With Mark on the 10-day inactive list to attend to family business in Las Vegas (ever notice how these trips are never to Des Moines, Iowa or Wichita, Kansas?), Jeff (AC) was desperate for some assistance on the LADT writers roster. With his options limited, he had to resort to adding someone from the alternate training site, and had no choice but to call on me, the Zack Reks/Edwin Uceta
While I’m at it, let’s talk about Friedman for a bit. Where’s that vaunted depth I’ve heard so much about? Anybody with just a little bit of baseball knowledge could have seen that Dustin May would go down for the year, Gonsolin would miss significant time and that your number one prospect, Josiah Gray would get injured. Now’s the time to see that depth.
I had the great pleasure of spending my birthday in Seattle with my sons, Eric and Joel, and my 7-year-old grandson Arie. We spent my birthday and the following day attending the Dodgers vs Mariners games. Seattle blessed us with two breathtakingly beautiful days of sunshine. Having snow-capped Mt. Ranier in the background as the city’s crown jewel adds to the splendor. Having that environment was nice, but watching Dodgers
“Baseball flows with the rhythm of life. Comes forth in the spring, lives in the summer, goes in the fall, plays in shitty Latin American ballparks in the winter” Walt Whitman I have to admit that I’m conflicted about MLB’s decision to move the All-Star game from Atlanta. I’m not conflicted about their decision. Simply put, I disagree with the MLB’s action. Why I disagree is not important. I’ll
By the way, if it’s any consolation to those of you who are worried, Clayton Kershaw gave up 15 runs in 14 2/3 innings in spring training of 2014. Fans were wringing their hands. He then went out and won the MVP.
Spring Training stats can be so deceiving: Last week Garrett Cleavinger was the flavor of the week, an almost certain lock to make the team. Sunday, maybe not so much. Last week, it appeared that Dennis Santana had pitched his way off the opening roster. Sunday, he sort of, kind of, maybe, redeemed himself. But then again, “it’s spring and the statistics don t matter!”
One of the things I enjoy most about spring training is the opportunity to watch the kids play. Even though there is little chance of them breaking camp with the Dodgers, how exciting it must be for them to be able to pitch and play alongside the veterans. In no particular order, Jo Jo Gray, Bobby Miller, Landon Knack, Andre Jackson, Michael Grove, Miguel Vargas, Jacob Amaya, Michael Busch, Kody Hoese, James Outman, Andy Pages, Devin Mann, Omar Estevez, Nick Robertson, Ryan Pepiot, Gus Varland,
NOTE: I told you Rob Schelling aka/2demter2 would be back little did I know how soon! Mark Timmons Gamer: A player who approaches the game with a tenacious, spirited attack and continues to play even when hurt; a competitor; a player who doesn’t make excuses. The term is a compliment, most especially when it comes from another player. Goat: one blamed for causing a failure or defeat, esp. in
Showdown between the Rays top pitcher, Charlie Morton (Joe Buck will tell you over and over again that he’s absolutely great!) and Walker Buehler. As in most games, the Dodgers had several objectives: 1. get off to a good start; 2. run up Morton’s pitch count; 3. Keep Buehler’s pitch count down; 4. Keep the Rays off the bases; and 5. Score more
Elimination game, facing the Braves top pitcher, Max Fried, and the Dodgers, besides the obvious need to win, had several objectives: 1. get off to a good start; 2. run up Fried’s pitch count; 3. Keep Buehler’s pitch count down; 4. Keep the Braves off the bases; and 5. Score more runs than the Braves. The Dodgers were successful on four of the
Well that was an interesting and very long game. Dodgers won 5-1, and despite appearances (it could be called an ugly win) they, nevertheless, won in dominating fashion. There were lots of walks. Padres pitchers, threw 165 pitches in 8 innings, as they walked 10 Dodgers batters, and added a hit by pitch for good measure. Walker Buehler started for the Dodgers and almost immediately started to make Dodgers fans
A week or two back, Jeff asked if I would be willing to write an article about Jim Lefebrve, the 1965 Rookie of the year 2nd baseman. I jumped on the idea right away, as “Frenchy” was one of my favorite players when he was with the Dodgers. I thought to myself that this should fairly easy, as there was sure to be much written about Lefebvre. Surprisingly, however, despite
While writing the article on Reggie Smith, I was introduced to Chet Brewer, a player from the Negro Leagues that I, quite frankly, had not been familiar with before that article. After becoming acquainted with him through my research, I wish that I had knew more about him earlier on, as I’ve discovered that he was a remarkable man. Brewer has a strong connection to the Dodgers, not only that
Who the heck were those players wearing Dodger uniforms in the Rockies’ and D-backs’ series? Whoever they were, they certainly did not perform like a playoff caliber team. They struggled with pitching, struggled with hitting, and couldn’t play defense. My, my, my, that’s typically a recipe for baseball disaster!! Heaven forbid that team should have to play the mighty Padres in the playoffs. The Dodgers may as well go home
One of the better mid-season trades that the Dodgers ever made was acquiring Reggie Smith from the Cardinals for Freddie Tisdale, Bob Detherage and Joe Ferguson in June 1976. While many Dodger fans were heartbroken to see Tisdale leave the Dodger family, getting Smith more than made up for that loss. After joining the Dodgers, Smith hit .280 with 10 homers and 26 RBI in the 65 games following the
I have been a baseball and Dodger fan for slightly more than 60 years. My love for baseball was immediate, and with the Dodgers, it was love at first sight. In that sixty years, I have listened to or watched roughly 7,500 Dodger games. I have also watched and coached countless youth ball and high school baseball games. I have also had the pleasure of watching my sons participate in
● The Trade deadline is upon us, and as always, the question is, should the Dodgers make a move or stand pat? ● Obviously, the primary argument for making a trade is simply that no matter how good the team is, you can always get better. ● First question is always, what do the Dodgers need to finish out this year? Another ace pitcher wouldn’t hurt (do they ever hurt?)
Here we are(this is being written Saturday morning), almost half-way through the season. Where has the time gone? It seems like the season just started. In any event, I thought I would take a shot at handing out some mid-season grades for the Dodgers. Some of the grades might seem a little harsh, but I didn’t grade on a curve. Nor did I hand out participation awards. TEAM B
In 1999 Nike came out with a clever commercial featuring Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Mark McGwire and Heather Locklear. Rather than pay attention to the Cy Young award winning pitchers, Glavine and Maddux, Heather swooned over Mark McGuire and his ability to hit the ball over the fence. After a stringent work out regiment, Glavine and Maddux hit some out in batting practice and, for the first time, Heather Locklear
I’m writing this on Friday morning, basking in the joy of the Dodgers 11-2 thumping of the Padres and thought I would share some random thoughts from my recliner: ● Until last night’s game, this year’s Dodgers just haven’t been as fun for me to watch as teams in the past. In “summer camp” it looked as if though they would be invincible. Once the season started though, and even
One of my most memorable moments as a young Dodger fan was when Chuck Essegian hit a pinch -hit homerun in game two of the 1959 World Series, to tie the game. I was only eight years old at the time, but I could tell from the excitement in Vin Scully’s voice that this home run was a very dramatic and important moment for the Dodgers. I can also remember
There’s a pretty good chance, unless you are an ardent student of “old-time” baseball and you are a scholarly student of the Negro Leagues, that you have never heard of Bullet Rogan. I have to confess that I knew very little of Bullet Joe Rogan until my recent article on the Negro Leagues. Frankly, even with the information we have, there is far too little known about him. From those
I have an article pending on Bullet Joe Rogan, one of the all-time great players in the Negro Leagues. Because of Bear’s wonderful articles on Zack Wheat and his journey with baseball, I thought I would put that off a few days, and just share some random thoughts on an already weird season: ● You know that we’re in the full swing baseball, when the Doc criticisms start in earnest.
We have the first series under our belt and here’s a few observations: ● I thought they might, but alas, it doesn’t appear that the Dodgers will go 60 0. That’s a shame, as it would have eliminated all worry about making the playoffs. I guess 59-1 will have to do. ● If we win all our games 8-1, 9-1 or lose 5- 4, then it doesn’t appear
So I wrote and submitted this article to Jeff on July 22nd in the a.m. He then let me know he had a couple of other articles lined up and that it might be posted later this week. Then, the Dodgers go and sign Mookie Betts. Wow! I decided to leave the article intact with a few adjustments. ● I’m glad that I was proven wrong. I did not
The other night I watched a few innings of the Dodger intra-squad. Even though they added piped in music, and “fan noise” it was still difficult for me to get excited about the game. One thing I did enjoy, however, was watching Josiah Gray pitch. He is a good one folks! And, if baseball ever returns to some semblance of normalcy, I can see great things ahead for him. Both
Last night (Friday) I watched an inning of the scrimmage between the 2 Dodger squads on TV. It was so odd and, frankly I couldn’t get into it quite the same as a regular game. On the other hand it is baseball. After I turned the TV off, it began to stir in me the query of why do I love baseball so much. As a result, I began to
Outside the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, a statue depicting southpaw Johnny Podres after a pitch release stands 60 feet, six inches from a statue of catcher Roy Campanella. They commemorate the Brooklyn Dodgers winning the 1955 World Series over the New York Yankees, one of the most iconic moments in Dodger history! The photo of the elated Podres leaping into the arms of Roy Campanella, with Don
Here I am, in the office on what has to be the most unusual 4th of July holiday in my lifetime. Had several things that I wanted to write about (including the “Art of stealing pop bottles” :-), but busyness has reared its ugly head and gotten in the way. It stinks to be your own boss and then have your boss be such a jerk. ● Well looks
I’m going to come right out and say that I believe that Gil Hodges should be in the Hall of Fame. Much has been written about the subject and nothing that I offer here is unique or original to me. I will just say this, if a player can be voted in for being a tremendous person, then Gill Hodges would be a unanimous first ballot selection. I was too
