Giants / Dodgers give possible rotational postseason preview
As the Giants come into town for their most important series, the Dodgers will be throwing at them what should be the exact same three pitchers that the Nationals will see when the NLDS series opens.
Even the order might be the same as Kershaw / Hill / Maeda are scheduled to pitch the three-game series with the Giants.
Is that trio any better than the past two postseason trio?
2014 saw the Dodgers use Kershaw / Greinke / Ryu and lose in four games to the Cardinals.
2015 saw the Dodgers use Kershaw / Greinke / Brett Anderson and lose in five games to the Mets.
Maybe
Clayton is Clayton, he should enter the postseason at full strength, and Clayton at full strength is the best pitcher in baseball. He’ll be matched up against Max Scherzer, and Max is pretty damn good himself. Game one could be decided by the bullpens if Kershaw/Scherzer cancel each other out.
Rich Hill is not Zack Greinke, but in a short game series he might be able to put up a reasonable facsimile of our 2014/2015 postseason Greinke. I’ve often been told that soft pitchers have a tougher time in the postseason. I don’t know if that is true or not, but I do know the Nationals haven’t seen Rich Hill since 2012 and can’t imagine anyone is on the team that has had many if any at-bats against him. Advantage should be Rich Hill, but that is assuming that two weeks from now that Rich Hill will even be healthy enough to pitch in the postseason. Rich Hill has made one postseason start, and that was back in 2007 when he was with the Cubs. That did not go well but we all know the 2007 version of Rich Hill is not the 2016 version. If Rich Hill is healthy enough to pitch, I think the LAD front office should get some major accolades for landing Rich Hill without giving up any of Julio Urias / Jose De Leon or even Alvarez / Buehler / Stewart. I honestly don’t think someone like Chris Sales or Chris Archer would give the Dodgers anymore of a chance than this version of Rich Hill.
I don’t think Kenta Maeda brings anything more than Ryu did in 2014, but he probably brings a lot more than Brett Anderson did in 2015. Maeda is one of the few pitchers who is actually better on the road than at home, but not a significant difference. Maybe Maeda pitches game two instead of game three so that they break up the two lefties.
Anyway, as you watch the Giant series, just remember these are the three guns that Dodgers will be using against the Nationals. The Dodgers have not used the fourth starter in either of the last two NLDS and I don’t expect them to do so this year.
Mets topple Giants from top of the Wild Card race
From May 15th until Aug 9th the Giants were on top of the NL Western Division, at times the lead was eight games. When the Dodgers sliced that one time eight game lead to even stephen on Aug 9th, the Giants went from being the NL West leaders to the Wild Card leaders. For a few weeks the Dodgers / Giants traded being on top of 1st place but on Aug 21st, the Dodger took command of the NL West, and from that point on the Giants were now in the MLB standings under Wild Card.
Even as they fell into the Wild Card race the Giants had a comfortable lead, but that lead has now been vanquished. Just like the Dodgers, the Mets have chewed off that lead and now the Mets are the number one wild card team.
The Cardinals put the Mets in 1st place by defeating the Giants, so for the first time since Aug 21st, a new name sits atop the Wild Card standing. It is now the Mets / Giants / Cardinals with the Cardinals just one game back of the Giants. Only two of those three get to play in the play-in game, and even with a four deep rotation the Giants just aren’t playing like a team who is going to be one of those two.
The Mets won back to back one-run games, this time behind the offense and great defense from TJ. Rivera. The Mets are doing this without Matt Harvey and Jacob Degroom in the rotation and an AAA player at 2nd base. The rotation is as patchwork as the Dodgers has been with Thor & Colon being their only constants.
The Cardinals shut out the Giants behind their top pitching prospect Al Reyes. Diaz is back and slugged a home run to help the offense get going.
The Dodgers, Mets, and Cardinals all used rookies to start on Sunday in big games as rotational injuries continue to wreck havoc among the teams with post season aspirations.
Cardinals and Mets stage late innings comebacks
The Cardinals were down a run in the 9th inning but they had one thing going for them, the Giant bullpen, and once again that bullpen failed to hold a lead. The Cardinals rallied for two runs to beat the Giants 3 – 2. It was almost a must-win for the Cardinals because if they had lost they would have been four games back of the Giants and three games back of the Mets, but with that win, they are still within striking distance, just two games back. Those two game switches are big when you are playing the team you are chasing. The Giants will get a taste of that starting Monday when they take on the Dodgers.
The Mets also rallied for an extra-inning victory. The young Twin team had shut them out for seven innings, but the Mets tied it in the 8th. In the 11th, Brian Buxton hit his sixth home run of the month, but Curtis Granderson tied it in the bottom of the 11th with his own home run. Granderson would be the double hero by hitting the walk-off home run in the 12th, and propel the Mets into a tie with SF for the two wild card spots. Granderson became the first Met to hit a game tying and game winning home run in extra-innings. He hit the game-winning home run off of O’Rourke.
It was only the second homer O’Rourke has given up to a left-handed hitter in his 49th appearance over two years. Left-handers were previously 0-for-18 against him this year.
Toles now 15 – 3 in games started
and 8 – 1 since being recalled on August 21st. The only time the LAD have lost when Andrew Toles has started since August 21st was the brilliant performance by Jose Fernandez at his home field in Miami.
Toles showed off one his many tools last night when he threw out Tomas from left field with a perfect peg. This is what Josh Reddick thought of the throw:
“That little guy has got all kinds of fire, and stuff you don’t really expect out of him,” Reddick said. “And now he showcased an arm that can throw about 100 mph to throw a guy out by 10 feet. That was pretty impressive.”
The LAD outfield made many contributions, Josh Reddick collected three hits, and Joc Pederson hit a home run so hard so far so fast that even Charlie Steiner had no problem making the call.
Joc Pederson continues to attack the snakes like a Mongoose. He is second to only that crazy rookie Ryan Schimpf in San Diego in OPS against the snakes this season. Cory Seager makes the top 12 with his 1.029 OPS.
| Player | | | OPS | | | PA |
| Ryan Schimpf | | | 1.454 | | | 31 |
| Joc Pederson | | | 1.452 | | | 42 |
| Stephen Piscotty | | | 1.242 | | | 33 |
| Charlie Blackmon | | | 1.142 | | | 79 |
| Yangervis Solarte | | | 1.132 | | | 45 |
| Freddie Freeman | | | 1.124 | | | 35 |
| Hunter Pence | | | 1.123 | | | 55 |
| Trevor Story | | | 1.097 | | | 59 |
| Gerardo Parra | | | 1.048 | | | 50 |
| Nolan Arenado | | | 1.04 | | | 87 |
| Corey Seager | | | 1.029 | | | 83 |
| Nick Hundley | | | 1.002 | | | 44 |
Oh, and Brock Stewart won the game, giving him a 2 – 2 record. Since giving up nine runs in Colorado, Stewart has made four appearances, pitched eighteen innings, given up only four runs, and struck out seventeen.
Chase Utley hit another double, giving him four doubles in three games, along with seven total hits in those three games.
Cory Seager did stuff, but he gets his own post.
Sean Reader is still in our thoughts
With September being Child Cancer Awareness Month, I’m remembering the children who have passed away from Cancer/Leukemia that had an impact on my life.
On Opening Day in 2007, the Dodgers presented Sean’s mother and father with seats from Dodger stadium. On the pair of seats is a plate that reads “In Memory of Sean Reader Born 9-18-93, passed 8-14-06 # 1 Dodger Fan “. The seats are located at Field Level, Section 43, Row A, Seat # 5 & 6.”
As the 10th anniversary of the 4+1 game approaches, I and several others will be thinking more of Sean Reader than of the actual game.
I first wrote about Sean Reader nine years ago on August 7th, 2007. I followed that up with a story on Sept 16th, 2010. This will be my 3rd story about Sean and hopefully not my last.
I write about Sean because Jay Stalling makes us remember him by running the Sean Fund.
Sean’s Fund works with California Chess League (CYCL) to provide financial aid to those who need it to pay for chess classes and tournaments. Additionally, Sean’s Fund provides for private lessons for children in the Santa Clarita Valley who suffer from cancer and brings chess to the patients at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles who suffer from cancer and other serious ailments.
Maybe that sounds trivial compared to donating money to the massive money machines who are trying to defeat cancer. Maybe? Maybe not so trivial after you read why Jay does this.
When I send money to the Sean Fund I know exactly what Jay Stalling and his staff will do with that donation. Sean had two passions, the Dodgers, and Chess. Sean wasn’t just some kid who played Chess, Sean was the Cory Seager of his Chess peers, and this is his story. The Sean Fund was created to extend Sean’s passion to those who may not have been fortunate enough due to economic situations to fully learn about the game that has such a beneficial impact on those who play it.
How does Sean Reader play into the 4+1 game?
From the day he was diagnosed, Sean, his family, Jay, and his family all expected a long fight, but a happy ending. They had strength, confidence, prayer, the best doctors, the bes tcaregivers , and still it was not enough. It was not to be, just like William; Sean was unable to beat the disease and passed away on Aug 17th 2006.
On Sept 18th with Sean’s birthday approaching, Chan was rightfully depressed. Jay was worried about Chan spending his recently deceased sons birthday alone, so he went over to help him get through the day. I’m just guessing but I think Jay needed to be there just as much as Chan needed him. They would get through this day together and lean on each other for support. They had loved Sean as a father loves his son and as a best man takes that family into his heart. I don’t know what they did that day except for one thing, and that was to watch the Dodger game.
Chan had purchased season seats for his son because aside from Chess, the Dodgers were his biggest passion. Sean loved the Dodgers and coveted the giveaways as young kids do. Besides the bobble heads, his favorite was the Fleece blanket, and this year the Dodgers were doing the fleece blanket on his birthday. When Sean was too sick to go to any more games, Chan had given away all the tickets except for the Sept 18th game. He had hoped that Sean would be healthy enough by then to make the trip for the game. It was not to be for Sean, and Chan still had the unused tickets sitting at home when Jay came over. Neither one could bring themselves to go to the game so they settled in and watched history unfold. It was just a baseball game, but nothing else could have provided the respite that Jay and Chan needed, then the game the Dodgers played. They toasted Nomar rounding the bases and thought of the boy who would have loved that game probably more than anyone else.
Sean Reader passed away from leukemia over tens years ago now on August 14, 2006. He was twelve when he passed away, and the Dodgers started their ThinkCure! campaign one year later. ThinkCure! is now nine years old and still going strong. In July of 2005 Sean was undergoing his 4th round of chemo when a Dodger group consisting of Ethier, Furcal, Martin, and Frank McCourt, visited Children’s Hospital. Sean had been looking forward to this visit for several weeks, as he was the biggest twelve-year-old Dodger fan in the world. Frank met with Sean that day, and I’m sure he made an impression on him. Sean was just weeks away from leaving us as he had fought a valiant battle, but the current knowledge was not going to be enough to save him. Yet, even in his last weeks, all he wanted to talk about was his Dodgers. That could not have been lost on Frank. Frank has referred to Sean in inspirational speeches he has made since then, so we know Frank’s thought about him. How much that played into the Dodgers starting ThinkCure!, I’ll never know, but I expect it helped facilitate the process.
Sean’s family had season tickets and they sat in the first row of the old section, about halfway between the 3rd base and the foul pole. When Sean was able to, they would manage to go to the games. However, if you’ve ever sat in those seats after the stadium’s modifications, you’d know that the new sight lines are tough on short people. It’s also hard to get a good view of the infield if anyone to your right leans forward in their seats. The ushers, however, would always spot Sean, and wave him into the new section, so he could watch the action. These simple gestures meant a lot to Sean and his father. I’m sure the ushers looked forward to the games Sean could attend, and cried silently when they realized he couldn’t make them any longer.
Sean would never leave the hospital after the Dodgers’ visit. He lost the battle with leukemia, and the fourth round of chemo had broken his body down. Still, he watched the games from his hospital bed. Whenever family and friends visited, and saw his body show animation, they knew immediately that something in the game had happened. They would glance up at the TV, and more times than not, a Dodger player would have just hit a home run.
Sean wasn’t just a Dodger fan, he was a brilliant boy. In February 2005, less than two months before his diagnosis, Sean won the title of Western States Chess Champion for the 6th Grade. Three days after he learned he had leukemia, Sean headed for Tennessee where he led his elementary school team to second place standings, in the nation. That’s like being runners-up at the Little League World Series (and Sean being the team’s best player).
And above all, he was a great son and person.
Leukemia is what ended Sean’s and many other children and adults’ lives prematurely. Doctors will say that with their new protocols, the ability to survive now, is better than ever before. The survival rate, however, needs to get better, because people are still dying at a greater rate than is acceptable.
The Dodgers do what they can on a large scale with ThinkCure!, Jay Stalling does what he can on a local level, not to fight cancer but to carry on the memory of one of the victims by helping to keep his passion for Chess alive for others.
Both are doing the good fight.
William Christopher Caldwell
“I hope your child never has cancer” are tough advertisements for me to watch over and over during the Dodger games. Children’s Hospital has become one of the more prominent Dodger sponsors on SportsNetLA. The children in the photos are all too familiar to me and every time I see the commercials it just reminds of the children who didn’t survive.
A few weeks ago I went to a game with David Young and Jay Stalling. Dave and I got there early enough they were doing the first pitch ceremony. The ball was going to be thrown out by a child with Leukemia. They tried to put on a good face, but eventually, the mother simply started crying. Unknown to David I was dying inside. I don’t pray, it seems like a useless endeavor, but I do hope, and I hoped that mother would have a better ending for her son than my best friends son.
I first wrote about William for TrueBlueLA back on Sept 05, 2007. It was one of the first things I ever wrote about. No one read TBLA at the time, and no one reads this blog so it seems like a perfect time to write about him today because those commercials and that game have put him back into my mind.
I’m not a deeply emotional person, very surface oriented, nothing really hit me in my heart over my lifetime until I was 46 when my best friend’s son died of Leukemia at the age of four. Byron and I had done many things together since we first met at work when he became my boss around 1987. Softball, old man basketball, scuba diving, river rafting, skiing, two-man beach volleyball, you name the sport we did it together. He was the best man at my wedding, I was the best man at his wedding. We did most of that before he got married, but after that, it was pretty much just weekly softball. Byron got married late in life but with a younger wife was able to start a family just about from the get go. We don’t have children and for whatever reasons, we didn’t really bond with Byron’s family. I would see the children when he brought them to the softball games, but that was about the extent of our interaction. Not having children of our own, his wife being much younger than my wife, it just didn’t happen.
That all changed the spring of 2004. Byron called to tell me that his oldest son William had been diagnosed with Leukemia and as you’d expect was very shaken up about it. His wife worked at Cedars-Sinai as a nurse so William was going to get the best care and treatment. We talked for a long time, and he asked me if would get tested to see if I could donate platelets for William. I eagerly agreed because I’d have done anything to help. At this point, my rare interactions with William were when Byron brought him to the softball games or the occasional social gathering. We had never bonded as sometimes friends do with their best friends children. Given what Byron had told me I was very confident at the time that William would beat this and live a long life. I got tested and was lucky enough to be a perfect match for donating platelets to William. I don’t remember why, but neither his parents nor sisters were able to do so. They have strict requirements for being able to donate and evidently the chaste life I lived had helped me. No sex outside of marriage, no tattoos, no drugs, no smoking. Hey, I was finally going to get rewarded for being Mr. Boring.
As he started his chemo treatments I marched to Cedars-Sinai to do my bit. They had wasted no time, as soon as he been diagnosed he was undergoing chemo. I was lucky enough at the time to be working at home as a consultant and go could to the hospital whenever they needed me. Turns out they needed me a lot. Each time I went I’d visit William in the cancer center and at first, the meeting was awkward. The first few times I just sat there with him. He didn’t say anything I didn’t offer much small talk. I had talked Byron into letting him watch the Pixar movie Monsters. At first being only four they felt it was too much for him but they relented and on my second visit I popped it in the DVD and watched it with him. He laughed and laughed and laughed and once it was over we were best friends. We watched that video just about every day I visited and then we’d play with his toys on his bed, take a walk around the cancer center. They were both the best and worst days of my life. Byron had just started a new job the exact same day his son had been diagnosed so he’d do the night visits and I’d do the day visits. With his mom working at the hospital and her numerous sisters he rarely went without someone being with him. Once the first chemo round was done, he got to go home, and this time, we made sure we were part of their family. I had fallen for the boy and I wasn’t about to lose that connection.
Months passed and more rounds of chemo kept coming at him. I had built up this image in my mind that I was helping save him with my super platelets cause each time he got my platelets they said his cell count improved. One day in December they declared him in remission and he had been approved for a bone marrow transplant. He and his sister came to our softball game and after the game, we took this photo after we had been playing in the playground for a long while after the game.
That photo was the happiest day of my life. Shortly after that, leukemia came back harder than the first time. They couldn’t’ do the bone marrow transplant therapy unless he was in remission. Things went from optimistic to hopeless so fast my head was spinning.
Make a Wish came through and took William and his family up to the snow at Big Bear. With all his extended family around and adult family friends we romped in the snow, but he was simply too sick to do anything but watch. At one point Byron needed to put him down and several sisters reached for him, but he reached out for me. I held him so tenderly because I knew his whole body was wracked with pain. I’ve never felt so deeply as I felt at that moment.
The ride home with my wife was the saddest two hours I’d had. Within a few weeks of that event, William passed away. I wrote this to everyone I knew who had known Bryon.
William Christopher Caldwell passed away last night at
09:21. His bravery the last nine months will never be
forgotten and he will be greatly missed by family and
friends. William’s candle only burned for 4 1/2 years
but it was a bright flame and the world will be a
sadder place without him in it. I only hope his smile
and laughter will stay in my memory and not be taken
away by time.
Time has taken it away. I can barely remember what we did when I visited. That time was such a blur, my mind was rarely focused. It stayed that way for several years. Byron was able to undo a Vasectomy that he’d gotten after his 2nd child. Amazingly they quickly conceived and even before William had passed away we had gotten news that Carmen was pregnant again. Eventually, they would have two more children which certainly helped them with their loss. They moved away from Los Angeles, away from the memories and started a new life in Kansas City, Kansas where Byron was from. We don’t stay in touch but maybe once a year but we were so close that it is as though no times has passed at all.
It turns out for me that was a once in a lifetime bonding and I’m much richer and sadder for it.
I echo the mantra of the CHS commercials. “I hope your child never has cancer”. I also hope any child you are close too never has cancer. I hope that mother I saw that day at the game can cry tears of joy when she finds out her son’s remission is complete and she can hold him again without fear of it being the last time she ever gets to hold him.
Giants widen Wild Card lead
Behind Johnny Cueto the Giants widened their wild card lead by defeating the Cardinals, one of the teams chasing them 6 – 2. Cueto did what he’s being paid to do, and the Giant offense woke up against Adam Wainwright.
Combine that with the Mets having an off day, the Giants now have a one-game lead over the Mets and more importantly a two-game lead over the Cardinals.
The Mets gained a game on the Cardinals with that off day, which for them is much more important than chasing down the Giants.
Toles takes starting record to 14 – 3
Even when Andrew Toles does nothing, the team is so comfortable with him starting they win anyway. For the second start in a row, Andrew Toles didn’t do much to help the team win, going hitless in three at-bats in the 2 – 0 victory. On Monday Toles at least got a hit and scored a run in the 8 – 2 victory.
It is going to be very interesting when the Dodgers brain trust decides who will be on the NLDS roster and who won’t be. It could come down to Toles and Andre for one of those spots. Andre has yet to get a hit since coming back but has plenty of time to shake off the rust after missing 90% of the season. Toles offers speed and the ability to play all three OF positions. They both bat left-handed which is why it is possible only one will get chosen.
And ho hum Clayton Kershaw is still special and has a few more starts to get ready for his command performance in Washington.
Pending Dodger free agents Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen put on a nice show today. Turner knocking in the go-ahead run in the 9th inning, and gave Dodger fans a scare when he slid head first into the back of Starlin Castro’s leg clearly jamming his neck. Given all the things that can go wrong with a headfirst slide, players still do it over and over. KJ put the finishing touches on the Yankee series by striking out the side for his 44th save.
Corey Seager didn’t put on the show I was hoping for in NY, but the Dodgers did win the series and thanks to the ineptitude of the Giants put two games back on the lead making it five again and reducing the magic number significantly.
Giants try to give Wild card away but Mets and Cardinals refuse the gift
Once again all the main players in the NL Wild Card race lost leaving everything status quo. The three teams combined to score one run with the Mets and Cardinals getting shut out.
The Giants were swept by the Padres when Luis Perdomo beat Madson Bumgarner 3 – 1. The Padres have swept two series this year, and both times, the Giants were the team being swept. Dodgers should send some flowers to San Diego for making their job that much easier. Giants are still 1/2 game up on the Mets.
The Mets lost 1 – 0 to Tanner Roark and the Nationals. The rookie Robert Gsellman pitched five shutout innings for the Mets but when you don’t score you can’t win. Eventually, the relief gave up the deciding run when Wilson Ramos hit his 21st home run. Mets are still 1/2 game up on the Cardinals.
Cubs gave the Cardinals a hard time beating them two out of three and shut them out in the final game of the series. Jon Lester kept pace with teammate Kyle Hendricks for CYA consideration by throwing eight shutout innings of three-hit ball. Combined the two of them held the Cardinals to one run, and four hits in sixteen innings. Rizzo hit two home runs for the offense.
Maybe Miami can back into this, they won today 7 – 5 for the second win in a row and are now only four games back of the Mets. Jose Fernandez proved once again he’s a mere mortal when pitching on the road but the offense picked him and delivered the victory.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 