None of This Means Anything
In 1988, the Dodgers played the Mets eleven times during the regular season and lost ten times! Did that mean anything? No! In the playoffs that year, the Dodgers took four out of seven games from the Mets to win the NL Pennant. The Mets 10-1 record against the Dodgers didn t mean a thing! The Mets won 100 games that year. The Oakland A s won 104 games that same season
In 1988, the Dodgers played the Mets eleven times during the regular season… and lost ten times! Did that mean anything? No! In the playoffs that year, the Dodgers took four out of seven games from the Mets to win the NL Pennant. The Mets 10-1 record against the Dodgers didn’t mean a thing! The Mets won 100 games that year. The Oakland A’s won 104 games that same season and it didn’t mean anything!
The Dodgers had the NL MVP that year and yet they only won 94 games and to top it off they lost their MVP due to leg injuries for the rest of the playoffs… and they won it all. None of the other stuff meant anything. Losing their MVP mean nothing. What means something is how you finish. What means something is the spirit of the team. What means something is the power of the human spirit on that team at the time of the playoffs and World Series.
With one swing, in his only at bat during the World Series, Kirk Gibson broke the spirit of the Oakland A’s – and they were done! As Vin said, “In a season that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.” Jack Buck said “I don’t believe what I just saw!” So, while all of this winning is nice – none of it means anything. The Dodgers are building character, habits and team spirit and that might mean something, but the best team does not always win.
Intangibles are important and hard to define. How the human spirit responds to adversity is something very difficult to see and understand, but is paramount to success. High character players, coach staff and leadership all plays a role. The Dodgers are now 81 and 33 for a ,711 winning percentage and I am telling you, it means nothing! This Dodger team will likely win well over 100 games, but the final chapter is what will define them.
If they don’t win it all, it means nothing! In 2016 the Dodgers took steps toward a Championship by going further than than the year before. Now, a Championship is expected. Anything else will be regarded as a failure. Injury? No excuses! Bad Luck? No excuses! Blown call? No excuses! Just win baby! That’s all that matters right now. All Dodger fans expect a World Series Trophy. Nothing else will mean anything.
The World Series Trophy – That means Everything and it upon that that, Andrew Friedman will be judged.
Update
- After 19 AB’s in the minors, A-Gon has 1 HR and 8 RBI and is hitting .368 with a .992 OPS. Wouldn’t it be something if he could stay healthy and return to his 2013 and 2014 form. I don’t expect it, but it could happen.
- Ramos is still over 1.000 OPS and Segedin is raking at OKC.
- Mitch White went 5 innings last night, struck out 8 and allow 2 hits with ZERO runs. He has 62 IP and allowed only 36 Hits to go with 73 K’s. His ERA is is 2.76 , WHIP is 0.96 and the hitters have a .164 BA against him. That is ASTOUNDING! Since his promotion to AA his ERA is 1.59 in 4 games. I believe he is bound to OKC soon. He might/could get a September call-up. He’s not a puppy – he will be 23 in December. Currently he is the Dodgers #6 prospect. He could be #2 by season’s end. He also has a shot at the rotation next year, but I’m not sure they want Walker Buehler integrated the same season.
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Discussion (63)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I am old school when it comes to hitting players.
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Accidental or not… send the message: YOU DON’T MESS WITH US!
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It will make them think before pitching way inside!
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CONSEQUENCES!
surprise!!! the no bull, bullpen has given up another HR.
The ‘pen has been bleeding runs all month. 30 IP, 20 ER, 8 HR, ERA of 6.00 in August.
“, the Dodgers bullpen isn’t outright bad, but as far as cracks in the hull go, it certainly qualifies. Watson and Cingrani have been bad this year, and Luis Avilan’s 4.22 walks per nine innings don’t inspire a lot of confidence. Pedro Baez and Josh Fields are fine, but their respective ERAs and FIPs peg them as question marks rather than answers. Fellow Beyond the Box Score-er colleague Ryan Schultz detailed how Brandon Morrow could be a relief weapon, but his health history makes him far from a guarantee. The team will benefit from adding Hyun-Jin Ryu, Maeda, and/or McCarthy to the bullpen, but none of those three guys have the kind of stuff that makes you think they can shift to the bullpen and dominate in short stints.
As far as weaknesses go, middle relief is not the worst one to have. And this is all relative; compared to the rest of the club the bullpen doesn’t look as strong, but it’s far from a disaster. But as far as weaknesses go, this one may be the one Dodger opponents are able to exploit this October.”
Open on www.beyondtheboxscore.comhttps://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2017/8/11/16125246/dodgers-playoffs-predictions-matchups-weaknesses-strengths-platoon-bullpenJust got in… Where’s the retaliation from Stripling or Roberts???
Can’t let the Madres do that, not in our house…
P.S. Mark asked and now I ask why… Come on Robert’s Raiders, give me a reason…
I would think pitchers are less likely to get out of the way of a ball coming at them and therefore are more likely to get hurt while hitting. Hill is an example.
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Bring on the DH.
I think Hill getting hit was somewhat intentional. Not that he was a pitcher but rather than throwing away it was an intentional buzz because Hill was crowding the plate and no pitcher is happy about that happening. It had a very real threat and could of easily been far worse, so I say next chance get the stone thrower back but not head hunting. just let him know with a spot on his ass for him to ice. And HELL NO to the DH. I don’t care if the American League turns to a a divided offense and defense. National League has been around longer and it’s truer baseball.
I thought of MJ after each of the HR’s Stripling gave up. MJ has said that our bullpen keeps giving up Hr’s lately, and 2 more bp hr’s last night cost us.
Right now, I don’t mind. In fact, law of averages says we’re due for a bit of a struggle, and I”d rather it happen in August so that we can get pissed off at ourselves and regroup and go hard in Sept to clinch and then get ready for October.
Morrow hasn’t failed much at all this year; I”m glad he struggled a bit the other day as well.