Checking in on the Dodger Roster
With the winter meeting over, thought it would be prudent to check in on the roster and see where we stand. Below is the 41 man roster, one player will need to go when Joe Kelly is officially added to the 40 man roster. That player will come from the second tier of projected minor league players from 2019. Probably one of Adam McCreery/Yimi Garcia/Josh Sborz.
The Dodgers have 28 projected major league players for 25 spots but only one catcher is on the projected major league roster so whoever they get to team with Barnes is going to be added to the roster putting it at 29. Barring a trade, that leaves four players who will need to start the season in the minors
Right now the Dodgers have a glut of starting pitchers and outfielders. In a best-case scenario, they move Matt Kemp to free salary and a roster space, but that still leaves them with many more moves to make.
With the trade winds still blowing many moves can still be made, but if nothing happens between now and March 1st I would expect the following players to start 2019 in the minors.
Julio Urias, Caleb Ferguson, Alex Verdugo, and Dylan Floro.
Urias will probably be managed in 2019 much as Walker Buehler was in 2018. Caleb was the Dodgers best left-handed relief pitcher in the 2nd half, but at just 21, he could still be a future starter and it doesn’t take much imagination seeing him start the year in the AAA rotation. Alex Verdugo is simply stuck. Even if Matt Kemp goes, that doesn’t free up a spot for Verdugo since Kemp was the right-hand platoon partner for Joc Pederson.
There is a reason why in just about every trade scenario the same two names keep showing up. Yasiel Puig and Alex Verdugo. If Puig gets traded the Dodgers free up some money and Verdugo can slot into his spot in RF. If Alex Verdugo gets traded the Dodgers will be trading their top position prospect but hopefully filling out the major league roster with either a catcher, a 2nd baseman, or an upgrade to the rotation.
When I say an upgrade to the rotation, it would have to be an arm like Cory Kluber or Thor because the rotation is brilliant at the top with Buehler/Kershaw and solid in the middle with anyone of Hill/Maeda/Ryu/Wood/Stripling plus eventually Urias/Ferguson/Santana.
| Player Name | 2019 | Position | Age | Bats | Throws |
| Walker Buehler | Majors | SP1 | 23 | R | R |
| Clayton Kershaw | Majors | SP2 | 30 | L | L |
| Rich Hill | Majors | SP5 | 38 | L | L |
| Kenta Maeda | Majors | SP5 | 30 | R | R |
| Hyun-Jin Ryu | Majors | SP5 | 31 | R | L |
| Alex Wood | Majors | SP5 | 27 | R | L |
| Julio Urias | Majors | SP5 | 21 | L | L |
| Ross Stripling | Majors | SP/RP | 28 | R | R |
| Kenley Jansen | Majors | Closer | 30 | S | R |
| Joe Kelly | Majors | RP | 31 | R | R |
| Pedro Baez | Majors | RP | 30 | R | R |
| Caleb Ferguson | Majors | SP/RP | 21 | R | L |
| Scott Alexander | Majors | RP | 28 | L | L |
| Tony Cingrani | Majors | RP | 28 | L | L |
| Josh Fields | Majors | RP | 32 | R | R |
| Dylan Floro | Majors | RP | 27 | L | R |
| Austin Barnes | Majors | Catcher | 28 | R | R |
| Max Muncy | Majors | 1st/2nd | 27 | L | R |
| David Freese | Majors | 1st/3rd | 35 | R | R |
| Enrique Hernandez | Majors | 2nd/OF | 26 | R | R |
| Corey Seager | Majors | SS | 24 | L | R |
| Justin Turner | Majors | 3rd | 33 | R | R |
| Chris Taylor | Majors | OF/2nd/SS | 27 | R | R |
| Yasiel Puig | Majors | OF | 27 | R | R |
| Cody Bellinger | Majors | CF/1st | 22 | L | L |
| Joc Pederson | Majors | OF | 26 | L | L |
| Matt Kemp | Majors | OF | 33 | R | R |
| Alex Verdugo | Majors | OF | 22 | L | L |
| Matt Beaty | Minors | 1st/3rd | 25 | L | R |
| Edwin Rios | Minors | 1st/3rd | 24 | L | R |
| Kyle Farmer | Minors | C/3rd | 27 | R | R |
| Keibert Ruiz | Minors | Catcher | 19 | S | R |
| Rocky Gale | Minors | Catcher | 30 | R | R |
| Andrew Toles | Minors | OF | 26 | L | R |
| Adam McCreery | Minors | RP | 25 | L | L |
| Josh Sborz | Minors | RP | 24 | R | R |
| Brock Stewart | Minors | RP | 26 | L | R |
| Yimi Garcia | Minors | RP | 27 | R | R |
| J.T. Chargois | Minors | RP | 27 | S | R |
| Dennis Santana | Minors | SP/RP | 22 | R | R |
| Yadier Alvarez | Minors | SP/RP | 22 | R | R |
Dodgers leave winter meetings with all their outfielders and starting pitching
Most of the focus during the Dodger Winter Meetings were which outfielder would get traded in rumored deals for Kluber and Realmuto but with the 2018 Winter Meeting in the rearview mirror, the only notable change in the roster was the acquisition of Joe Kelley who short-circuited the Dodger 2013 Postseason when he broke the rib of red-hot Hanley Ramirez.
Joe Kelly didn’t come cheap signing a three year deal for a reported twenty-five million. Kelly is coming off a fantastic World Series against the Dodgers, striking out ten with zero walks in six shutout innings while pitching in all five games. The zero walks were either indicative of the Dodger approach or the best version of Joe Kelly because during the regular season Kelly walked 4.4 hitters every nine innings.
I won’t pretend to know which Joe Kelly the Dodgers will be getting, but hopefully, the Dodgers do. They supposedly blew Kelly away with their presentation on how they expect to use him and why they wanted him.
Last year the Dodgers signed Tom Koehler to much less expensive contract for only one year based on the fantastic small sample size he put up as a relief pitcher. They never got to test their Koehler theory as the plans went down the toilet when he suffered a pre-season injury and never pitched for the Dodgers.
Other Dodger action during the meetings. They lost two minor league prospects in the major league rule five draft. The Reds picked up Connor Joe with the 6th pick and the Phillies picked Drew Jackson with the 11th pick and then traded Drew to the Orioles. Connor Joe had an outstanding season in AAA for the Dodgers and was one of the players I had hoped they would put on the 40 man roster but there was simply no room him. Drew Jackson is going to have to make the jump from AA to the major leagues but his speed and utility could be useful off the bench.
For those who keep track of such things, Thursday was a banquet of first names for last names with Joe and Jackson leaving, and Kelly coming.
It is almost like Cody Bellinger wasn’t a valuable player in 2018
Trade talks are heating up and every Dodger outfielder is being discussed in deals to shore up area’s that evidently need shoring up.
Even Cody Bellinger’s name has come up, which to me seems ridiculous given he should be as untouchable as Walker Buehler. Sure, Bellinger didn’t put up as insane a season as his rookie year, but he was still one of the most valuable players in all of baseball.
He will be paid the league minimum again in 2019, before entering his first year of arbitration in 2020. With Harper a.iming for a contract in excess of $325 million, consider this: Bellinger has been worth 8.3 wins above replacement since 2017, and Harper has been worth 7.5 since 2016, according to Baseball-Reference.com
L.A. Times beat Andy McCullough put out this story today about Bellinger. At first, the title of the tweet put me off, but the actual story is excellent as Andy goes in-depth about what the Dodgers feel were his issues in 2018 and what he can do to fix them for the future.
Dodgers hoping for 2019 revival from former rookie of the year Cody Bellinger https://t.co/z7xLDShYFm pic.twitter.com/6WrCYBR6mp
— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) December 12, 2018
Yet, the season for Bellinger still classified as a “tough year,” manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday. His slugging percentage dipped 111 points. His production against left-handers sagged. He was the most valuable player of the National League Championship Series and still finished the postseason with a .115 batting average and a .192 slugging percentage. He performed like a useful cog in the Dodgers platoon machine, rather than the consistent force he was for much of 2017.
But even if Cody Bellinger never gets better than he was in 2018, that was still a very valuable player. He struggled once again in the World Series but they don’t get to the World Series without him between his clutch catches, throws, and home-run in the NLCS.
Way back in Sept of 2017 I wondered if Cody might be more valuable to the team as a center fielder. With Muncy looking like the Dodger first baseman, it would appear that Cody Bellinger will be the everyday center fielder.
Just for fun, below is the list of players who played 1st or CF at least 51% of the time from 2017 – 2018. Man, there are some great base runner in this category. Look at the SB / CS rates of Trout/Cain/Yelich and Bellinger.
Player OPS+ WAR/pos From To Age PA HR BB SO SB CS OPS Pos Mike Trout 194 16.8 2017 2018 25-26 1115 72 216 214 46 6 1.080 *8/DH Lorenzo Cain 116 12.2 2017 2018 31-32 1265 25 125 194 56 9 .808 *8/HD Christian Yelich 140 11.6 2017 2018 25-26 1346 54 148 272 38 6 .901 *8/79H Paul Goldschmidt 139 11.2 2017 2018 29-30 1355 69 184 320 25 9 .944 *3/DH Joey Votto 148 10.9 2017 2018 33-34 1330 48 242 184 7 1 .940 *3/HD Freddie Freeman 147 10.6 2017 2018 27-28 1221 51 141 227 18 8 .933 *3/5H Aaron Hicks 123 8.6 2017 2018 27-28 942 42 141 178 21 7 .838 *8/7H9D Cody Bellinger 130 8.3 2017 2018 21-22 1180 64 133 297 24 4 .869 *3/87H9D Matt Carpenter 132 7.8 2017 2018 31-32 1299 59 211 283 6 2 .868 *3/54HD George Springer 130 7.7 2017 2018 27-28 1249 56 128 233 11 11 .834 *8*9/DH7 Kevin Kiermaier 98 7.6 2017 2018 27-28 788 22 56 190 26 12 .725 *8/H Matt Olson 128 7.1 2017 2018 23-24 876 53 92 223 2 1 .841 *3/H9 Anthony Rizzo 127 7.0 2017 2018 27-28 1356 57 161 170 16 8 .873 *3/4H175
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/12/2018.
Updating the Puig / Clemente timeline
Most baseball fans think of Clemente as the man who died a hero but in his early 20’s he was an enigmatic player who many felt wasn’t getting the most of his tools. It wasn’t until Roberto turned 28 that he put all of his tools together and became one of the best right fielders in baseball
They are not physically alike but they are both from the islands off of Florida, right-handed hitting right fielders with arms of their generation. They both started out their careers either misunderstood or immature depending on your point of view.
Is Puig still on that pace?
Puig actually had a much better age 27 season than did Clemente. The difference being that Puig started being platooned in 2018 while Clemente was doing his 3rd straight year of over 580 plate appearances. Once again Puig had the much better offensive season at the same age but that is going change. Roberto never had an OPS+ below 138 from age 28 – 37 so I Puig wants to start putting on his HOF case, he is going to have to step up his game just as Roberto did. Roberto had also won two gold gloves in a row but it is isn’t like Puig isn’t an outstanding defensive right fielder even if he hasn’t won a gold glove yet. .
| Player | Age | WAR/pos | OPS+ | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Roberto Clemente | 20-27 | 24.6 | 105 | 0.300 | 0.334 | 0.434 | 0.768 |
| G | PA | R | H | ||||
| 1061 | 4374 | 569 | 1230 | ||||
| 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | ||||
| 191 | 67 | 75 | 495 | ||||
| Player | Age | WAR/pos | OPS+ | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Yasiel Puig | 22-27 | 18.6 | 127 | 0.279 | 0.353 | 0.478 | 0.831 |
| G | PA | R | H | ||||
| 712 | 2765 | 365 | 686 | ||||
| 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | ||||
| 129 | 19 | 108 | 331 |
Puig:
Year Age Tm PA R H 2B 3B HR OPS OPS+ Awards 2013 22 LAD 432 66 122 21 2 19 .925 159 MVP-15RoY-2 2014 23 LAD 640 92 165 37 9 16 .863 145 ASMVP-19 2015 24 LAD 311 30 72 12 3 11 .758 110 2016 25 LAD 368 45 88 14 2 11 .740 98 2017 26 LAD 570 72 131 24 2 28 .833 119 2018 27 LAD 444 60 108 21 1 23 .820 120 6 Yr 6 Yr 6 Yr 2765 365 686 129 19 108 .831 127 162 162 162 629 83 156 29 4 25 .831 127
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/7/2018.
Clemente:
Year Age Tm PA R H 2B 3B HR OPS OPS+ Awards 1955 20 PIT 501 48 121 23 11 5 .666 77 1956 21 PIT 572 66 169 30 7 7 .761 106 1957 22 PIT 474 42 114 17 7 4 .637 73 1958 23 PIT 556 69 150 24 10 6 .736 95 1959 24 PIT 456 60 128 17 7 4 .718 92 1960 25 PIT 620 89 179 22 6 16 .815 121 ASASMVP-8 1961 26 PIT 614 100 201 30 10 23 .949 150 ASASMVP-4GG 1962 27 PIT 581 95 168 28 9 10 .805 114 ASASMVP-17GG
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/7/2018.
The word is that Puig is on the trading block this winter. The Dodgers have a plethora of outfielders and might want to get their top prospect Alex Verdugo into the everyday lineup. Puig is in the last year of his contract and will be arbitration eligible after next year but the Dodgers control him through the 2020 season.
Dodgers fans seem to have a love/hate relationship with Puig, and I don’t mean the kind where you love him one minute and hate him the next. You either love his theatrical antics or you hate them. Since he joined the Dodgers in June of 2013 he has been one of the top right fielders in all of baseball. It is a tough class with some of the biggest names in baseball but Puig is right there having accumulated the exact bWAR as George Springer in about the same number of plate appearances.
Player OPS+ WAR/pos From To Age PA HR BA OBP SLG OPS J.D. Martinez 147 20.5 2013 2018 25-30 3102 178 .301 .361 .564 .926 Giancarlo Stanton 144 26.9 2013 2018 23-28 3327 212 .267 .361 .545 .906 Bryce Harper 143 22.2 2013 2018 20-25 3360 162 .281 .396 .519 .915 Mookie Betts 134 35.2 2014 2018 21-25 2923 110 .303 .370 .518 .888 George Springer 128 18.7 2014 2018 24-28 2789 121 .265 .356 .468 .824 Yasiel Puig 127 18.6 2013 2018 22-27 2765 108 .279 .353 .478 .831 Jose Bautista 123 16.5 2013 2018 32-37 3469 161 .241 .360 .463 .823 Josh Reddick 111 17.8 2013 2018 26-31 2885 84 .268 .331 .430 .761 Jason Heyward 97 21.1 2013 2018 23-28 3261 64 .263 .338 .392 .730
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/7/2018.
Puig might be unhappy with being platooned this past summer and while platooning has advantages not many players get the reverse platoon like Puig does. Puig used to crush left hand pitching with a 1.003 OPS in 2013, .934 OPS in 2015 but over the past two years, he has hit like a pitcher against LHP. If Puig can get back to crushing LHP he will make the leap to an elite player, if not, at least he crushes the arm side that most often pitches in major league baseball.
Honestly, I think this will be the last time I do this type of story on Puig/Clemente. Clemente is about to hurtle himself into the HOF starting with his age 28 season. Puig might be getting ready to become the next Raul Mondesi who peaked at age 26 and never became the player that looked like a star at age 26 in 1997. I probably should have been doing those comparisons instead.
Ducking in with Dave Roberts
Dave Roberts signed an extension today and many fans won’t be happy about it. Let’s check in with Dave and see what he thinks.
For those unfamiliar with the Duck, you can check out the archived Duck Talk Section at TrueBlueLA or the minuscule Duck Talk section here at DodgersYAT. We ask the questions we want to ask and try to see through the clichéd responses we normally get. Don’t get confused, this is a complete fabrication based on interviews within my fowled mind.
Duck – congratulations on the extension as the Dodger Manager.
DR – thanks, I didn’t think any fans wanted me back.
Duck – well, I’m not really a fan, I’m a duck
DR – whatever
Duck – but, you are right. Everywhere I waddled, people were quacking at me that Dave Roberts was a horrible manager and that they hoped the Dodgers would fire you. Didn’t matter which watering hole I went too, I got the same reaction. In your defense, I didn’t get it. If Kershaw doesn’t meltdown in game 5 in 2017 you don’t have to make the manager mistake of starting Yu Darvish in game seven and you’d be World Champion Manager Dave Roberts.
DR – we all lost the 2017 World Series not just Kershaw and Darvish.
Duck – Really? because your number one and two starters lost three of the four games and gave up something like a billion runs in six innings in those three losses.
DR – that isn’t fair. We aren’t even in a position to win if Clayton doesn’t dominate in game one, and you forget he also pitched in game seven and was dominant.
Duck – I didn’t forget. I was there, and by the eighth inning, we were all wondering why Clayton hadn’t started since he was able to pitch four innings in relief.
DR – oh right, the fans wanted me fired last year as well
Duck – fans are fickle little fuckers. World Champion or bust I guess. Luckily for you, executive management has a more macro view. You did after all get the team into the World Series, you have won a Western Division every season you have managed, and you did all this while breaking in rookie after rookie.
DR – I love our fans, they want to win, and I want to win, the players want to win, everyone wants to win. I understand their frustration and hopefully next year we can celebrate a championship.
Duck – that would be great, at this moment it looks like the Dodgers will be bringing back the same gang except for Grandal. Did you breathe a sigh of relief when Clayton and the Dodgers agreed on an extension?
DR – oh yeah. He’s a HOF and the heart of the club. Couldn’t imagine not having Kershaw on the Dodgers.
Duck – with Ryu re-signing for 2019, the Dodgers have a lot of starting depth. All postseason we kept hearing how starters aren’t going to be the future of baseball but the Dodgers have locked up seven legitimate rotation pieces and still have two or three young pieces that could step into the rotation.
DR – our rotation will once again be one of our strengths.
Duck – one peculiar decision you have made during the last two postseasons was to bench your starting catcher for the World Series and go with the backup. Grandal is now gone. Since you were confident enough in starting Barnes in eleven of the twelve World Series games over the past two years are you confident he can be your starting catcher in 2019?
DR – I have great confidence in Austin Barnes, he catches a great game. In 2017 he was one of the best offensive catchers in the game, but he never got into the same rhythm this year. We have had discussions about catcher, and we will see how that shakes out this winter. If we can upgrade at a price that everyone is comfortable with we will, if not, I’m happy to have Barnes as my number one catcher headed into 2019.
Duck – we should probably remind everyone, that even the great Tommy Lasorda lost his first two World Series in 77 and 78 before winning his next two in 81 and 88.
DR – hopefully I won’t have to wait three more years before I get back to the World Series.
Duck – If you had to do it over again, would you have had Ryan Madson warm up sooner? Would you have used Ryan Madson the second time? Would you have had Caleb Ferguson on the World Series postseason roster? Would you have played your outfield at least average depth in game one and game two? Would you bat the struggling Kiké fourth in game five?
DR – damn, did you like anything I did in the World Series?
Duck – I think starting Walker Buehler was absolutely brilliant………….
Kluber and Kershaw?
Many folks who work the trade routes have said the Dodgers and Indians are talking trade with perennial CYA candidate Corey Kluber the Dodger target. Given the depth of the Dodger rotation that seems like a strange pairing for me. The rotation seems a bit loaded with Buehler, Kershaw, Ryu, Hill, Wood, Urias, Stripling, and Kenta. Not to mention the kids knocking on the door in Santana and Caleb Ferguson.
However you do it, the price should be steep given his contract and production. He is also 32, so you are getting his age 33,34, and 35 seasons. The comments are funny as many reference his failure to win in the postseason. Sound familiar? Kershaw and Kluber have both been clobbered by Houston in October. On the other hand, Kluber has two CYA, and two 3rd place finishes in the past five years. If he is being made available, you have to make a pitch, don’t you?
I mean a rotation of Buehler, Kluber, Kershaw, and any of Ryu/Hill/Urias next Oct sounds very enticing.
For a team who won the AL Central, the Indians have a few holes. One is at catcher where they just traded one of their two starting catchers to the Nationals. Earlier this summer they traded their top prospect who was a catcher like Carlos Santana was a catcher to the Padres. With Donaldson moving on to Atlanta, MVP candidate Ramirez will move back to 3rd base leaving second base to Jason Kipnis. They could use help there. They really need help in the outfield. Their best outfielder is a free agent. That leaves Lonnie Chisenhall, Greg Allen, Bradley Zimmer, and a bunch of nothing. Yonder Alonso came back to earth so they could use also use help at 1st base.
Depending on who you listen to the Dodgers are either offering major league players like Puig and Wood, or a plethora of their best prospects which would include Verdugo and May. MLB Network had a discussion about it and the ex-GM said he thinks any trade can’t include Puig and Wood because the Indians don’t want the expense and said he’d go for the Verdugo package. Cody Bellinger was floated, but man you can’t trade Cody Bellinger. He might be the best CF in the National League next year.
I think a combo package is what would work. Kenta Maeda is a solid starter making peanuts given what he produces even when he hits all of his bonuses. That gives the Indians a major league starting pitcher who fits budget wise. Fill that in with Alex Verdugo who is ready to shine for a major league franchise and the Indians have to get an outfielder back from the Dodgers. First base, roll the dice with Edwin Rios. Catcher, pop in Will Smith.
or
Chris Taylor can be their outfielder or 2nd baseman. He has tremendous value so if you are getting Chris Taylor, I’d just fill in the parts with Rios/DJ Peters/Y Alvarez.
Anyway, more than likely nothing transpires but it felt good to finally have something to write about.
Dreaming of some empathy
She clutched the bat as though it was her childhood baba, but the look in her eyes was of determination mixed with fear. We were all there in spring training for the Dodgers and while I didn’t know why I was there, I knew why she was there. She had come to make the team and my dream didn’t care that she was a smallish Asian baseball player, in this dream she was just one of many players with the same hope of heading West with the team.
Time flew by, practice after practice, and I did the mental math in my head. Andre Ethier was on the last year of a large contract and was certain to be the starting left fielder. Carl Crawford was the young stud gunning for his job but I knew he’d have to wait another year before Andre was gone. All of this made perfect sense even though none of it made any sense at all.
At some point, we are in a room but something seems off. The room seems more empty than it used to be. I asked where was everyone and they just gave me a look that said nothing and everything at the same time. I left the room and turned down the hall and noticed the Asian ballplayer standing in a doorway. She was no longer dressed in ballplayer clothes but in a nice business suit and she was holding a suitcase. I naively asked her where she was going just to make small talk. I didn’t know her name. I just knew the dream had started with her and next thing we were all playing baseball together.
She didn’t answer with words. She didn’t need too. Her eyes were pooled with tears and sadness. It finally sunk into my thick skull. She had been cut. Her dream was over. I’m not a big hugger, but the look in her eyes told me she needed a hug and I gave her one. The hug becomes something more, I don’t want to say spiritual, but possibly metaphysical as though I know what that means. Other players came out of their doors somehow knowing one of their own was in need. They become side players to our connection. In this dream state, our minds met without words and I could see the hopelessness inside of her. I felt for her, her pain, her future that would no longer include what she had dreamed of since she had been a little girl playing a boys game. I searched for something to say, that would soothe her distress but my calculating brain couldn’t find anything. I knew she would be sad for a while, that she would either find happiness in a different venture or this defeat would hang over her the rest of her life. I don’t offer prayers. I don’t say “God works in strange ways”. I don’t say “You’ll be fine”. I don’t say “This might be for the best”. I don’t say anything. I just keep hugging her and letting her cry.
Just as quickly as I felt this enormous empathy for her situation it was over. The connection is broken, now I’m searching for a way to continue with my life and to put her behind me. I break away from the hug and simply ask her if she needs a ride. She says no, and I wake up.
I have a very active dream state and have always felt that they would make great stories but the details of most dreams dissipate within seconds of waking up. This dream was different. When I woke up, the hug connection was still fresh. I spent the next five minutes trying to burn everything I could remember of the dream into my brain so I could write something about it. What I remembered is above. I met a female Asian baseball player at a Dodger spring training camp. She was trying to make the team, I still don’t know what I was doing there. I think I was a player, I know I was very young. I did dream the Andre / Crawford part. I did dream the room. I did dream the hug. I wish I could adequately describe what happened during the hug but it is all vague now but a mind to mind connection did occur. I did dream needing to break away from the connection.
I don’t know what my subconscious was going for. I’m a very empathetic person, but it doesn’t stay. This world is in a bad state. At any point, I’m going to read or watch stories about children dying of starvation in Yemen, of children being shot at school, of one time lovers killing each other and their children, of huge swaths of communities losing their homes/lives to fires/ hurricanes/floods, of black men being murdered almost daily by our police, of people dying of cancer, and of suicide. So much suicide. So much gun violence. I get angry, I feel for the victims. I send some money.
And then I move on with my life
And I know I’m not happy that I can just move on with my life instead of spending my life trying to make things better. The best I can say is that I’m not part of the problem, but I’m certainly not part of the solution.
Jamal Khashoggi was trying to be part of the solution.
Shannon Watts is trying to be part of the solution.
It is time I become part of the solution.
Five reasons to watch the Clipper / Kings game tonight
The two surprise teams in the NBA play tonight and if you are just a partial NBA fan, a Laker fan, already tired of holiday programming, or simply miss baseball, this would be a great game to watch for those who simply want to catch a glimpse of the best NBA team in Los Angeles.
- The Kings have the guy the Lakers should have drafted instead of Lorenzo Ball. De’Aaron Fox is balling. Fox outplayed Ball in college and is doing the same thing in the NBA. I wonder if Jerry West would have drafted Ball or Fox? Imagine a pairing of LeBron James and De’Aaron Fox. Delicious.
- Ralph Lawler is calling his 40th year as the Clipper play by play man. For years he was overshadowed by the Los Angeles legendary broadcasters Chick Hearn, Vin Scully, and Bob Miller and while he’s not in their league he has been an entertaining voice for forty years. From “Bingo” to “Lawler’s Law” he is loved by the players and fans and this is his last year. Unlike the Dodgers and Lakers, everyone can watch the Clippers for via Fox Sports.
- The Clippers may not have the rookie of the year because of Luca Doncic but they do have the best young point guard in Los Angeles. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander not only has the longest name in the NBA, but he is also a rookie starting point guard for the team with the best record in the Western Conference. Shai doesn’t just start games he also finishes them, and that is really saying something that Doc Rivers is playing a rookie point guard at crunch time.
- BOBAN – if you haven’t seen Boban play, you really got watch this game. Gortat is hurt, so Boban should start. He’s huge. Yao Ming huge. Eight-foot wingspan. He doesn’t have a huge skill set but watching him dunk with his toes still touching the hardwood is something to see. He can even shoot free throws but the real fun is around the basket. As they say, he’s the one guy in the NBA who can make another seven-footer look normal.
- Oh, and the NBA Player of the Week, Tobias Harris
Is Five Thirty Eight going to join the Clipper bandwagon?
The “Clamp City” Clippers are the surprise team in the NBA and enter play tonight in first place in the Western Conference. At the start of the season I was more optimistic than most, but considering the tough early schedule and the injury history of Danilo, I was hoping for a .500 winning percentage, not a .700 winning percentage by the end of November. Many people who cover the NBA have taken notice including this excellent article in the Ringer by Dan Devine.
It’s obviously wonderful to have great players, but at the risk of stating the obvious, it’s really nice to not have to give minutes to bad ones. The Clippers don’t really have any of those, and it’s helping.
That being said, one website that hadn’t jumped on the bandwagon was the excellent FiveThirtyEight. What you say, aren’t they the folks who reinvented how we perceive political polling? Yes, but it is run by Nate Silver who cut his teeth at Baseball Prospectus and evidently loves all the major sports so his website also churns out sports-related columns.
FiveThirtyEight is doing NBA forecasting and while the Clippers are moving up in all the power ranking (the Athletic has them at 5), up until yesterday, FiveThirtyEight has refused to join the bandwagon which gave pause to my optimism. However, the new ranking came out yesterday and while the Clippers are still being ranked in the middle of the pack that is a huge improvement over where they were just two weeks ago when they were given little chance to make the postseason. They are now at 59% which is a huge improvement and have finally moved past the Lakers who now have a 50% chance. Hmmm, maybe they have jumped on the bandwagon after all.
| 1507 | 1509 |  |
Clippers14-6 | West | 44-38 | +0.9 | 59% | +10 | <1% | <1 |
Even more telling is that FiveThirtyEight just came out with a new article today that showcased the current NBA Player of the Week Tobias Harris. The story isn’t as much about Tobias or the Clippers as it is about the surprise and disappointments so far in the NBA but the Clippers are listed as one of the biggest surprises. Tobias Harris was acquired last year for Blake Griffin, and many Clipper fans were incensed that they had traded their franchise player for parts. However, these parts have become a huge part of why the Clippers are off to the fourth-best start in their long history. Tobias Harris is playing like an All-Star and while that is going un-noticed in Los Angeles, the rest of the NBA world is paying attention and Chris Herring of FiveThirtyEight explains the numbers behind the Tobias Harris ascension into greatness.
But above all else, the Clips have thrived because Tobias Harris — tied with Giannis Antetokounmpo for the league’s best effective field-goal percentage among wing players with at least 300 shot attempts — has quietly pieced together the offensive profile of a superstar this season. Between the huge leap he’s made and the gains of Victor Oladipo, the Orlando Magic front office has to be beside itself after trading away both players.
Countdown to 60 starts this week
My twitter profile simply says “Baseball, Clippers, movies, life over 50.”. In a few days, I’ll update that to life over 60. As far as sports go, the first 30 years have been nothing like the last 30 years.
By the time I was thirty in 1988, the Dodgers had won World Championships in 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, and finally 1988. They haven’t won one since. I wasn’t in Los Angeles for the first three World Championships but was fully vested in the 1981 World Championship after watching them lose the World Series to Oakland in 1974, and the NYY in 1977 and 1978. The 1988 World Championship was simply dessert.
The Lakers had won Championships in 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988. They would also win championships in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, and finally 2010. I was here for all of them. The 1972 team had the last sighting of Elgin Baylor, the defensive dominance of Wilt, the leadership of West, and the sharpshooting of Goodrich. Four HOF played on that team even though Baylor was gone by the time the Championship was hoisted. Actually, five if you count Pat Riley who was inducted as a coach. As much as I loved the West/Goodrich era, it was the Magic era that most defined my Laker fandom. From the moment he arrived in 1979 and delivered a Championship in his first year and the greatest Championship game in the same year, nothing beat the Los Angeles Sports beat from 1979 – 1988. Magic won his last World Championship in 1988 the year I turned 30.
I already mentioned it but let’s take a look. From 1979 – 1988 those two franchises won seven World Championships. Talk about being spoiled.
The next 30 years have had many successes, but not a single Dodger World Championship. The Lakers won three in a row on the backs of Shaq and Kobe followed by two more with Gasol/Kobe but when you give me a list of Laker players who I enjoyed watching, they would not rank very high. The Lakers won, but it didn’t give me any satisfaction. Well, that is not exactly true. I truly enjoyed the first Shaq/Kobe World Championship in 2000. I could even say with a straight face the greatest sporting event I saw live, was the 2000 Game Six against Portland.
It is doubtful I have another thirty years in me, but I do hope the Dodgers can deliver another World Championship for a generation that has never enjoyed one. Many people don’t believe me, but the 1981 Dodger World Championship was all I needed in my lifetime. I won’t’ say I knew that at the time, but I know it now.
The Lakers, on the other hand, are on the back burner. I already mentioned how I’ve moved on from what was once my favorite franchise. Seems logical to me that going forward, the Clippers will probably be the most successful franchise in Los Angeles since they have the richest owner in sports who is dedicated to bringing a winning formula to his franchise. LeBron will make things interesting, but I don’t think an old King can add any banners to the franchise.
Yet, even though the last thirty years have had no Dodger World Championships and my basketball fandom switched from the most successful NBA franchise in Los Angeles to the least successful NBA franchise, I have enjoyed these past thirty years just as much but for different reasons. The first 30 years gave me my World Championships but they were always enjoyed via TV. I couldn’t afford good Laker tickets and even sitting in the rafters at the forum was a stiff price for a cheap bugger like myself. For a good percent of these last thirty years, I’ve had season tickets for all of my favorite franchises. I got my Clipper Season Tickets in 1990 and held them until Magic got aids and the Laker STH left the team in waves, leaving tickets available in the lower bowl at the Forum for the first time since Magic had joined the team. I quickly got Laker Season Tickets and have held them ever since even after they screwed me when they moved to Staples. I double dipped and got Clipper Season Tickets again in 1999 and have held them ever since. When Frank McCourt bought the Dodgers and brought in Paul DePodesta I tripled down and got Dodger Season Tickets in 2004. I held those for about six years and then was a partner in Season tickets for a few more years. It has only been in the past two years I haven’t had any share of season tickets for the Dodgers since 2004. Which is a long way of saying, that unlike my first thirty years of being a TV sports fan, the last thirty have been spent going to as many events as I could.
The Dodgers may not have won a World Championship but they have given me hundreds of thrills as Piazza, Kershaw, Puig, Turner, Seager, Bellinger, Mondesi, Green, Sheffield, Ethier, Saito, Kuo, Broxton, Greinke, Brown, Gagne, Hill, Buehler, Urias, Uribe gave me plenty to cheer about over the past thirty years. I really don’t care if the journey does not end in a World Championship, I just want the journey to be enjoyable and for the most part that has been the case. Not completely the case but that is another column and doesn’t involve the Dodgers as much as it involves the evolution of baseball that is leaving me behind.
You wouldn’t think the Clippers have given me much to cheer about but you’d be wrong. I’ve had as much fun rooting for the Clippers as I ever did the Lakers because of one reason. Since 2000 I’ve been to probably 500 Clippers games at Staples and it isn’t because I enjoy watching a team lose. I really enjoyed something in every Clipper team since 1999. I actually watched fewer games when they were winning with Paul/Griffin/Jordan than I did when they were losing. I’ve been to almost every game this year, and I look forward to watching this franchise continue to be the best NBA franchise in Los Angeles.
Besides the World Champions in this century, I really enjoyed the teams of Van Excel, Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, Vlade, Sedale Threat, A.C. Green, and of course the half season comeback of Magic.
The next thirty years (ok, 20) will probably be much like the first thirty in that it gets harder and harder to attend sporting events the older you get. There is a reason that when you look at crowds you don’t see many folks over the age of 70. Self-driving cars could mitigate that, but navigating between seats will always be a struggle for people of a certain age. I’m sure stadium designers feel it is more important for every fan to trip over all the other fans as they try to get to their seats as they try to cram as many rows into a stadium that they can instead of making it a more pleasant experience for the fans shelling out the money to see their team.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 