Author Archive: Phil Gurnee
Clayton Kershaw thru age 29 and other thoughts
One thing stands out for me when reviewing the accomplishments of the greatest pitchers in baseball history through their age 29 seasons. Of the fourteen pitchers to have accumulated at least 50 bWAR only two of them are left-handed. Clayton Kershaw and Hal Newhouser. Only one of them pitched their full career in the 21st …
Dodger all-time prospect busts – Part I
I was all ready to do my 2nd installment of the good and bad of 2017 when Baseball Prospectus rolled out a prospect bust list for the 21st century. It included three Dodgers and while I agree with Andy LaRoche and Jtd (Joel the Destroyer Guzman), they also included Zach Lee which I thought was …
2017 Good and bad Part I
Time for end of year lists and luckily for Dodger fans the year was loaded with amazing moments and stories. The Good: Puig Resurrection – Puig went from being demoted to AAA in August of 2016 to batting eight for much of the first 1/2 of 2017 to batting cleanup in game three of the …
Justin Turner walk off in NLCS game two is the 14th top play of 2017
Hernandez and Turner get back to back top plays of 2017 with their postseason heroics. Justin Turner hit the three-run walk-off home in game two of the NLCS that propelled the Dodgers to a 2 – 0 series lead. Justin Turner had an outstanding 2017, documented below.
Kiké Hernandez NLCS Game 5 heroics clocks in at #15 in MLB top 100 plays of 2017
Cracking the top 20 plays of 2017 was the grand slam by Kiké Hernandez in game five of the NLCS. Hernandez also hit a solo home run earlier in the game. All in all, Kiké had an outstanding 2017.
Bellinger hitting 39th home run is 22nd greatest play of 2017
I expected Cody Bellinger to crack this list but wasn’t sure which home run would do it, but I guess breaking the NL rookie home run record works. Of course Cody had a plethora of highlights in 2017
Adrian Beltre collecting 3000th hit for 25th among top MLB plays of 2017
He was a Dodger first, our own phenom who was starting for the Dodgers at age 19 and the one we let get away after 2004. Many years later, Adrian Beltre does something very few 3rd baseman have ever done, collecting his 3000th hit. This future HOF will stand tall with the greatest third baseman …
Chase Utley again at #29 in MLB top 100 plays of 2017
The silver fox at 38 years old is not someone you would have expected to populate the top 100 plays of 2017 more than once but here is once again clocking in at number 29. This play on August 23rd was not only outstanding it preserved the perfect game in progress by Rich Hill. For …
Ryu/Gonzalez combine for # 67 on MLB top 100 plays of 2017
It wasn’t pretty but the play by the Ryu on a weak ground ball toward 1st made the list. Ryu fielded the ball and was close to Adrian Gonzalez but was headed away from the bag so he flipped it toward Gonzalez who caught with his bare hand against his shoulder. This game was on …
Puig cracks the MLB top 100 plays of 2017 at 89
On April 24th Puig unleashed his arm on Brandon Belt with a throw that put him in the top 100 MLB plays of 2017. Here is a reminder from youtube just how dangerous the arm of Puig has been since he exploded on the baseball scene in 2013.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 