Opponents I Admired
Ever have a player from another team that you wished was a Dodger? I have. Some ended up playing a year or two in LA. Some never did. But the list is fairly long going back to when the Dodgers first came to LA. The Sey Hey Kid Willie Mays: Willie was simply the best player I…
Ever have a player from another team that you wished was a Dodger? I have. Some ended up playing a year or two in LA. Some never did. But the list is fairly long going back to when the Dodgers first came to LA.
Willie Mays: Willie was simply the best player I ever saw play the game. He could do it all, and he made it look so easy. And he was pretty good against the Dodgers. But I cannot remember ever seeing him make a mistake. He probably did, but I don’t remember it. He was respected and he was one of those guys who would just come to beat you. Sad that he never got to play more games in the World Series.
Willie was and has always been a class act. He was the one who played peacemaker when Marichal attacked Roseboro. He was the Sey-Hey Kid. I marveled at his basket catches and his speed on the basepaths. I also was taken by the way it seemed that he just glided after fly balls. He was just one of those players who you could not take your eyes off of.
Eddie Mathews: One of the better third basemen to ever play the game, and next to Mike Schmidt, the best power hitter. He and Aaron formed a deadly combination. He finished his career with 512 long balls. 493 of those came as a Brave. Exactly the same number as Lou Gehrig hit for the Yankees. Though no Brooks Robinson with the glove, he was more than adequate.
Roberto Clemente: Sad part of this is that if the Dodgers had been a little smarter, he would have been a career, Dodger. Losing him in the rule 5 draft has to be one of the more humiliating mistakes in Dodger history. They tried to hide him in the minors and paid the price.
Roberto was one of those guys you just could not take your eyes off of when he was involved in the play. Whether at bat, or fielding a ball, he was so much fun to watch. He was overshadowed by the stars of Mays and Aaron, but he was probably one of the best right fielders the game has ever seen. And he had a cannon for an arm. There is a push to retire #21 across the league in his memory. He was the first really great Latin player in the majors. I was in Germany when he died on his mercy flight.
Hank Aaron: Hammering Hank. Every move he made on a ballfield looked graceful. He was slightly built, but most of his power came from his wrists. He was lightning quick to the ball and it would jump off of his bat. I saw him hit a homer over the center field fence at the coliseum that I swear never got more than 15 feet in the air. He just was not one of those guys hitting majestic arcing homers. His were cannon shots.
He and Eddie Mathews combined to be the second-best home run hitting duo in major league history. Only Ruth and Gehrig combined for more during their time as teammates. Hank Aaron was not flashy, he just went out and beat you. 755 career homers. Second only to Barry Bonds, and one of only four players to reach those lofty heights. Bonds, Aaron, Ruth and Albert Pujols.
Johnny Bench: I hated the Big Red Machine. I sincerely despised those guys. But I respected the talent many of them had, and Bench was one of them. He was the best catcher of his era. Oh, there were some other good ones, but Bench combined a great bat with superior defense. He was an All-Star 13 times and won 2 MVP awards. He moved to 3rd base later in his career. He also played 1st base and a little outfield.
He won 10 consecutive Gold Glove awards. And how many times has a rookie catcher won a Gold Glove? He also won ROY that year. Bench would finish with 389 homers. He was just one of those guys you had to admire. He hit .255 against the Dodgers with 31 homers and 131 driven in.
Bob Gibson: I was just plain scared of Gibby. He was as intimidating a pitcher as I ever saw throw a baseball. Randy Johnson was that way too, but Gibson, well, he was just plain mean. He came to stuff the ball down your throat. But if you can believe this, the Dodgers actually had the highest BA against Gibson .249, and they beat him 23 times to his 17 wins. He shut the Dodgers out just 3 times. By comparison, he shut out the Cubs 11 times.
He broke Sandy’s World Series K record against the Tigers in game 1 in the 68 Series. He had a 1.12 ERA that year. Definitely the year of the pitcher. McLain won 31 for Detroit that year. The last pitcher to do that. He wasn’t a bad hitter either socking 24 homers and driving in 144 in his career.
There were others. Juan Marichal, Willie Stargell, guys we saw most of the time. I had a great respect and a huge dislike of all things Yankees. But guys like Mantle, Berra, Ford, those guys who went out and just beat you commanded your respect. Ken Boyer, a solid third baseman for the Cardinals comes to mind. He always played well against the Dodgers and for two years was a Dodger.
Dave Parker when he was with the Pirates seemed like he would run over everyone on the bases. He was a monster. Willie McCovey, who owned Big D. I really respected Pete Rose as a player. He played about as hard as I have ever seen anyone play the game. And all Pete wanted to do was beat you. Yes, for his career he belongs in the Hall. But Pete screwed that up himself. I am sure there are more, and somewhere down the road I will probably include more current players. But these guys, well they just commanded respect.
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Discussion (138)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Plain and simple, no matter what you believe the causes of this loss were, one thing is unmistakable, and that is the total incompetence of the ball/strike calls by umpires in general. I have been noticing this for the past several weeks, and today’s game followed in that vein. The ball/strike calls of umpires need to be a matter that is seriously dealt with this winter. This quality of mediocre officiating needs to be addressed this winter by MLB. I know someone who opposes the electronic strike zone because he says it takes the human element out of umpiring. If so, then such is also the case with instant replay. In fact, the umpiring rules should have as their primary focus only one thing, getting the call RIGHT.
The players are by far the most responsible for the lost games. Phillips blew the save after walking two batters. Sheehan was not competitive today and Stone allowed a bunch of base runners.
The Dodgers are definitely short handed in the pitching department.
However, this is another example of poor bullpen management by Roberts. He used Phillips in a 9-1 game on Sunday which limited his effectiveness and availability today. He also used Phillips in a blowout loss the previous Sunday which made him unavailable in a 9-8 loss on Wednesday. Today he used Caleb for only one out against two RH hitters in the 4th inning when he knows the bullpen was limited. And he had Graterol available to throw the 9th inning today instead of Phillips for third day in a row.
Outman had a great game and Deluca had a memorable HR that was spoiled by the bullpen.
Another bad loss to a subpar team.
The Dodgers did not lose this game. It was stolen from them. It wasn’t only those last two calls against Vargas. There were several other bad calls against the Dodgers, and in addition to that Phillips did not get several similar calls while he was pitching.
It seems to me that umpire strike calls are getting worse and worse as the season progresses. There is no question in my mind that we need an ELECTRONIC STRIKE ZONE.
WTF just happened???
Well, at least we know Phillips can’t go three games in a row
What a great feeling for the kid. I am very happy for him. Now all we need is for Phillips to shut it down.
Deluca!!!!!Now who was the moron making fun of our rookies earlier tonight?!!!
Fourth of July fireworks at Dodger stadium brought to you by James Outman!
Who’s the next rookie starter we can call up?
The way Doc handles a press scrum when discussing injuries he could give Kieran Jean Pierre a run for her money. Although he corrected himself the other day he said May had started to play catch, but now we find out May needs season ending surgery.
Going forward if Doc is asked questions about injury status for injured players and you see his lips move…. he’s lying.
So the Dodgers let Jahmai Jones slip away and have now replaced him with a minor trade to get Pat Valaika.
Remember, the Brewers gave the Dodgers zilch to get Jones, who they promptly paced on their major league roster.
“Valaika had been with Triple-A Tacoma and will join the Dodgers Triple-A team, hitting in the lineup tonight. He was slashing .240/.343/.405 with four home runs through 38 games for Tacoma this season. He also added in one stolen base this year.”
And so the Valaika Era begins!
So, knowing what we know now, did it seem like a smart move for the Dodgers to quickly anoint Miguel Vargas as at 2B? Perhaps going into Spring training, Roberts could called it a competition between Vargas, Busch, Jones and any other middle infielder.
Oh well.
Rough day for the Angels and my October Freeway Series dreams…
First they get the bad news about Trout–breaking a bone on a swing!–and now the Padres manage to get to Ohtani. That Padre lineup is still damn potent and they could still make a big second half run.
I don’t expect Arte Moreno to deal Ohtani in the midst of an epic season and the team in the hunt for a wild card. But if Trout’s injury triggers a losing streak, the offers could start pouring in.
Typical Angels luck. While Ohtani is having perhaps his best season, Trout is having one of his worst–and then he breaks a bone by swinging his bat.
Okay someone suggested Hunter Renfro from the Angels why stop there get Escobar to they just got him from the Mets he can play second base or third base it be better then Vargas who needs to go back down and learn to hit. But who to trade for those two players it would help the Dodgers playoff chase. These two players you wanted realistic trades that could help.
Looks like another 4 inning or less start tonite. 37 pitch first inning
Wow! The vaunted Dodger rookie class continues to crash and burn!
Could someone please explain to me why Muncy is batting 4th and Peralta is hitting 6th? Muncy is 45-231 =.195 and Peralta is 58-200 =290 or to put it another way Peralta has 13 more hits in 31 less at bats. Peralta has been hot not Muncy. Why not just reverse the both of them??
Dodgers make minor trade with the Mariners and get infielder Pat Valika.
Tough one for May! Another long rehab. Tough year of injuries for our Dodgers continues.
Ouch, nothing unexpected though.
Dodgers right-hander Dustin May will undergo surgery on his right elbow to repair the flexor tendon later this month, per a team announcement.
Bear: Tony Gwynn, Mike Schmidt, George Brett, any one would have looked good in blue.
Happy 4th of July
Dave Roberts has done a great job. Joe Maddon won it all with the Cubs in 2016. That is it. His winning pct. is not as good as Roberts. As far as Kapler goes, he is still behind Roberts in my opinion. And, Kapler’s ego may eventually get in the way.
Vargas going down to AAA could be beneficial. It certainly helped Lux.
I would have loved to have Yogi, Clemente, and Brooks Robinson on my Dodger team, plus Seaver and/or Gibson. And, last but certainly not least the greatest ever, Mr. Henry Aaron.
And, one more thing: #19 is a number the Dodgers retired and justifiably so. Jim Gilliam defines the term baseball player. He really contributed to Maury Wills’ success. The Dodgers were considering moving Gilliam to a full time coaching position , however, when the race would heat up, Gilliam was inserted in the line-up, and always came through. For example, his great play at third base in the 1965 saved at the very least Sandy’s shutout. Gilliam may have been a manager if he had not passed away at a relatively young age. Rest in Peace. Happy July 4th. I know we all know the cost of freedoms we enjoy.
Better yet Duke, I will just post my earlier post again so you can check it out.
Max’s .790 is “way above average”, which is 720 to .780. Way above might be a stretch.
Below .600 is very poor
Below .700 is poor
.800 is above average
.900 is an All-Star season
1.000 is an MVP caliber season
I personally look at OPS but I am not a huge fan of the stat. The criticism of OPS is excessive value on extra base hits and undervalue of on-base %. Perhaps the more important reason not to use OPS is that it treats OBP and SLG the same and gives “extra credit” to players who hit for power.
I’ve put together a list to illustrate what I mean. You can see that I used career stats. I took the liberty to stick Max in there with his 2023 stats. You can see that he fits just below Joey Gallo and ahead of Ripkin, Rose and Ichiro. That pretty much says all I need to know about the value of OPS.
Name / Career Batting Average / Career OPS / Career Home Runs
Ruth .342 1.161 714
Williams .344 1.116 521
Bonds .298 1.051 762
Mantle .298 .977 536
DiMaggio .325 .977 361
Cobb .366 .944 117
Mays .301 .940 660
Gwynn .338 .847 135
Berra .285 .830 358
Carew .328 .822 92
Gallo .198 .793 188
Max Muncy in 2023 .195 .790 19
Ripken .276 .788 421
Rose .303 .784 160
Ichiro .311 .757 117
Mookie back at 2B today. With Rojas heating up a bit, and Vargas not, this might be the optimal lineup. When Taylor comes back, perhaps he could play SS or platoon with one of the outfielders.
1Betts 2B .268 22 56
2Freeman, F 1B .314 14 54
3Smith, W.D. C.275 12 41
4Muncy 3B .195 19 49
5Martinez DH .255 19 56
6Peralta LF.290 5 30
7Heyward RF .257 8 21
8Outman CF. 232 9 36
9Rojas, M SS .236 0 8
It’s becoming quite clear each day Roberts post a line-up that Vargas is no longer the every day 2B with an occasional day off. He’s now the guy who gets the occasional start to spell Mookie, but Roberts probably won’t say as much.
He needs a trip to OKC to gain some confidence, regain his stroke and learn to go the other way rather than trying to pull many pitches on the outside corner.
Hmm that manager in San Francisco Kapler he is doing pretty good. They bring up guys from the minors. And they produce. So, what is he doing differently then Roberts. Ohh yeah he came in second to being the Dodgers manager to Roberts. I think Kapler. Is better at in game decisions then Roberts is. And a better locker room guys then Roberts is.
Mark,
There is something about you that brings out these wackos. This guy I think is the worst.