The Reason the Dodgers Lost in 2022

Lots of fans of the Dodgers, as well as of other teams, have said that the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series Championship was tainted somehow because the season was just 60 games. Of course, they conveniently leave out the fact that they had to play in empty stadiums and had no home-field advantage. They also had to play an extra round in the playoffs, which no team (up until then) had ever had to do.

While I am at it, let me remind you that the Dodgers should have won the Word Series in 2017 but lost due to the cheating Asstericks… the same team that won legitimately (we think) in 2022. The Dodgers should have been awarded the World Series Trophy but for the failure to act by the gutless commissioner of baseball.

For the last ten years, the Dodgers have been one of the best (if not THE best) team in baseball. IN 2022, they won 111 games and were so far ahead in the Standings that they seldom played a meaningful game in August, let alone in September. On August 1, 2022, the Dodgers were 12 games ahead of the Padres. On September 1, 2002, they were 18 games ahead of the Padres, and they finished the season 22 games ahead of the Padres. Therein may lie the problem. For at least the last 60 to 90 days, they never played a game that really meant anything. They were the Senior teams playing the 8th Graders.

The result was that they just “sleep-walked” to a division title. They did this so many times that they believed they were invincible. All they did was win… until they didn’t! They were ambushed by their own success. I used to be a very, very good Ping-Pong Player. Maybe you know someone who is good at Ping-Pong, but I played where there were at least 15 feet on either side of the table and at each end. I still carry a Juki Butterfly paddle in my truck (just in case), and I used to have to spot anyone 7-12 points just to get them to play. At 69 years old, I regularly beat people half my age, but I am not as good as I once was.

Where am I going with this? Well… sometimes I would win so many games in a row that I would become complacent, and then WHAM… someone not really as good as I was might beat me two or three games in a row… and when I lost one, it affected my confidence, and usually, I would lose two or three games in a row to a very inferior player. I am not bragging, but I was damn good. I miss it, along with basketball, baseball, and softball. But I digress…

Human beings, when they routinely excel at something frequently (and always at some juncture) become complacent, overconfident, and lose their edge. I have been through it, and it makes no difference if you make $50,000 dollars a year or $20 Million Dollars a year. Athletes frequently play up to their competition just as often as they play down to their competition. The Dodgers beat their little brother all season but became complacent and overconfident and lost three games to them in the playoffs before they could recover.

The Dodgers were the best team, but the Padres beat them in the playoffs. Just like the 1988 Dodgers, who were 1-11 against the NY Mets in the regular season when they found their mojo and won out! Things like that defy logic, but it is so typical of human beings. Adversity builds character, while overconfidence and complacency breed it. The Dodgers thought they could just sleepwalk through the Padres… but they couldn’t! It’s over – They lost to a team that was not as good, but as we have seen repeatedly – the Best Team does not always win! If you think the 1988 Dodgers were the best team, you need some serious help… but they were the team that won it all! Being the best team and winning it all are not mutually exclusive.

That brings us to 2023, and the Dodgers have lost a boatload of free agents while signing only Clayton Kershaw, Shelby Miller, and Jason Heyward, while the Padres have built an empire that seemingly is stacked to beat the Dodgers. Not so fast! The Dodgers are resetting the salary cap. That we know. Ray Charles told me that even he could see that. If the Dodgers do not make another deal (and I am not saying that they won’t), the Dodgers will not be favored to beat the Padres… but they will be favored to be in the playoffs.

There’s a whole lot of time and Spring Training to go, but this could be the Dodgers team at the start 2023:

C – Will Smith/ Austin Barnes

1B – Freddie Freeman

2B – Mike Busch

SS – Gavin Lux

3B- Miguel Vargas

LF – Jason Heyward

CF – James Outman/Trayce Thompson

RF- Mookie Bettes

DH – Max Muncy

Bench – Chris Taylor

That team could win 85-88 games in my opinion… maybe more. Then there is that “Trade Deadline” when AF could make a move if needed. Jason Heyward is a Wild Card. Nothing is expected of him. He may fade into oblivion, and maybe CT3 becomes the Left Fielder. Maybe Vivas, Leonard, or Amaya is ready to be a utility man. Maybe this team struggles in the first half, and Andrew Friedman has to make some trades at the Trade Deadline… But what if they didn’t? Could the tables be turned in 2023? What if RVS and Aaron Bates suddenly “fixed” Heyward? “Well, they couldn’t fix Bellinger!” I don’t know why, but sometimes one player is just more receptive in a certain case or situation. I am not implying anything bad about Cody, but sometimes you hear one voice and not another, One thing doesn’t resonate while another one does.

I will just watch the process. I think Heyward has little chance… but it’s a low risk – high reward move. I have no predictions about Jason Heyward… that would be foolish. With Shelby Miller, we know the guy has had some excellent stuff in the past but has repeatedly failed lately. I presume that the Dodgers are looking at him as a reliever, but maybe it’s as a starter or swingman… We shall see. He just the kind of rehabilitation project that the Dodgers seem to love.

Maybe, the Dodgers need to go into the season as the underdogs so that they have to “fight” to get to the playoffs. This forces them to play meaningful games in August and September. That is something they had little experience in doing… except in 2021 when they were fighting it out with the Midgets and ultimately beating them…. only to lose to the steamrolling Braves.

Right about now, Andrew Friedman is “lurking” in the background. He is shopping at the Dollar Store and I mean that is a good way. A year from now, this offseason will look a lot different, especially as fans put into perspective how much morons like AJ Preller and his complicit owner had to overpay for certain players. For example, Preller paid $100 Million more for Xander Bogaerts than the nearest bidder! Your perspective will change by next year, and I still like what the Dodgers are doing as they are forced to wait on the Trevor Bauer decision.

The Court of Public Opinion has changed its verdict. Most people I have talked to… and especially women, feel like Bauer was set up. I live in the Midwest… the Bible Belt, and many people here believe Bauer’s suspension should be overturned. I do too. Most people do not understand what constitutes “evidence” in a legal setting, but they do understand fairness and equal treatment. Deshawn Watson has served an 11-game NFL suspension after over two dozen women accused him of sexual misconduct during massage appointments. Bauer has one accuser (“evidence,” remember?) and her story has been blown to hell and back with the video that recently came out. In case you forgot, this is what she said Trevor Bauer did to her:

This was taken hours after I supposedly brutally assaulted this woman, when she claims she was terrified and desperate to get out of my house and in tremendous pain. https://t.co/k0jma3eqLP

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) September 14, 2022