I am Proud to be a Dodger Fan!

The season did not end the way we wanted, but the better team won. What I mean by that was that they were better right about now. The Dodgers had more talent, but the Braves got hot at the right time, particularly Eddie Rosario who lifted the team to a level way above where they actually were. The Braves are a good team and with Acuna and probably Ozuna back next year, they will be even better. They will be formidable for a while… but so will the Dodgers.

There are three things that are at the forefront as to why the Dodgers lost when they did:

1. The Dodgers starting pitchers were gassed (in the LCS, the Dodgers starters had a 7.71 ERA);
2. It is Freaking Hard to win back-to-back World Series – the last NL team to do that was the Mid-1970’s Big Red Machine; and
3. The Dodgers offense was the worst of any of the four World Series Contenders in the League Championship Series.

Make no mistake – If the Dodgers could have hit and scored runs, they would have won. Their silent bats hurt them immensely. Look no further than the batting averages of these players in the LCS:

• Will Smith .217
• Justin Turner .200
• Mookie Betts .174
• Corey Seager .167

So, now it is “Wait until next year.” Most Dodger fans over the course of this season lamented the state of the bullpen and discussion about the bullpen and its makeup was rampant. The fact of the matter is of the four teams in the LCS, the Dodgers bullpen pitched more innings and had the best ERA (2.70) and WHIP (1.02). Overall, in the postseason, the bullpen ERA was 2.16, while the starters were at 4.44. That was very un-Dodger-esque for starters to pitch like that.

I am going to start scaling back my involvement in LADT now. It is my intention to keep it open and I will have our IT team maintain the site. In the past, some of the writers sent me their blogs and I posted them, but it can take up to an hour to do so because there are photos to upload, formatting, and Spell Checking (I use Grammarly). I would be glad to teach anyone how to use Word Press. It’s simple. I know that Bear and Dodger Chatter still want to post and Jeff has indicated he will do so occasionally.

I will check-in, but I do not want to have the degree of involvement that I have had in the past. I may write a blog once a week or once a month… or whatever, but I am phasing out my everyday involvement. If someone wants to help fill the void, please let me know. I will not monetize the site with ads and pop-ups. I want to keep it the only one that is truly a work of love for the Dodgers. Maybe when (if) I retire, I will be back on a more regular basis, but that might be 10 years.

My thoughts are now on writing my book and I hope to have it completed in a matter of months. I will let you know when it is complete. In the next few days, I will have a blog on the offseason expectations and the State-of-the-Dodgers… as I see it. Bear has sent me a couple of blogs that I will get up in the next few days.

Godspeed!