What? Me Worry?

Ahh, loved Mad Magazine and ole’ Alfred. Some of the funniest stuff I have ever read. Loved the Spy vs. Spy comics. How is that a subject for a baseball blog you might ask. Well, I got to thinking about it the other day when this place seemed to go off it’s collective rocker about the need for urgency being 4 games back on the 16th of August…which was actually yesterday.

The Dodgers, coming home from an over night flight from New York, not getting in until 4:15 according to their manager, everyone’s favorite whipping boy, Dave Roberts, ran what most called a AAA lineup out to face the lowly Pirates. No one needs rest, they are professional athletes. How can guys in that physical condition need rest? They got 8 hours sleep. I did so and so for 20 years, and went out and partied and still went to work the next day. Just an example of what some of the posts sounded like.

Did they get 8 hours? Most likely not. They might have arrived at LAX at 4:15. But by the time they deplaned, got their luggage and finally arrived home, it was most likely after 5. And then they probably did not get to sleep until close to 6. I do not know about you, but sleeping during the day, even at my age, is not all that easy to do. And it is very quiet where I live. Most of those guys live out in the suburbs. So, they have to be at the stadium at say, 4:00 PM for that nights game. Davis related how Seager’s kids woke him up at 7 Am, and he had not gotten in bed until close to 6.

And they have to eat something sometime that day. So they get up around 2PM. Bright eyed and bushy tailed? I doubt that. Long trips on planes are not exceptionally restful. Charter flights even less so. You cannot lie down, or for the most part, stretch out. Legs and backs can stiffen up. But these are athletes right? Prime condition. They should get out of the plane ready to play 9. They get in their cars and drive to the Stadium. Go through their pregame routines, and get ready for the game.

Anyway, as the game went on, they had trouble generating offense, made some mental errors and one on the field. Turner’s was changed to a hit. And found themselves behind by one late in the game. By now the wolves are howling at the moon on here. They do this all the time after they score a lot, we cannot afford to lose any more ground to the Giants, Don’t they feel any urgency? I would think the players know exactly what is going on and how well they need to play.

There is not one single poster on this site who knows what the mood or the feeling is in that dugout. Urgency? I think they might have felt we can still win this. These guys have lost 70 plus games. We are clearly the better team, so lets show it. McKinney gets the run back with a HR. His first as a Dodger. And then in the 8th, Muncy retaliates for being hit with a blast deep into the RF Pavilion.

Jansen comes in, and of course everyone’s blood pressure rises 20 points. Is Jansen going to blow another?? Kenley gets the first hitter, and then the newest Pirate, Dodger castoff takes the pitch where it was thrown and gets a double with one out. Panic is now high. He moves to 3rd on a out. And Jansen gets the last hitter to roll over on one and a meek ball hit to Muncy, win # 73 in the bank.

The point is, wait until the game is over before you lose your mind. This team has a lot of focused players. Guys who have been through this before. They are professionals. They all know they have no control over what happens with the Giants, who keep finding ways to win. Bryant hit 2 HR’s last night in their win. They also know they need to take care of their own business. A 5-1 road trip proves they know the score, and winning another gut check 1 run game can do nothing but boost their confidence in the ability to overcome those kinds of games they were losing before. I also thought I would look back over the years, but only since they have been playing 162, see where they were on the 16th of August and where they ended up.

First year was 1962. Up 3.5 on the 16th. Tied for the pennant with the Giants, lost 2 of 3 in the playoffs. 1963, up 4. Won the pennant and the World Series. 1964, 12.5 back. Never in the race. Even with Koufax back at full health and Big D. Rest of the staff was pitiful. 1965 1/2 game up. Won the pennant by 2 games, beat the Twins in the series. 1966. Up 3. Dog fight the rest of the way and won by 1.5 games. Lost series. 1967 and 1968, never even close in the race. 1969 1.5 back. Ended up 8 back. Had a very bad September.

1970. 12 back. Never in the race. 1971. 6.5 back. Made a run the last 2 months, but finished 1 back even after winning 5 of their last 6. 1972. 9.5 back. Never made a run, finished 10.5 back. 1973 Up 2.5. Lost the lead by the 3rd of September, and finished 4 back. 1974. Up 4.5. They ended up winning by 4 games. They had as much as a 10.5 game lead in July. 1975 and 1976, no shot. The Big Red Machine owned the West those two years. 1977 Up 11. Won the division by 10. 1978 Up 1. Went 25 -17 the rest of the way to win by 2.5 games.

1979 14.5 back. Never in it. 1980 .5 back. Tied with the Astros on the last day. Lost game 163 to lose the division. No wild card, so no playoff. In 1981 they were on strike in August and did not play 162 games. 1982 Up 1.5. Stayed in first or tied until the 28th of September and lost by 1 game. 1983.4.5 Back. Went 26-19 over last 45 games and won by 3. The closest match to where they are now. 1984 12 back. Never in the race.

1985. 9 Up. won by 5.5. 1986 10 back, never in the race. 1987. 9 back, never in the race. 1988. Up 3.5. Won by 7. 1989. 12 back. Never got close. 1990. 9 back. Picked up 4 but finished 2nd to the Reds 5 games back. 1991 Up 1.5 Knocked out of a tie with the Braves on the last day when Joe Morgan hit a HR off of Terry Forster. 1992..we all know they were never close in that year. 1993. 20 back. 1994 and 1995 were both strike-shortened years. They were up 2 games in 1995 and ended up winning by 1, but were beat in the first round of the playoffs.

1996. Tied. Ended up losing the division by 1 to the Padres. Beaten in the playoffs. 1997 1.5 back. Finished 2 out. 1998 18 back. Never got close. 1999 15 back. Finished 3rd, 23 games back. 2000. 6.5 back. Finished 11 back. 2001. 3.5 back. Finished in 3rd, 6 games back. 2002. 8 back. Finished in 3rd again, 6 games back despite winning 92 games. 2003. 10.5 back. Never got close. Finished 15.5 back of SF. 2004. 5.5 Up. Won the division by 2. Helped by a dramatic walk-off Grand Slam on the next to the last day against the Giants by Steve Finley.

2005. 5 back. Ended up in 4th, 11 back. 2006. Up 2.5. Ended up tied with the Padres, Beaten by the Mets in the playoffs. 2007. 6.5 back. Finished in 4th, 8 back. 2008. 1 back. Won division by 2. Beat Cubs in NLDS, Lost to Phils in NLCS. 2009. 5 Up. Won division by 3. Lost NLCS to Phillies again. 2010. 11 Back. Finished 4th 11 Back. 2011. 13.5 back. Picked up 2 games but finished in 3rd. 2012. 1/2 game up. All downhill after that finished 8 back of the Giants. 2013. 8.5 Up. Won division by 11. 2014. 4 Up, won division by 6. 2015, 2.5 up. Won division by 8. 2016. 1/2 game up. Won division by 4. 2017. 18.5 up. Won division by 11. You can lose ground as this team did. But they had an insurmountable lead.

2018. 2 back. Tied for division lead on last day, won game 163 to win the division. 2019. 19.5 games up. Lost NLDS to Nationals. So, there you have it. Only one season where they were about where they were yesterday, 1983. So no, I am not really worried about the Dodgers. This team has way more talent than any of those teams had. Granted, the only minus to me is the lack of remaining games against the Giants. But the healthier they get, the better I feel. Relax guys. The real fun is just beginning.