I was saddened to read of the passing of our friend and colleague, Roberto Baly, creator of a very popular blog in the early days of Dodger blogs by the name of “Vin Scully Is My Homeboy (VSIMHB).” He has been ill for quite some time and was unable to keep the site going because of that. There was a time that Roberto’s website may have been the most popular “go-to” site for Dodger news and information. He played a pivotal role in growing the reputation of blogosphere writers and providing news for Dodger fans when it came to events, Dodger Autograph sightings, and more.
It was Roberto who sent me an email to let me know of a Dave Kingman signing event near my residence out in Stockton, California, which allowed me the opportunity to approach the man and get his insight on the Tommy Lasorda blow-up regarding his three-homer game against the Dodgers in 1977. It was Roberto who publicized one of my articles once that essentially put my old blog on the map and gave it some recognition.
I met Roberto Baly in person about a year after corresponding with him. My former blog had a readership that was rather pedestrian. At first, it was essentially my mom, my brother, and a few friends that would read it. That may be an exaggeration, but not too much of one. On a good day, I’d have maybe 150-200 readers. Roberto’s VSIMHB was huge at the time. He noticed one of my pieces and gave it a mention on his page by linking it up. Suddenly I had 3,000 hits in a two-hour period. I emailed him and thanked him. My readership grew exponentially.
We corresponded back and forth. Within a few days, we were fast friends. It turned out we attended the same elementary school and had the same sixth-grade teacher who had made an impact on us both. Though we had an age difference of over twenty years, there was this link, and we shared that passion for Dodger baseball.
At the first blogger’s night organized by Josh Rawitch, Roberto and I spent most of the evening together yucking it up and cracking some good jokes. He coveted a Koufax bobblehead that was on display that was to be a future promotional item. I told him I’d block Rawitch’s view, and he could make a getaway with it and hold it for ransom, and we could split the profits. He thought about it for a second and said his getaway vehicle was too far away. I specifically remember discussing how we needed to keep photos of the Son’s of Steve Garvey guys with their faces blurred to maintain their anonymity.
In 2011, when I was in Southern California at an Andre Ethier signing event with my grandkids, Roberto was there. He told me he was expecting a son to be born any day, and he was super excited about it. He was very kind to my grandkids. I watched kids in line for Ethier’s autograph, just as excited to meet Roberto and pose for pictures with him. He told me that there were people actually asking him for his autograph and that he wasn’t that comfortable with it. But that was the draw of VSIMHB. It was huge at the time. He had a niche and a fanbase, and it caught on.
When there was a Dodger Blogger softball tournament shortly after that event, my blog’s team drew VSIMHB in the first round. (They beat us pretty soundly; probably, his readership drew from a lot of good players that joined his team). Roberto batted himself last; my wife, our catcher, and a really lousy one at that talked a lot of smack to him when he came to the plate. “Who is this little kid playing with all these massive guys,” she said. “Are you the ringer?” When I told her that was Roberto, she was a little embarrassed. They had a good laugh afterward; he gave it back to her when she wiffed in her at-bat.
Over the years, I’m sorry to say that I lost contact with Roberto. I knew he was ill, and I gave him his privacy. He fought a valiant fight. He suffered from Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD). For the past five years, he has been unable to attend Dodger games or events, and his lungs were attacked by the disease. He loved his son Andrew, and they had a special bond. He hardly ever wrote a piece for his site. He mainly just cited good Dodger websites and autograph signing and promotional events for fans. He did write an occasional piece thought that was pretty solid. A random Barry Bonds sighting at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles comes to mind. It was a pretty funny piece and gave some insight into his talents as a writer as well.
His death approximately one month after the passing of Vin Scully is poignant. They had met, and Vin was a good sport about the website. He could have made a legal issue about it due to the use of his name, but he didn’t. Roberto was concerned about that and did all he could to maintain decorum and respect for Vin on his site at all times.
My deepest condolences to Roberto and his family and especially to his 11-year-old son Andrew. This is a sad day.
There is a Go Fund Me Page set up by Roberto’s younger brother Jack. They are attempting to raise $30,000 to defray funeral expenses. If you are inclined to donate, the link is HERE.
Discussion (24)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I certainly ripped the Heaney signing–and his HR history is still an issue. I didn’t know much about Anderson and thought, “whatever…” He was envisioned as a long man/spot starter, but became an all-star. And yeah, going toe-to-toe against DeGrom for 7 innings… amazing.
Let us pause a moment to praise Mookie, who often seems to come through when others aren’t. He reached a new career high in HRs with about a month to go. (I think his HR pace during the covid-afflicted 2020 season was similar.)
And props to Justin , who but for Nimmo’s absolutely great play nearly stuck it to the team that stupidly let him go. Mets fans everywhere look at Justin with great regret. On that note, it was pretty cool–and surprising to me–that Jake Reed got another moment before the anticipated DFA.
One observation/complaint: Trayce has much, much better stats this season against righthanded pitching than either Belli or Gallo. (I also think he’s a better defender than Gallo.)
My impression is that Roberts still wants to give these guys with bigger reputation and potential that “runway” to prove themselves and get back on track. But I’d have sat one (probably Gallo) and gone with Trayce.
Checking some stats now…
With the Dodgers, Trayce has an overall OPS of .962 in 133 ABs–not really a tiny sample size. Gallo’s vaunted revival with LA has him at a .771 OPS, and Belli is at .653 (with an awful .261 OBP).
Against righthanded pitching, Trayce’s OPS is at 1.210 in 75 ABs. That is nearly 300 points better than Freddie, the next best Dodger.
So he’s very, very hot. Sort of like a smoldering volcano that is now erupting.
It would be interesting to hear the conversations that Roberts must be having with Trayce. What does the OF depth chart look like now heading toward the playoffs?
I’d rank them as Betts No. 1 and Trayce No.2.
Then there’s really pretty big drop to former all-stars Belli, Gallo and Taylor.
Dodgers narrowly lost this game against probably the best pitcher in the game–and Roberts didn’t field his best lineup.
I think the next time the Dodgers face deGrom they’ll have studied tonight’s game and have a better plan and and come out ahead. That is if Anderson is the matchup, he held his own pretty damn good.
I know I’m going to take some heat for this, but I would trade 25 to 30 points off Freddy’s average, for 12 to 15 more home runs.
When you get in the playoffs against the better pitching, it’s hard to string hits together.
Don’t get me wrong I love Freddy, I just wish he was more of a home run threat like in his past
It seems like we’ve gone back down the rabbit hole with the black hole gang again
This. A pitcher like DeGrom we have to try to compete the at bat. Gallo and Bellinger reminded me “Baseball Bugs”
123, youuuuurrrrrr OUT!!
That’s how it’s gonna be with the Mets in the playoffs in Degrom and Scherzer‘s starts then Ottavino and then Diaz. That’s going to be tough.
One great catch away from a tie game. That was playoff baseball tonight. I like that we stole some bases and tried to manufacture some runs. And we saw that Bellinger and Gallo will be useless against playoff pitching.
7:10 PM ET
Dodgers (90-38)
Mets (82-48)
SP Tyler Anderson L
13-2 2.69 ERA 140.2IP 30BB 111K
SP Jacob deGrom R
3-1 2.15 ERA 29.1IP 2 BB 46K
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
SS Trea Turner R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
DH Max Muncy L
3B J. Turner R
2B Gavin Lux L
LF Joey Gallo L
CF C. Bellinger L
Clear-day
0% Rain
81° Wind 9 mph Out
Wednesday Dodger Minor League Schedule
4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Carlos Duran) vs. Lake County (Rodney Boone)
4:35 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Gavin Stone) at Round Rock (TBD)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Nick Frasso) vs. Northwest Arkansas (Anthony Veneziano)
7:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (TBD) at Inland Empire (Kelvin Caceres)
Glad to see Vargas called up. I had thought Rios would be the one brought up on Sept 1st. Looks like Rios has dropped on the depth chart. Would be surprised to see him trade during the off season.
Via Sarah Langs:
Best run differential thru 1st 128 games of season, since 1900:
1939 Yankees: +377
1927 Yankees: +320
1944 Cardinals: +303
1936 Yankees: +292
1902 Pirates: +291
2022 Dodgers: +287
The 2023 Spring Training Schedule at Camelback Ranch just pop up in my inbox:
The 2023 schedule kicks off on Saturday, February 25, when the White Sox open the spring home slate against the San Diego Padres. There are 30 games in total with each club hosting 15 home games. Schedule highlights include:
The Dodgers open their home schedule on Sunday, February 26 against the Cubs, then welcome the Reds on February 28 and D-backs on March 2. We also host popular opponents in March, such as the Padres (March 6), Angels (March 10), and Giants (March 21).
The White Sox welcome the crosstown rival Cubs on Friday, March 17, then host the Dodgers on Saturday, March 18, to form a can’t-miss weekend lineup. They also host World Baseball Classic action on Thursday, March 9.
The Dodgers and White Sox square off two times: Sunday, March 5 and Saturday, March 18.
It looks like the last game in Az at Camelback is March 25 against KC.
ST seems to end earlier and earlier.
I hope Vargas gets a few starts at 3B so we’ll all get a better idea what he can do.
Maybe more than a few.
Remember how Seager came up and basically took over for Jimmy Rollins?
Not that I expect anything like that. But late call-ups like Seager and Arozarena can make an impact.
I’m not gonna go to his because I know he’s not gonna come to mine. Man, I guess I’ll be the last man on this planet. Only the good die young.
* How bad is Ted Barrett behind the dish? He didn’t just have a bad night either. He’s had a bad career. He refuses to call low strikes. High pitches are a crap shoot and he expands the plate east and west. And then he doesn’t, He had a game earlier this season with 71% accuracy. You can’t adjust to his zone because you don’t know where it is, one pitch to the next. He’s a poster-boy for ABS.
* Rick Monday has about reached my shelf life. I’m going to be forced to listen to the Mets broadcast with Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez. Rick was rattling on after the walk to Muncy in the 3rd, about who between Walker and Gallo would adjust to the wildness. Rick, I think Walker pitched around Muncy with a base open and 2 outs. That idea never came up. Then it backfired as Walker hit Gallo.
He later talked about how a catcher’s adjusting the target, even late, can tip off location. To whom? From experience that might tip off everybody in the stadium, except the hitter. Unless the catcher’s shadow is visible to the batter, he better not be peaking back there. Rick has a lot of Tim McCarver in the kind of bullshit he throws at the less knowledgable fan.
* I see Buck and the Mets are using that currently popular cut-off play on throws home. The one where the pitcher is the cut guy in front of the catcher. Walker’s always been a lazy, underachiever. Now he looking more and more like like Bartolo Colon (who I loved) Walker’s too fat and lazy to back up home.
*Heaney throws too many gopher balls, again. As I mentioned before, that makes him a poor candidate for high leverage, short relief in the playoffs.
* Max is back in dead pull mode again.
* I think we develop pitchers better than hitters. I think today’s technology benefits pitchers over hitters. All the high tech stuff helps pitchers shape pitches and spin rates, maximizing their stuff. And advance scouting finds holes in a swing based on a pitcher’s strengths. It’s never been harder to hit. We have home grown successes at the plate with Lux and Smith. We’ve saved the careers of CT3 and JT. Thompson’s improvements vs RHP might be attributed to the hitting staff. But our 3 best hitters came from other organizations. Vargas and Cartaya might add to our home grown success.
* The Dodgers have a great staff and technology to improve pitchers. The examples are everywhere in our system. And AF has a knack to find projects on the cheap.
90 wins. Pretty impressive stuff.
Deep dive on Phillip’s streak (29 straight).
https://apple.news/AO2QD18lwQaO6KH8vGbw6WA
I hope they give Vargas a shot in LF and see if he can handle MLB pitching. Alberto, Gallo and Belli seemed doomed to fail with October pitching.
RIP Roberto…….
I too used to enjoy reading VSIMHB and your old blog Evan and thank you for sharing your stories about Roberto.
90 Wins with 34 games remaining. 110 wins is almost a guarantee. I’m a little worried about too much time off at the end of the season with a buy that gives the team another 5 days off between the last game of the season and first game of the postseason.
If we play 500 the rest of the way, we finish with 107. If we merely win each series, we win 111 games.
If we keep pace with our overall winning percentage, we finish with 114.
We’re probably not going to break the all-time record, but a solid finish to the regular season and a ring will put this team in the conversation as one of the best ever.
I still don’t understand why the Dodgers picked up Jake Reed for the second time but it sure was nice seeing his emotion. I was very happy for him.
Alonso running thru bats lately. Drama. Ho-hum.
Heaney is always watchable. Living on the edge with that high heat.
Nice, tidy win.
Rest In Peace Roberto. Thanks for the great stories Evan. I was a regular reader of VSIMHB and enjoyed it very much.
Evan, thank you for sharing about your friend. He seemed to be a kind and good person. My heart and prayers go out to his family especially to his son Andrew. I lost my father at a similar age and it’s was a huge blow.
I want to second B&P and offer my condolences as well.
A very nice win yesterday , especially the way it was constructed . Two unheralded relief pitchers with ERAs over 6 and 9 respectively with key outs and the save in the end.
And Gavin with 3 huge RBis and key defensive plays came threw again in a big way.
However the struggles of MM, Gallo, Belli continued. Dodgers IMHO have to many weak bats in their lineup to withold against playoff caliber pitching. We will get another dose of that kind of pitching tonight.
Outman with another cycle in 4 games!Wow!Kid is on FIRE!
OTOH Treinen got scored upon again. He does not look the same as before. At least so far.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I too remember Roberto’s blog at VSIMHB and visited the site often for Dodger news.
Sad story indeed. RIP Roberto.
A very sad and touching story. Thanks for sharing Evan. I offer condolences for your loss.