Author Archive: Phil Gurnee
Rotational Depth?
Depending on who you ask the Dodgers have plenty of pitching or not enough. This comes up because as the Dozier talks heat up I hear several arguments. The Dodgers should be targeting more pitching not hitting The Dodgers should not be trading almost major league talents like De Leon and Stewart for hitting even …
Vin Scully up for Californian of the Year
In an effort to expand my echo chamber I started a digital subscription to the NY Times. The second biggest benefit to this digital subscription has been a daily update of California Today. On Dec 12th, they announced a contest for Californian of the Year with the following request: In that spirit, we’d like to …
Hurlers for hire
You can’t seem to check in on daily baseball transactions without being hit by an ex-Dodger hurler being signed. Either these pitchers were bonafide free agents, or were simply released by their previous team. There are so many I couldn’t decide if I should list them alphabetically or chronological. Several former number one picks on …
Hoops, even for the loneliest number
Basketball celebrates it’s 125th anniversary this month and is as popular as ever. They say 300 Million Chinese play the sport, and the above photo shows that even in the poorest places, they can be found shooting hoops. It is not surprising to me that the sport has become a hit around the world. It …
Narrative busting day
With Kenley Jansen re-signing with the Dodgers for 5/80 today, two different narratives were busted. First Narrative – MLB players always sign for the most money. I had laid out reasons why it would be a bad idea for Kenley Jansen to sign with the Marlins even if the Marlins made the best offer. I …
Bradbury Building, Boston Camerata, Eggslut, and Aliens
We took in a Christmas show at the infamous Bradbury building today. It wasn’t your typical Christmas show. The Boston Camerata does this: Take a Christmas journey through Mediaeval France, Italy, England and Provence with “America’s foremost early music ensemble” (Le Monde, Paris). Their “jubilant and inspiring” (The Boston Globe) seasonal music program of festive …
Pondering left field
2017 LF is going to be interesting. From the Left Side: Toles – keeps showing skills, looks like he could be a promising leadoff hitter. Has the speed, showed good OBP skills, had some pop. His arm plays well in LF. I’d think he’d rank very high defensively over a full season in LF. We …
1958 – 58
For some reason, I was looking forward to turning 58 this year having been born in 1958. On Turkey Day it became official. All year I’ve thought of myself as 58 years old so turning 58 was just an after thought. The LAD were 58 years old this year. It is strange comfort to know …
Dozier and Dodger infield dingers
If the Dodgers do trade for Dozier, and re-sign Justin Turner they will have a good shot at hitting 100 home runs as an infield. The last Dodger infield to hit 100 home runs was in 2004. That was mostly due to Adrian Beltre who belted 48 home runs. Shawn Green hit 22 home runs …
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 