit of racism?
I’m sure some may fit into that hole, but it is my feeling the majority of those who display hate toward Doc is merely because that person believes Doc is incompetent in making critical decisions, and is not connected to his skin color or nationality. Having said this, I am not speaking about or judging anyone here. I draw my conclusions from basically all my communication with Dodgers fans from all media sources! Like Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I’ve only been here a few weeks and the only person I feel I really know is Pooh Bear. Obviously he doesn’t fit that unhealthy mold.
I know EVERYONE loved Lasorda, evn though he had his faults. Buyt since then has there been any time that the general opinion of the manager has been positive? No matter who it is. So there is something to be said about being the manager of good vs bad teams. Joe Torre the best ever when he mangaed the Yanks, But not so good before that. Don Mattingly etc
From what I’ve read regarding the surgery involved, much depends on the spur itself and how much damage has been done. What leaped into my mind, right past the “stupid” tattoo I got talked into getting, (I’m sober now) was “why was this not found and treated a month ago”
We still need more information of course, you can never have enough data, right?, but I read yesterday “no surgery”. Then what is the scripted remedy? If the surgery is simple he could be back for the playoffs. Why aren’t they cleaning the area up? Is it because it wouldn’t be a simple procedure? Because surgery takes him out for the year?
Bullpen got roughed up. And, why did Roberts look surprised when Matt Beaty stepped into the box? Somebody screwed up.
Good read this morning. Much to think about. Thanks Mark.
There is an excellent article by Ed Yong in the Atlantic titled “How the Pandemic Ends”. No matter how you feel about vaccines, I recommend the read.
I blame Roberts for the win last night! All the experts (LADT) know that you can’t pitch Jansen in back to back games and especially not for 2 innings. What an idiot!