It Is Time For Me To Say Goodbye

When I took over the administration of LA DodgerTalk , I said that I would continue as long as I enjoyed what I was doing.  The time has come for me to announce that it is no longer fun for me. 

I was offered an opportunity to consult on back office procedures for a non-profit company involved with School Choice, and I have decided to accept the challenge. 

I have advised Mark that I will stay through the end of the Dodgers season.  I know there are a few out there that will gleefully say don’t let the door hit you in the a** on your way out.  I have tried to keep the site baseball only, and I know that has irritated some.  Now that Mark has had his sabbatical, he can run the site any way he wants.   

What I will not miss is some of the comments like those following the Dodger WINS against the Brewers.  I very rarely comment or read comments during a game.  When I got up Thursday to read the comments, some of them were as if the Dodgers had actually lost.  I know KJ is not the KJ of pre-2017 WS, but he still has comparable numbers to the beloved Josh Hader.  In KJ’s one inning, he induced a couple of weak outs from Eric Sogard and Keston Hiura.  And while he may have walked Jace Peterson, he did strike out Christian Yelich on 5 pitches.  That is something that Julio Urias was unable to do, as Yelich went 2-2 against him.  I didn’t realize that the pitcher had to throw harder than a fan’s threshold to get outs. 

Okay, so some of you do not like KJ.  How about NYY’s Aroldis Chapman who gave up the hit to score the potential winning run against Cleveland.  Second time he was saved from being beat by Cleveland in a playoff situation.  Aroldis’ outing was outdone by Cleveland’s Brad Hand who had a MLB best 16 saves in 16 save opportunities in 2020.  Not one blown save in 2020.  And yet he gave up the two winning runs in the 9^th to get the loss.  Liam Hendriks, who was probably the best relief pitcher not named Devin Williams, gave up two runs on 4 hits and 1 walk, 1 HR, in 1.2 IP against the ChiSox.  Trevor Rosenthal gave up a run to the Cardinals.  Twins relievers allowed 6 runs in their two games against Houston.  Four outstanding closers, and not one of them pitched well in the playoffs, and yet, KJ gets grief for not giving up a run.  Tough crowd. 

I keep reading that what the Dodgers need are two dominant relievers.  Yet I have yet to read who those relievers are other than Josh Hader.  Eric continues to look for Mariano Rivera, and yet one does not exist.  Hader still has three years of control.  Just exactly what will the asking price be for someone like Hader?  Without the deep starting pitching, the Brewers need all the relief pitching they can get, so the price just got heavier.  Two of the unsung relief heroes in the first round were Tyler Matzek (Braves) and Lucas Sims (Reds).  Who are they?  They just became relevant this year.  What they do next year, we do not yet know.  Liam Hendriks?  He was nothing but a middling reliever that took advantage of a very down year from Blake Treinen.  Nobody saw that coming.  The league is full of relievers that had outstanding seasons. 

The Dodgers may already have that dominant reliever on their roster.  Tony Gonsolin could absolutely dominate as a late inning high leverage reliever, but the Dodgers will keep him as a starter.  Quite often great relievers are born because they did not fare well as starting pitchers. Dennis Eckersly? Rollie Fingers? Mariano Rivera? Andrew Miller? Maybe LAD already has one in Brusdar Graterol.  Once he learns to command his fastball and slider to spots (and he will), he will become very hard to hit.  The Dodgers may have two or three potential late inning relievers in their farm.  This is an area they have been concentrating on in the last three drafts. Why go out and spend $$$ or player capital for a position that is by far the least predicable of any on a baseball roster. Grow a Josh Hader…don’t buy him.

Reds got shutout two games and 22 innings. Cubs score 1 run in two games against the mighty Marlins.  Big Bopper Twins score 2 runs in 2 games against the Cheaters without Verlander and  with Greinke for only 4.0 innings.  Or the likely AL MVP, Jose Abreu leaving 5 runners on base, including the bases loaded in the second inning of the deciding Game 3, when the ChiSox could have broken the game open.  Or Paul Goldschmidt striking out against that monster reliever…Austin Adams, in a critical spot in last night’s game. As David Ross said during his Friday game, “Hitting is hard”.  But according to some on this site it must be easy because many cannot understand why the Dodger hitters could not hit Brewers pitching. 

I won’t even get into the Kershaw October discussions.  With his next playoff loss, it will all open up again.

Then there were those who have ripped Austin Barnes a new one.  I was a lonely voice standing up for Barnes, and he comes through in a critical situation.  How many out there have said that Barnes cannot hit AAA pitching and that a personal catcher is not that important.  And yet on two different games, there was a lot discussion as to how important the catcher’s rapport is with the pitcher.  It was brought up in the Reds/Braves game when Luis Castillo kept shaking off Tucker Barnhart’s sign for a slider, as he wanted to throw a change.  Barnhart would not let Castillo choose his pitch and he threw the slider, and according to ARod it was without conviction.  The supposition was that Curt Casali is Castillo’s regular catcher, but he was banged up.  If Casali was behind the plate, knowing Castillo better than Barnhart, there would have been a different pitch.  We will never know, but it certainly seems plausible.  Then the discussion in the Dodgers game about how Barnes has taken over for AJ Ellis as Kershaw’s personal catcher and what a special relationship they have developed.  The discussion then went to Maddux/Eddie Perez, and Steve Carlton/Tim McCarver.  So while it may not be important for many bloggers, it certainly seems that it is a significant consideration to major leaguers.  Nobody suggested that Barnes should catch anyone other than Kershaw.  Even though in the game Barnes caught and Smith was the DH, it was Barnes who called and received the Kershaw masterpiece and got two hits, including the key hit in the 5^th.  These are ML players and they know how to play the game despite what many here may think.

Yes, the Dodgers beat an undermanned Brewers team.  Sometimes undermanned teams jump up and bite you.  Just ask the 1988 Mets and A’s.  Can’t we all just be happy that the Dodgers won?  Save the vitriol for when they lose.  It is hard to meet expectations, when perfection is the standard that performance is measured against. Me, I am going to support KJ, Max Muncy, Austin Barnes, AJ Pollock, Joc Pederson, all of the relievers…  If they lose, I am sure there will be plenty of blame to go around.  I can’t wait to read again what a moron Doc Roberts is.  But until then, all that matters to me is that the Dodgers score more runs than the opponent in 11 more playoff games.  I won’t care if the scores are 12-10 and KJ gives up 5 runs, or if the score is 1-0 and AJ Pollock and Max Muncy (or my favorite…Corey Seager) strike out 4 times each. As long as the Dodgers win is all I care about.

Okay that will be my very last bandstand.  Now onto the NLDS against San Diego.  SD was the team most expected the Dodgers to face in the 2nd round, so their thumping of the Cardinals was not a surprise.  As of this post, both Dinelson Lamet and Mike Clevinger are both listed as “possible” for the NLDS.  We probably will not know until the rosters for the NLDS are released.  Both the Dodgers and Padres rely quite a bit on the big fly.  Globe Life Park in Arlington is not conducive for HRs, so it will be the team that can best generate runs that will probably come out on top.  The Dodgers and Padres played three series. LAD won two and split one. Neither team fears the other, and there is no love loss between the two. I am expecting a lot of fans to predict the Padres are hungrier and want it more, are younger, are more exciting, and will beat the Dodgers. I am going with the better team…Los Angeles Dodgers. I will put together a more comprehensive analysis for Tuesday.

A very interesting outcome of the Wild Card series is that of the seven Central Division teams (4 NL and 3 AL), all lost.  The final eight teams are two NL West, two NL East, two AL West, and two AL East. Two divisional winners were beat (Cubs and Twins), two second place finishers were beat (Indians and Cardinals), and all four Wild Card teams were beat.

NLDS – Tuesday October 6 through Saturday October 10

Dodgers (#1) vs. Padres (#4) at Globe Life Park (Arlington)

Braves (#2) vs. Marlins (#6) at Minute Maid Park (Houston)

ALDS – Monday October 5 through Friday October 9

Rays (#1) vs. NYY (#5) – Petco Park (San Diego)

A’s (#2) vs. Cheaters (#6) –  Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles)

NLCS – Monday October 12 through Sunday October 18 – Globe Life Park (Arlington)

ALCS – Sunday October 11 through Saturday October 17 – Petco Park (San Diego)

WS – Tuesday October 20 through Wednesday October 28 – Globe Life Park (Arlington)

I have often said that writing is cathartic for me. During these times, I need as much help as I can get. Some have said that I will miss it. As I have told them, I will continue to write, but I do not need to publish right now. I am looking forward to traveling to MiLB parks next summer and writing about those experiences. As I told Mark, I never say never. He has asked that after the season I continue to write on occasion. I have not said no.