Over the last several years, we Dodger fans have been very lucky to have a winning franchise. 8 consecutive division titles, 3 trips to the World Series, and a World Championship. Cy Young award winners, MVPs. A couple of ROY winners and a lot of exciting baseball. For most seasons, the Dodgers have been very successful in Los Angeles. Oh, there have been some losing seasons, like 1958, their first year after moving from Brooklyn. But that team was loaded with aging stars and players just passing through. But none of those losing seasons was as bad as 1992.
How can a team that had a lot of talented players on it lose 99 games? So far, no Dodger team in LA has ever lost 100. If you check the top 12 players from that year in WAR, 9 of them are pitchers. Only one was an everyday regular, Brett Butler who led the team with a 4.9 WAR. The other 2 position players? Mike Sharperson and Mitch Webster.
Sharperson was the utility guy, and Webster was the 5th outfielder. Or at least he was supposed to be. The team had the rookie, Eric Karros at 1st, Lenny Harris at 2nd, Jose Offerman at SS, and Dave Hansen as the starting 3rd baseman. The outfield consisted of… or was supposed to be, Eric Davis in LF. Butler in CF. and Darryl Strawberry in RF. Scioscia was the starting C. Things went south pretty fast. Davis played in 76 games but was nowhere near the All-Star caliber outfielder he was with the Reds. Strawberry only played in 43. And they lost him for the season when his drug addiction was discovered.
So others who filled the void were Webster, Henry Rodriguez, Billy Ashley, Kal Daniels, who only appeared in 35 games, Tom Goodwin and Stan Javier who they acquired in a trade. Webster got into 135 games and did a decent job. He also had duties as a pinch hitter. Todd Benzinger got into 121 games, but he did not hit much, and Sharperson, who was their version of Chris Taylor, played in 128 games. Sharpie and Butler were the only Dodgers to hit .300.
Butler led the team with a .309 avg. Carlos Hernandez was the backup catcher most of the season. He hit .260 with 3 HRs and 17 RBI’s. Scioscia, who was 33 and slowing down, hit .221with 3 and 24. Late in the year a kid came up for about 21 games but was not all that impressive. But 1993 would be his year to shine, Mike Piazza! Eric Young, Juan Samuel, Dave Anderson, and Rafael Bournigal all did time in the infield. None of them had very good years.
The starting pitchers were all in their 30’s except for Ramon Martinez and Pedro Astacio. Hershiser, Candiotti, Gross and Ojeda were the main guys. None of them had a plus .500 win record. Candiotti led the staff with 11 wins, and Orel added 10. None of the others had more than 8, and Astacio was 5-5. McDowell led the relief corps, if you could call it that. Corpse would be more like it. Only Gott and Candelaria had sub 3 ERA’s. Astacio had a 1.98 which led all the pitchers. Orel, Candiotti, Gross, Martinez and McDowell all lost in double figures with Candiotti and Hershiser both losing 15. McDowell had 14 saves, Gott 6, Candelaria 5 and Jay Howell had 4.
They had a team ERA of 3.41, which was 6th in the league. They Allowed 82 HR’s, but the offense only hit 72 which was lowest in the NL. They were towards the bottom of the league in most offensive categories. There was a young pitcher who got into a few games, he would become pretty famous after he left LA, Pedro Martinez.
The team had losing records against every opponent except the Padres, 9-9 and the Cubs, 6-6. They finished 35 games out, 9 behind the 5th place Giants. The Braves won the division by 8 games over the Reds. Surprisingly, they had one winning month, May when they went 13-10. After that, they were simply put, horrible. They actually were 13-14 in blowouts, games decided by 5 runs or more.
As bad as their offense was, I find it surprising that they won that many games by a margin of 5. On June 1st they were 23-23. They had just won 6 in a row. It was the last time they would be at .500. A 10 game losing streak from June 10th to the 21st pretty much finished any chances they had. There would be changes coming in 93. Strawberry was no longer a regular and was released in May. He then signed with the Giants. Davis played 104 games and was a little better than the prior season, but he would be traded to the Tigers for pitcher John De Silva on the 31st of August.
Piazza took over as the starting catcher and had a ROY season. Hitting .318 with 35 long balls and 112 driven in. The HR mark would stand as the most by a Dodger rookies until Bellinger beat it in 2017. The Dodgers struggled to a 81-81 mark that year, putting the bad taste of 1992 behind them. Fans have short memories when it comes to really bad years. About the only thing you will ever hear them mention about that season is Karros winning the ROY, as the first of 5 consecutive ROY winners for the team.
Discussion (48)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Bad game all the way around, but your offense cannot continually leave men on base like they have the last two nights. Their at bats with men on base have been forgettable. Lux cannot hit lefty’s and should not be in there against them. But we all knew this team had holes. The bullpen did their job, the defense let them down.
6 pitchers used out of the pen last night and a bullpen game coming up today. Even with all those up and down roster moves this will backfire at some point.
And it is becoming painfully obvious that Bellinger has been figured out by opposing teams.
2 more 1 run defeats against an inferior team. What is our record now in 1 run games ? I dread to look it up but must be really, really bad.
Only positive thing beside catmans pitching the Giants lost again.
Cartaya with another bomb last night. When will they promote him to high A ball ?
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vesia–3 more Ks
Knack–6 scoreless IP
Ward–still balling
Dodgers have called up Darien Nunez. He is 5-0 at OKC with a 2.70 ERA. I believe MT predicted a couple of weeks ago he would be up at some point this year. MT’s head is now going to get bigger than it already is…..just kidding, but good luck to the kid. We’ll see him tomorrow and we should probably see Smith sitting his ass on the bench watching some Steve Yeager and Mike Scioscia “how to block the pitch in the dirt” videos.
That was a team effort losing this game. But, geez JT, you got to smother that throw. I agree that Will shouldn’t have thrown it in the first place and I don’t like him dropping to one knee either. Who freaking teaches this?
How do you only score one run with 9 hits and 5 walks?
It seems like that early start on the 4th really messed with them. They’ve played like crap two games in a row.
UGH. What a sucky game.
A lot of screw ups in this one. Just heard the bit about Turner failing to run on a blast to the wall–that he thought he had an HR and wound up with a single. Terrible. And terrible leadership too.
My gripe re Roberts: Why, as the visiting team, try to sacrifice in the 10th with a runner at 2B? Why try to cede the out when Taylor could have singled in the run?
Even if the math slightly favors playing for one run, the Marlins could still easily tie the score, or win, when they come up. What is the one-run advantage when the opponent starts with a runner on 2B? If you’re the home team, playing for one makes a lot more sense.
Unlike many people here, I like the extra-inning rule change. It adds instant suspense and forces the action. It’s still baseball. (The OT solutions for hockey and soccer really don’t seem like those sports at all–more like a glorified drill.)
Smith screwed the pooch there was no reason for him to throw the ball in a hurry we had two outs. He should’ve never tried to back hand the ball in the first place
If you’re watching the Dodgers on SNLA. You got a love Jerry Harriston’s passion
Smith got a gift by the passed ball hitting the umpire’s shin guard and then throws a ball away in in the 10th. Someone should tell him to drop his ass and be a backstop and play the freaking ball off the chest. For all of the full season offensive comparisons to Piazza, his defense flat out sucks.
They win a few in a row and they all start patting each other on the back
You know what Harvey Keitel would say
Going into Miami thinking there in the catbird seat
I hope the bullpen can bail our offense out
Another one run loss! Hard to believe this team is 20 games over .500 getting nothing from Seager and Bellinger and very little from Betts!
Feels like a walk off for the Marlins. Alexander pitching on back-to-back nights after just coming off the IL. Gotta bad feeling about this.
Holy crap how have the Marlins not moved yet?!??!?!?
Just seeing Mattingly reminds me of the lamentable McCourt, Colletti and Mattingly days.
I’m sure Don is better in his field than the other two, but he’s not my cup of tea.
Starling Marte hit by a pitch. Ugh. Buhler hit him a couple days ago with two outs in the 3rd–and it turned into a big inning.
I have a bad feeling about this.
But if AF wants to upgrade the offense from the right side, Marte could be a longshot consideration. Supposedly wants to sign longterm with Marlins–he must really like Miami–but they could trade him.
As an offensive weapon, I’d rate him over Taylor, Pollock, Lux, McKinstry, Beatty. Look at it this way: He takes Souza’s spot. Possible lineup would put him at CF, with Belli shifting to 1B, and Muncy to 2B. Taylor and Lux could platoon at SS until Seager returns. (I think he has experience at 2B too.)
Odds of this happening are very slim. But of all the proven bats that might be available, he really stands out.
Who are these guys?
NorCal hit it on the head “pollock is unwatchable” . For me he just looks so lethargic just no fire. He can’t hit a righty slider and he can’t hit fastball up and in. He swings at pitches out of the zone refuses to walk. But, Betts is about as bad along with Bellinger. I have been a big supporter of Bellinger but man he will try your patience. Betts as an all star is embarrassing but it is a fans game. I don’t watch them and if I did I wouldn’t want to watch Betts strike out.
My ass puckered when that ball came off the bat from Alfaro
And, according to Monday, Lux follows the physical error with a mental error, failing to get in proper position for a cutoff, thus allowing a hitter to get second. (Team game, of course, but Lux has also messed up reliever Jake Reed’s ML debut, too.)
Oh, Dylan Floro now warming up.
He’d probably like to beat his old team.
Bad managing by Doc so far in the series against the Marlins.
Just to give two examples Reed had no business pitching in a tight game today and Souza had no business starting yesterday.
Ugh….. Lux botches it again.
Score tied.
Crap.
I agree with Mookie. BAD!
One more strikeout and it’s free Jumbo Jack.
Stats suggest McKinstry and Pollock would make a good platoon.
I figured a long time ago that Lux and Pollock would be the weak links in the starting lineup.
For me right now there is no more confounding Dodger than AJ Pollock. His ABs are nearly unwatchable. He’s a complete “rollover” right now, almost never battling to get the count into a competitive count and swings wildly without a game plan at all. Sit his butt down Doc…………………please.
WAR may be flawed, but it ain’t crap.
Go down the list of top 25 WAR performers and you won’t find a weak example. I know of no other metric that attempts to combine and judge offensive and defensive performance.
Speaking of advanced stats/impressions….
I don’t know whether to trust MLB’s “GameDay” feature or not. I use it often, following games in my local coffeehouse. Anyway, is it true that Lux, facing a full count with runners on first and second just swung at third strike that was a foot off the plate? If so, well, crap. Just when it looked like Lux is getting his act together…
Just noticed that Pollock followed that with another strikeout, but my man Gonsolin got a hit, loading the bases for Mookie.
And Mookies strikes out too.
But, unless GameDay is lying, it was Lux who really screwed the pooch. Dodgers wind up with one run when they could have had 3 or 4.
There we go I guess their ears were burning
Four strikeouts in two innings unacceptable. Nobody’s taking the two strike approach anymore. Man I hate strikeouts
Jays trade 1st baseman Rowdy Telez to the Brewers for 2 players.
Isn’t tomorrow the last day the Dodgers can stash Tsutsugo at AAA?
DODGERS RECALL GARRETT CLEAVINGER
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled left-handed pitcher Garrett Cleavinger and placed left-handed pitcher Victor González on the 10-day injured list with left plantar fasciitis.
Cleavinger, 27, returns for his fourth stint with the club after being optioned last night. On the season, he is 2-3 with a 2.03 ERA (3 ER/13.1 IP) and 15 strikeouts in 15 games. He was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in the three-team trade with the Tampa Bay Rays and Phillies on December 20, 2020. He was originally drafted in the 3rd round of the 2015 First Year Player Draft by the Phillies out of the University of Oregon.
González, 25, has appeared in 36 games for the Dodgers posting a 3-1 record with a 2.57 ERA (8 ER/28.0 IP) and 26 strikeouts against 15 walks. He suffered his first career loss last night after beginning his Major League career with a 6-0 record. In two seasons with the Dodgers, he is 6-1 with a 2.05 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 48.1 Innings. He was originally signed as an international free agent on July 2, 2012 by the Dodgers.
The 99 cent store comments reminded me of the time for my birthday my son got me a 98 cent gift card to the 99 cent store!
Tonight’s lineup in Miami against the fish:
RF Mookie
1B Max
3B Justin
CF Cody
C Will
2B Chris
SS Gavin
LF AJ
P Tony
Short bench: Albert, Austin, Matt and Zach
I was wondering why AF chose to bring up a guy that most of us had never heard of, but I see from the video which Mark posted above that Reed is a side armer. They like they idea of different looks out of the pen, so that might explain why Reed jumped ahead of a few of the others.
Souza will catch on with another team. The Dodgers gave him a chance.
Reed? I have no opinion!
Interesting article on Jake Reed:
https://www.startribune.com/jake-reed-s-switch-to-sidearm-delivery-was-investment-in-his-career/570236302/
DODGERS SELECT JAKE REED
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Jake Reed and designated outfielder Steven Souza Jr. for assignment.
Reed, 28, will be on the active roster for the first time in his career and his next appearance will be his Major League debut. The righty from La Mesa, CA appeared in nine games for the Oklahoma City Dodgers, going 0-0 with a 2.61 ERA (3 ER/10.1 IP) and 11 strikeouts. He was acquired by the Dodgers on June 4, 2021 after being released by the Los Angeles Angels on June 2. In 17 minor league games with the Angels and Dodgers, he is a combined 0-0 with one save and a 5.57 ERA (13 ER/21.0 IP) this year. He has spent parts of eight seasons in the minors, recording a 19-14 record with a 3.73 ERA (142 ER/342.2 IP) and 360 strikeouts. He was originally drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round of the 2014 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Oregon.
Souza Jr., 32, appeared in 13 games for the Dodgers, batting .160 with one homer and two RBI. He has spent parts of six seasons in the Major Leagues, slashing .231/.321/.4165 with 72 homers and 205 RBI in 495 games. He was originally drafted in the third round of the 2007 First Year Player Draft by the Washington Nationals out of Cascade High School in Everett, WA.
Souza DFA’d. Dodgers call up reliever Jake Reed???? from AAA OKC. Reed is 28, and has a plus 5 ERA at OKC in 21 games. He has one save. Gives them a short bench again. 12 position players and 14 pitchers. Never have liked that short roster.
Feliz??? the few times I have watched him pitch this season, he has been terrible. Has to be nothing but a depth move.
Dodgers Sign Former Rookie of the Year Pitcher Neftalí Feliz
Barnes isn’t going anywhere this season. He’s under contract this season for $1.65 MM and for $2.65 MM in 2022 and is a free agent in 2023. He has played significant innings every post-season and I expect the same this year.
Maybe they trade him in the offseason but his knowledge of the pitchers makes it tough to trade him in the middle of a season.
The Bauer situation potentially puts the Dodgers in a bind. It’s possible that he’s not back this year. Gonsolin seems like his shoulder isn’t 100%. They are uninterested in stretching Price out for whatever reason. With May out for the year, they are down to 3 healthy starters if Bauer stays out.
Gray is still coming off his own shoulder injury and they won’t rush him for short-term gain. If they make a deadline deal, maybe it’s for a starting pitcher.
Dodgers have signed Neftali Feliz to a minor league contract.
The first of what I would assume to be a number of “veteran” pitchers who will be joining the organization this month.
* What time is the varsity game today? There are some games that Doc just seems determined to piss away. For starters, I’m confused as to why Muncy, Bellinger and Mookie need the same day off with 6 games remaining before the all-star break? Despite this lame line up, we damn near won the game when “the reserves” got into the game.
*I think there are 40,320 possible line ups with 8 guys so Doc has barely scratched the surface.
* You always need about 4 second basemen with McKinstry now. Muncy, Lux and CT3 apparently just aren’t enough.
* Striker, like other Dodger pitchers, feels there is little need in holding runners at first. The Marlins just tapped down the starting blocks and ran early and often. His consistent 1.45 to 1.47 gives Smith no shot, even with a good throw, which he didn’t make all night. Lux’s muffed tag attempt on his best effort, a short hop into the runner, led to an error. 7 bags stolen off Buehler in 5 starts really needs to be addressed. Every walk and base hit is a double. There are ways to fix this.
* So if stealing is so easy, why don’t we do it? Is it because other teams hold runners and we don’t bother?
* Maybe Mike Muchlinski is the worse balls and strike umpire ever.
* It’s refreshing to get analysis from the hitters perspective from Nomar.
* How about the idea of starting Price and not call him an opener? Just a pitcher. Try to start stretching him out and get what you can, 3 or 4 with 60 pitches. Don’t keep using him for 2 innings max.
* Damn I’m sure a grump today. I just hate losing games like last night.
Pujols single yesterday put him in some very elite company. It gave him 6000 total bases in his career. Only Aaron, Mays and Musial have ever had that many. Congratulations to a great hitter. Dodger hitting coaches should take lessons from this guy. Bellinger should sit down and talk to him for hours and pick his brain. Because as long as Belli stands as close to the plate as he does, straight up, that inside pitch is going to get him every time, and he is not going to make solid contact very often.
I remember in ’92 when the 99-Cent store ran an ad that said “congratulations to the Dodgers for losing 99 games!”
Since versatility is important to the Dodgers organization and it is to me by the way, why isn’t Ruiz trying out a different position or positions while he is still in the minors?
Any of you insiders know the real story on Graterol? Is it secondary pitches, holding runners on, conditioning? Seems like he should be one of the main guys in the bullpen by now.
I cancelled my Athletic subscription long ago because of Molly Knight and Pedro Moura specifically because of the slant that they put into their articles.
I remember that 1992 season. We were pretty crappy, but there was a crappier team that season and it was the Seattle Mariners. The M’s consolation prize in the following draft was Alex Rodriguez who threatened not to sign with them because he wanted the Dodgers to draft him. Instead we got Darren Dreifort with the number 2 pick.
One of the reasons that season stands out to me is that I married my beautiful wife and soul mate that year and I remember listening to the Dodgers games from a transistor radio that I brought with me while we were on a “Marriage Encounter Weekend” which was a requirement to attend in order to get married at my church.
Yesterday’s loss was a disappointment. Yes, it was a winnable game. An 0-2 pitch with 2 outs and nobody on was the difference in the game. A pitch in that situation should never be hittable.
The game never should have been that close to begin with. Shift hits and stolen bases could have easily been prevented. Instead they combined for a 3 run third. We had our chances with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 8th, but we could only come up with a walk and sac fly to knot it up. Belli missed a grand slam by an eyelash on the ball, CT3 popped and AJ struck out on three straight sliders.
With an off day just 4 days earlier, it was a wonder why it was decided that Betts, Bellinger and Muncy all needed a day off together, right after a bullpen game where most of the pen also needed a day off. They did everything they could to lose the game and just about won it regardless.
People love to talk crap on Pollock, the Rodney Dangerfield on the team, but somehow love Zach McKinstry. Both put up an o’fer yesterday, but Z-Mack made a throwing error that lead to a run in the game. Their slash lines are practically identical.
Doc says that he doesn’t expect Bauer to be back before the All-Star game. Pepiot is coming off his best start ever, but only his second game where he’s pitched 6 innings or more and has still never thrown more than 76 pitches in his very young minor league career. But, the Dodgers are starting to talk about him as a rotation option.
One the same day as Pepiot’s masterpiece, Jo-jo Gray threw in his second game of the year. Just two perfect innings and another in the pen after he was pulled. The bullpen will be abused at least until the All-Star game with just 6 games against the Marlins and D-Bags remaining before the break. The Giants have 5 games remaining before the break against the Cards and Nats, all at home.
Legal experts chime in on Bauer.
https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2021-07-01/trevor-bauer-defense
Final sentence “This is being settled through civil court,” Rahmani said. “I’m like 99% sure.”
Note this article was written before Police said “this is bigger then we thought”.
New Power Ratings from the Athletic:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
Record: 53-31
Last Power Ranking: 3
The Dodgers completed their weekend sweep of the Nationals on Sunday behind eight relievers combining to allow one run over nine innings.
LA threw a bullpen game because Trevor Bauer had been placed on a seven-day administrative leave by Major League Baseball on Friday — two days after The Athletic reported the graphic details of a domestic-violence restraining order filed against the pitcher. It is hard to read, and harder to discern why it took the league even that long to place Bauer on leave. The Dodgers’ leadership spent that time pretending as if they had no agency in the matter and cracking jokes about sticky stuff.
Maybe one day the sport and the organizations within it will realize that how they handle issues like this matter a whole hell of a lot more to fans than how many batters a reliever can face.