Baseball is a game played for the entertainment of its fans. Unfortunately, there are times when it is not all that entertaining, or enjoyable. Myself, I have been known to turn the game off and watch something more entertaining and enjoyable when the team gives up a ton of runs early. Trying to comeback from a seven-run deficit is just not fun in my eyes and rarely accomplished. I do remember a game years ago where LA jumped out to an 8-0 lead over the Giants and lost the game 9-8 in regulation. Embarrassing.
The other day the Dodgers lost a 16-0 contest, well it was really no contest, to the Cubs. As happens these days in blowout games, a position player, this time Miggy Ro, was sent out to pitch. Miggy had some fun with it, imitating Roki and mimicking his windup. He ended up giving up 5 runs adding to the 16 total. Some fans on X blasted the organization and said Miggy should be released immediately and was an embarrassment to the team.
What an absolutely idiotic knee-jerk reaction. What was embarrassing was the fact that the vaunted and high-priced Dodger offense was shut down completely by a pitcher with an ERA above 7. They did not lose the game because of the 5 runs Miggy allowed. They lost the game because they could not hit a mediocre MLB pitcher who they made look like a Cy Young winner. Games like that have happened before.
The game they lost on Sunday to the Cubs, 4-2, same thing. Collin Rea, the former Brewer, basically had the power hitting Dodgers flummoxed from the get-go. Yes, they scratched out two runs, but got beat on the strength of three solo shots by the Cubs. Rea had an ERA above 4 at the time. But he used to be a starter for the Brewers. He was pitching because the Cubs lost Justin Steele to elbow surgery. I shudder to think how a good pitcher like Steele might have made these bats look.
The only entertaining part of the last two games was Miggy Ro, having a little fun and amusing the fans who were left and his teammates if only for a few minutes. In 2022, their go to guy in blowout games was utility man, Hanser Alberto. Alberto, who played in 70 games that season, actually set a record for appearances by the position player in a season as a pitcher, 10. He had a better ERA, 4.09, than Bickford, May, Grove, Reyes Montoya, Humbree and Garrett Clevinger. He was infinitely more fun to watch.
When I was younger, much younger, baseball was more than just entertainment. It was an essential part of my life. I lived and breathed baseball. From the first time I picked up a bat and made solid contact with a pitched ball. I collected the cards, scanned the box scores, and read every springtime publication I could get my hands on. I read the entire Sporting News every week. I just could not get my fill of the game.
It was that way all through my teens until I joined the Army. I lived and died with each year’s Dodger team. What I learned in those years was that the game is as unpredictable as life in every way shape and form. I had the euphoric highs of their championships in 59, 63 and 65. And the low of the playoff loss to the Giants, who at age 14 I already hated immensely in 1962. Once I entered the military, my focus shifted to way more important things.
Not being able to focus on the game as much, I did come to realize it was, like the movies, something to take my mind off of everyday life when things got a little testy. As life responsibilities grew, I was less focused on baseball and the Dodgers. It became solely a form of entertainment for me and my family. We went to minor league games in El Paso, and when I would take the family home to California on leave, we would always take in a game or two at Dodger Stadium.
My girls loved going there, sitting out in the pavilion and cheering the team on. It was very affordable back then. Pavilion seats were just 1.50. Parking was 2.00. The kids were not big into Dodger dogs like dad was, but even with buying them souvenirs, their favorite ballpark treat, the frozen chocolate malts, the entire day usually cost about 25.00. You can’t even park there for that now. And it did not matter if they won or not, we had a good time. We even went to a game at old Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego on our way back to El Paso. Saw the Cubs absolutely pound the Padres there. I got six baseballs out of it since there were less than 6,000 in attendance, and no one was in the left field seats except me and a couple kids chasing batting practice homers.
Now almost 77, I have seen enough games to not get too excited over wins, unless they come during the post season, and not too down when they lose. I follow the game more than I have in years simply because I have plenty of time to do so and I still enjoy it. I also read more about the game and pay a little more attention to the stats that are posted online than I did to the stats on the back of a baseball card, which by the way, are a lot harder to read now.
As most who read this blog know, I am definitely an Old School fan. But I am also a realist. I know the players are in better shape, bigger and faster than ever. But there are a few old school type players, ballers as we have long called them, still in the game. Guys who don’t pile up the gaudy numbers, but who play the game like it was played many years ago. The Dodgers are lucky to have a couple of those type players on the team. Guys who play with a passion and a desire to win as much as possible. And guys who just like to get dirty when playing.
Tommy Edman is one of those players. He will probably never win a batting title or steal 30 bases. But he plays the game right, and he plays it well. Freddie Freeman to me, is the best hitter on a team with a couple of very good hitters. He and Edman are the two hitters more into making contact and hitting the ball where it is pitched. Others on the team are more into the theory’s expounded on by the hitting instructors on this team.
It is little surprise to me that the three hitters with the highest career BA and OPS on this team are Ohtani, Freeman and Betts in that order. Freddie has the highest BA, .300, and Ohtani the highest OPS, .944. The other players with an OPS above .800? Smith, Conforto, Teo and Muncy. Power is this teams forte. When they don’t get it, they founder. Homers are entertaining. They get the fan base going. The ooh’s and Ah’s are heard all around the field when one of the Dodgers launches a homer.
Is this team entertaining? Most of the time, it is. Then there are the games you just cannot watch beyond a certain point. The difference is, now, watching them on TV, I can turn the game off and watch re-runs of NCIS. When you go to a game like that, your only option is leave or stay. I can honestly say, I never left a game I went to early. I stayed until the end win or lose. Now, if they have little chance of coming back, I change the channel.
For the next three days, I hope they do well on the field because of the blackout laws, I am forced to watch the game on the Rockies network here in Colorado. I will probably watch with the sound turned off and the radio feed of the Dodgers coming through my computer. The Rockies announcers are to me, the worst. Drew Goodman is the biggest homer in the league, and he gets so many details totally wrong.
I watch the game a lot differently now than I did in years past. As I am getting to the age where life interrupts the baseball season at least once, if not more. Friends pass on more frequently than when we were younger. Life intervenes. Your own health and wellbeing are not as much of a sure thing as they were years ago. I got that gut check myself in December. I have no desire to ever spend that much time in a hospital again. The worst part? There was no baseball being played. The best entertainment I could want was unavailable to me.
Baseball is a boy’s game played by men who are the best in the world at what they do. Their skills with a bat and a glove, are there for all of us to see and enjoy. A great catch, or a ball smashed 450 feet can bring us out of our chairs, when we are physically able to do so! So, enjoy the game for its ups and downs, that is why it is played. We Dodger fans have been blessed with several seasons in row where our team has been in contention for the pennant. It was not always so.
Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear
Well, they won, but it wasn’t pretty in the late innings. The bullpen gave up more runs and hits in three innings than May did in his six. The home run ball returned with blasts by Betts and Ohtani. Once again Ohtani’s shot was a solo job. The bottom 4 in the lineup managed just one hit, and they struck out three times. It was somewhat unexpected because Edman was hitting sixth. But he struck out once and flied out three times. Muncy got on twice with walks and was hit by a pitch. The top four in the lineup had 9 of the teams 10 hits. Kike had the other one. Smith,2, Ohtani 1, and Betts, 2, drove in all of the runs. Ohtani scored all three times he was on base. They were 2-10 with runners in scoring position, and they left 10 men on base. A little better clutch hitting and this game would have been a blowout. Conforto bailed the Rockies out twice with 2 inning ending double plays. Overall, the defense was decent, the only error came on a Muncy throw. The Rockies D made a couple of very good plays. Kike made an excellent bare hand grab on a slow roller and threw the runner out. Colorado set a new team record for utility adding three innings to their 29 previous scoreless innings for a record 32 innings without a run. Former Dodger Kyle Farmer drove in their first run, and catcher, Hunter Goodman drove in 2 with a homer. Teo was out because he has some sort of illness. He might play tomorrow. May got the win, and Scott got his 4th save.
The bottom 5 were 1 for 15 (4 BB) and collectively left 15 on. The last 3 in that lineup all have batting averages under .200. Conforto is hitting .216 and Edman .235. Yes, it’s a problem and they all know it. I’m confident it will improve but I also realize none of them are outstanding hitters. Muncy is chasing, Hernandez is a blind squirrel with a career .236 average and Pages looks lost. Edman is a career .263 hitter, I think he can hit that but I don’t believe his OPS will remain over .800. Conforto is a career .250 hitter with some pop so I expect him to improve.
I believe Muncy will come around offensively, it begins with him being more selective. His defense is what is. Look for more of it. I have doubts the team will remain patient with Pages. Half this lineup is really fun to watch. The other half? Not so much.
Yesterday both SF and SD rolled good teams. The Dodgers squeaked by an inept Colorado team. Is this how the season will play out? Not likely, no team will play .700 ball this year. But make no mistake, the West is up for grabs.
Of course it’s way too early to knee jerk but you can bet the organization is looking ahead. This current team will eventually play better, but better enough?
Muncy walked twice because almost every pitch to him was a foot out of the strike zone. He was also hbp. Good for his obp.
Jacked his OPS all the way to .517. No home runs, 3 RBIs, on pace for no home runs and 27 RBIs.
Yet another excellent read. Many thanks for your very enjoyable perspective, Bear!
You are most welcome.
Munetaka Murakami, 1B/3B, NPB (Yakult)
Could this be the answer for the Dodgers at 3B going forward??
He’s definitely in the mix.
He has been mentioned several times on several outlets. If LA lands him, people are going to yell foul.
Including this one.
Yes, I seem to remember that.
Bullpen looks shaky these days.
Even our shutdown, high leverage guys allow plenty of baserunners.
Scotts velo is down 2 mph from last season and he is hittable . Hopefully he turns it up a notch until September/October. A little too much nalibiting at the end there.
May looks more like a pitcher than a thrower this season compared to previous years. Working in the 94-95 mph range instead of upper 90 stuff.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bullpen was not great on the last road trip, but help is on the way, supposedly Phillips will be back after one more rehab assignment.
BTW, Bear,
the Robert jun to the Dodgers. rumors are growing.. Just saying…😀
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I saw that, but seriously, guys are bitching about this team after 18 games. The Rockies are already 10.5 games back of the Padres. LA will be fine.
I am not worried-Dodgers are on pace for 108 wins- but we certaily could use some upgrades.
Robert jun. would be that. Especially defensively.
With him Edman and his GG could stay at 2b permanently.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Or we could get the debate going again and put Edman at SS, or Kim and move Mookie to second. Who knows, what I do know is that the team we are seeing on the field right now will not be the same 26 players we see come playoff time. Kershaw starts his rehab on Wednesday.
Who is jun?
Robert Jr.
Dustin May may very well be my favorite pitcher on the Dodgers excluding Kershaw. I love watching his superb form like a giant bird unfolding his wings and flying. Beside his colorful look, I love his passion which you can see in his face. I’m glad he got the win today. And, yes, our BP seems to be faltering a bit, but in defence of Yates, aside from not being able to throw strikes this game, he is a very crafty vet who knows how to pitch and is sneaky as hell…..Banda 3-0, is not what his record shows him to be.
May I remind people that Freddie, is indeed the key to our success. Our top 5 players are just about the best in baseball from Shohei down to Smith. Each one capable of getting on base or hitting the HR. Our bottom 4 hitters, not including Edman, are real head scratchers. Muncy, unless he is hitting HRs, really struggles both at the plate and and on the field. It will get worse with age. We will be whining about this till the FO finally does the right thing and upgrades these players. Enough is enough.
Amen Jeff
And yet people didn’t think it was time to upgrade him with Arenado, who couldn’t have made himself more available in the offseason!
Oh that’s right, he was washed up and finished. Right about now his .316BA and .935OPS doesn’t look too shabby, and let’s not embarrass anyone by looking at the comparative fielding stats!
Could have had him for the three years. A huge upgrade at this point, in a position where we have no obvious Internal solutions. Max has been a great servant but this is who he is now, and SL were keen to move him.
They keep hoping for his HRs.
Arenado has bounced back from a really bad 24. His defense is and always has been solid. But they could have had him for the last three years? At what price? Teams just do not make trades these days, they work on them for weeks. They were not just going to release Muncy. He is cheaper, and his OPS has been above .800 for quite a while. As everyone knows, Max was hurt much of last season. Arenado is making 18 million more than Muncy this year. Could LA afford it? Yes, but did they want to? How many Arenado to LA rumors did you hear this winter? Arenado is clearly a better player, but he is turning 34, same age as Max and Max does not have a whole lot of trade value. You just release him and eat the money? LA has not done that in a long time.
I really liked this article and found it thoughtful.
i don’t think baseball is anywhere near as entertaining as it was. But, smart people are working on that problem.
Not sure I understand that “gamer” excursion, is it just a synonym for “current favorite player?”
he is no Rich Hill, but May is fun to watch? He’s my gamer.
The money in baseball is flowing, so millions must still believe it’s entertaining. I still watch nearly every day, but admittedly watching on tv is not nearly as entertaining as being there. As much as the cameras catch, much of it in slow motion, many little things going on out there are missed. Gotta admit, home runs are fun. So is a well executed hit and run. At least in my memory it is.
With so many weird and scary things going on at this time, I am curious if fans might circle their economic wagons a bit and save that few hundred dollar FCI cost. So far it appears LA fans won’t be stopped as 50k+ have been showing up. Maybe baseball is the perfect escape?
The Rockies announcers are the worst! I lived in C.Springs for 10 years and listened to those bozos when the Dodgers played. Overall I think Colorado fans of all sports are the worst. I’ve been to a few Laker, Raider and Dodger games in Colorado and the home team fans are always awful. I have also been to my teams home stadiums, except Lakers, and didn’t see the non-sense that goes on in Colorado.
A few years ago, I went to a game at Coors where the Dodgers blew a 7-0 lead. I was sitting behind home plate in seats that only cost 70 dollars wearing my Jackie Robinson jersey. LA won the game 12-10 by scoring 5 runs in the top of the 9th off of Jake McGee. I listened to the radio feed on my computer with the sound turned down on my TV. Drew Goodman is the worst.
Philly fans are the worst.
This team would be better if they did trade Max Muncy Chris Taylor Miggy Ro and Barnes and outman and pages those main guys can not hit constantly played at all just think if they replaced those guys with trades or even guys on the farm at least they might look bettee then swinging an missing at pitches. How about Taylor Ward on the team he could have been acquired in off season and be your centerfielder or Beday and Booker with the As and of course Arenaldo and some outfielder that the cardinals have. My point there were guys that they could have gotten but they stayed with the same bench guys that can play multiple positions over guys that can hit better. Right now I’d rather see kike play thirdbase over Muncy Edman at shortstop Betts at second base and Freeman at first base. Go find a centerfielder and you have Conforto and Hernandez almost everyday in the outfield. Until Muncy Taylor Barnes Rojas Pages and outman can hit if they can’t bring up the guys from AAA.
One problem, Muncy, Taylor, Rojas, and Barnes have little to no trade value.
You’re over thinking it. Have you noticed that since the Dodgers changed their hit celebration from the Freddie dance to the Ohtani face swipe the team has stopped hitting. A coincidence? I think not.
At last, a valid explanation!
I was waiting for one. Knack is pitching tonight; the Rockies power hitters are probably salivating. He is as adept at allowing homers as Lance Lynn was. Kershaw starts his rehab tomorrow. That is when the 30-day rehab clock starts ticking. Worst free agent signing in the past few years?? Kris Bryant to the Rockies. He is on the IL again. In his 3 plus seasons in Colorado, he has played in 170 games. He has hit .244 with 17 homers and 70 runs driven in. This is a guy who was the MVP in 16 when he was with the Cubs.
At least Knack is cheap.
Maybe you could knock on Max’s front door and mention to him that balls landing in left center are in fair territory. He’s forgetting that again.
You are laboring under the delusion that those teams want to trade those players. The only player you mentioned that was made available by his team for trade was Arenado. Yes, the Dodgers would be better with some contact hitters coming off of the bench. David Bote had a great spring, he would have been my choice over Taylor, but the Dodgers are very loyal to their guys. You did not mention Kike who has a lower batting average than Muncy. Booker just signed a long-term deal with the A’s; they are not going to trade him. Bleday? He is barely hitting above .200. And for the last time Bradley, Mookie is the SS. It is not going to change unless the team trades or signs a full time SS. He is not that bad over there and it sure hasn’t affected his hitting. What would Arenado cost? He is 34, with a contract 18 million dollars higher than Muncy. Muncy outhomered him over the last two years. They are not going to just dump four or five guys off of this roster, although you might not value the versatility of the guys mentioned, the Dodgers do. And the only other real MLB SS on the roster is Miggy Ro.
We are getting close to 20 games. Honestly, impatient as I am, 40 games is probably a more realistic checkpoint for evaluation.
As poorly as we are playing we have the 4th best record in baseball right now. I do think Muncy and Kike will hit better soon. I think Rojas would hit better with regular at bats. Having said that those guys are all in their mid to late 30’s, you can lose your ability to play in the blink of an eye at that age. One day your an athlete and the next day your legs are gone. It happens to everyone.
Most teams wait until at least 50. That can change depending on the player. Last year, Outman was back in AAA after 36 games in mid-May. He played in 53 total last year. He was hitting .153 with 3 homers and 10 driven in. So far, Pages is way below that. He has 2 homers and 2 RBI’s and is hitting .137. His leash is getting very short. LA cannot keep carrying him on the roster with those kinds of numbers for much longer. Kike not much better. Taylor hasn’t played enough. Barnes is ofer the year.
Muncy I could trade him probable 6 teams thst need s first baseman or DH as long as we get a legit third baseman that hits pretty good. Betts at shortstop really have you seen his throws to first base Freeman an Kike have saved him so much. And why not put kike at third base have Muncy come off the bench.
I still have no idea where this fascination for acquiring Luis Robert Jr. comes from. Because of what he maybe do? There are plenty of maybe players out there. The Dodgers have an organization full of them. Maybe he improves because he would be away from CWS. Then again maybe not. I will go as far to say, probably not.
Robert Jr. has been healthy exactly one year (2023). He has a career line of .264/.314/.468/.782. He has been a GG winner one time, in the season shortened 2020. Who knows if he would have been able to stay healthy for a full season. His history says no. He has been a finalist just one other time. (2023).
He is a one time All Star who is making $15MM this year. With the 110% tax on his AAV, he will cost $24.163MM this year (needs to be prorated). I cannot see the Dodgers exercising the $20MM club option next year. So he is nothing more than a rental. That will cost the Dodgers $42MM, assuming they are above $304MM. Seems inevitable since they are already at $285MM for 2026 with only 12 players under contract.
IMO, Robert Jr. is not worth a top tier prospect. If CWS was willing to trade Robert Jr. for Outman straight up, sure, make the deal. See what he can do and then cut him loose at the end of the season. If you have to sweeten the pot, go ahead and offer Maddux Bruns. Who here believes Robert Jr. is worth losing Jackson Ferris, Zyhir Hope, Josue De Paula or any top 15 prospect? What we do know is that CWS has already apparently asked for a top prospect (with Outman) and AF/BG said NO. We have no idea (or at least I do not) who that prospect was. Outman and Pages??? Why would CWS do that? Do they want to be bad to mediocre forever?
I do not believe Robert Jr. is a better defensive CF than Edman. For me, the play would be to bring up Hyeseong Kim to play 2B and keep Edman in CF.
Ask yourself…are the Dodgers better with Edman in CF and Kim at 2B (or vice versa), or Robert Jr. in CF and Edman at 2B, minus a top prospect?
I do believe that CWS will trade Robert Jr. this year, but not until the deadline. That will give Robert Jr. time to improve upon his start, and should give CWS more teams to be involved in trade negotiations. There is no advantage for CWS to trade Robert Jr. before then unless LAD or Philly decide to overwhelm them with prospect capital.
much ado about nothing
I am not a Nightengale fan when it comes to rumors. I acknowledge that nobody relevant has reported on the CWS trade proposal (or any of the other 27 rumors for LAD). But I am more confused as to why Dodger fans want Robert Jr. For those who want Robert Jr., who is the highest rated prospect you would be willing to spend to get him for one year? For me, it is Maddux Bruns (#23). I would exclude #24, Jaron Elkins, in that discussion.
Agree on this one. He’s batting .163 8 for 49 this year. He hit .224 last year. His OPS+ was 87 in 2024. His numbers seem to be going south while playing in the south side. He’s struck out over 300 times since 2023.
The only way I see a trade for Robert would involve a swap of payrolls. That means either Muncy or Taylor would be included. Pages, Taylor, and Bruns would be my best and final offer.
If the Dodgers wanted to improve their defense they could put Outman in CF without much of a drop in offense from Pages, Kike’, Taylor in CF.
If AROD can move from short to third then so can Betts. Up the middle defense would be some combination of Freeland, Edman, Kim, and Outman.
Michael Chavis won PCL Player of the Week. He homered in four of his five games last week. He is the first such honor for a Dodgers minor leaguer this season. Chavis was 9-for-21 with a double to go with his four long balls, with eight runs scored, six RBI, and three walks for the week, slashing .429/.500/1.048/1.548. He primarily plays 1B for OKC, but he also can play 2B or 3B. He is striking out at a 19.2% clip for the season.
What ever happened to Bote?
Since he triggered the upward mobility clause in his MiLB deal, he has been included on the OKC roster as a restricted player. I do not know why he is still there. Apparently no other team wanted to include him on their 40 man, and he does not want to play MiLB without a chance at being called up. Maybe he is just waiting for a team to call the Dodgers. Could be he is closer to wanting to retire and be with his family than going back to MiLB??? Contemplating coaching opportunities? Just off the wall guesses.
Since you showed what Robert Jr. would actually cost LA, can you do the same thing with Arenado? So many keep calling for LA to trade for him. His salary this year is 27 million. Actually, it is 32 but the Rocks are paying 5 mil of that.
I prefer Freeland over Arenado with Max as insurance on the bench beginning May 1, 2025. Then switch Betts to 3rd and Freeland to short in 26.
I’m not sure of my facts below, so someone please feel free to set me straight:
I believe one of the main problems that Mookie had at short last year was his throwing. If he has problems throwing from short he would be even less likely to throw well from third base. I think I read somewhere that he tends to want to throw sidearm and that definitely doesn’t work at third unless you have a Machado-like canon.
Mookie is a finesse-type fielder, one who is not likely to enjoy having balls drilled at him playing third base. If they’re going to ultimately move him off of shortstop, I’ll bet my house he’ll much prefer second base.
On the other hand, Freeland’s arm grade is his highest grade (60 on the site I checked). If you want to have a left side of the infield with Freeland/Betts make Freeland the third baseman.
He made 9 errors out of 243 chances last year at SS. Of the 9 errors, 8 were from throws. His throws this year have not been that much better.
And while I acknowledge that ARod did move to 3rd, Jeter was the regular SS for 8 years and became captain in June 2003. When ARod joined NYY, there was no way that he was going to move Jeter to 3B. Baseball wise that may have been the preferred move, but not for NYY. Moving Betts away from middle infield or RF is not in the Dodgers plans. We already know that the Dodgers do not make decisions with defense being paramount.
I could speculate, but we already know that a LAD executive (don’t know who) says that the Dodgers could have traded for Arenado if they wanted him. With his start, I would guess that what was acceptable for St. Louis at the time, is no longer acceptable. If the Dodgers did not want to trade with what St. Louis believed was fair, they are not about to trade for a deal that will probably include more and higher rated prospects.
I have always been an Arenado fan. I like players who want to play for LAD. But he did sign the long term deal while with Colorado without waiting to be a FA, and he decided to not opt out when he could have given the Dodgers an opportunity to sign him. And I do not blame him.
It would have to start with Chris Taylor, but after that I would have to have a clue as to what the Dodgers said no to. By taking CT3, the Cardinals would be asking for better higher rated prospects. The Cards are not going to take CT3 and Max. IMO, that would be a non-starter for St. Louis. If the Dodgers insisted that they take Maz, the prospect capital will go even higher. They would also have to eliminate someone on the 40 man to make room for both CT3 and Max. Plus St. Louis is in a very winnable division, and the current version of Arenado is not going to be traded without a big return. St. Louis can afford him.
Thanks Jeff. I had also read that LA could have had him anytime they wanted, and they backed away. Probably because they could live with Muncy’s defense as long as he was blasting 30 plus bombs and OPSing above .800. I expect Max to find it soon; he is probably much more frustrated than the fans are.
My bad, Feltner is a righty. Lineup for tonight’s game. Ohtani DH, Betts SS, Freeman 1B, Smith C, Conforto LF, Edman 2B, Muncy 3B, Taylor CF, Pages RF. Knack pitching. Teo is still sick with a stomach bug and most likely not available. Dodger Stadium will again host Olympic Baseball in 2028. Rushing back in the lineup for the first time in four days for the Comets and catching. Today is Jackie Robinson day, all players will be wearing #42.
Tonight starts a hit streak. Team will rally behind Knack. Taylor will produce. All minor league affiliates will win. My steak will be cooked perfectly. Everyone will be happy.
Vargas has overtaken Robert jr .182 BA and .482 OPS to .181 and .481 for the White Sox. Both guys would fit beautifully into the bottom of our lineup!
Well you were half right. Two of the affiliates won, Tulsa and Rancho
From the back cover of Jackie’s autobiography.
There is much that could be said about this OD. This is not the place. Read Dylan Hernandez piece in Wednesday’s Times.
Gosh, Taylor is just abysmal again.
I hope that is sarcasm. He drove in two of their 5 runs so far and made a great catch in center.
Being more old school like I am, one of my biggest pet peeves is when hitters swing and a bad first pitch from a relief pitcher, and when they stand there and take strike three with a pitch right down the middle. I was taught to protect the plate with two strikes. Players today rarely practice this. Ohtani frustrates me a bunch when he does things like he did in tonight’s game. Swinging at the first pitch from a guy coming in with the bases loaded. And then he grounds out weakly. Granted, when he is hot, he does some amazing things, but he needs to take advantage with runners on base. He did not do that until later in the season last year. His BA when he swings at the first pitch is .100.
Baseball is hard, Bear, especially at the highest level.
Duh! Doesn’t matter. These guys get paid millions to play and perform. You look for a pitch you can drive. Not some Nambi pamby breaking ball you are never going to get good wood on. The Dodgers as a team blew numerous chances to turn this game into a blowout. 2-9 with RISP is not very good. Ohtani swings at way too many bad pitches.
Is that your expert opinion?
Because you are right so much of the time.
Padres lose to Cubs 2-1 in 10 innings.
Looks like Bobby Miller will be called up to pitch tomorrow