ACL Dodgers 32 – ACL Angels 7
That is not a typo. EveryACL Dodgers hitter had at least one hit, and all but SS Sam Mongelli on a rehab assignment had 2 or more. Mongelli only had 3 PA and reached on a single and walk before giving way to Yojackson Laya.
This was a stats building game…32 runs, 30 hits,11 XBH, 10 BB
- DH Reyli Mariano – 2-6, 2 BB, 4 runs,
- SS Yojackson Laya – 3-3, 1 run, 1 RBI
- C Francisco Espinoza – 3-5, 1 BB, 2 runs, 3 RBI
- 3B Moises Bolivar – 3-7, 1 BB, 4 runs, 6 RBI, HR (9)
- 2B Daniel Mielcarek – 4-7, 3 runs, 3 RBI, 3 doubles (7)
- RF Moises Acacio – 3-4, 2 BB, 6 runs, 4 RBI, 2 doubles (6)
- CF Agustin Acosta – 5-6, 1 BB, 4 runs, 4 RBI, double (1), HR (1)
- LF Abel Lorenzo – 4-7, 3 runs, 7 RBI, double (9)
- 1B Jose Gonzalez – 2-4, 3 BB, 3 runs, 1 RBI, triple (2), HR (3)
DSL Padres Gold 2 – DSL LAD Mega 0 – 7 innings
The Padres Gold scored 2 in the 3rd for the only runs in the game.
With LHSP Miguel Herrera on the mound, he hit the first batter and walked the next. A WP moved both runners up. Herrera struck out the next 2 batters. He walked the bases full and threw a run scoring WP. Another BB to reload the bases. Herrera gave way to RHRP Christian Polanco. He unleased a WP to the first batter he faced for another score. Padres scored 2 runs on 3 BB, 1 HBP, and 3 WP.
LAD Mega got singles from SS Antoni Urena and CF Helvin Mendoza.
DSL Padres Brown 3 – DSL LAD Bautista 2
LAD Bautista scored 2 in the 2nd. First batter reached on an error. Following a K, the next batter drew a BB. After a 2nd K, the next batter reached on an error and both runners scored.
The Padres Brown scored 3 in the 5th. RHSP Anderson Carias had just pitched 4 scoreless innings, but then ran into the proverbial wall. First three batters of the inning hit a single, HBP, and single to load the bases. The next batter hit a 2-run single, that was followed by another single to load the bases. RHRP Enmanuel De La Rosa came in to relieve Carias and inherited the bases full and no outs. He struck out the first batter, but a ground ball out to 1B scored the go-ahead run. Another ground out ended the inning.
PH Luis Rodriguez hit a 2 out triple (2) in the 6th, but was left there. C Jeanfranco Fernandez singled earlier in the game. That was the LAD Bautista offense.
Other LAD Affiliate News:
Finally, I came across this comment from NYY C Jorge Posada on how he views the game of baseball today.
“I CAN’T WATCH TODAY’S BASEBALL.” Yankees legend Jorge Posada, a 4-time World Series champion and one of the faces of the dynasty years, (The Core 4) did not hold back during his interview on Abriendo El Podcast. Posada said today’s game has become too robotic, too obsessed with formulas, and too accepting of strikeouts. “The baseball being played today is garbage,” Posada said. He also pushed back hard on the analytics crowd trying to judge Derek Jeter’s defense strictly through modern numbers. “You can’t judge Jeter through a computer.” That line right there is pure old-school Yankees. Posada came from an era where putting the ball in play mattered. Moving runners mattered. Taking pride in not striking out mattered. He said back then, striking out 100 times in a season felt like you were not doing your job. Now? Guys can strike out constantly, hit 30 home runs, bat .202, and still get paid like stars. His message was simple: The game got smarter on paper, but dumber between the lines.
I have spoken to many of my son’s contemporaries, and many of them say the same thing. The only reason my son watches the games is for me, and his best friend in Reno who is a huge LAD fan. My grandaughter was at the OKC – Reno game last week and sent me a video of Teo’s HR.
Discussion (77)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Wrobo certainly raised his K rate in this win. He’s earned a spot in the all-star game.
Anybody here predict that Wrobleski would be the first Dodger pitcher to 10 wins?
I had a great time at Parkview Field in Ft. Wayne. My daughter, Tasha, was my cameraman, er woman, and we did interviews with the chefs and the bus driver. I think you will like them. It will be a couple of days until I get them edited. I had planned to stay for three games, but my wife’s restaurant grand opening is tomorrow, and I decided that I like being alive… so I came back.
Morales, Davalan, and Quintero all homered, but Quintero’s was a Granny! You can see that Quintero is going to be a monster. Harlan impressed me, and while Wagner was hitless, he just moves like a baller.
Zach Root was very impressive. I’ll have more on him later.
Following the game on mlb-com’s Game Changer, I just noticed a factoid pop up after Wrobo struck out Kurtz:
“Wrobleski’s K % is down to about 15.’s’s 4% from 27.1% last year. MLB avg: 22.1%.”
That’s a big drop in strikeout rate. Interesting how Wrobo has been so effective without a lot of strikeouts. Pitching to contact has paid off.
Tho Wrobo has added a change up and redid his sweeper to his arsenal . His fastball velocity is up and I think the K’s will come back. The kid is legit. He’s a star!
He looks fantastic
Could Tucker have gone back any slower on that ball in the first inning. His defense is no better than his offense. Wow!
It’s possible he didn’t see it because of the sun. It was an issue for the A’s yesterday b
Anybody watch Skubal’s QS against the Yankees? 6 innings, 1 hit, 1 earned run, 9 Ks, 0 BB.
I sure hope Philadelphia, Milwaukee or the Cubs don’t get him.
HAVING A GREAT TIME IN FT WAYNE.
Great Game
2 cool interviews
Drop-dead gorgeous camerawoman!
06/29/26 Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent SS Brayan Holguin to a minor league contract.
9:40 PM ET
Dodgers (55-30)
Athletics (40-45)
SP Justin Wrobleski L
9-2 2.71 ERA
SP Jeffrey Springs L
3-7 5.52 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
CF Andy Pages R
1B F. Freeman L
SS Mookie Betts R
LF T. Hernandez R
RF Kyle Tucker L
3B Tommy Edman S
2B Miguel Rojas R
C D. Rushing L
88° Wind 10 mph
RHRP Jonathan Hernandez was DFA and the Dodgers have recalled RHRP Wyatt Mills.
From the Dodgers’ Official Page:
LATEST INJURIES
RHP Tyler Glasnow
Injury: Lower back spasms
IL date: May 8 (transferred to 60-day IL on June 6)
Expected return: Second half of 2026
Status: Has started playing catch. The Dodgers are hopeful that he will not have another setback. (updated June 29)
RHP Evan Phillips
Injury: Recovery from Tommy John surgery
IL date: Feb. 12 (60-day IL)
Expected return: July
Status: Nearing the end of his rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City, having pitched a back-to-back and an up-down. (updated June 29)
C Will Smith
Injury: Neck inflammation
IL date: June 11 (10-day IL, retroactive to June 8)
Expected return: July
Status: Not doing any baseball activities. Unlikely to be activated when the Dodgers’ next homestand begins on July 2. (updated June 26)
LHP Blake Snell
Injury: Loose bodies in left elbow
IL date: May 15 (transferred to 60-day IL on May 29)
Expected return: Possibly late July
Status: Threw a 15-pitch bullpen session on June 26, his first since having surgery. Expected to need at least four more bullpens before facing hitters. (updated June 26)
RHP Edwin Díaz
Injury: Loose bodies in right elbow
IL date: April 20 (transferred to 60-day IL on May 10)
Expected return: Late July
Status: Continuing to ramp up his bullpen progression with a likely return at some point after the All-Star break. (updated June 26)
RHP Gavin Stone
Injury: Right shoulder inflammation
IL date: March 22 (transferred to 60-day IL on April 1)
Expected return: 2026
Status: Working through a throwing program at the Dodgers’ complex in Arizona, but he has had trouble ramping up. (updated June 2)
I prefer “bone chips” to “loose bodies”…. but perhaps something other than bone could be loose in there, I suppose. I wish the baseball scribes would provide more clarity.
Another gripe: Writers who refer to “quality starts” without defining the arcane baseball term.
For those who may not know:
A starting pitcher records a quality start when he pitches at least six innings and allows three earned runs or fewer. A starting pitcher has two jobs: to prevent runs and get outs. The quality start statistic helps to quantify which pitchers did a “quality” job in those two departments.
Origin:
John Lowe, then a sportswriter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, coined the term in 1985 as a means to gauge whether a pitcher did his job. Lowe also created another wrinkle to go along with the stat. He called quality starts in which a pitcher got the loss “tough losses.” And he called non-quality starts in which a pitcher earned the win “cheap wins.”
So strictly speaking, a pitcher who throws a no-hitter for 5 2/3 innings with zero walks and 12K only to come out due to injury did not have a “quality start.”
“The Los Angeles Dodgers made their interest in Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal known over the offseason, so it’s only natural they’re the favorites to land him at this season’s trade deadline.
According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, though, their focuses for Aug. 3 lie elsewhere. The Dodgers are aiming to bolster their already strong minor league system by parting with some of their top outfield prospects to strengthen other areas.
“The Dodgers want to improve the depth of their minor-league system and are prepared to part with at least one of their top outfield prospects not named Josue De Paula to do so,” Woo wrote.
“…The Dodgers are comfortable dealing from that position group to address other areas of their farm system, such as catching and middle-infield depth.
“The Dodgers’ starting pitching is thin in the upper minors, aside from River Ryan and Jackson Ferris. Los Angeles is believed to be searching for high-ceiling prospects in a potential trade and isn’t necessarily coveting major-league-ready talent in a return.”
Of the Dodgers’ Top 15 prospects according to MLB, just two of them play middle infield positions, and they don’t have a catcher in their Top 30 prospects. Pitching is likely a lesser issue for the Dodgers, as they still have plenty of talent coming through the ranks with players like Christian Zazueta and their highest draft pick from last year, left-hander Zach Root”.
“Each of the Dodgers’ Top 4 prospects according to MLB are outfielders, and they all have ETAs within the next two years. Other than De Paula, that leaves Mike Sirota, Zyhir Hope and Edgardo Quintero on the block. Additionally, the Dodgers have other strong outfielder prospects like former first-rounder James Tibbs III, Kendall George and Charles Davalan.
A prospect trade wouldn’t be the blockbuster everyone is expecting from them, but they’ve traded for prospects in the past and have seen plenty of benefits. Whether or not they pull the trigger on shipping out Top 100 MLB prospects remains to be seen, but they definitely won’t shy away from doing so if they see fit”.
makes sense to me
How many50s and 55s and Lauers does it take to get one 65 back? 60?
this is not directly answered, but indirectly in the article. There are examples of the Busch trade in the Fedducia trade, but Woo doesn’t deal with future values as a metric.
I do wonder if they would move Lauer, you would think they would…
Right?
Per Katie Woo (FREE ARTICLE!)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7407664/2026/06/30/dodgers-trade-deadline-prospects-josue-de-paula/?source=emp_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.uFA._sFr.itK-W42z6EdP
“As the Los Angeles Dodgers prepare for the trade deadline, they’re expected to be linked to Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. However, the primary focus for the back-to-back champions isn’t on the major-league roster, according to multiple sources familiar with the club’s thinking who were granted anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.”
Writers love to speculate this time of year. Happens every year, and then AF goes out and does exactly the opposite of what they expect.
I don’t think that’s accurate at all. But I do think plans can and will change.
I would think we could get some promising young pitching (A level) for Lauer. I think it depends on if Ryan is ready to pitch after the deadline.
Bluto, check the transaction history since he took over in the winter of 2014. He has never overpaid at the deadline and several times he acquired players who no one thought were on his radar. You just wear blinders all the time to facts.
Writers and we fans love to speculate, right?
I think it’s been obvious that the Tigers would trade Skubal if they fell out of contention.
If the Brewers get him, this could be a problem for the mighty Dodgers.
Great news that the big flopper is headed elsewhere. Now if we can get Moreno to change the name of that embarrassment in Anaheim and sell the team, LA would be in pretty good shape.
Can we at least keep Bronny?
WHY? Kid sucks
TIC
You have a tic? Lakers could have cut him yesterday and saved 1 mil. He will get 2.2 this year. And for what? He played in 8 games, averaged 1.5 points 5.3 minutes. Money could be better spent elsewhere.
Tongue in cheek. It was a joke Bear. I’d rather play LeBrons wife than his son
He doesn’t “suck”. The kid came off a heart related issue and basically missed his whole college freshman season, after being a Mcdonald’s All American.
He should not have gone to the NBA, but instead stayed in college and learned and grown. He’s learning and growing in the NBA, and actually played decent minutes for us in the playoffs when other guys were hurt.
If he does stay here, he could become a decent role player off the bench this year.
I agree. He was no worse than the last guy off the bench on any other team. Nepotism got him into the league but the kid has worked his tail off to improve. Say what you want about Lebron, but his work ethic is undeniable and his kids have seen it.
I am hopeful that Walter and Co. will restore the Lakers. I think the reality is that Lebron wasn’t going to get the money he desired from the Lakers and he knew it.
Leave Bronny alone!
For those of you that call yourselves Laker fans but don’t like Lebron, I guess, welcome back ?
Lebron has informed the Lakers he’s moving on for the 2026-2027 season.
yay, where is he going?
Can he play RF?
Freddie Freeman is so fun to watch hit, especially the last 8 games.
Karros was saying last night that Freddie is the best all around hitter in the last 20 plus years. He struggled, off the top of his head, to come up with a comp for a player who used the whole ballpark like Freddie does.
I immediately thought of 2. Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs. Both had long careers of excellent spray hitting, hitting for average, OPS, and doubles. What separates Freddie from those 2, is his home run power. He has damn near triple their totals in homers.
Freddie is a remarkable hitter and I’m glad he’s a Dodger.
If Kyle Tucker doesn’t cut it out, he may be forced to change his walk-up song from Dire Straits’, “Money for Nothing”.
Ha! Such a great song….Legend has it that “Money for Nothing” was inspired by the oerheard lament of a blue-collar worker watching MTV while moving merchandise inside a big-box retailer. Knopfler (I assume) just heard the song when he heard the guy complain about those “yo-yos” earning money for nothing and “chicks for free” before telling co-workers “we got to move these color TVs”
Adding Sting to sing “I want my MTV” iced it.
Yeah, I’m sure a lot of people here already know that. But I love the story, the song and the music video too…
I read the other day in a Far Out column that he was talking about entertainers, specifically bands who don’t really work, but make lots of money and get all the girls. Kinda fits with what you saw.
Love the stories of rock music.
I do not know if any of you caught it, but late in last nights telecast, at least the MLB.TV one, MLB ran an ad about them listening to the fans when asked how the game could improve and the ad talked about the pitch clock and the ABS challenge. Then very subtly they mentioned they are listening again and then in a ballsy move in my mind, mentioned a cap and a floor, trying to get the fans on their side in a fight they will not win. NO way the MLBPPA accepts any type of cap.
I can see the A’s winning their division really soon. The biggest issue with them will be their pitching. Position wise? They have talent! It’s a shame they are playing in a minor league ballpark. I have a special place in my heart for the A’s organization . They drafted my son in 2010. He never made it to the majors, but it opened up a lot of doors for him. I wish the organization the best! (Except when they play the Dodgers!)
Teo looked fresh and healthy last night! Great to see him back!
Watching Freddie at first with the A’s rookie second baseman was fantastic! Celebrated his first career hit! Freddie is a baseball treasure!
Rojas just keeps on being a baseball player! Are we sure he retires after the season?
Max just keeps producing! Batting 7th? Wow!
Is Tucker teasing again or what? Almost to .250 with a lot of hard hit balls. He would make that lineup so much better.
Pages looked better the last couple of games. If he could just layoff the balls 2 feet off the plate!!
Lauer pitched a good game. He’s really done a good job filling in! Bet the Jays would like to rethink that decision!
Kyle Hurts best inning as a professional pitcher! That was impressive! Keep it up!
Hernandez probably has his bags packed and ready to go. Started out really good. Finishing up not so good.
Looks like this weekend series will only have wildcard implications! Love it!
Every season the Dodgers seem to find a pitcher on another team’s scrap heap and turn him into a vital contributor. Usually a reliever, but this time it’s Lauer.
The Dodgers have a knack for this. It’s both the scouting and the coaching.
And it’s usually overlooked when the team’s critics rant about the Dodgers’ payroll.
As for Miggy…. he says this is his last season, but he certainly could change his mind. Perhaps he should be be kept around as a major league coach and emergency sub, like Junior Gilliam in the past. I think Gilliam “retired” and came back twice.
He sure isn’t playing like he wants to retire hitting .281. What a cool way for him to close out his career, as a player -coach. He plays every minute with a lot of heart. And another dinger tonight. Robo looking like he wants to be an ace and the Dodgers up 9-1 in the 7th.
I along with others are interested what rabbit Preller pulls out of his ass to try and make the playoffs. There’s NOT left in the cupboard to offer in trades.
There’s NOT much left in the cupboard to offer in trades.
They dont have anything left to trade. What they should do is trade Miller, Manny, and Tatis and blow it all up…..
Miller, I could see ,but who is going to take on the contracts of Machado and Tatis. The Padres would have to eat a large portion of their contracts in any trade.
Tatis is still in his prime. Maybe he just needs a change of scenery.
I don’t know Posada, perhaps English isn’t his native tongue, but that bit about the game being dumber… that’s kinda a weird and dopey quantification.
But it’s definitely not as fun or enjoyable to watch!
Even MLB acknowledges that.
Fans don’t seem to mind. They keep coming and paying more every year to do it.
I’m pretty sure this isn’t true.
Hasn’t the trend of TV ratings been further for the past two decades plus?
https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/1oni5zc/us_world_series_viewership_by_year/
A simple Google search:
“Both MLB national television viewership and in-person stadium attendance are up, riding a wave of multiyear momentum.
National Viewership:
Surging Ratings: Viewership across national broadcasts (ESPN, Fox, NBC, and Netflix) is up a staggering 44% compared to the same period in the previous year.Historical Highs: National games are averaging 2.28 million viewers, making this the league’s strongest showing for early-season viewership since
Streaming Success: Platforms like MLB.TV and exclusive broadcast partners are seeing record-breaking viewership, fueled in part by new media rights deals and increased international interest.”
World Series viewership? Meh. Maybe the nation is tired of seeing the same teams in the playoffs every year. But $ in baseball is flowing like the Mighty Mississipp.
yeah, back in the 70s and 80s Americans also tuned into three major networks to watch MASH and All in the Family and sitcoms. Baseball TV viewership just reflects larger trends in entertainment that has given people a myriad of entertainment choices.
I don’t think I watched the Olympics at all this time around.
If you look at the stats, WS viewership has also trended up sharply the past two years. The Ohtani effect? Probably.
Badger,
Up over the previous year!?!?!
simple indeed.
What kind of context is that?
I show you a two decade trend and you cite a one year bump?
Yes, why cite the most important game as an indicator?
Oh gosh, this is not solely because of the diminishment of network TV.
Sure there may be modest recent upticks in gate numbers, but come on.
Last year was just barely over 71mm, that’s paltry just compared to the record of 79.48 million, back in 2007 and there are now twenty percent more people than there were then!
20% more in the denominator
Sure COVID. Sure fragmentation. Sure social media. Whatever.
Baseball isn’t as popular.
And a part of that is that it isn’t as enjoyable.
Sheesh
The nitty gritty is attendance to the US population, this year’s (2025) rate is 20.8 percent, not only down on last year, it’s the lowest since before MLB expanded! Expanded!
Maybe the number of games that can be watched from home today compared to yesteryear should be part of the calculus.
Oh. I’m not trying to tie the decline in popularity to a single issue.
Did not, in the slightest, mean to imply that.
I’m just saying the game is declining in popularity and the “entertainment” value of the current style of play has an impact.
MLB knows this. They admit it! It shouldn’t be a debate.
“Oh gosh, this is not solely because of the diminishment of network TV.”
– Not solely, no, and, in fact, the “popularity” of baseball as measured by different types of engagement has ebbed and flowed over the past few decades, but I would point to the overall fragmentation of our media consumption habits as the single biggest factor – not the only one, however – influencing that Reddit graph you posted.
“Sure there may be modest recent upticks in gate numbers, but come on.”
“Gate numbers?” total MLB revenue has grown form 7.5 billion in 2012 to 12.5 billion in 2025, an over 60% increase, although several franchises are still poor or lose money. In the past 2-3 years, both gate attendance and TV viewership have grown significantly. In 2023, about 9 million viewers tuned in to watch the WS. Last year nearly 16 million tuned in. I’d say that’s a little more than modest, though not the 32 million who watched in 1978.
“Last year was just barely over 71mm, that’s paltry just compared to the record of 79.48 million, back in 2007 and there are now twenty percent more people than there were then!”
– You keep focusing on per capita attendance. True, when factoring in population growth, it hasn’t kept pace, but what entertainment media has? Do you go to movie theaters every Friday night like you used to? Entertainment isn’t food; it’s growth is not directly tied to population growth. Baseball is still financially healthy, and has has seen a significant upswing recently.
“Sure COVID. Sure fragmentation. Sure social media. Whatever.
Baseball isn’t as popular.
And a part of that is that it isn’t as enjoyable.”
– The enjoyability component of watching baseball seems like it’s your central argument – you’ve mentioned it twice – and I would say it’s your weakest. Less enjoyable compared to what? Other forms of entertainment? Baseball in the good ole days? Is that because baseball doesn’t do the hit and run as much? Too much slug? Shorter attention spans? To your point, revenue, gate attendance and viewership have all increased measurably since the introduction of the pitch clock and shorter games.
“The nitty gritty is attendance to the US population, this year’s (2025) rate is 20.8 percent, not only down on last year, it’s the lowest since before MLB expanded! Expanded!”
– Attendance tied to per capita again. Tying the overall trends in baseball engagement and financial health to this one metric just falls apart upon closer examination of revenue, different forms of how fans engage with the sport, and viewership changes from year to year.
Badger and Bear are mostly right. Baseball is doing well financially, and is not declining into irrelevancy because there aren’t enough old school chaw spitting baseball managers with names like Sparky or Whitey implementing suicide squeeze plays like they used to. Like all things, it’s evolving. It’ll be fine.
I appreciate this response and the time it took to write it!
I think I agree?
All you need to know that attendance is up is look at the Dodgers drawing 4 million last year for the first time in their history in LA with the prices for tickets, parking, concessions and souvenirs through the roof. Caps are 40 bucks plus. Jersey’s almost 200. Fans don’t mind. Attendance early in the season is always less. It gets stronger as the summer goes on. Baseball might not be as popular as it once was, but it is a cash cow.
Lot of it has to do with the LA demographics and income levels. Let’s face it, guys making $100K a year are not going to drop $500 to take his family to a Dodger game. But there’s plenty of high six and seven figure earners to support the Dodgers billionaires owners and millionaire players. I’m not trying to make a political statement, just showing who’s attending the games and who can afford to.
I went to the Yankees AAA team game in NEPA and had 200 level seats for $15 each with reasonable prices for dogs and beer. Had a great evening watching some exciting baseball and got out of the parking lot in 15 minutes after the game with change left from a Benjamin. Got home bub time to watch the Dodgers game on MLB that started at 10:15. That’s a good baseball night.
Bear, I think, scratch that, I know that the Dodgers are not your typical MLB team.
Google makes a LOT of money from search ads, that doesn’t mean the search ad business is a cash cow. Ask DuckDuckGo about that. Ask Perplexity.
It is totally true. Costs almost as much to go to one ball game as a month’s rent in some places.
Although his conclusions are debatable, I thought his points were well articulated, even though it was a little bit of old timers yelling at clouds.
That old school baseball versus moneyball chasm is real. Even here and on Jeff’s site, the word “Slug” was used often, and as almost a pejorative. Mindless slugging is crude, inartful, and the sabre stats that encourage the slug evolution don’t capture the sublime beauty of bunting a man over, the hit and run play, or making contact with the ball because it produces unexpected results that strikeouts don’t.
According to Posada, there were unwritten rules on how the game was to be played, taught by coaches from little league onwards. The best players used intuition to read games and performed in ways stats can’t measure. Posada argues that modern players are just generic products of formulas and perhaps lack agency, insight and deeper knowledge of the game. – i.e. dumber.
Not sure his point is true, but it is an interesting and larger philosophical discussion.
Totally agree.
Its a great conversation to have!
I juust thought using “dumber” was historicism at its worst
I think though baseball is played on the same diamond now has it has been since the Dodgers were the Bridegrooms, baseball, like everything, has changed. It could follow generational trends. I sure did things differently than my father did, and he did things differently than his father did.
Many of us here learned how to bunt and execute the hit and run early, like in Little League. When I played in high school most of the guys I played against were about the same size I was. Very few could hit a ball 400’. Look at the size of the guys playing now. They are huge. They all can hit a ball 400’. Why bunt a guy to second when a drive to outfield gap could score him? I get it.
The physics of baseball cannot be denied. It’s arithmetic. OPS scores runs. As beautiful as we may find a successful hit and run, the guys playing now were never asked to do it in any league they ever played in. I’m sure from his perspective Posada believes he is right. But it’s been a long time since bunting and the hit and run has been popular in MLB. And I don’t see them coming back anytime soon.
It is still played with the same dimensions, but MLB stacked the deck with larger bases and rules designed to increase scoring.
Lojackson Lara
Oswaldo Osorio
Mairoshendrick Martinus
The Dodgers’ prospect name game is almost as strong as their developmental game.
The Los Angeles Tongue-Twisters.
The A’s are a young fun team. I was watching the A’s broadcast with Chris Caray (grandson of Harry Carey) and former MLB pitcher Dallas Braden. Yes, they are homers but no more than Joe Davis. They were enjoyable to listen to, and were very excited for their rookie 23 year old middle infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer who got three hits on his MLB debut. He was a 3rd round pick in 2024 from Rutgers. Carey and Braden were very complimentary of the Dodgers. My friend who was at the game said that the fans were 90% LAD. Carey and Braden said that LAD fans travel well. I am sure they do travel well, but I do not think they realize how many LAD fans here are in Sacramento.
It is a great venue to see baseball although it is not a MLB park, but for MiLB games it is great.
MLB and MLB ready middle infielders for the A’s – Jacob Wilson, Zach Gelof, Akili Williams, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, and Leo De Vries in the wings. 1B Nick Kurtz, LF Tyler Soderstrom, C Shea Langeliers, CF Colby Thomas, 3B Max Muncy. Managed by Mark Kotsay. I have known Kotsay since we picked him up at the Hartford, Connecticut Airport in 1992. He and my son were playing in the Mickey Mantle WS in Waterbury, Connecticut and the Junior Olympics in Beaumont, Texas. He and my have remained good friends.
3B Coach Bobby Crosby was one of the early River Cats and was one of my wife’s favorites. Former USC and LAD MiLB pitcher Dan Hubbs is the bullpen coach, and he and my son were teammates in Phillies organization.
I will catch a few A’s games this summer. Without the Dodgers or Yankees, the prices will be more than reasonable.
Jeff,while you were Connecticut,did you get chance to travel to New Haven for some of the BEST Italian pizza and Italian dishes?
Did not get that chance. We were in Waterbury for less than a week all filled with baseball. Although there was one day the team had off that we went to Yankee Stadium and we got to see Roger Clemens pitch for Boston. We were in Waterbury for the WS two years 91 and 92. I do not remember which one we went to Yankee Stadium .
Maybe we can trade one of our young OF’s for one of their infielders.
Ha! We have a glut of minor league infielders of our own. What we need are some premium catching prospects.
Funny how that goes, a few years ago the Dodgers were one of the deepest teams in the league with all the catching prospects they had in the minors, now they are thin at that position. Dodgers didn’t do anything wrong, that’s just the way it goes sometimes.