Some Random Early Season Thoughts From the Recliner

“Baseball flows with the rhythm of life. Comes forth in the spring, lives in the summer, goes in the fall, plays in shitty Latin American ballparks in the winter” – Walt Whitman

• I have to admit that I’m conflicted about MLB’s decision to move the All-Star game from Atlanta.  I’m not conflicted about their decision.  Simply put, I disagree with the MLB’s action.  Why I disagree is not important.   I’ll leave that to Mark and those of you who want to engage in that discussion to sort it out.  I’ve come to learn that a blog and social media are not the places to engage in such discussions, as rather than educate, it only invites more rancor.  Frankly, I come to this blog to have a moment’s respite from the stress of day-to-day living, not to fight or argue.

●  MLB’s decision on the All-Star game did, however, further bolster my opinion that Rob Manfred is one of the worst, if not the worst Commissioner of Baseball during my time as a fan.   I wonder how you can get and keep a gig like that, and yet continue to make blunder after blunder.  MLB’s decision has made me ponder, once you make a decision like this, where does it stop? 

●   My conflict with MLB’s decision stems, primarily, from my lifelong love for baseball and whether I could ever decide not to follow the Dodgers in the days ahead. The reason I find myself so conflicted is that I have a deep-rooted love for baseball and the Dodgers.  Baseball is such a precious, enjoyable, and simple game.  It was the first “American” game that I learned soon after I immigrated from Holland as a five-year-old.  I cherish the many years of memories I have of playing, coaching, and watching my sons play.  My family has lived much of our life, playing or watching baseball.  Whether it is playing over-the-line at Artesia Park, playing catch in the back yard with my grandson in the back yard, simply throwing a ball in the air and seeing how far I could hit it, or sitting in the stands at Dodger Stadium, I have always loved the game of baseball.  

●   I know that much about baseball has changed over the years.  Professionally, it has become big business.  Billionaire owners make a ton of money off their teams.  That’s their right.   Players are also being paid an enormous sum of money to play this game.  While I don’t begrudge them their right to make as much money as they can, from my perspective, it has impacted much of the purity of the game.  Even youth ball is now affected by the “pay to play travel teams.”  Moreover, the pressure placed on kids nowadays to “succeed” as opposed to just having fun, has removed some of the youthful innocence from the game.  Gone are the days of playing a pick-up game in the backyard with your best buddy.   Despite that, because baseball and the Dodgers have been such a large part of my life, I’m not sure that I’m ready to be “done with baseball and the Dodgers” because of some stupid corporate decision.   I gave up watching and following football and basketball many years ago, for differing reasons, and I don’t miss them.  Maybe it will happen with baseball and the Dodgers too, but not just yet. 

●  For the most part, I have chosen not to engage in the political banter that’s been prevalent in the past couple of weeks.  I respect and admire so many of you that read and comment on this blog.  You have great insights on baseball and, in some instances on life and I enjoy reading them.  I also admire Mark. It is a tremendous undertaking to keep this blog afloat and he spends an inordinate amount of time writing articles and providing fresh content every day.  I’m only involved in this in a small way, and I can tell you that, from the help he provides me with the few articles that I post, he does an awful lot behind the scenes.   I’m grateful to him for putting forth the effort he does, and I’m also very grateful that he humors me by letting me ramble on in my random thoughts articles. 

●  The reason I try to stay away from the political discussion is that, much like the purity and innocence of baseball, gone are the days that people can engage in civil discourse.  I’m sure that things might be different if we were having some of these discussions in the backyard over a barbeque, but once behind the anonymity of a computer screen, things change.  Simply expressing disagreement no longer seems to be allowed, as most people have this insatiable need to rebut each statement of disagreement by attempting to show that they are right and they, and they alone, have the superior intellect in the discussion.  I fall victim to that thought process every now and again, and when I do, I don’t even like myself for it.  In my opinion, this need to be right is an incredibly unhealthy perspective that can wreak havoc on your personal and professional life.  I blame the lack of civil discourse on political debates.  I can’t watch more than a few minutes of the “debates”, if we can call them that.   They’re more of an exercise in who can speak the loudest and interrupt the other more effectively.   It is rare, that opposing arguments are ver discussed in a meaningful sense.  Rather, it seems the accepted style is to engage in ad hominem attacks and forget to make your point on an issue.   It defies my understanding how Joe Biden and Donald Trump can be the best this country has to offer for presidential candidates.  That’s also why I never watch CNN, Fox News, or their ilk with my grandchildren.  We want to teach them the importance of manners, and they will never learn them by watching that nonsense.  

●  I am disturbed that the Commissioner’s office leaked to the press that the balls used by Trevor Bauer were being inspected.  Perhaps they weren’t responsible for the leak.  Maybe it was an umpire or one of the clubhouse boys who did.  Frankly, it doesn’t matter how that information got to the press, it just shouldn’t have.  If you release the information for one pitcher, you have to do it for all.  But of course, that’s not going to happen.  I also find it peculiar that the players most critical of Manfred as to his investigation of the Astros and the punishment meted out, Justin Turner and Trevor Bauer, have had private information about them leaked to the press which caused them to be painted in a bad light.   I, for one, don’t think that’s a coincidence. 

● Finishing the discussion about civil discourse, ultimately, who cares if you think, for example, that Jansen should be the closer, or I think that Knebel should be the closer.  It really doesn’t matter.  None of us on this blog will ever have any input on that decision.  Further, I doubt that anyone on the Dodger coaching staff or administration is going to call us to get our advice. Moreover, we do not have all of the information available to the coaching staff.  We may think we know it all, but we don’t.  Therefore, the discussion is and should be, nothing more than for fun.  Just like the game itself.

●  Well enough of that blah, blah, blah.  After Friday nights’ 1-0 victory over the Nationals, then again after Saturday nights 9-5 victory, and lastly after Sunday’s 3-0 shutout, I came to LADT to read the game and post-game comments.  I had to read over the comments twice because, with the exception of one quick comment by Bear, I could not find a single comment from anyone praising Doc Roberts for the use of his bullpen.  He did a masterful job this weekend, and I would think after all the criticism that’s been heaped on him, he would get some love.  He managed to pull the right strings in each game.   Then again, maybe it was just luck on his part, I guess.   

● Having the players receive a congratulatory message from their favorite players of their youth, was a very nice touch to the ring ceremony.  It humanized the players and reminded me of the purity and love for the game that I wrote of earlier in this article.   Most all of us had favorite players growing up, and we can all identify with how special it might have been for the Dodgers’ players.  With that part of the ceremony being meaningful, I feel the less that Mark Walters speaks on these occasions, the better it would be for the fans.  Just my opinion, but his speech made me want to vomit.  On the other hand, I did get some satisfaction, sadistic perhaps, when the fans booed LA Mayor, Eric Garcetti.  

●  It’s still early in the season, but you have to like this team.  Minus Mookie and Belli, they represented well against the Nationals.   The starting pitching looks solid, if not yet spectacular.  Throwing more than 4 innings per game, is a nice change from last year.  And, to Eric’s dismay, I think the bullpen is going to do just fine.  Knebel has been a very nice addition.   Currently, the pen is without Graterol and Gonsolin, who I think we can agree, will only make it stronger.  Plus, I still think that Jimmy Nelson and David Price will be just fine as the season moves along.  We may see a replacement for Alexander somewhere down the line, but right now, he’s a no harm no foul pitcher.  Maybe, if the starters continue to throw 6 or 7 innings, the Dodgers won’t have to tax their bullpen quite as much.

●  Speaking of Gonsolin, I am concerned that his injury might be more serious than initially reported.   I hope not, but more recent reports indicate that he may be on the shelf for longer period of time.      

●  I don’t wish him any ill will, him being a local boy and all, but frankly, it would not bother me if Joe Kelly spent the entire year on the IL.  

●  Again it’s early, but I like what I see from Zach McKinstry.  I love his enthusiasm.  He appears to be a more disciplined player than Kike.  He’s certainly is not as fidgety in the batter’s box as Kike.  He has also done well defensively.  I’m not ready to christen him ROY yet, but he’s exceeded my expectations by a lot.  While he has been a ray of sunshine, unfortunately, Matt Beatty has not yet found his rhythm.  He looks out of sorts at the plate.   But, the season is long and I think he will come around. 

●   Sunday’s version of Kenley Jansen was really nice.  I read a quote from Dave Roberts about Kenley:  “He’s been working really hard with the performance guys, Brandon McDaniel, and his staff.  Connor McGuiness has been good for him,” Roberts said. “He’s just been working really hard. Credit goes to Kenley, and it was really fun to see.” Keep on working Kenley, maybe there is a full year left in his gas tank.     

●  It seems that it was premature to stick a fork in Justin Turner and Clayton Kershaw.   They’ve done quite nicely up to this point, at times even showing some flashes of greatness.  Let’s hope they make it through the year without injury.  With the depth available to Doc, he can give them plenty of opportunities to rest as needed throughout the season.

●  The more and more I watch CT3 play the more I appreciate him as a player.  He does so many little things well.  Getting him from the Mariners for Zach Lee will always go down as one of the most one-sided trades in Dodgers history.  

●   Gavin Lux looks so much more relaxed and confidant this year.  Defensively he has been very solid and his bat is coming around.  Several of his outs have been very hard hit.  I think he’s going to have a solid year. 

●  Max Muncy is also looking more like his earlier version, as opposed to last years version.  He looks much more dialed in and is hitting the ball hard. 

●  This article was written on Sunday afternoon, and I’m adding this portion on Wednesday morning.  Last night’s game, albeit against the lowly Rockies, was fun to watch.  I dig the long ball!  There were a lot of hard-hit balls and some of them went far enough to make the home run seats.  What I found most impressive, however, is how well Trevor Bauer pitched.  Again, it’s early in the season, but he shows a great command of his pitches and he exudes confidence on the mound.  If he does this all year, I think we’ll all be happy that AF signed him.   

While not giving up on the Dodgers yet, I’ve decided to retire my song parodies.  After the first one, I mostly continued to do them for DodgerBlueMom.  She was the only one who ever seemed to enjoy them.  With the sad news of her death, I think it’s a really good time to hang that writing endeavor up.  

My song for the day is “Goin Back” by the Byrds.