Connect with us

Dodger Baseball

Are Dodger Fans Fickle?

                                           Dodger fans of this era should be dancing in the street. Never in the history of this franchise in all of its 135-year existence has the team had this level of success for this length of time. Not even the powerful Brooklyn teams of the 50’s have won this much. To date, since Guggenheim took over the team in 2012, the Dodgers have won 1281 games. You take any 14 year stretch in Brooklyn history, or since they moved to Los Angeles, and none of them comes even close.

                                           Last year as all of us fans know, they won 98 games and the division for the 12th time in 13 years. They achieved their goal of winning a full season World Series after being denied twice, 17-18. They got their parade. Fans turned out in droves to greet their heroes. Unfortunately, baseball is a cruel master. You cannot win every year no matter how hard you try or how good your team is. Dynasties like the 5 consecutive World Series wins the Yankees had from 49-53, just do not happen anymore. Even the great Braves teams who from 1991 to 2005 went to the playoffs every year except 1994 when baseball had its longest strike.

                                          Even at that, they would have probably made the playoffs in 94, they were in second place when the season ended abruptly. They were six games back but were the wild card team at that point. The Dodgers were in first place in the West when the season ended. That team, with a great pitching staff and some very good offensive numbers, still won just 1 World Series, and that came on their third try. The last four years of that run, they got knocked out of the playoffs in the NLDS. 

                                          I for one am a realist. I do not expect the Dodgers to win every year. What I do expect, and what I have seen, is them being competitive and in the playoff hunt every year. They lost the division in a season in which they won 106 games and finished a game behind the Giants. In 18, they finished the season in a dead heat with the Rockies and had to win a game #163, which they did behind Walker Buehler. They made it to the Series but were no match for the Red Sox.  

                                          Freidman builds teams expected to make the playoffs. What happens in the playoffs cannot be predicted. For whatever reason, they have lost to teams they dominated during the regular season. When they do put it all together, like they did last year, they are a playoff force. Yet I see and hear Dodger fans complaining constantly when thing happen like they have this season, and indeed like happened last year.  You cannot predict player performance, and you are at the mercy of injuries to key players. 

                                       Yankee fans think it is a birthright for their team to win the pennant and go to the World Series every year. Unfortunately, they are delusional. Those Yankee teams are gone forever. No team has been that dominant in the post season for years. No team has won back-to-back World Series since the Yankees won 3 in a row in 1998-2000. No NL team has won back-to-back pennants since the Dodgers did it in 2017-18. They were the first since the 08-09 Phillies.

                                      No NL team has won 3 in a row since the 42-44 Cardinals. It just does not happen in this era. Why?  Playoff baseball. That is the simplest explanation. Teams can get hot in a short series. Up until 1969, only the two best teams in the league would meet in the Series. Since then, the best team in the regular season has not always won the World Series.  Since they added wild card teams to the mix, eight teams have won the World Series as a wild card team. Miami, 1997, Angels 2002, Marlins 2003, Red Sox 2004, Cardinals 2011, Giants 2014, Nationals 2019, and the 2023 Rangers. But even when they did not go all the way, 16 teams made it to the series as a wild card, including the Rangers opponent in the 23 series, Arizona. 

                                      The 2022 Phillies, 2014 Royals, 2007 Rockies, 2006 Tigers, 2005 Astros, 2002 Giants, who lost to the wild card Angels in that series, 2000 Mets, all were wild card teams who got to the big show.  Despite what many think, the playoffs are truly a crapshoot. The 23 D-Backs got hot and beat two division champs before falling to the Rangers. Thet is all it takes. LA, after they dispatched the Padres in five games, did not have nearly as much trouble with the Mets or Yankees.

                                   Their game one win and game four win over the Padres were both bullpen games. The second one a 8-0 shutout. Game four over the Mets was essentially a bullpen game since Buehler lasted just 4 innings. The game six win was a bullpen game. The game four loss to the Yankees was a bullpen game, and game five became one because the Yankees ran Flaherty in the second inning. You never know what might happen, especially in a short series. 

                               In short, it is my humble opinion that the fans are indeed fickle. They expect the Dodgers to win every time they play. When things do not go the way they feel they should at the trade deadline, or in a game, they pile on the players, ownership, and the front office. The game is simply not that easy. It is why they make the big bucks, and we just watch. Yes, most fans spend a ton of money each year on the team buying tickets, souvenirs, and various other team related items. I believe Dodger fans should be happy our ownership tries to put a winner on the field every year. Here in Colorado, they just want the Rockies owner to sell. Have a little more tolerance and understanding. You will feel better at the end of the day. 

 

MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS

 

El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego) 11 – OKC Comets 5

OKC took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the 3rd.  With one out in the 3rd, Nick Nastrini relieved Zach Penrod.  Nastrini was the 2nd pitcher up in a bullpen game.  Nastrini has always been known as a pitcher with command and control issues, but this game really showed his lack of control.  Nastrini walked the only 4 batters he faced.  Ryan Sublette entered for Nastrini and surrendered a grand slam HR to the 1st batter he faced.  Nastrini threw 22 pitches, and only 6 for strikes.

Sublette allowed 2 more runs on 2 singles, a walk, and double before the end of the 3rd inning. 

OKC scored three runs in the 2nd.  Two batters reached on errors, and Chris Okey plated both with his 1st triple of the season.  Okey later scored on a Nick Senzel single. 

On the 3rd inning, CJ Alexander singled, stole 2B, and scored on a Kody Hoese single. 

In the 5th, Nick Senzel singled and was apparently injured.  Ryan Ward replaced Senzel and moved to 2nd on a Luken Baker BB.  Ward scored after two ground outs.

Nick Frasso entered in the 5th and completed 2 innings in his hot and cold season.  He allowed 2 runs and 4 hits  in his two innings.

The key take away for the night, was Bobby Miller pitching another perfect inning in relief.  He pitched a perfect 9th.  Because of the score, it was not a high leverage situation.  Miller threw 11 pitches, 7 for strikes. 

Nick Senzel was the lone OKC hitter with a multi-hit game, with 2 singles. 

 

Box Score

  

Corpus Christi Hooks (Houston) 7 – Tulsa Drillers 1

Chris Campos had one of his worst starts of the year.  He has been a Jekyll and Hyde pitcher this year.  April and June were good months for Chris.  May and July have not been good.  August has been a mixed bag thus far.  A very good start on August 1, and a not so good start tonight.

Campos lasted 3.0 innings, and surrendered 6 runs (all earned), on 8 hits, including 2 HR.  One good stat was zero BB.  He did register 5 Ks.

Jerming Rosario continues to pitch well as a reliever.  He is learning and thriving in his new role.  He pitched 1.2 scoreless innings in this game.

Down 6-0, the offense finally broke through in the 4th.  Three consecutive one out singles by Kyle Nevin, Yeiner Fernandez, and Kole Myers brought home the lone run for the Drillers.  The team had 6 singles, and Kyle Nevin was the only hitter with 2. 

 

Box Score

 

Great Lakes Loons 7 – Lansing Lugnuts (A’s) 6

The Loons tallied six runs in the fifth, taking a 7-6 win over the Lansing Lugnuts.

Logan Wagner added his second homer of the series and 13th of the season, a 397-footer with a 103 mph exit velocity for Great Lakes first run in the 4th.

Great Lakes then scored six runs in the 5th. Samuel Munoz in his A+ debut, singled to start the inning. An error in left field put two on base. A Carlos Rojas RBI single and Kendall George‘s fielder’s choice pushed across two. After two walks, Jake Gelof knocked a ball to right center field for a double (15), plating three.

Lansing scored the first three runs of the contest. Amassing three runs and five hits through the first three innings. Payton Martin struck out six over 5.2 innings.

The GL bullpen allowed two runs in 3.2 innings. Joseilyn Gonzalez struck out Ben Newton in the sixth, stranding a runner on third base. Gonzalez has inherited 33 runners this season, and only 12 have scored.

The Lugnuts added two runs in the eighth. A hit by pitch, walk, bunt single, and error added a run against Joel Ibarra. Cam Day earned the final five outs and his fourth save. The right-hander, after a Ryan Lasko RBI single to make it 7-6, induced a groundout and lineout. Day struck out two and picked off a runner in the ninth.

Reynaldo Yean tossed a scoreless inning in the seventh, striking out the last batter he faced with a 103-mph pitch.

 

 

Munoz had a 3-hit game in his GL debut.  He was the only Loons hitter with more than one hit. 

 

 

Box Score

 

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 3 – Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego) 2

A hit batter in the bottom of the eighth broke a tie game and sent the Quakes to their second win of the series, a 3-2 victory over the Lake Elsinore Storm on Thursday night.

Tied at 2-2, Eduardo Guerrero was hit by a pitch from Storm reliever Igor Gil, forcing home Victor Rodrigues with the game-winning run, as the Quakes improved to 12-3 against the Storm this year.

Mairo Martinus had two hits, including his fourth homer of the year, as Rancho built a 2-0 lead against Storm starter.

Rancho starter Sterling Patick kept the Storm off the board over the first four innings, but gave up three extra-base hits in the fifth, as the Storm tied the game at 2-2.

Storm reliever Yovannki Pascual (0-2) got into trouble, as the Quakes loaded the bases with two outs.  Victor Rodrigues singled, and that was followed by walks to Oswaldo Osorio and Jackson Nicklaus, before Gil eventually hit Guerrero for what turned out to be the game-winner.

Dilan Figueredo, who got the final two outs of the eighth, got some help defensively, as the Quakes turned their third double-play of the night to end the game, giving him his first win of the season.

The Quakes will go with Logan Tabeling on Friday night, as the right-hander will take on Storm righty Maikel Miralles.

Box Score

 

Here are some other pertinent twitter videos and comments regarding some MiLB players, including the new players over the last couple of games.

Jackson Ferris

 

Bobby Miller before tonights game:

 

Adam Serwinoski

 

Zach Ehrhard

 

Paul Gervase

 

Julian Fernández

 

Wyatt Crowell

 

Justin Chambers

 

Christian Romero

 

Ko and Harlan at RC

 

James Tibbs III

 

Damon Keith

 

Joendry Vargas

 

Jaron Elkins

 

Alex Makarewich

 

 

 

 

Michael Norris

Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear

Related Topics

Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear

Click to comment
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

More in Dodger Baseball

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x