Neuromancer strikes my fancy
A few weeks ago Keith Law tweeted this lifehacker list of seminal Science Fiction books. From the age of 10 – 30 the only books I read were nature/baseball/science fiction/westerns so I thought I’d take a look at the list and see how many of them I read.
Turns out I had read most of them (13 of the 17) but it was strange to see that most of the books were written a long long time ago. Several of them were my own personal favorites. Foundation and Stranger in a Strange Land.
The one book I thought I hadn’t read was Neuromancer which was called Cyberpunk Science Fiction and written in 1984. It piqued my interest so I kindled it and set to reading this past week.
This happens to me now and again, reading a book I thought I’d never read but as you get deeper into the story you realize you had read the book but still have no idea what happens. The characters are all vaguely familiar and as they get fleshed out, you start remembering them. While I didn’t know where the plot was headed I could remember enough that I knew who would live and die. I’m a bit strange that way, as I get involved in characters, I want to know if the author is going to let them live or die. I’ve checked many a back page of a book to see if someone I was getting involved with had survived the author’s story.
This happened recently to me when Jim Hitchcock over TBLA suggested Swan’s Song to me after I mentioned a book I had just finished. I kindled it, and sure enough, as I got into it, I realized I had read the book before.
If Neuromancer had been written in 1995 or 2000 or 2005 or 2015 or even 2017 it still would have had some punch, but for it to be written in 1984 before anything he was writing about even existed, was blowing my mind as I was reading it. Was the Matrix based on this book? Looks like it.
When I finished the book I was annoyed with one thing. When did I read it? Was it back in 1984 when it came out? This did not seem like a book I would seek out, but many times as a member of the Science Fiction Book Club I would take chances. I stopped being a member back in 1986 or when my divorce was just about wrapped up.
This was a great book, and deserves all the accolades it got.
What I don’t understand is why I couldn’t remember reading this book. It was unlike anything I’d ever read before so it should have stood out in my memory much as Foundation does or Roger Zelazny Amber series.
This list that Keith Law tweeted were Science Fiction books that were supposed to have greatly influenced the genre. That is a big task, but here are a few of my favorites that captivated my imagination.
A. Merritt – The Ship of Isthar – No one knows this book. It was written almost 100 years ago but I think it is simply brilliant. I also love this book because of how I found it. I was hitting the Glendale Libary when I was about 13 – 14. They had a small Science Fiction section and I’d probably already read most of what they had, but I found this book and the idea intrigued me. The story is captivating but what was amazing to me was that it was written in 1924. Based on my own reading history I kind of feel this was one of the first novels of it’s kind and it seems to be under-appreciated. This guy however gets it.
The novel is not only a rousing fantasy adventure story, but a philosophical exploration of the relationship between material reality and the abstract concepts through which humans struggle to understand it.
I always thought our buddy Hollywood Joe would love this book based on his recommendations to me about books he likes. This isn’t really Science Fiction, kind of crazy historical fantasy fiction.
David Brin – the Uplift Series – Love the hell out of this series, and his stand-alone novel Earth
Roger Zelazny – Amber Series – This would have been way cooler than Game of Thrones
Robert Heinlein – I enjoyed just about everything Heinlein wrote from his young adult stuff to his seminal Stranger in a Strange Land, to his bizarre forays after that but he had one stand-alone novel that was basically a Wild West Alien book called Glory Road.
Isacc Asimov – Foundation was great but I enjoyed his Robot series even more.
Douglas Adams – Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – I find myself reading this series every fve years or so. Still puts a smile on my face.
Arthur C Clarke – I had a strange introduction to Arthur C Clarke. As a yute I was going to be a Marine Biologist and dreamed of scuba diving. Arthur C Clarke wrote The Reefs of Taprobane about diving in the South Pacific and that was how I knew him as an author long before I found out he was a brilliant Science Fiction Writer. Later I gobbled up just about everything he wrote. I cannot name a favorite.
A. E. van Vogt – Slan wrote many short stories and novels but Slan was probably my favorite.
Anne McCaffrey – Dragonriders of Penn What I enjoyed about this series was that the battle was against nature and only through the symbiotic relationship between humans and dragons could they defeat the Thread. Growing up I have always hoped to hit it big financially, and one of the things I would have done with the money was to purchase the rights to this series to make it into a big ass movie franchise. It had everything the kids would have eaten up, Dragons and love, and nobody had to kill anyone, they just had to work together.
Anyway, those are just a few of my favorites. The list is old, other than the Uplift Series I read all these books before 1985.
Three Dodgers get Cy Young votes
but they will have to settle for a 2nd place, a fifth place, and a tenth place.
Scherzer in a rout over Kershaw, 27 first-place votes to three. Kershaw finishes second. Jansen fifth. pic.twitter.com/1oHXLXwXlV
— Jon Weisman (@jonweisman) November 15, 2017
Have to imagine the last time the Diamondbacks had two pitchers place in the top ten was way back with Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling.
Nationals matched the Dodgers with three pitchers finishing in the top ten. I expected Strasburg to get more support for 1st and 2nd.
Tomorrow I’ll look at last years votes and see which pitchers made both lists.
Has to be a first for Jimmy Nelson, Alex Wood, Robbie Ray, and Gio to be in the top ten.
Cody Bellinger is more than just another LAD ROY
As expected Cody Bellinger unanimously won the National League Rookie of the Year award for 2017. Like Corey Seager he is more than that, he should be a top ten MVP candidate going forward.
Given their ages, it can be expected that improvement will follow and that by the time they have played five seasons for the Dodgers they will already be considered among the best Los Angeles Dodgers to ever play the game.
In only two years I think you could easily argue that Corey Seager is the greatest LAD shortstop of all time. And that includes a MVP shortstop in Maury Wills.
I expect the same from Cody Bellinger. I think he’s better than Corey Seager in that he can impact the game in more ways. He’s also started his major league career one year earlier. Who cares who is better? The important thing is that they are both Dodger infielders with years of cheap team control. The stuff general managers and baseball fans dream of for their respective teams.
Below are the bWAR totals for Los Angeles Dodgers by the age of 21. Adrian Beltre is headed for the HOF but his age 22/23 won’t be as kind for him.
Player WAR/pos From To Age PA BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Adrian Beltre 7.4 1998 2000 19-21 1403 .272 .344 .438 .782 *5/H6 Cody Bellinger 4.2 2017 2017 21-21 548 .267 .352 .581 .933 /*379H8D Bill Russell 3.7 1969 1970 20-21 542 .245 .302 .355 .657 *9/8H76 Willie Davis 3.4 1960 1961 20-21 474 .267 .322 .457 .779 *8/H Tommy Davis 2.2 1959 1960 20-21 375 .275 .301 .425 .726 /*8H795
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/15/2017.
I expected Corey Seager to be the NL Rookie of the Year in 2016. I never expected that from Cody Bellinger. I felt he was the best option for left field back in March when fans laughed at Jim Bowen for suggesting such a thing, but I was a believer. What I didn’t believe is that he’d break the all-time NL home run record for a rookie. I expected struggles, was hoping for something along .240 / .320 / .480 and someday morph into Anthony Rizzo. What we got was prime time Anthony Rizzo from the get go.
One of the things lost in my tracking Cody’s race to break the NL home run record for a rookie was the fact he was doing this at age 21. So without further ado, here is the list of every major league player to hit at least 30 home runs at the baseball age of 21.
Of course Eddie Mathews is on the top. Eddie Mathews was one of the greatest young players to ever play the game. This is a crazy list of absolutely some of the greatest players to ever play the game. Cody Bellinger is 2nd on this list.
Player OPS+ HR Year Age Tm PA AB Eddie Mathews 171 47 1953 21 MLN 681 579 Cody Bellinger 142 39 2017 21 LAD 548 480 Albert Pujols 157 37 2001 21 STL 676 590 Hal Trosky 150 35 1934 21 CLE 685 625 Giancarlo Stanton 141 34 2011 21 FLA 601 516 Jimmie Foxx 173 33 1929 21 PHA 638 517 Bob Horner 135 33 1979 21 ATL 515 487 Miguel Cabrera 130 33 2004 21 FLA 685 603 Jose Canseco 116 33 1986 21 OAK 682 600 Andruw Jones 116 31 1998 21 ATL 631 582 Ruben Sierra 101 30 1987 21 TEX 696 643
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/15/2017.
Bellinger, basically blew our minds from day one, and continued to blow our minds all the way into November. He was batting cleanup in game seven of the World Series and even though at times had been over-matched in the postseason, I fully expected him to lead the team to the World Championship. With each at-bat I felt he would light the candle at the Ravine.
It didn’t happen
It may have been the only time in a full season of baseball that Cody Bellinger didn’t deliver. He delivered so often that the expectation I put him was not unreasonable.
Think how ridiculous that is. I had expectations that a 21-year-old rookie would prove to be the difference in a game seven championship game, and it was not unreasonable.
Cody Bellinger is going to become the greatest Dodger to ever play 1st base. I feel very comfortable in saying that.
Which means going forward the Dodgers will have two of the greatest players of their franchise in their infield.
And they are only going to be 22 and 24.
Player WAR/pos From To Age PA OBP SLG OPS Pos Willie Davis 20.2 1960 1964 20-24 2347 .314 .421 .735 *8/H Adrian Beltre 13.8 1998 2003 19-24 3161 .320 .428 .748 *5/H6 Corey Seager 13.5 2015 2017 21-23 1413 .374 .502 .876 *6/H5D Tommy Davis 12.9 1959 1963 20-24 2191 .346 .467 .813 *758/9H Yasiel Puig 11.3 2013 2015 22-24 1383 .371 .487 .858 *9/8H7D Matt Kemp 10.2 2006 2009 21-24 1801 .346 .480 .826 *89/H7 Jim Lefebvre 9.8 1965 1966 23-24 1241 .335 .415 .749 *4/5H Bill Russell 9.0 1969 1973 20-24 1908 .303 .348 .651 *69/H847 Russell Martin 7.6 2006 2007 23-24 1088 .366 .454 .821 *2/HD Mike Piazza 7.1 1992 1993 23-24 676 .361 .534 .895 *2/H3 Willie Crawford 7.1 1964 1971 17-24 1401 .326 .401 .727 7H9/8
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/15/2017.
Hot damn.
Just for fun here are all the major league players since 1958 to have at least 30 home runs by the age of 21. I’ll look at this in more detail later on and add the all important home run per plate appearance which is where Mr. Bellinger really shines.
Player HR From To Age PA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tony Conigliaro 84 1964 1966 19-21 1657 .339 .508 .847 *9/78H Alex Rodriguez 64 1994 1997 18-21 1523 .366 .534 .900 *6/HD Mike Trout 62 2011 2013 19-21 1490 .404 .544 .948 *87/9DH Ken Griffey 60 1989 1991 19-21 1805 .367 .479 .847 *8/HD Giancarlo Stanton 56 2010 2011 20-21 997 .344 .525 .869 *9/H8D Bob Horner 56 1978 1979 20-21 874 .332 .547 .879 *5/3H Bryce Harper 55 2012 2014 19-21 1489 .351 .465 .816 *78/9H Andruw Jones 54 1996 1998 19-21 1211 .319 .472 .791 *89/H7 Orlando Cepeda 52 1958 1959 20-21 1291 .349 .517 .866 *3/75H Ruben Sierra 46 1986 1987 20-21 1107 .302 .472 .774 *9/78HD Miguel Cabrera 45 2003 2004 20-21 1031 .352 .497 .850 79/5HD Justin Upton 43 2007 2009 19-21 1157 .350 .485 .836 *9/HD Carlos Correa 42 2015 2016 20-21 1092 .354 .475 .829 *6/H Adrian Beltre 42 1998 2000 19-21 1403 .344 .438 .782 *5/H6 Johnny Bench 42 1967 1969 19-21 1292 .323 .444 .767 *2/H Vada Pinson 41 1958 1960 19-21 1523 .355 .483 .837 *8/97H Boog Powell 40 1961 1963 19-21 1002 .317 .433 .750 *7/3H9 Cody Bellinger 39 2017 2017 21-21 548 .352 .581 .933 /*379H8D Cesar Cedeno 39 1970 1972 19-21 1651 .338 .461 .799 *8/97H3 Jose Canseco 38 1985 1986 20-21 782 .320 .461 .781 *7/9H8D Ed Kranepool 38 1962 1966 17-21 1848 .301 .371 .671 *3/9H78 Albert Pujols 37 2001 2001 21-21 676 .403 .610 1.013 /5379HD Manny Machado 33 2012 2014 19-21 1266 .313 .434 .747 *5 Jason Heyward 32 2010 2011 20-21 1079 .362 .427 .789 *9/H Juan Gonzalez 32 1989 1991 19-21 758 .312 .465 .777 *8/7D9H Ron Santo 32 1960 1961 20-21 1037 .343 .453 .796 *5/H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/15/2017.
LAD Rookies of the Year
Should be adding a new player to the LAD Rookies of the Year later today, but this is how it looks right now.
Position Players:
| Player | ROY | OPS+ | PA | Year | Age | HR | OPS | Pos |
| Corey Seager | 1st | 137 | 687 | 2016 | 22 | 26 | 0.877 | *6/H |
| Todd Hollandsworth | 1st | 113 | 526 | 1996 | 23 | 12 | 0.785 | *78H/9 |
| Raul Mondesi | 1st | 123 | 454 | 1994 | 23 | 16 | 0.849 | *98 |
| Mike Piazza | 1st | 153 | 602 | 1993 | 24 | 35 | 0.932 | *2/H3 |
| Eric Karros | 1st | 106 | 589 | 1992 | 24 | 20 | 0.73 | *3/H |
| Steve Sax | 1st | 97 | 699 | 1982 | 22 | 4 | 0.694 | *4/H |
| Ted Sizemore | 1st | 94 | 650 | 1969 | 24 | 4 | 0.67 | *46/7 |
| Jim Lefebvre | 1st | 106 | 631 | 1965 | 23 | 12 | 0.706 | *4/H |
| Frank Howard | 1st | 107 | 487 | 1960 | 23 | 23 | 0.784 | *97/3H |
Pitchers:
| Name | ROY | ERA+ | OPS+ | IP | Year | Age | K% | BB% |
| Hideo Nomo | 1st | 149 | 56 | 191 | 1995 | 26 | 30.30% | 10.00% |
| Fernando Valenzuela | 1st | 135 | 62 | 192 | 1981 | 20 | 23.80% | 8.10% |
| Steve Howe | 1st | 134 | 71 | 84.2 | 1980 | 22 | 10.90% | 6.10% |
| Rick Sutcliffe | 1st | 105 | 83 | 242 | 1979 | 23 | 11.50% | 9.60% |
Dodger administration exodus continues
It is not surprising that a team that won 104 games is being raided as other teams try to emulate what the Dodgers have created. Now if they had 250M to spend on payroll and blow the doors off of foreign and infrastructure investment they might be able to actually catch them.
The latest casualty was Alex Anthopolous who will be the new general manager for the Braves. Alex Anthopolous had the working title of Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Dodgers for the last two years after being the GM for the Blue Jays for six years. This gig was always considered just a temporary stay for Alex, and he played his cards perfectly nabbing what has to be the most coveted General Manager job available right now. The Braves have a brand new stadium, a bonafide super star in Freeman, and a blow you away farm system. Alex won’t have to work any miracles to get the Braves ultra competitive in a short period of time. I have no idea what handprint Alex Anthopolous had on the Dodgers over the past two years so I can’t give any clue as to how much the organization will miss him.
Other Dodger administration personnel who have left since the World Series include:
Gabe Kapler – Director of Player Dvlp – left to become the Phillies manager. I always thought Gabe was on the fast path to be an assistant GM and eventually a GM so I was surprised when Kapler had put his hat in for the Dodger managing gig. When he didn’t get that, it seemed just a matter of time before he became a manager somewhere. I’m not sure that is where his best talent lies but I’d like to see him have success with the Phillies.
Jeremy Zoll – Assistant Director of Player Dvlp – left to become the Twins Director of Minor League Operations. At only 27 years old that seems like a hell of a gig.
Matt Herges – Minor League pitching coach – left to become the Giants bullpen coach. I’m not sure that was an actual promotion.
It had been rumored that long time pitching coach Rich Honeycut may not come back but last week it was announced that he would return as the Dodgers pitching coach.
It will be curious how the Dodgers fill these positions. With four white males leaving, will diversity be part of the hire or simply the best person for the job, or can it be both?
Dodgers and Puig catch Wilson defensive team of year
Winners, both individual positions and for the team award, are determined using a formula that combines traditional defensive stats with advanced metrics, as well as the data logged by the baseball experts working for the scouting service Inside Edge
2017 Transactional review part one
The 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers had their most successful regular season since 1974, and their most successful postseason since 1988. They came within one game of achieving the goal of every major league franchise, the World Series Championship.
Slowly I’m going to review all the moves that got them there, with columns for the big moves. Today we will look at the free agents they let walk one year ago.
On November 3rd, 2016
Brett Anderson was allowed to leave as a free agent. Brett had followed up his successful 2015 season with an injury filled 2016 season. The winter of 2015 the Dodgers had made the ill advised tender and Brett either having a smart agent or being smart himself accepted and it only cost the Dodgers 15.8M to realize they had made a huge mistake. Not only in money but with opportunity cost. With Brett Anderson in their pocket for 2016 they didn’t pursue another starting pitcher. They did not make the same mistake last November and Brett Anderson was free to ply his trade with other teams. Brett signed with the 2016 World Champion Cubs to be their fifth starter. That didn’t work out and he ended the season with Toronto. He only pitched 55 innings in 2017 after throwing only 11 in 2016. None of the innings were good.
Joe Blanton was allowed to leave as a free agent. Joe Blanton wasn’t quite Brandon Morrow in 2016 but he was close. The Dodgers had signed him to a one year deal for 4M and he earned it. They did not re-sign Blanton for 2017 and it was a great move. Whatever Blanton had discovered in 2015/2016 was nowhere to be found in 2017. He was so bad the Nationals had to make quite a few upgrades to their bullpen and Joe never pitched an inning in the postseason for them.
Jesse Chavez was allowed to leave as a free agent. Chavez was acquired on Aug 1st, 2016 to bolster the bullpen but didn’t leave a positive impression and did not pitch in the postseason. He was signed by the Angels to a one year deal for 2017 at 5.75M. He made 21 starts for the Angels and was ineffective. The price for Chavez was only Mike Bolsinger so other than the fact they could have targeted a better relief pitcher in 2016 by giving up more, no harm done. Good choice to let him walk.
Rich Hill – will get his own column
J.P. Howell the long time Dodger was allowed to leave as a free agent. JP had been a Dodger since 2013 so he had been on all four National League Western Division winners. At times he was brilliant, other times, not so much. By 2016 he was 33 and was an ineffective left handed specialist. He did not pitch in the 2016 postseason and it was a no brainer that he wasn’t coming back for 2017. He signed with the Blue Jays and was horrible. His career might be over.
Kenley Jansen will get his own column.
Josh Reddick was allowed to leave as a free agent. Reddick had been acquired in the Rich Hill trade in the summer of 2016 to be the Dodgers starting right fielder. He had replaced Yasiel Puig who had been sent to AAA. He had a horrible August, a pedestrian Sept, and a unproductive postseason. The Dodgers let him walk, and he was signed by the 2017 World Champion Houston Astros where he proceeded to have a career season. I will admit to scratching my head when Houston gave him a 4/42M deal but it sure paid off in the first year. I still think the Dodgers made the right move in letting him walk given the contract he received but of all the free agents who have left the Dodgers, Josh Reddick had an excellent first season.
Justin Turner will get his own column
Chase Utley will get his own column.
Did Puig measure up at age 26?
Even though his OPS+ was only 118, the growth he showed as the season progressed makes me say yes. He started out hitting eighth but by the time the Dodgers had gotten deep into the postseason he was batting cleanup. It certainly wasn’t a Matt Kemp breakout season but it was substantial progress on what he had done the previous year.
You see someone else on this list you didn’t expect to see? How about Chris Taylor?
Yeah baby.
Chris Taylor certainly had the breakout season in his age twenty six season.
I guess I asked the wrong question in February because if you look at what Chris Taylor did before turning twenty-six and what he did at age twenty-six, you could say he owns this list.
Player OPS+ PA Year Age HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS Matt Kemp 172 689 2011 26 39 126 .324 .399 .586 .986 Pedro Guerrero 156 652 1982 26 32 100 .304 .378 .536 .914 Kal Daniels 155 526 1990 26 27 94 .296 .389 .531 .920 Frank Howard 150 459 1963 26 28 64 .273 .330 .518 .848 Raul Mondesi 140 670 1997 26 30 87 .310 .360 .541 .901 Willie Crawford 140 543 1973 26 14 66 .295 .396 .453 .849 Andre Ethier 132 596 2008 26 20 77 .305 .375 .510 .885 Chris Taylor 122 568 2017 26 21 72 .288 .354 .496 .850 Stan Javier 119 321 1990 26 3 24 .304 .384 .399 .783 Yasiel Puig 118 570 2017 26 28 74 .263 .346 .487 .833 Ron Fairly 115 654 1965 26 9 70 .274 .361 .377 .738 Milton Bradley 108 597 2004 26 19 67 .267 .362 .424 .786 Mike Marshall 108 362 1986 26 19 53 .233 .298 .439 .738 Bill Buckner 105 680 1976 26 7 60 .301 .326 .389 .716 Todd Hollandsworth 104 287 1999 26 9 32 .284 .345 .448 .793 Willie Davis 102 653 1966 26 11 61 .284 .302 .405 .708 Ken Landreaux 91 421 1981 26 7 41 .251 .297 .367 .664 Jayson Werth 89 395 2005 26 7 43 .234 .338 .374 .711 Henry Rodriguez 89 330 1994 26 8 49 .268 .307 .405 .712
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/9/2017.
So what can we expect at age 27? Here is the list of LAD who played in the outfield with over 200 PA at age 26 and 27.
I kept two names on here. Pedro Guerrero only shows up at age 26 because at age 27 he didn’t play enough outfield to qualify. I also kept Tommy Davis on here because I can’t believe he was still only 26 when he traded in the winter of 1966.
Andre was an eerie match.
Frank Howard fell off big time at age 27 and found himself traded
Kal Daniels fell off big time and would never again replicate his age 26 year old season.
Ken Landreaux actually improved at age 27 from age 26, and would improve again at age 28. I never noticed that Ken Landreaux finished his career as a Dodger at the young age of 32.
Matt Kemp went from the best player in the National League to hitting the wall in Colorado on August 28th and never being the same.
Ron Fairly exploded at age 27 in 1966 after a solid season at age 26
Bet most older Dodger fans had no idea that Willie Crawford had back to back seasons with an OPS+ of 140 and 130.
Player OPS+ PA Year Age HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Andre Ethier 132 596 2008 26 20 77 .305 .375 .510 .885 *97/H Andre Ethier 132 685 2009 27 31 106 .272 .361 .508 .869 *9/H Chris Taylor 122 568 2017 26 21 72 .288 .354 .496 .850 8746H/5 Frank Howard 111 492 1964 27 24 69 .226 .303 .432 .735 *9H Frank Howard 150 459 1963 26 28 64 .273 .330 .518 .848 *9H/7 Kal Daniels 108 531 1991 27 17 73 .249 .337 .397 .734 *7/H Kal Daniels 155 526 1990 26 27 94 .296 .389 .531 .920 *7/H Ken Landreaux 91 421 1981 26 7 41 .251 .297 .367 .664 *8/H Ken Landreaux 112 518 1982 27 7 50 .284 .341 .410 .751 *8H/7 Matt Kemp 147 449 2012 27 23 69 .303 .367 .538 .906 *8/H Matt Kemp 172 689 2011 26 39 126 .324 .399 .586 .986 *8/DH Mike Marshall 108 362 1986 26 19 53 .233 .298 .439 .738 *9/H7 Mike Marshall 108 428 1987 27 16 72 .294 .327 .460 .787 *9/H Milton Bradley 108 597 2004 26 19 67 .267 .362 .424 .786 *897/H Milton Bradley 118 316 2005 27 13 38 .290 .350 .484 .835 *8/H Pedro Guerrero 156 652 1982 26 32 100 .304 .378 .536 .914 *985 Raul Mondesi 115 617 1998 27 30 90 .279 .316 .497 .813 *89 Raul Mondesi 140 670 1997 26 30 87 .310 .360 .541 .901 *9/H Ron Fairly 115 654 1965 26 9 70 .274 .361 .377 .738 *983/H Ron Fairly 142 409 1966 27 14 61 .288 .380 .464 .844 *93H/8 Todd Hollandsworth 77 293 2000 27 8 24 .234 .314 .372 .686 *8H/79 Todd Hollandsworth 104 287 1999 26 9 32 .284 .345 .448 .793 8H73/9 Tommy Davis 110 330 1966 27 3 27 .313 .345 .383 .729 *7H/5 Willie Crawford 130 540 1974 27 11 61 .295 .376 .432 .808 *9H/8 Willie Crawford 140 543 1973 26 14 66 .295 .396 .453 .849 *9H7/8 Willie Davis 97 610 1967 27 6 41 .257 .295 .367 .662 *8/H Willie Davis 102 653 1966 26 11 61 .284 .302 .405 .708 *8/H Yasiel Puig 118 570 2017 26 28 74 .263 .346 .487 .833 *9H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/9/2017.
Will there be Morrow tomorrow?
Brandon Morrow and Yu Darvish are the two biggest Dodger free agents and both have stated they would like to return to the Dodgers. Morrow was on MLB Network Radio
Brandon Morrow wants to re-sign with the #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/1osq9wzKy9
— MLB Network Radio (@MLBNetworkRadio) November 9, 2017
and said all the right things about returning including that he doesn’t care about closing. Which is a good thing if the Dodgers want to retain Morrow since he won’t be closing for the Dodgers.
It also seemed from this comments that he is expecting to sign a 3/4 year deal. I have no idea if the Dodgers would do that given his spotty health history but this is the same management team that gave 3/4 year deals to Scott Kazmir / Brandon McCarthy / Rich Hill, all who had spotty health histories, and in Rich Hill’s case, extensive health issues along with being thirty-seven years at the beginning of his three year deal.
Ever since Kansas City turned the baseball world upside on it’s head with their killer bullpen starting in 2014 having a shutdown bullpen has become the priority of every major league team, even more so it seems in building a rotation.
Houston however went the other way. They had a good regular season bullpen that melted down in the postseason, so whenever possible they used pieces of the rotation to plug the holes and for the most part they did outstanding work including Morton shutting down the Dodgers in game seven. Similar to how the Dodgers used Kenta Maeda but Kenta was never put to the same test that Houston put to their rotation turned bullpen pieces.
In 2017 Morrow paid off like a 100-1 horse but now that he’s shown his legs, you will have to pay even money for those wins. Are the Dodgers willing to gamble real money after getting so much for so little?
Puig can’t catch this gold glove
It is easy to complain since we all saw Puig have an outstanding defensive season in right field. For my eyes, it was his best season ever playing RF, as he seemed to catch everything (until the one play he didn’t), his throws were not only always on target, but his sheer arm strength kept many a runner grounded at their current base.
Still, I expect Cub fans who watched Heyward all year felt the same way. This was not a grievous mistake, Heyward is an outstanding defensive right fielder in his own right.
Heyward won his fifth Gold Glove (fourth consecutive) for right field in the NL, beating out Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers and Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins after a season in which Statcast™ had him at 11 outs above average, which tied for seventh among all outfielders in 2017, while ranking second for a corner outfielder, behind Mookie Betts‘ 16. Heyward also was one of nine outfielders — and three corner outfielders — to convert at least four five-star opportunities, and his 16 catches of four stars or better tied for fourth in MLB.
Corey Seager was the other Dodger finalist and as expected he lost out to Brandon Crawford. I was kind of surprised to see Corey make the final three but he survived all the requirements to be there.
The other big surprise for me was that Carlos Santana was a finalist for the American League first base gold glove. I guess he finally found his position.
Two of the AL 1st base gold glove finalists are both free agents this year. One guy is the golden boy in Eric Hosmer who has gotten lots of publicity due to his two World Series stints. Carlos Santana has also been to the World Series but doesn’t seem to pack the same notoriety even though the metrics say he has earned more fWAR over the past five years than Hosmer. They have both been regulars since 2013 and in that time Carlos Santana has earned 15 fWAR compared to Eric Hosmer at 10.9. Carlos has been one of the most consistent players in the game garnering between 2.1 and 3.7 fWAR during those five years. Hosmer has earned between 0.0 and 4.1 fWAR. Of course Hosmer is four years younger than Carlos Santana so maybe I should not have gone down this route since it is not apples to apples.
One other almost Dodger note. Brian Dozier won the gold glove at second base for the American League. Dozier was the biggest talk of last winter after Turner and Jansen signed as the Dodgers were very aggressive in their bid to get him. The Twins stayed firm on their demands and it paid off as they made the postseason with Dozier having another outstanding season. Dozier will be a free agent after 2018 but he’ll be 31 looking for a long term deal as a plus 30 year old second baseman. Good luck with that. Course with the new sliding rules maybe second baseman will have longer baseball lifespans than they used to have since their knees aren’t taking the pounding they used too.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 