The Giants are Junkyard Dogs!

In case you might have missed or even care Andy Burns is back:

09/10/21 Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent 3B Andy Burns to a minor league contract and is currently at the ACL.

J. Gray got hit hard again yesterday with the Nats. ERA now at an even 6.00.

Keibert hit a 3 run double but his average still around the Belli level.

For us , Page hit his 28th of the year. Kid is looking really good. Should be at AA next season.

Busch went 2-5 , average climbing and climbing.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, Kelly was mean tonight. If he can keep this up it could be a game changer in those close games we have trouble with.

WB bounced back nicely from his last outing .

Gavin 2-2, nice to see him go oppo. Keep him in the lineup. Kid only needs some confidence.

Keep the pressure up, hopefully the Giants after all will begin to come back to earth.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice win, kept pace with the Giants. Now if the other teams could lend a hand. USC taking it on the chin at home from Stanford. Oregon upset Ohio State. Always love seeing the Buckeyes lose.

What a weird box. Mookie and Lux each with 2 hits, everybody else was 0fer.

Great job by Kelly. Kudos to Jansen

I don’t think Trienen pitched that bad it’s just that Tatis and Machado were locked in

Nice to see Cody contribute.

Good game by Lux confidence means a lot

Oh yeah I forgot about Mookie… Sweet

Strange game but I’ll take it all day

That was the best Joe Kelly has ever thrown as a Dodger

Wow!!

Also, as a guy who was born in another country but has lived in America since I was 5, 1) I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, and 2) we got a lot of shit we need to deal with and fix.

Where is everyone?

We are winning…we scored 5 runs…..Belli and Lux are contributing….so why aren’t there 10 guys here buzzing with all this good news?

Great news….GAVIN LUX IS 2-2!

We might have a new outfielder to play when there is a RHP.

So if we are facing a RHP like today, we may be seeing Lux and Belli with Mookie.

If we are facing a LHP, you could see Pollock (when healthy) and CT3 with Mookie.

As Nevret was talking I said don’t throw him a first pitch strike

Booyah could see that coming

Speed Kills! Yes, I want more of that. Belli and Lux and a whole lotta speed combine for the first two runs of the game. Stay in the zone guys, good things will happen.

Cody, Luz and Warlker…are the Clutch….!!! Ha, ha, ha, it’s Nice to see that

You guys

I’m not sure you realise that you live in her greatest nation in the world bar none.

You bitch and you moan, and I get it – it’s not perfect – but trust me when I say – there’s no better place on Earth to be living in 2021.

What a country you live in, and how lucky you are.

The Dodgers are absolutely doing their best – we are the best team bar none – but unfortunately it might come one down yo one gsme.

That’s where I worry – in a one off format – otherwise I take us to beat anyone in a best of 5 or 7.

Still waiting for Giants to collapse and Bellinger to hit! But I think I’d rather play Giants in first round rather than Brewers! Even down an ace.

No team claimed him for a second time on waivers and he is still a Dodger:

09/11/21 Los Angeles Dodgers sent RHP Neftali Feliz outright to Oklahoma City Dodgers.

I’m not surprised to see Belli back in the lineup after watching Doc’s interview saying he would be out for a few games.

I’m glad to see Lux in there since he’ll most likely sit tomorrow against Snell. I guess we’ll see Mookie, CT3 and Souza tomorrow.

Hopefully Pollock is healing quickly. Thanks for the good news AVF!

I’m looking forward to game tonight, as usual. I got some Dodger Dogs from the store, gonna go with the grilled version. If you haven’t tried them yet, the new supplier is every bit as good, if not better than Farmer John. Damn, forgot to get a white onion.

I’m a hot dog traditionalist for the most part. Mustard, relish and onions with a pile of sauerkraut on the side.

lam sorry about the last three in lineup. But l like from first to 6th

September 11, 2021

Pollock (hamstring) participated in agility drills in the outfield ahead of Saturday’s game against the Padres, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Tonight’s lineup:

HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG

M. BettsRF 103-384 47 19 9 .268

M. Muncy1B 110-428 81 32 2 .257

T. Turner2B 164-515 59 21 26 .318

C. SeagerSS 78-275 41 8 1 .284

J. Turner3B 128-464 74 23 2 .276

W. SmithC 99-365 69 23 3 .271

C. BellingerCF 45-284 33 9 2 .158

G. LuxLF 63-287 37 6 3 .220

W. BuehlerP 7-62 3 0 0 .113

Giant 6 cubs 1 are these teams just rolling over for the giants

The Giants are junkyard dogs and some years teams are made up of incredibly lucky junkyard dogs. Such is the case for San Francisco this year where practically everything seems to fall in their favor. Prognosticators said they would be fortunate to play .500 ball this year. I live in the Bay Area and can honestly say that most of the Giant fans that I have interacted with have disliked Kapler from the start. Farhan Zaidi wasn’t far behind him either. Now they could be handed the key to the city and would be cheered in a Market Street parade.

How a team fielded with older, past their prime veterans, has overtaken the juggernaut Dodgers comes from incredible luck, a number of career years from veterans, and things simply falling into place for this team. I’ll give it to them. They have surprised us all. Desclafani and Webb came out of no where to become standup starters. Who could have seen that? Gausman was probably the best pitcher in the first half of the year. Then Posey rebounded to his 2014 self and Brandon Crawford learned how to hit. Belt took on leadership qualities that few realized he had and the rest of the fill in guys were gutsy, gritty players that have come through in the clutch.

They are a team that hasn’t had prolonged winning streaks (with their longest at six games), but also has not had a significant losing week all year, (longest streak was 4 games). Consistency has been their forte. With practically identical winning percentages on the home and road. Look at their monthly winning %: April .615, May .643, June .640, July .600, Aug. 679, Sept. .700

That is extremely difficult to overcome. Despite that, the Dodgers were toe to toe with them up until a few days ago.

Then there was the luck:

Aside from Longoria, the injury bug really hasn’t hit them hard. Yes, there was the COVID outbreak with two players before the Dodger series this month, but truth is it was a blessing in disguise probably, because the Dodgers would have faced a slumping Alex Wood one game instead of their bullpen. Johnny Cueto has had some injury issues but he certainly isn’t the pitcher he used to be. None of their injuries have been on the scale of what the Dodgers have had to overcome: Seager, Bellinger, Pollock, Kershaw, Gonselin, Kelly, Knebel, Graterol, Lux, Dustin May all come to mind.

There was the game in Milwaukee when Avisail Garcia dropped the final out of the game on the warning track. Then there was the Pujols home run robbery in Dodger stadium by Tauchman, (a guy no longer even in their organization), and the check swing debacle that handed them a win. Those are three games I can think of off the top of my head that San Francisco should have never won. I know there are more.

A guy like Tauchman, who batted a horrid .178 for the Giants. He saved two games with defensive gems that robbed home runs. Even underperformers have contributed to that team.

Jake McGee? Did we even care that he walked away from us last year. The guy has as many saves as Jansen this year. Alex Wood? He has shined as a Giant and shown a fire that we didn’t see too much in LA.

Then there is the schedule. It hasplayed out where the Giants face a weak and depleted Cub team that has given up and has sold off their stars. When LA faced them a few months back, they were contenders with something to play for. When the Giants swept the Reds four straight in Cincinnati back in May, they faced an injured team that had little playoff aspirations. Now the Dodgers go head to head with them as they battle neck and neck with San Diego for their post season lives. My point is, this type of luck has seemed to follow the Giants all season long.

San Francisco has called up kids that have panned out. Estrada and Wade come to mind. Neither thought of as potential contributors but both have been significant pieces in their first place run. I’ve got to hand it to them though, their kids arrived and they were ready. They got on the big stage and performed. Can’t say the same of minor leaguers the Dodgers called up.

Despite the fact that the Dodgers have three legitimate Cy Young candidates in the rotation (and none of them is named Kershaw), they sit 2.5 back in the standings. I still have hope that the Dodgers will overtake them, but 140+ games in, it doesn’t look like the Giants are going to falter.

If the Dodgers win the one game wild card game and face them in the NLDS, I like their chances with Urias, Buehler, Scherzer, Kershaw facing them. It’s that wildcard game that has me worried though. Anything could happen there.

I want this for most of the time until the end of the season, I want Belli’s defense, I don’t care that he’s not hitting:

2B TT

RF Betts

SS Seager

3B Turner

1B Muncy

C Smith

LF CT3 / Lux

CF Bellinger

Agree with most everything you wrote, Mark.

But honestly I’m not surprised that the players you listed could fall out of a boat and not hit water. For those players the boat is still parked in the driveway. Either not ready or high strikeout swingers. I had hoped that Zack McKinstry would be one of the answers to replacing Kiki.

For all that has gone wrong and Mark pretty much hit the nail on the head with his review, it’s pretty amazing the Dodgers are in position to win a hundred games.

All that being said, the Dodgers had opportunities to push the Giants back and failed to take advantage of opportunities. The back to back blown saves, losing two out three in San Francisco, losing two out of three to the Rockies at home, splitting with the Cards. The Giants have been better in the dogfight than the Dodgers and that’s why they are leading. More games are lost than won.

The lack of hitting in the bottom of the line up stands out. It has hurt the team time and again. At one point the bottom four were something like 0-65. Toss out the blind squirrel theory.

Honestly too many people pay too much attention to analystics. Nothing wrong with hard contact data, but I’ll take a .300 hitter over a .220 or .230 hitter anytime. Batting average is still important. Must be, many people still refer to those stats here, in the media, among players and baseball pundits.

I thought the ball Max Muncy hit last night clearly indicates what’s wrong with the game. Manny Machado made a diving catch playing rover on a ball headed for a double. The game needs more offense, not less, time to end the shifts. Two players on each side of second base playing on the actual infield. Honestly, the game is becoming boring, the lack of hitting and all. More guys swinging for the fence and more strikeouts. Just four hits for the Dodgers last night.

Dave Roberts said last night no more resting players. So that’s good news.

Excellent review Mark.

Bluto… So very true!!!

I see a name and I fast forward… Easy !!!

Why are you complaining?

It’s what I do.

A season with 100 games won is always special because it is very difficult to achieve, the Dodgers will finish the season with 100 or more victories, that should give the division championship most of the time, if this does not happen this time, you just have to take off your hat, as a sign of respect, before the team that surpassed us and prepare for what follows, an elimination game where the team is well equipped to play it and win it and advance in October

Shabbat Shalom fellow Dodgers fans…..

I have to say, The Giants are impressing me more and more each game. I’ve about given up hoping for them to go on a losing streak. I guess we are going to have to beat them 4 times in order to eliminate them.

Hey, how come none of you minor league watchers didn’t tell us LUX has been working out in the outfield while at Oklahoma? Or did you? If you did, I apologize. I hope he didn’t embarrass himself out there last night.

Anyhow, it was interesting to see Doc bench Cody, a lefty, for Lux, a lefty….knowing that both are pretty much useless against left handed pitchers. I guess Doc was willing to give up Cody’s excellent defense hoping to get at least one big hit from Lux. Oh well, I hear he hit the ball hard one time and I don’t think he struck out, so that is good news.

So, for Doc to play Sousa and now Lux over Beaty should tell us something….Beaty must have dumped his gf (Doc’s daughter, niece, someone close to him). Lol

Glad to see Max break out…we need for someone, other than Seager and Will, to do that. Max is a start. Who’s next?

Go Buehler!

TM

9-11 is always a solemn day for me. I watched the events unfold from our truckers lounge at the JB Hunt facility in South Gate. A couple of friends of mine had friends or relatives in the towers. And also some co workers. To me, it was like Pearl Harbor all over again. And that it happened on American soil made me all that much madder. 20 years have passed, and I still get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I still go out of my way to thank policemen, fire fighters and soldiers of all branches when I encounter them. They put the safety of others ahead of their own and they are a shining example of what all of us should be about. MLB is going to have a moment of silence before games today. I whole heartedly support that. And I hope American’s realize there are still threats to our very existence out there. We are not universally loved.

Here would be my lineup tonight:

1. Trea Turner 2B

2. Corey Seager SS

3. Justin Turner 3B

4. Will Smith C

5. Mookie Betts RF

6. Matt Beaty LF

7. Max Muncy 1B

8. Cody Bellinger CF

I ranked the hitters according to Batting Average. If you don’t like where you hit, all you have to do is improve your BA. Anything wrong with that?

Bluto,

I checked your water report and I would recommend a system like this which installs on the water line to your water heater:

https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-limeblaster-salt-free-water-conditioner-10-gpm.html

However, we have a new and improved Limeblaster 2.0 ready to launch and if you are interested, I could get you into a Beta Test for a lot less. It is about 30% more effective than the current Limeblaster.

E-mail me at: mark@uswatersystems.com if you are interested. I will be back in the office on Monday.

Now we see that Taylor has been playing with a bad neck. And Phil, letting Julio hit in the 6th last night I don’t think was a pitching decision. He’s a better hitter than any one else we had on the bench! Now that’s pretty sad! And add me to the list that I think Lux will still be a star! And Seager will be a Yankee

Good morning all. It was nice to meet up with Mark and his family in Denver. Barring the traffic which is becoming equally as bad as LA anymore, the trip up and the trip home this morning were pleasant. We got to talk about a lot of things, baseball included. Mark was a gracious host. The area where the restaurant was is one of the nicest to visit in Lo-Do. What they call lower Denver. A street that was closed off to autos’ and is now a great place to go for food and shopping. The food at the smokehouse was great. I had the smoked turkey sandwich. It also shows that two people can have a lot different conversations face to face than they can on line. When I first started posting on baseball blogs a few years ago, it started on a different site. Mark was a poster there and things immediately got pretty icy between us. It was not about who was right or wrong, it was about how differently we both perceived the same player. The player? Yasmani Grandal. At the time, Mark felt he was the second coming, me, I did not even want the guy on the team and I said so vehemently. We stated our cases, did some pretty heavy name calling and calling out and finally just resolved that we were never going to agree about the guy. To his credit, over the years we resolved what ever differences we had simply because we both love the Dodgers. It has culminated with me now writing for his blog and enjoying the whole experience. To sit down with someone you have never met who shares the same passion for the game and the team is something that you have to cherish. And in a lot of ways, we are alike more than one would think. Mark is the second person who posts on a blog that I have met fact to face. Both experiences were very positive. I wish we were all in closer proximity so we could have a great get together. It would be fun to put faces to the names. Oh yeah, the two bobbleheads I gave him were a Bellinger from 2019. And the Steve Garvey from when he was added to the Dodger Legends. We discussed many subjects besides baseball, so it was a great time. Oh, and I am obviously the better looking of the two of us! LOL. Got to watch the recap of the game this morning. I am glad they started off the homestand with a win, now lets win 20 in a row. Beaty was added to the roster and McKinney placed on the 10 day IL with a hip impingement. Mark was also checking the score on his I phone, and informed me when Taylor struck out with the bases loaded…….CT 3 redeemed himself a little in the 4th with the sac fly and that great catch he made off of Machado’s drive.

Terrific picture this morning of Mark and Bear. It’s very cool you guys got to meet up. A couple of good lookin guys.

* Despite 4 hits, our pitching saved the day again. Nice use of the pen with Treinen and KJ after Urias’ great 7 innings.

* I thought it was really interesting decision that Doc made to let Urias hit with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the 6th. One of those Skipper decisions; do you pinch hit and try to add on to the 3 run lead? Or do you stick with the hot pitcher? Doc chose to get one more inning out of Urias and finish with Blake and KJ. I don’t know if that came from Doc’s gut or analytics but it was an Interesting dilemma and he made a good call.

* It sure is a different game these days. All the “shift haters” must have blown a clot when Machado robbed Muncy of a potential double as a rover in right field and then got TT on a nice play in the 6 hole. I don’t love the shift but I’m not ready to make rules against it, but stuff like that could make me reconsider.

BullPen. it’s 0 to 0, after one.

Glad to see you guys meet up, there’s no substitute for in person interaction. Hope you guys had a great time together.

The Padres are sure getting their Karma. Losing Cronenworth at this point in the season is a huge blow for them. Too bad it will also help out the Giants.

The offense put up just enough to beat the Padre’s ace last night, and Musgrove really got off a little easy. Muncy almost took him deep earlier in the game, he made sure he got all of it later.

Lux and CT3 almost crossed wires on a ball hit perfectly in the gap. Both showed some range and both could have caught it while covering a lot of ground. Our defense has the ability to be very good at times. Lux showed some good instincts letting CT3 take control as the Center Fielder.

Bill Plunkett also questioned Doc’s decision to rest Seager, especially with Will Smith out of the lineup. Doc’s response mentioned “Putting Seager in harm’s way by playing 13 in a row”, what a load of crap! Harm’s way?

Lux crushed a hard liner last night right to Profar at first base. So close! Let him play tonight, I want to see more.

Damn I hate the Giants. The Cubs were on a roll, then the Giants come to town and they roll over. I don’t like this one bit.

When Tatis made that catch up against the wall I was hoping for that shoulder to pop out again. I’m a bad guy I guess.

Julio is a stud! What a performance lowering his ERA into the sub 3 territory. I’m sure rooting for him to surpass that 20 win mark. Three leading Cy Young candidates on the same staff. Oh my.

Throw up in your mouth a little? I can relate. I feel that way at the thought of the Giants snapping our streak of division titles. A wild card championship is kinda like kissing your sister.

Bueller rebound game against Paddock tonight. Let’s extend our one game winning streak. Just bat TT and Mookie 1 and 2! Just do it!

Kershaw will be added to the rotation on Monday. We finally have 5 starting pitchers, too bad two of them will basically be openers for a couple of weeks.

We hit, we win. Simple really.

Bear is a talented and generous man. I know this to be true. That other guy has his moments.

Farhan and Kapler have done a fine job. Both are LA trained. The formula works. Can those guys sustain through November? The money still says no. Nobody is betting on them. Yet. Until we are eliminated I’m betting on the Dodgers.

San Diego is suffering The Curse of the Smirk. I wish only what the baseball gods have in mind for that group. Complex Destiny Karma is way over my head. At this point I’m just an observer, along for the ride.

Agree that some of the hitters are about to wake up, just in time for October.

And if we have to win a wild card game at home, so be it. But if guys start to wake up, the timing couldn’t be better.

You and Bear could pass for brothers, which I guess you are in more than one sense.