Instant Karma

Give me your vote for game 1 of the NLCS:

Max after his game 5 heroics without normal rest or a combo of TG/ DP to shoulder the bulk innings?

My vote goes to TG/DP , I think we do better with our big three for games 2-4 all rested up. However if we chose to go with Max we would make sure all 3 guys would get two games if the series goes 7.

Tough decision.

Go dodgers!

I cannot feel sorry for the Giants and their fans, though they certainly now have a great organization which we will have to contend with. The Giants beat us in 1951, because they stole signs from centerfield. They beat us in 1962 because Alvin Dark had the groundskeeper turn the field into a lake so that Wills could not steal bases, and they swept us in a three-game series late in the year. They beat us in 1971. Joe Morgan hit a homerun another year to cost us a potential pennant which the Giants’ couldn’t win, but their fans were understandably thrilled to knock us out, as we were in another year when we knocked them out the same way. So this time we beat the Giants in a playoff series, and they will have to accept that. Now, if we can win the title, we will have two in the last twenty years to go with their three, much closer than when we had none, an d they mocked us.

I was irritated, but not enough to spoil anything, at the national broadcast team going on and on about the checked swing. One said that it will be talked about for years. Two outs, man on first, 1-2 count; if it is a ball, what rare the chances of the Giants winning the game? Not zero, not with that team, but certainly not enough for the broadcasters to act like it was a devastating call. We see many games which end with a questionable strike three calls, it is not uncommon.

I don’t think the squeeze play was a good call. Before the new pitcher came in, I said, he’s going to call a squeeze on the first pitch, don’t do it! But he did. It just seemed too obvious, though that’s not why it failed. I wanted to see Taylor have a a chance to hit a fly ball to score the very fast Lux. Besides, we might have scored two more runs in that inning. I was worried that the failure to get the extra run might well cost us the game The squeeze should only be used when there is a real element of surprise, or a great bunter. Fortunately, we won, anyway.

It was a courageous series played by the Dodgers. No Muncy, no Kershaw. W e won two games in San Francisco. After the first game of the series, we held them to six runs in four games. It was a series which will be long remembered–and not for a questionable check swing decision on the last pitch.

The Dodgers are favored over the Braves, but of course they have home field, just beat the Brewers in four, have been playing very well for a month. And our starters have had to be overworked. And Fried has been phenomenal of late. So it will not be easy, and who would expect it to be?

I was touched to hear that Vin Scully had sent a text to Dave Roberts before the game, saying that this was the most important Dodgers-Giants series ever. When asked if he were nervous going into the game, Roberts said,no, but after he got the text, he was!

Bobby MIller goes today in the Arizona fall league.

Over at the great TrueBlue site, they have a nice overview of the Dodgers prospects in Arizona;

Who do I want in the World Series? Easy, Houston. I would like for the Dodgers to beat the crap out of the cheaters. When the Red Sox beat LA they were clearly the best team in the majors and they proved it. Beating Boston might be sweet revenge for that, but I would rather beat the cheaters. The reason is simple. They have never stood up, not once and admitted what they did was wrong. They have all been holier than thou and feigned innocence while their GM and manager got punished. The only player who lost anything was Carlos Beltran who lost a managerial gig due to the scandal. Their are guys on that team I despise. Correa, Altuve, Bregman, and a few others.

Last nights win was sweet. No better feeling than beating the Giants. And they did it playing small ball. I loved that Bellinger got the game winning hit. I also loved Lux’s at bat and single. But Turner getting hit on the first pitch was key. Doval has some nasty stuff, and his slider is particularly nasty, but he threw it once too often. I was surprised Taylor tried to bunt and then did not pull the bat back because there was no way he was getting that pitch down. I really like Matt Beaty. He usually comes up clutch when it counts the most. But last night, that was the worst at bat I have even seen Beaty have. He took two pitches right down central and swung at the next 3, all of which were balls finally hitting a weak grounder to first. He would have easily walked because none of those pitches was anywhere close to the strike zone. It ended up not mattering. No way I use an opener in game one. I go with Max. He made 13 pitches on a day he would usually throw anyway. He will be ready.

Players aren’t robots. Throughout baseball history postseason performance has been a crapshoot. Some of the game’s legends have fallen on their faces while a Scott Brocius or a Bucky Dent has their moment in the sun. A 5 or 7 game stretch gets magnified out of proportion. I read concern about Trea Turner being 3 for 22 the last 5 games and JT being 2 for 24.

Trea Turner since coming to the Dodgers on August 6 had only 6 games where he failed to get a hit. Only 2 back to back games. He had a 4 game stretch in September where he was 2 for 17 and nobody noticed. Justin Turner went 2 for 29 in Mid May. Did anybody notice?

For the season, TT hit .338 / .950 as a Dodger. JT hit .278 / .832. Nobody is trying to underperform. Shit happens. It’s just how the game goes. Winning teams pick each other up. I’m not worried one bit about Trea Turner or Justin Turner.

We have all discussed how the Giants were a perfect combination of resilient and lucky. The luck turned to the Dodgers last night. The balls Ruff and Posey hit in the first inning were gone pretty much anywhere else in baseball. The narrative about the opener would be much different today if those balls had left the park. 6-0 in elimination games. The Dodgers resiliency showed up as well.

I apologize if this has been reported here, but did you know Wilmer Flores, the dude who struck out to end the game is 0-17 lifetime against Scherzer, with 8 Ks.

Everybody crying about the call….so what? He struck out one pitch early. Sheesh!

TM

Can someone comment on this ? Where was mr Price 16 million man or what is his role on this team. Will he pitch next round. I dont see any confidence by FO or Roberts on him to be anything more than a mopup or inning filler. Will he picth again this year ? I mean i would put him on . Is he hurt. Does he simply has nothing left ? Why dont use him for a few innings. He does have experience

Why do the Braves get home-field advantage? Dodgers have the best record!

Picks:

Boston in 7

Dodgers in 5 [Betts MVP]

Dodgers in 4 [Smith MVP]

Castronivice of ESPN says the Braves will win the NL pennant because the Dodgers will be on an emotional high and not play to a higher level after the emotional series against the Giants. He is nuts and obviously has not watched this team very much. They will approach the Braves series with a lot of intensity. They are on a mission to get back to the series. And win it in a full season for the first time since 88. He also says Joc Pederson is going to reek havoc on the Dodgers as revenge. What a croc.

My only predictions are this, both Turners and Corey Seager have much better series against the Braves. Seager will have another monster NLCS against their pitching,.

Love Kike!

I sure would love to have Joc and Kike instead of Souza and McKinstry.

Go dodgers!

Asterisks pulled it out, 5-4. Altuve and Correa again. Kike set a record for hits in the first 5 games in playoffs. He had a very good night and made some fine defensive plays in CF.

New look Lakers are 0-6 in the preseason. They are scoring just under 104 points a game and giving up 118. Not too impressive so far. 9 of the 16 players on the roster right now are over 30. But so far, the big 3, James, Davis and Westbrook have only been on the court together once. Dodgers playoff roster should be announced by noon.