(Has Been)
(Has Been)
(Has Been)You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me?
You calling me has been?
What’d you say your name is?(Jack)
(Never Done Jack)Glad to meet ya. Who’s your friend?
(Dick)
(Don’t Say Dick)What do ya know. And you friend,
what’s your handle?(Don)
(Two-Thumbs Don)Riding on their armchairs,
they dream of wealth and fame.
Fear is their companion,
Nintendo is their game.
Never Done Jack and Two-Thumbs Don
and side-kick Don’t Say Dick
will laugh at others failures
though they have not done shit.I heard of you, the ready made
connecting with the ever ready.
Yeah, never was talking about
Still trying. I got it.
Forever better gossiping about
never say die.May I inquire about what
you’ve been doing, mister..(Jack)
(Never done jack)And you, partner, what’s the
news of the world, Dick?(I don’t say dick)
Don, of all the people,
you must be the tattler.(Two-thumbs up)
What are you afraid of, failure?
So am I.(Has been)
(Has been)Has been implies failure. Not so.
(Has been)
Has been’s history. Has been, was.
(Has been)
Has been, might again.
Andrew Heaney might be on to something
Pedro Moura wrote a column yesterday about Andrew Heaney and the unique contract he signed with Fantex that left me wondering if maybe Andrew Heaney started something that might become commonplace.
eighteen months ago, Angels left-hander Andrew Heaney agreed to commit 10% of his future earnings to investors in exchange for $3.34 million up front. It was an unprecedented transaction for a major league player.
This might have been talked to death when he signed the deal but I don’t recall the conversation. What I liked in the story was how Huston Street eventually agreed that maybe this was now an option for players instead of signing team friendly deals that buy out their arbitration years.
I could certainly see this as an option for certain types of players.
- Pitchers as insurance in case their arms implode before they hit arbitration
- Allen Craig types who didn’t get the contract Craig got and want to make sure they get something monetary out of their major league career.
- Players who don’t plan on blowing it all on houses/entourages/blow/girls/cars/jewelry in one year.
- Players who never got a signing bonus over $1 Million when drafted and have never seen any money yet from their pro career.
Heaney felt his breakeven point was $60 million in career earnings, Street crunched his own numbers and came up with $80 million.
Given that Heaney signed this deal before he knew he was going to have TJ surgery, it looks like his move was a prudent one. He didn’t pitch much in 2016 before discovering his elbow ailment and is expected to miss all of 2017. It is very possible that Andrew Heaney may never get a large major league payday and the odds of him ever earning $60 Million over his career are now longer than they were eighteen months ago when it looked like he was going to be a mainstay in the Angel rotation for at least the next five years.
Just a quick review of Dodgers on the 40 man roster, I could see several Dodgers who might want to check out this route.
Brock Stewart
Grant Dayton
Andrew Toles
Anyway, the whole thing intrigued me. I can understand eschewing any type of insurance and bet on oneself, but injuries have waylaid many a confident baseball player. It just might be that getting the best of both worlds is the right option. An immediate payday for a % of your lifetime earnings. I’d like to meet the person who was the first one to suggest this to an agent. Bold move Cotton.
Vin Scully and the General
This past Saturday Night we ventured out to the Cal State Northridge Valley Performing Arts Center to catch Buster Keaton’s groundbreaking silent film “The General” with the New West orchestra conducted by Richard Kaufman providing the soundtrack.
It was a crime that we had never been and I have to admit my surprise at how beautiful the center was. That was just the first of several pleasant surprises. Our seats were awesome, individual box seats along the right-hand section. We weren’t sitting right next to each other but we were extremely comfortable with no worries about getting up and about and bothering anyone. They were the greatest seats and we will be looking to purchase them every time we come back. The biggest surprise, however, was simply the public address announcer. Cal State Northridge didn’t settle for some nondescript public address announcer. No siree. We got Vin Scully and let me tell me, it was the sweetest sound hearing Vin Scully telling us to get comfortable and to turn off our cell phones. I had to resist the urge to give the public address announcement a standing ovation.
[I’ve updated this story on Nov 1st, 2020 with a story about how Vin Scully came to do the introductions at the Soraya.
“This is a perfect week to pay tribute to the voice that welcomes audiences to The Soraya – Mr. Vin Scully. He tops every list as the most beloved Angeleno, and after 67 years with the Dodgers, his voice is one of the best known not only here, but around the world. We also love him because he hails from our own Valley. Mr. Scully is an artist in his own right – a poet, a story-teller, a master improviser, and a thoughtful purveyor of the human spirit. I can’t tell you how often newcomers to our venue track me down to exclaim, “Was that THE Vin Scully?!” Artists waiting backstage in the wings for the start of their performance are equally surprised and delighted to hear his familiar voice.
Here’s what you probably did not know – Mr. Scully loves music, especially the classic Broadway musicals. When he visited the The Soraya to record the announcement, he regaled me with stories of rushing from Brooklyn to Broadway to catch opening nights…as long as the game didn’t go into extra innings and run late. Like his encyclopedic memory for baseball stats, he also seemed to recall every show and who starred in it.
Mr. Scully’s retirement does not diminish his part in this year’s World Series Championship. Many of the players’ names still ring with the special way Mr. Scully said them – Kershaw, Turner, Jansen, Seager. In a week like this, we can’t help but include Mr. Scully in our celebratory thoughts, much like we think of him at every performance as the lights dim at The Soraya.
We are indebted to Soraya favorite, conductor Richard Kaufman, for introducing us to Mr. Scully. The first time he recorded our announcement, Mr. Scully was still calling games, so Richard and I scored an invitation to the booth at Dodger Stadium. When we changed our name from Valley Performing Arts Center, Mr. Scully generously agreed to re-record the announcement, this time in our own recording booth. Both times, he got it perfect on the first take. Of course he did.
Gratefully,
and that is why you can hear Vin Scully every time you visit the Soraya at Cal State Northridge]
The show started with Jamie Farr telling some jokes with the conductor Richard Kaufman. Once that was done, they introduced some dignitaries in the audience and the first one was ex-Dodger and current Matador announcer Ross Porter. Ross Porter took a bow and was just a few feet from our seats. I always enjoyed Ross Porter era as a Dodger announcer. His fascination with bizarre stats rivaled mine and I was always annoyed at how the McCourt administration had gone about replacing him.
Ross Porter was the reason I got involved in Dodger blogs. He was doing a game in the summer of 2004 when he mentioned Jon Weisman and Dodger Thoughts. I remembered the name but never actively went looking for the blog as reading blogs just wasn’t something I did in 2004. Yet when the big trade happened with LoDuca I was confused and did some searching on the cloud and Dodger Thoughts came up. I remembered what Ross had said about Jon Weisman so with that previous reference in mind I clicked on the link and my life took a left turn.
The show itself was fantastic, a hilarious romp, place looked sold out and I think everyone had a great time. Having the New West orchestra doing the soundtrack live brought the movie to life. I can’t really describe how much fun this show was.
The final surprise was after I got home and started to write this little column. I looked at a few reviews and picked one written by Roger Ebert in 1997. Holy shit, the movie was based on an actual event.
“The General” is an epic of silent comedy, one of the most expensive films of its time, including an accurate historical recreation of a Civil War episode, hundreds of extras, dangerous stunt sequences, and an actual locomotive falling from a burning bridge into a gorge far below. It was inspired by a real event; the screenplay was based on the book “The Great Locomotive Chase,” written by William Pittenger, the engineer who was involved.
This may have been the first time I’ve hit the Valley Performing Arts Center but it won’t be the last because if I ever want to hear Vin Scully, I now know where to go.
Unscientific analysis has Dodgers winning another Western Division
For years I’ve done a silly little analysis before the start of the year to determine the Dodgers fate in the Western Division.
What I do is take the five NL Western Division team and compare them numerically from 1 – 5 with 5 being best at each position. I like to think I’ve always been objective in this analysis but I’m sure some Dodger bias always leaked out.
At the point where I rank them, I’m simply using my own subjective opinion about who I think is better. We have a lot of unknowns this year. The biggest for me was LF. If Dahl was healthy to start the year he’d have gotten the 5 but he’s not and I’m not sure how long his injury will linger.
Dodgers – Puig is a huge ??? but I’m fairly positive that Carlos Gonzalez is going to be better. Will Pence? Probably. That was pretty much the only question mark I have on this team until you hit the rotation. You know what you are going to get with Kershaw/Kenta but Hill / McCarthy / Wood / Urias / Kazmir / Ryu all come with questions but between the lot of them, I still think they are the best option in their rotation spot than almost all other options for the other teams. The rotation is just so bloody deep, it is a mockery for the rest of the division. Even Kazmir as the 5th option would be the best option when compared to every other team’s 5th option and he’s the worst 5th option the Dodgers have. I may be giving the Dodger bullpen to much credit.
Giants – From 1 – 4 the Giant rotation almost matches up with the Dodgers. They fall heavily after that and I’m not impressed with the bullpen after Melancon. On offense, they have only one five player and that is Posey. I’m not down on Panik I think he’s a fine 2nd baseman but the Division is deep with Forsythe / DJ LeMahieu / Solarte. Yes, the Padres have moved Solarte from 3rd to 2nd this spring. I gave Belt the nod over Adrian simply because of age. Belt should get better or at last stay the same, while Adrian should continue to decline. Nunez might be a fine 3rd baseman but he’s not better than Arenado/Turner/Lamb.
Rockies – The offense is loaded but beyond Arenado/Blackmon/Gonzalez they have some huge holes at catcher and now 1st base without Desmond. Even a healthy Desmond would have had a hard time cracking higher than a 1 going against Adrian/Belt/Myers/Goldy. They get two 5’s with Arenado/Gonzalez and just missed a 3rd with Blackmon. As of now, they are missing Dahl/Desmond/Murphy. That is a tough way to start the season and it impacted the ranking. On the rotation side, I do think they have one of their better rotations and I’m a big fan of Jon Gray but he simply can’t measure up against Kershaw/Bumgarner/Grienke. Without injuries, I think this team is just a hair behind the Giants, but those injuries are going to hurt. Chad Bettis would still have ranked as the 2nd worst option as his spot, but the difference could be huge. Or not. Maybe German Marquez can do exactly what Bettis would have done.
Diamondbacks – Goldy gets one of their two 5’s. Lamb is good but not better than Arenado/Turner. The middle infield is the weakest in the division. I’m giving Pollock the benefit of the doubt and he gets the other five over Blackmon/Pederson. I could be very wrong on this one if he can’t stay healthy. Peralta needs to bounce back so for now, he’s ranked with Renfroe. The rotation could actually be good headlined by Greinke. Walker has the stuff to be a legitimate number two and I’m ranking him that way. Robbie Ray is solid as a number three. I’m a fan of Corbin and expect one of Corbin or Miller to bounce back. This is a decent rotation but it comes in 3rd simply because they are facing off against the Dodger/Giant rotations. Their biggest problem in my view is up the middle at catcher/SS/2nd Base. I could be underselling Drury but I don’t think I’m underselling Iannetta / Owings. The bullpen could be their undoing, maybe the new GM knows exactly what he’s doing in building this bullpen but it looks like a unit that is going to piss off many a starting pitcher.
Padres – We kind of know the Padre rotation is going to be awful. but we don’t know what kind of production the Hunter Renfroe and Margot duo are going to provide. Renfroe could end up back in AAA or hit 30-40 home runs. Margot looks like he could be a solid player but CF is deep in the division with Pollock/Blackmon/Pederson. Myers is their best player and gets their highest ranking but they have no 5’s because of Goldy at 1st base. I do like the bullpen with Mauer/CappsHand.
So that is my little foray into prognosticating the NL Western Divison race.
| Pos | Dodgers | Giants | Rockies | Diamondbacks | Padres |
| 1st | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| 2nd | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| SS | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 3rd | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Catcher | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| RF | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| CF | 3 | 2.5 | 4 | 5 | 2.5 |
| LF | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1 |
| Bench | 5 | 2 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1 |
| Offense | 34.5 | 27 | 31 | 26.5 | 18 |
| 1 -Starter | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2 -Starter | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 3 -Starter | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 -Starter | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 5 -Starter | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Closer | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Bullpen | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Pitching | 33 | 26 | 18 | 18 | 10 |
| Grand Total | 67.5 | 53 | 49 | 44.5 | 28 |
Batting gloves and Aloe Vera plants
Most of my spare time is spent gardening and for twenty years I’ve been slicing up my hands when I handle my Aloe Vera plants. I’ve tried using many different gloves but they are either too thick to get the feel for hand pruning the sharp dead fronds or too thin and the fronds slice right through the material.
A few weeks ago I had put on an old pair of batting gloves and was swinging the bat around when I wandered into the front yard with the gloves still on. I pondered the 100 or so aloe vera I had and knew I had to start pruning them while dreading it at the same time. I grabbed one and started working on it without even realizing I had left my batting gloves on. I did one after another and realized that I was going to finish the job pain and cut free. I marveled at how strong and pliable the batting gloves were for this specific task. It had never occurred to me before to use them but as I thought about it made perfect sense. They gave me the tactile feel I was missing with thick leather gloves, but they were strong enough to keep my hands from getting shredded.
I’ve spent the last few weeks pruning the rest of the Aloe Vera in my garden and while I now need a new pair of batting gloves for baseball, I have a fantastic pair of beat up gardening gloves.
You can teach an old dog new tricks.
WBC Goliath slays David
The entertaining 2017 WBC ended last night with the United States clobbering Puerto Rico 8 – 0 ending the surprising undefeated run by the Puerto Rican team. Marcus Stroman bounced back from his previous humiliation at the hands of the Puerto Rican team to no-hit them for six innings and the bats did the rest.
I enjoyed this tournament, was surprised to see the Puerto Rican team make such a run given the pitching staff they were using but wasn’t surprised that the US eventually won the Championship. Even though many of the biggest names did not play for the US, they still had an excellent team with major league all-stars and MVP’s in the lineup.
For those who were rooting for the US, I hope you enjoyed your victory. I had a friend said he was proud of the US for winning but I guess I just don’t get that. The competition was fun but I’m not sure what there was to be proud of.
The Puerto Rican team had four position players who garnered two bWAR or more in 2016 and two of them played the same position. They had zero pitchers who garnered two or more bWAR. By contrast, the US pool had 79 position players to choose from who had two or more bWAR and 69 pitchers with two or more bWAR. This was after all a team that was starting Enrique Hernandez in CF against a right-hand pitcher. Their talent pool was limited so my hat was off to them for accomplishing what they did.
The starting pitcher for the PR team won’t even be in a major league rotation, and he was followed by pitchers who are not expected to be key contributors on any major league team. The starting pitcher for the US team is the ace of the team who won 89 games last year.
I’m sure I wasn’t being very patriotic for rooting for the Island teams but patriotism is very low on my list of things I care about.
I’m proud of my country when they do things that make me proud. That doesn’t happen often these days and winning a baseball tournament doesn’t make the cut.
Other related WBC notes.
Ian Kinsler created a hubbub by commenting that he hopes to show the world the right way to play the game. I get that, even if I don’t agree with the sentiment. If you were taught to play the game without showing emotion after every pitch and play, it might be annoying to watch those who learned how to play the game by showing emotion after every pitch and play. Cultures collide. It happens, it happened when the African-American became a part of the game, and it is happening now as more and more Latin players become MLB players. I’m sure it was no different in Japan when they started letting American players into the league. Some will resent it, some will embrace it. Doesn’t make someone a racist because they don’t like how the game is played by Latin players. I for one am blown away at the silliness exhibited by players over walks offs these days or home run celebrations in the dugout but I don’t think that makes me a racist. I also don’t think that makes me an old fart but I may be wrong there. I actually enjoy watching players play that look like they are having fun. The Puig slide into home after his game-winning grand slam is still one of my favorite Dodger memories.
Everyone time I watch Eric Hosmer play I end up enjoying watching him play. His peripheral stats don’t suggest he’s an above average ball player but he sure looks like one. He gets clutch hits, he runs the bases extremely well for a 1st baseman, he’s smooth as silk at the bag. Hopefully, he can put it all together in his age 27 season and be that player that he looks like but isn’t.
Javy Baez is the same way. What a beautiful ballplayer, but so far the stats don’t match the aesthetics. I think they will.
I still can’t put out of my mind that home run that Stanton hit in Petco. Geezus
No matter what Adam Jones does, I’ll always remember him for that catch and the hat tip by Machado.
I wish Clayton Kershaw and Mike Trout had played for the US just so the world could see them. They are too good and unique to have sat this out. Besides it may have been the only way either of them will have a Championship to call their own.
Orel Hershiser mystery umpire
The other day on Dodger squeeze play I heard Orel tell Joe Davis about the time he was thrown out of a baseball game. Evidently, Orel had gone his whole career without being tossed but that came to an end when he was the pitching coach for the Rangers.
To hear Orel tell it, Buck Showalter was his manager, and he asked Orel to go to the mound and ask the umpire when he showed up “is this going to be the strike zone we are working with the rest of the game”. Orel said he did exactly that and was tossed.
The key here is that it was a rookie umpire who had been called up and I think Orel said it was the umpire’s first game. Buck Showalter made a fuss and the other umpires came in to see what Orel had done to get tossed. He told them and the next day, Orel said he had an envelope on his chair from those other umpires saying they were sorry he had been tossed.
And to top it off the umpire was sent back to the minors the next day. Joe Davis asked Orel if he knew if the umpire had made it back to the major leagues and Orel said he didn’t, that he didn’t keep track of him. That part surprised me because if I had a 30-year major league playing/coaching career I’d keep track of the umpire that threw me out. It is possible that the umpire was only scheduled for that one game, maybe someone had been sick or took a quick personal leave, but wouldn’t it be something if that umpire had finally reached his dream of being a major league umpire only to see it dashed after one game because he had a quick hook with Orel Hershiser?
If Bob Timmerman read this blog I’d ask him who the umpire was and what happened to him, but he doesn’t, but it left me curious, and maybe someday I’ll see if anyone knows who this umpire was.
[Update for those who don’t read the comments]
I read this and e-mailed Bob. He came back with this:
Matt Hollowell
Captain Kirk blew my mind with Has Been
William Shatner turned 86 today and it seemed like the perfect time to write about his mind blowing album called Has Been. It was 2004 and I was perusing The Toaster and they started talking about music. Someone I respected suggested that they listen to the new album by Shatner called Has Been. I remember snorting to myself when I read that but more and more comments kept suggesting it was great.
I said what the hell and bought the CD and plunked it in. I’d never heard Common People before, it was a cover, and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. It is on my playlist called good stuff.
The rest of the LP never hits the high notes of Common People but the song Has Been struck a core with me and resonates even more today as Never Done Jack tries to bring down those who try.
Dodgers send down five
Dodgers sent two of their top prospects along with three other players from major league camp to minor league camp and each of them could be back at some point.
Alex Verdugo – Verdugo played for Mexico in the WBC and while playing RF could have made the catch that kept Mexico in the tournament but the ball glanced off his glove when he dove for it. It did hit his glove so he had a legitimate chance to end the Mexican nightmarish 9th inning. Verdugo should be ticketed for AAA after spending all of 2016 in AA. He just turned 21 and you have to search a while to find a top prospect spend more than one year in AAA. With Andre down, Toles now has the job in LF on the left side of the batters box, but if Toles stumbles, and Bellinger is not deemed ready, Alex Verdugo may get his shot this year. I doubt he’s ready for that but his gun in LF would be fun to watch. He’s the Dodgers top outfield prospect if you count Bellinger as a 1st baseman. We can expect Verdugo to join the team in Sept. If he is still a Dodger. How well Toles handles LF might determine if Verdugo is a Dodger or a trade chip.
Willie Calhoun – Willie spent most of the camp relearning how to play 2nd base. Why this wasn’t done during the same time that the AFL is happening or in Sept is a question I’d like to ask the front office. Everyone and I mean everyone says he can’t play 2nd base. So I just assume that means he’s going to be a second baseman because I’ve never trusted that everyone person. Willie should also show back up this Sept if he is still a Dodger. With Forsythe signed he’s got two years to learn to play 2nd base well enough to be a major leaguer. With all the work they did this spring they should know by June if that is going to be a possibility. If not, have to imagine he’s destined for the AL.
Brett Eibner – The Dodges acquired Eibner in January from Oakland to provide RH outfield depth. He looked very good this spring, he can run well, play defense, and has some pop. Brett was caught in a numbers game with Gutierrez, Thompson, SVS, Hernandez, and even Segedin ahead of him. Despite all those names, I think we see him sometime this summer.
Jose Fernandez – It was nice to get a look at the Cuban infielder even with all the rust on him. I didn’t know what to make of him when they signed him and I still don’t. I don’t know how he looked defensively at 2nd or 3rd and I’m not sure it would have mattered given how rusty he has to have been having not played in several years. Is he going to play 2nd or 3rd in AAA is what I’m curious about?
Darnell Sweeney – I don’t think we will see Darnell Sweeney on the Dodgers. As a utility infielder/outfielder, he’s hampered by the fact he plays multiple positions but none of them very well. He does have good speed, and he’s a switch hitter but I think he’s stuck behind Taylor/Culberson/Hernandez/Fernandez. I’m not even sure where he’s going to play at AAA. He’s good to have for depth, but his career would be better off with another organization.
When all the cuts are made it would seem that Segedin or SVS, Dickson, Calhoun, Fernandez, Sweeney, Culberson would be the bulk of the AAA infield along with either Taylor or Hernandez. Where the Dodgers deploy these infielders will be interesting.
The only real prospect here is Willie Calhoun so I have to imagine they will give him the most burn at 2nd base to get as many repetitions there as possible. Everyone else is just hoping to become a major league bench player or a starting SS for the Padres.
Possible AAA Infield depending on who gets sent to AAA:
1st – Dickson or SVS or Segedin
2nd – Calhoun or Fernandez or Sweeney or Culberson or Taylor or Hernandez
SS – Culberson or Taylor or Hernandez
3rd – Segedin or Fernandez or Sweeney or Culberson or Hernandez
Tommy Davis turns 78 today
The first great LAD hitter to grace Dodger Stadium turned 78 today. Dodger Stadium opened in 1962 the same year that Tommy Davis went off and put these stats:
- Led the league in hits with 230, Frank Robinson and MVP Maury Wills were tied for 2nd with 208
- Hit nine triples, good for a tie for 2nd place
- Drove in 153 runs while hitting only 27 home runs
- Led the NL in batting average at .346 thus depriving Frank Robinson of leading the NL in BA/OBA/SLUG.
- Came in 3rd in MVP behind Maury Wills and Willie Mays. He placed in front of Frank Robinson who had a slug% of .624 that year.
For context on that RBI season. Tommy Davis is the only player since 1900 to drive in more than 150 runs and hit less than 30 home runs. 1962 was the year of the RBI with 18 players driving in more than 100 runs. In 1963 only eight players did the trick.
Tommy Davis would follow up his breakout 1962 season and win a second batting title in 1963.
At just 24 years old Tommy Davis appeared to Dodger nation as though he’d be one of the all time greats but those two years were as good as it would get for Tommy Davis. He would break his leg in 1965, never recover any of the speed that had been part of his game, and would eventually get traded for Ron Hunt after 1966.
Tommy would bounce around baseball until 1976 playing for 11 more teams before retiring.
Here is the excellent Sabrproject Bio on Tommy.
What Tommy Davis accomplished as a major leaguer on one good leg, most players would be proud to do on two. Not that this sums up his athletic career, but it is an important backdrop to his improbable baseball odyssey. Davis seemed ready to have his ticket punched for Cooperstown as he entered his ball-playing prime. An instant on the basepaths in 1965 took him down a very different road.
Put a sock in it
Went to the Clipper game via metro last night to watch them throttle the Knicks. On the ride in a Laker fan laughed at my Clipper hat.
Me – “why you laughing at my hat”
Laker Fan – “because you guys think you’re so hot now because you won a few games, but how many titles have you won?”
Me – “being a Dodger fan I remember when I used to taunt the Giants fans with something close to that comment. Something like we got 5 rings, you got nada.
Me – “I’m just a fan, but I can understand the frustration of being a Laker fan right now. Your team is about to do something that the Clippers have never done”
Laker Fan – “what is that”
Me – “win less than 30 games four years in a row”
Laker Fan – “bullshit, your sorry ass franchise was built on losing”
Me – “yeah, we were, but we were never as bad as the Lakers have been over this four-year stretch”
Laker Fan – “whatever, you’ll never win a championship, and the only reason your any good now is because the commish screwed the Lakers out of Chris Paul”
Me – “always comes back to that “.
Laker Fan – “anyway, we are only losing because we are tanking to get the best draft picks. You guys just sucked”
Me – “whatever”
Laker Fan – “besides Magic is going to get us back on track”
Me – “I hope so, it would certainly help me sell my Laker tickets”
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 