You Guys are Like My Wife
I should say some of you guys. and I am glad you are not. No disrespect intended. 😉 For the uninitiated, my wife runs the Finance and Operations part of US Water Systems and I run the Sales and Marketing. She is a very hands-on micromanager, while I am a Big Picture person. She is very good at her job, but it does create some issues. at times. There are
I should say “some of you guys.”… and I am glad you are not. No disrespect intended. 😉 For the uninitiated, my wife runs the Finance and Operations part of US Water Systems and I run the Sales and Marketing. She is a very “hands-on” micromanager, while I am a “Big Picture” person. She is very good at her job, but it does create some issues. at times. There are many ways to do things, not a right way or a wrong way. Who plays tonight, what players are brought in and when, who pitches, who bunts, whatever strategy you can imagine is not what determines the outcome of games. What determines the outcome is EXECUTION.
Two years ago, I hired a guy who was our Landscaper into the sales department. He was approaching forty years old and wanted to get out of that business. He had no sales experience. During the next several months, as my wife would occasionally walk through the sales department, she would call me and say “You need to fire Tim, he’s horrible.” I did not fire him. I saw progress, but it was not linear. We have sixteen people in our Customer Service (Sales) Department and in June, Tim was the salesman of the month. At US Water Systems, we have fun and the Salesperson of the Month gets to wear the Superman cape. That’s Tim below and I am very proud of him.
After Monday’s game and during last night’s game, many of you were calling for the execution of Dave Roberts and many other Dodger players, but see what happens when players execute? This is baseball and players need to execute. When they do that, more often than not things work out.
Before the season started, many National Pundits and Dodger Fans on this Board picked the Yankees and Padres over the Dodgers. No one picked the Giants to be the best team in baseball. How did that work out? The Yankees sit in 4th place in the AL East behind Boston, Tampa Bay, and the team who used to play in Toronto. San Diego is 5.5 games behind the Giants and the Dodgers are one game behind the Giants.
All three of those teams (Yankees, Padres, and Dodgers) have had a lot of bad things happen… mostly injuries and then there is Trevor Bauer. Losing Trevor Bauer is arguably the worst thing that has happened to any of the three teams. It’s hard to win every year. During the stretch where the Giants won three World Series, the next year, they failed to make the playoffs. This stuff ain’t easy!
During the first six innings last night, I felt like the Dodgers were playing like a team that knew they were losing their superstar for the season… and that could be a possibility. Mookie Betts is hurt and no one is telling us how bad it is. We will just have to wait and see. If the Dodgers lose him, it will be a very difficult task to win it all again, but you never know when a “Tim” will step up. I told Tim when he won the Salesman of the Month Cape what my wife had said, and he said “Yes, I was bad, but I was not going back to landscaping. There was no Plan B. I had to make it work.” And he did!
If Mookie is out, it will be hard, but you never know when another player will step up. Raley, Reks, Tsutsugo, Ruiz, Davidson, Peters, and Noisy have not delivered this year. But this is baseball. The great Mike Trout hit .163 in his first month in the majors, then followed that up with a .400 month, and ended with a .182 month. He ended that season at .220. The next year, he hit .326! Now, don’t put words in my mouth (some of you like to do that) – none of those guys are Mike Trout, but similar things happen all the time. I’ll conclude with this:
- Cody Bellinger has to play every day. He does not get send to AAA. He has to be in there.
- I saw a lot I like in JoJo Gray. Yes, he got lit up like a Christmas Tree, but he struck out seven. I am sure he was nervous and amped up. He just needs to learn… and he will. He has the MLB arm.
- I like what I am seeing in Sherfy. Nice win! TAKE THAT FARHAN!
- I have learned to have no opinion about what kind of trades or even if Andrew Friedman will make a trade, because he is thinking about things that we have never considered.
- Trades are not what will win it for the Dodgers – Execution is!
Minor League News
- Bear posted this last night: OKC trounced Reno 10-3. Ruiz, Tsutsugo, Neuse and Estevez all homered. Tsutsugo went 3-4 to raise his average to .207. The HR was his 6th. Ruiz had 3 hits adding a double and single to his line for the night. Neftali Feliz got the win, he pitched 1.2 innings with 1 walk and 3 K’s. Graterol had a clean inning striking out 2. Pazos gave up 1 run, and Quackenbush closed the game with a clean inning. Ramirez started and went 4.1 giving up 2 runs, walking 5 and striking out 3. He gave up only 2 hits.
- Rancho put up 18 runs on the Rawhide. Leonard hit 2 HR (he has 12) and Deluco hit his 15th. Eddys Leonard is hitting .311/.398 OB%/.962 OPS. Not bad for a 20-year old. Jorbit Vivas (also 20) was 3-6 and is hitting .303.
The Trevor Bauer Saga
The LA Times has a piece on Trevor Bauer that shows just how little people understand. It could be argued that Bauer has not admitted to anything other than having a sexual relationship with the woman. What he or she did is up for debate… and I mean EVERYTHING! Hopefully, we have a resolution soon… one way or the other.
More from Dodger Talk
Dodgers Food Trailer
I did this interview a couple of weeks ago with Chef Mike, who runs the Dodgers Food Trailer for the Great Lakes Loons. They are there for every home and road regular season and playoff game. They prepare three meals a day for approximately 50 people (players and coaches). Since games end late most evenings, they do not prepare breakfast. Many of their hotels have a complimentary breakfast anyway. However,…
Meet LAD 2026 Draft Picks 1-12
3 picks were High School players (2 SS and 1 OF). There was a college OF, college catcher, college SS, and 10 college pitchers. Of all the talk for a need for a catcher, the only catcher the Dodgers selected was Luke Bard, son of LAD bullpen coach Josh Bard. Bard was a 4th year senior from Houston Christian University. He is not a prospect, so the Dodgers are still…
Interview with Paul Beachy – Team Bus Driver For The Great Lakes Loons (LA Dodgers Minor League Team)
It’s been a few days since I did this interview. We have evidently been working my son-in-law (the video guy) like a rented mule at US Water Systems. However, I am taking him to London with me in a few days, so maybe Watford will buy him a pint as a tip, but he’s a dang Red Sox fan, so there is that! I thought that it would be interesting…
Thanks for Your Service: Chris Taylor
I was going to do this post when Chris announced he was retiring, then he changed his mind, but since the chances of him ever playing for the Dodgers again are slim and non-existent, I will go ahead with this post. He unretired, went on the IL, then decided to call it quits on May 24th. Taylor was born in Virginia Beach VA on August 29th, 1990. He attended Great…
Discussion (131)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Well that sucked and the boo’s Jansen received were justified. Umpire was terrible. He missed a lot of calls on those pitches that were down in the zone or just off of the plate. You might be down on Bellinger, and I get it. But without his stellar defense, and speed, they would not have had the lead going into the 9th. He made two excellent plays in the field to rob the Giants of hits, and he scored from first on Pollocks double, and that sports fans is why he is still in the lineup. Won’t have to worry about Reks after tomorrow. He will most likely be sent down when they activate McKinney tomorrow. Just when I was starting to trust Kenley again he blows one to the lowly Rockies and then ruins a great outing by Urias and a chance to tie for first with a pitiful performance tonight.
I am getting tired of watching these inept supposedly MLB umpires blowing call after call behind the plate. But I don’t blame them, I blame MLB. You can’t tell me that MLB is unaware,, since they must be watching the same broadcasts we are. Are they just letting it happen with the intention of going to an electronic strike zone next year, or are they just going to let this travesty continue?
As for tonight’s game, I have nothing to say.
Not a lot of Dodger offense tonight, but I’ll point out that while we wait for Bellinger to find his groove he’s now hitting .156, .227 OBP, .264 SLG. Pitiful
Blame Jansen if you want but our offense was once again pathetic tonight!
Back to bad Kenley!
Can’t blame the Dodger faithful for booing KJ. Passionate fans pay good money and want the “rush” of a Dodger victory and a tie for first place. I probably wouldn’t have booed had I been at DS, but I won’t blame them for doing it.
He’s blown two consecutive games that both would have moved the Dodgers into a first place tie. He’s making $19 million per year and thank goodness this will be his last year as a Dodger closer.
Blake Treinen looked pretty good.
Damn Kenley don’t put it out of reach
All I can say is come hell or high water, break out the check book and resign Chris Taylor . He is one of those unsexy glue guys that just gets it done, like we all wish Kike was. If we lose him, that would hurt big time.
Friggin Jansen/bullpen
Damn, I’m beginning to not trust Kenly again.
Sad to see Bellinger this bad
Don’t know what happened to Blutos post and my response I guess got lost in the ether
What exactly is the win for Taylor to sign an extension now? Unless the team drastically overpays him.
I’m actually really impressed with the Giants. Ruf is a solid mid-priced piece. As is Flores, Wade Jr and several other of Zaidi’s acquisitions.
BP summed up how the fit together nicely.
Open on www.baseballprospectus.comhttps://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/64462/pecota-likes-what-the-giants-are-building-right-now/I also cannot believe the Dodgers got Downs, Gray and the carcass of Homer Bailey for the slop they gave the Reds. Wood, Farmer, Puig, Kemp and maybe some cash?
FanGraphs has a post-draft somewhat comprehensive prospect report, including this on the Dodgers:
A few Dodgers notes, as that’s who I’ve spent time watching the last few days in Arizona. Switch-hitting 20-year-old Venezuelan shortstop Carlos Santiago is short to the ball with power and looks quite good on the complex. So does Jose Ramos, who trades places with Luis Rodriguez on the Dodgers list. Ramos had a big Extended and has continued to hit throughout the summer; his hitting hands work great.
What exactly is the win for Taylor to sign an extension now? Unless the team drastically overpays him.
I’m actually really impressed with the Giants. Ruf is a solid mid-priced piece. As is Flores, Wade Jr and several other of Zaidi’s acquisitions.
BP summed up how the fit together nicely.
Open on www.baseballprospectus.comhttps://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/64462/pecota-likes-what-the-giants-are-building-right-now/I still can’t believe the Dodgers pulled this off:
Dec. 21, 2018: Dodgers trade Kyle Farmer, Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp and Alex Wood to Cincinnati for Homer Bailey, Jeter Downs and Josiah Gray
Ya gotta get Taylor extended. You won’t be able to replace him., and he doesn’t get hurt
How the heck do the damn Giants hit so many homers! My goodness!
Seems to be a lot of empty seats at the ballpark for a Dodger/gnats series with 1st place up for grabs. Could it be because the lineups are lacking the star power we want to see or have the fans just gotten tired of hearing all the excuses as to why certain players can’t play the game we love to watch. Contusion…soft tissue…day of rest…are all weak excuses for not playing and has the fan base upset with the prices they have to pay while not being able to see their baseball idol’s they came to watch.
DODGERS RECALL IF SHELDON NEUSE
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled infielder Sheldon Neuse and optioned left-handed pitcher Darien Núñez to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Neuse, 26, returns for his second stint with the Dodgers after hitting .172 with three homers and four RBI in 28 games. In 38 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City, he was batting .282 with five homers and 24 RBI. In 452 career minor league games, he is batting a combined .293 with 54 homers and 271 RBI. He was acquired on February 12 along with minor league pitcher Gus Varland from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for outfielder Cody Thomas and left-handed pitcher Adam Kolarek.
Núñez, 28, pitched 2.0 innings last night, allowing two runs on two hits with two strikeouts in his first Major League start. He has appeared in four games for the Dodgers this year, allowing four earned runs in 6.0 in innings. In 61 minor league contests, he is 8-2 with a 2.37 ERA (26 ER/98.2 IP) and 154 strikeouts. He was originally signed by the Dodgers as a minor league free agent on April 16, 2018.
Roberts saying that McKinney will join the team tomorrow. So long Reks, you really are a wreck. Roberts just waiting on the OK from the medical staff on Seager. Lingering problem seems to be soft tissue soreness.
Bums – your comment in the last thread made me chuckle
Holy Star Wars Batman, it is Orel Wan Kenobi bobblehead night. May the force be with us.
Seager hit off of Knebel at the stadium yesterday, and looked pretty good. Knebel is also close to returning. McKinney is insurance nothing more. Has more MLB experience than Reks or Raley and has shown some pop. He does strike out a lot. Reks will probably be sent down when McKinney arrives in LA. He is on the 40 man, but not the active roster yet. Reed was simply BP fodder. Burns was released.
No word on Seager yet, but maybe he will be activated by Friday.
Tonight’s lineup:
HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG
C. TaylorSS 86-313 52 13 8 .275
M. Muncy2B 76-276 59 22 1 .275
M. BeatyRF 38-145 29 4 1 .262
W. SmithC 64-242 42 12 2 .264
C. BellingerCF 22-137 19 4 2 .161
A. PollockLF 60-216 34 13 2 .278
A. Pujols1B 50-207 35 13 1 .242
Z. McKinstry3B 34-141 29 7 1 .241
J. UriasP 9-37 8 0 0 .243
No Mookie or Justin