Where Do You Draw the Line?

Down to their last strike and a guy who just came off of the IL cranks a hanger over the wall off of a pitcher with 32 saves. And a pitcher, Gausman, drives in the winning run with a sac fly to Pederson. Unbelievable. They just might be a team of destiny. But I think the Dodgers can alter that destiny come playoff time.

Said it a couple weeks ago and last night was another example that those Midgets might be a team of destiny this season. Another 9th inning comeback and win in extra. This is almost surreal twilight zone material.

Can not remember a team that has been such an underdog before the season and played like that in all my year watching this game.

Too bad that Lux injured his forearm off a hit by a pitching machine. Just when he began to hit now this. Hopefully he wont be out for long though DR said he wont play the next couple of games.

And Bellinger still can not hit water even if he falls out of a boat.

Right now it looks like the WC game. Though WB rebounded okay from his last bad out in SF I am leaning toward Max to start that potential WC game. I hope the Dodgers will set up their rotation accordingly for the last week of the regular season if they are out of the divison race or unlikely to overtake the Giants.

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

Tough night for Dodgers.

Listless effort against the Reds, being shutout for 8 innings.

And Giants find a way to win a crazy game. They give up 3 run homer in ninth to fall behind 5-4 to Braves.

But Solano hits PH HR with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the 9th inning to tie game.

And then they win it in 11th on sac fly by the pitcher Gausman.

They now have 16 Pinch Hit Hr’s this year, just one shy of the MLB record.

It just might be the Giants destiny to win the division.

Fuck Giants!!!

Travis dArnur!!!! If dodgers did not the job..Brava can help us

Well, that sucked. And giants up on Braves.

I think this may go down to last few days.

Beaty gets 2 hits and drives in the only run in a 3-1 loss. Buehler’s ERA climbs to 2.39. They strike out 12 times. Frustrating game.

I do not want Graterol on the post season roster. He does not have command of the strike zone. On to the 9th. Turner, 0-3, Smith 0-3 and Bellinger 0-3 coming up.

Off day Monday before they go into Colorado for 3 then Friday, Saturday and Sunday against the D-Backs. No runs through 8 tonight. Going to take some 9th inning magic to win this game.

Offense stagnant again. Looked like they were going to jump on Castillo quick with a Mookie double, but he strikes out 10 going into the 7th inning. Kyle Farmer sticks it to his old team with two doubles, one he ends up scoring, and the other he drives in 2 runs. 3-0 in the 8th. They might need some help from the Braves tonight to stay a game out unless they can rally. Tomorrows game at noon my time. Scherzer against Gray. Muncy has struck out 3 times tonight.

Lux a late scratch no reason given, Beaty takes his place

Hey Bear, I hadn’t been on the site for a while. When I came back I took a look back at some of the previous articles. When I saw pictures of Podres , Hodges and even the “Dodger Bum” cartoon, I knew those articles had to be by you and sure enough, they were. Just those pictures brought back memories, as well as the articles that went with them. Thanks a lot.

It’s a great feeling knowing the Dodgers are only 1 game out of 1st. Here’s hoping they can keep on rolling and win the division again.

I am sure it has happened in the past, but I was not on here until this season. I think this is the first time I have seen Mark post the reading material and then not comment on it all day. Mark, did you post today’s subject just to see how deep the doodoo would get? If so, NICE JOB!

cheers

pb+

Tonight’s 7PM EST Lineup:

HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG

M. BettsRF 111-404 53 21 10 .275

M. Muncy1B 115-449 86 34 2 .256

T. Turner2B 169-533 62 22 29 .317

C. SeagerSS 83-294 43 9 1 .282

J. Turner3B 135-483 81 25 2 .280

W. SmithC 102-375 71 24 3 .272

C. BellingerCF 48-298 34 9 2 .161

G. LuxLF 70-302 40 6 3 .232

W. BuehlerP 7-62 3 0 0 .113

Chris Taylor out of Dodgers lineup for 6th straight game

I am not saying it will happen, but I feel we are in a good position to run the table. I would bet right now that we will win more of the remaining games than the Gints do. Our rotation will be stellar and the offense continues to improve.

Hang on

We are in for a fun ride.

I suppose when a team has a player making 40 plus million dollars a year and doesn’t play due to off-field antics there is reason to make it a topic of discussion. The Dodgers agreed to make Trevor Bauer their highest-paid player. This season, he will earn more than Mookie Betts, Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager. In fact, Bauer’s $40 million salary for 2021 will not only be the highest in the sport, but it also will be the highest annual salary in the history of the game. He will earn a whopping $45 million in 2022 (another record) in a contract that will guarantee him $102 million over three years.

I will also mention the vehemence expressed in here toward Molly Knight when she criticized the Bauer signing due to his history of harassing women. A few in here seem to protest political correctness and it carried over to slamming Molly. Well, she was prescient.

What the Dodgers do with their free agents and with their players they would like to lock up may well be determined with whatever cost they have with Bauer moving forward or how the MLB will treat those costs in CBT calculations.

My hope is that the DA will find that Bauer did not do what his accuser said and will not be charged and that will allow the Dodgers to trade Bauer. The Yankees need pitching and they jumped on Chapman and then there is Texas.

Seager seems to be playing good shortstop but I would rather see him at third and let Trea be the shortstop for the next 5+ years. Seager may be more clutch offensively than Trea but Trea is more entertaining.

A DP combo of Trea and Mookie would be awesome. Cory and Cody on the corners would be awesome as well. Congratulations to Lux as I just made you the center fielder.

I want Kershaw to win another WS ring and retire.

No to Jansen getting another Dodger contract.

Just to change the subject, I want to talk about USC football. I’m not around the program so I can only speak on things I see, hear and read.

I think SC completely bungled the situation and the firing. Why would they wait until 2 games into the season to decide on Helton? Did anyone actually think he could salvage his tenure. The threat of his firing negatively effected recruiting for 2 years or more. His 2020 recruiting class was ranked 64th in the nation. How sad is that for a brand like USC with their rich tradition?

Now since the firing was bungled it appears we are going to spend the next 2 months reviewing all the potential candidates and having the press badger them with questions about leaving their programs. For 2+ months. This is a distraction nobody needs. And SC caused it and the press eats it up. I’m sure Cristabol, Franklin, Campbell, Fleck, Wittingham, Bieniemy, O’Brien and even Urban, Petersen and Stoops have better things to do than answer or dance around the questions. Absolutely nobody needs the possible effects on recruiting with rumors or the distractions that the slut media can’t leave alone. But it was caused by USC.

A perfect example of how things are handled and why the football program is in the toilet.

Bauer again?

I agree the Dodgers have more pressing issues. Who will they re-sign for 2022?

They’ve got to keep Clayton Kershaw, right? If he is healthy, I’m certain Clayton will be a lifetime Dodger. AJ Ellis, his former catcher and close friend, said as much. But what about Max Scherzer? I’m guessing they make him a competitive offer and from what I’ve read, Max really likes LA, wants the chance to win more rings. He even said he hopes to be here when Clayton gets his 3,000 strikeout. He’s 37 so I’m thinking a two year deal, maybe with incentives and pretty good money, possibly spread out over a longer period of time. Maybe even an option.

Then there is Corey Seager. One simple question resolves this for me. Are the Dodgers better with Seager than without him? The answer is obvious. He’s the three hitter in the line-up, the NL championship series and World Series MVP. He also is a product of the Dodgers system. Odds are good for Seager coming back.

Then there is Kenley Jansen. Been really good lately, but I believe Andrew Friedman saves the money and goes a different direction. Same thing with Chris Taylor. During an interview a couple of days ago, Friedman said it will be very important for the Dodgers to come up with future players like Muncy, Taylor and Vesia through trades and signings since they’ve traded some key pieces from the farm.

Dodgers beat reporter Jorge Castillo (from the LA Times) was on the great podcast Chin Music:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chin-music-episode-31-like-that-girl-in-heathers/id1555731836?i=1000535643616

IMO, that podcast is a great listen always. But Jorge has a good appearance.

Lots of interesting informed opinions:

1. Doesn’t think Seager is coming back

2. Does say that veterans don’t want Bauer back.

3. Doesn’t think the team will release Bauer, because a suspension means Bauer’s salary won’t work against the salary disincentives in the CBA.

4. Does think the team wants Max S. back.

Also speaks about Cory Bellinger’s mechanics, the White House trip…

Love the podcast in general, but I think people will enjoy this specific episode.

lol – A friend of mine from high school got a job at one of the big aerospace companies after high school. When the big wigs were onsite for inspections, he threw himself down a stairway to collect disability. Another friend of mine purposely injured his shoulder to get a discharge from the Marines. It happens all the time. And neither of them were in the AA club.

I swear sometimes I think that most of the people on this site are locked up in their houses and don’t interact with people other than on the Internet. Blindly believing everything they see on the TV and Youtube and everything they read in the tabloids, err “news outlets”.

Wether legal, or not, IN MY OPINION, what Bauer did was wrong. It may not be ilegal. but Cody getting his girlfriend pregnant is also wrong. Why not marry her? I know that is an old fashioned idea, but being 78 years old I have a lot of old fashioned ideas.

I agree that with the Bauer situation we’ll have to let the process play out. With Manfred deciding Bauer’s fate there’s no telling what kind of decision on the penalty (if any) may be handed out. There are so many variables involved and facts that aren’t made public. It’s confusing on why the PPD took so long to investigate with so few people involved.

As Bear mentioned yesterday we were able to get together for lunch at great spot called Muggs. I walked into the restaurant and there was Bear decked out in Brooklyn Dodger jersey and hat. Awesome! After introductions he handed me a bag with a Kershaw and AJ Ellis bobbleheads. Wow. A very generous gift. We had a lengthy chat that covered a lot of topics. Bear has had an interesting life and I enjoyed learning more about him. And his memory is unbelievable! I look forward to meeting up with him in the future. Thanks Bear.

Back to baseball. Game today is at 4:10 Pacific time. Trea Turner is 2-4 against Gray with a HR and an RBI. JT is 2-2 against him. Bellinger hitting .278 in 7 at bats. Muncy 0-8. No Red has any HR’s off of Buehler, and only Farmer and Stephenson have RBI’s against him. TT is now 7 points ahead of Castellanos in the batting race.

I’ve seen a couple of people mention perception as a reason why the Dodgers will move on from Bauer. So far, the Dodgers refused to bench Bauer after the news broke, saying he would pitch on Sunday against the Nationals as scheduled. This forced the commissioner to come in a put Bauer on Administrative leave.

Kasten showed a flippant attitude about this situation and up until this point, the Dodgers have not said anything about Bauer in an official capacity.

Perception wise, the Dodgers did nothing to make the team look better, but somehow they are leading the league in home and road attendance. This imaginary backlash that people are coming up with is so far unfounded. How do you think it’s going to be in six months at the start of next season after a war between the players association and the commissioner’s office?

I’m not going to make a hard stand and say the Dodgers will definitely keep Bauer, or get rid of him somehow. As AC pointed out yesterday, there are legal challenges to all the proposals that people on this site are suggesting.

All I can see is that they have a great pitcher in Bauer under contract for next year. With legal bills piling up, I don’t see Bauer opting out and renegotiating a lower contract is not even an option as the Players Association will not let that happen.

Scherzer and Kershaw are free agents, Gonsolin was injured all year, May is out until mid-season next year. That leaves Bueller and Urias as the only reliable pitchers on the roster. If you think it’s a foregone conclusion that Bauer is done with the Dodgers, I’d like to have some of whatever you’re smoking.

Then there’s the matter of innocence. The thing that people don’t seem to want to acknowledge is that Bauer “COULD” be innocent in all of this. It could be that this women set him up. It could be that she wasn’t injured by Bauer and that her injuries could have occurred during the next 12-24 hours between the time she left his house and finally went to the hospital. We already know that she lied by omission on her restraining order paperwork. Is it so hard to believe she self inflicted some of the injuries she said were caused by Bauer?

If this is true, isn’t it unfair that he was suspended at all, much less the financial hit he’s taken to defend himself and then people are calling for his job? What is wrong with people these days? Why should Bauer be punished at all if he’s isn’t guilty of anything? So far, the only judge to hear all of the evidence said he isn’t guilty of anything. Why do you want him punished? How would you like it if someone accused you of something you thought was perfectly legal and you lost your job and had to shell out a bunch of money to lawyers to protect you from false allegations?

Be careful what you with for. This is really disgusting behavior in a free society.

The Dodgers have far more pressing issues this off season than Bauer. They have 4 A-list free agents they need to decide which way they are going to go with. They also have a couple of B-List type players who will be free agents. These 6 players are all integral to the teams success this season. So they need to be addressed at some point. The 6? Jansen, Kershaw, Scherzer, Seager, Taylor and Kelly.

Bauer is persona non grata at this point. He is not relevant to the Dodgers anymore for this season. His fate will be decided by people with more knowledge of the situation than any of us. As for whether he pitches again anywhere in the majors, all of those questions cannot be answered until all of the legal issues are resolved. Then if MLB ultimately suspends him, the MLBPA and MLB will go toe to toe to see how that issue is resolved. That being said, it does not impact the rest of this season since he will not pitch for the Dodgers.

Not even a fun read, and a useless one to boot.

Legality is, for a multiple time, irrelevant. As are individual personal (yours, mine) views on the issue. The aggregate does matter.

It’s like the Scarlet Letter or Roth’s Human Stain. What matters is the sullying. Aesthetics.

I don’t believe it’s any coincidence that we haven’t heard a thing about where this stands legally. It will all be resolved after the season because too much money is on the line in MLB to have the black eye nationally exposed. Whatever is to be decided will be decided after the World Series is over.

Any fan’s personal opinion on Bauer is meaningless. I personally don’t give a damm what went on between those two. I’m not so naive as to believe this is unusual and/or unacceptable behavior. I happen to know this kind of activity is quite popular among consenting adults. My take? Simple. What people do behind closed doors is their business, not mine. As for the accusations at this point that’s all they are and there have been many men, some of considerable high social and political standing, that have been accused of bad behavior yet continued doing their jobs as lawyers and courts continued doing theirs, which is to drag proceedings out into as many billable hours as possible.

The Dodgers have moved on. Bauer is finished here. As to the question if he pitches again somewhere else, who gives a sh*t?

As recent as 2017 the answer to your last question was, in Texas, yes. And I think the Rangers could use an upgrade in pitching.

Right or wrong,it’s perception that will prevent Bauer from ever throwing another pitch as a LA Dodger.There will be another team that will eventually sign Bauer after the Dodgers release him and still paying the remainder of his contract unless he settles with them at a lower amount and moves on. He is not worth the drama and distraction from the actual game itself he will cause.

Wrong guy to make excuses for. Goodbye Trevor and goodbye LADT.