Ira Glass and the deal with mothers
I recently saw Ira Glass the media heavyweight who does This American Life among many other things at the Ace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday Night.
I’m not sure what kind of show I was expecting but it turned out to be interesting. There were some nuggets in there and some big surprises.
The biggest surprise for me came during the question and answer at the end of the show. During the show, Ira had mentioned several times that his mother had passed away about a decade ago. Ira started the show with an interesting clip about a mother and daughter conversation that didn’t show the mother in her best light.
The question from the audience was “How were you able to deal with the death of your mother, mine passed away 11 months ago and I’m still having a hard time with it”. The lady who asked the question did not get the answer she expected, nor did we.
Ira wasn’t flippant with his answer. He looked anguished for a few seconds before starting to answer. You could see the wheels turning as he grasped with how to answer such a personal question in a very public arena. Turns out that Ira Glass and his mother were not on the best of terms. Based on his answer it seemed that his parents never quite approved of his choice of a career. Can you imagine that? Ira Glass pretty much checks off every single successful checkpoint that a parent could have about what they would hope their child would accomplish. And yet, that wasn’t enough for his mother. Ira fought valiantly with his answer and blamed himself for not doing more to build the bridge.
I just left the show with the idea that if Ira Glass couldn’t please his mother then who could?
My own mother passed away two years ago this month. It had been a long time in coming so when she did pass away everyone in the family was prepared. I thought I was. I wrote the obituary.
Katherine Cordell Gurnee passed away on November 10th at the age of 86. Katherine was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1929. Her parents were Red and Cordell Koerner of Madison, Wisconsin. She was married at West Point, and her marriage lasted for 65 years to her high school sweetheart retired Lieutenant Colonel Paul L Gurnee; they had five children, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Katherine traveled the world with her military husband, having children in Puerto Rico, Alabama, and California. The places she called home as an officer’s wife were: Panama, Puerto Rico, Glendale California, Kentucky, Huntsville, Taiwan, Glendale, El Paso, Boston, Kansas, Germany, and Alexandria VA. When her husband retired from the military, they moved to Glendale, CA and spent the next 35 years there. During that time she assisted in her mother’s seamstress business and was much sought after for her seamstress skills. In 2006, in an effort to be closer to their oldest son they moved to Ferndale.
By that time Katherine was in ill health but tried to be as active in the Church of the Assumption Parish as her health would allow. Over her lifetime she spent many hours working with various Catholic charities, devoting her time and money. In Ferndale she became a voracious reader and was a regular at the Ferndale Library.
She is survived by her
Husband Paul L Gurnee
Siblings: William Koerner and Marette Troller
Children: Paul (Gretchen), Peter, Chris (Cheryl), Tom (Debbie), Phil (Verdell)
Grandchildren: Heather, Justin, Sara, Josh, Tanya, Kalia, Eli, Eme, Ani
Greatgrandchildren: Cain, Cameron, Damien, Ayden, Holden
Her four Ferndale grandchildren were all valedictorians at the local Ferndale High School.
Her service will be held on Friday, Nov 20th, 1:00PM at Church of Assumption Catholic Church
The reception will be held after the memorial service at the Ferndale Omelette Factory in downtown Ferndale.
I’m not particularly proud of that obituary. There was no soul to it, it could have been written by an Autobot. I think a key reason was that by the time my mother had passed away we had not been able to have a meaningful conversation for years, and she had become a very embittered woman who was not a joy to be around.
Still, I wasn’t ready. I was the only person to speak at her service, and I thought I’d be able to handle it well. I didn’t. I barely got through the beginning, my point of speaking was to let the congregation that had shown up know who my mother was. They only knew an old lady in a wheelchair who had shown up eight years ago. They were unaware of all the work she had done raising her children, her grandchildren, and being a very active member of every Catholic church she became a part of. I think I accomplished that goal.
My mother had made lots of friends over her lifetime but by the time she passed away none of them would be there for her service. Just family and strangers who happened to attend the same church. I always think about stuff like that. If my Mom had passed away at the age of 60 in Glendale, Ca her service would have been loaded with people she had befriended. Now, nothing but family and strangers and even some family who lived in town didn’t make the service. My ex-wife sent some gorgeous flowers, it was greatly appreciated by myself and my father.
My mother was far from perfect but in retrospect what she was great at, was simply being a mother, and for a good part of her life a good grandmother. She wasn’t a good grand-mother at the end, but when the grandkids needed her to be a grandmother she was there for them and helped their families through some very tough times.
She was certainly judgemental, but what she didn’t do was allow those judgments to ever cloud her love for her children. All of her children had made decisions that were questionable, and while she may not have approved of them, she did her best to deal with us and continued to love us in the measure we needed from her. Her greatest disappointment had to be in our choices of worship. Her catholicism was the biggest part of her life, yet none of her five children became practicing Catholics. A few of us aren’t believers at all. She even dealt with that well, even though it had to eat at her.
As I hear from friends and watch other relatives who have had rough relationships with their mothers, I feel lucky that my mother felt that being a mother overrode her own thoughts on what her children should be accomplishing with their lives.
I had a mother
I was lucky
Baseball Prospectus Dodger Prospect top ten lists from Nov 2016 – Nov 2017
Now that Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America, and John Sickels have all done their Dodger top ten lists, let us look at how they compare this year and last year.
This particular article will focus on Baseball Prospectus.
Below the comments is a quick chart on Baseball Prospectus Dodger Rankings comparing Nov 2016 with Nov 2017.
Yadier Alvarez was ranked number one in Nov 2016 but he struggled most of the season, while Cody Bellinger won unanimous NL ROY honors. Jose De Leon was ranked 3rd before he was traded, and he basically missed the whole season to injury but didn’t pitch well even when he did get on the mound. The Dodgers traded the right pitcher for Logan Forsythe.
They have been high on Dustin May for two years now. Last year they didn’t rank him that high though eleven was still high for him, this year they really like him. If you read the article you can see just how much they like him as they gave him multiple paragraphs.
Ruiz was not even ranked last year and jumped to the 4th spot. That is what you call a prospect leap frog. He was mentioned in the Nov 2016 comments as someone who would have fallen into the next five, meaning 16 – 20.
Austin Barnes was not eligible due to service time issues but they said in the Nov 2016 comments that he would not have fallen into the top 10. I’d call that a whiff given what he produced at the major league level in 2017. If you are impressed with someone starting every game of a seven-game World Series anyway.
Mitchell White was able to crack the top ten this year coming in at 7 after being ranked in the 12-15 group last year.
Jeren Kendall was not in the system last Nov and immediately cracks the top ten with a ranking of eight in his first year of eligibility.
Gavin Lux is at number nine in both 2016 and 2017 rankings.
Jordan Sheffield is at number ten in both 2016 and 2017 rankings. I would have gone with Dennis Santana myself as I’m high on Santana but not on Sheffield, though the odds seem high that both will end up in the bullpen.
Starling Heredia is once again not ranked in the top 20 by either BA or BP. Sure hope John Sickels is right on this one and I fully expect Starling to have the largest leap at this time next year. They did mention Starling in the comments:
11/20He was discussed with a fair amount of vigor, and one of the last cuts. A testament to the system’s depth as much as anything. There’s a lot of thunder in his stick, but we’d like to see him in a longer sample against full-season pitching before we project him to hit enough for the thump to matter. Intriguing young hitter though, no doubt.
| ProspecName | BirthDate | AGE | League | 2018 BP | 2017BP |
| Walker Buehler | 7/28/1994 | 23 | AAA/MLB | 1 | 6 |
| Alex Verdugo* | 5/15/1996 | 21 | AAA/MLB | 2 | 4 |
| Yadier Alvarez | 3/7/1996 | 21 | AA | 3 | 1 |
| Keibert Ruiz | 7/20/1998 | 19 | A+ | 4 | NR |
| Dustin May | 9/6/1997 | 20 | A | 5 | 11 |
| Yusniel Diaz | 10/7/1996 | 21 | AA | 6 | 5 |
| Mitchell White | 12/28/1994 | 22 | AA | 7 | 12-15 |
| Jeren Kendall | 2/4/1996 | 21 | A | 8 | NA |
| Gavin Lux | 11/23/1997 | 19 | A | 9 | 9 |
| Jordan Sheffield | 6/1/1995 | 22 | A+ | 10 | 10 |
| Will Smith | 3/28/1995 | 22 | AA | 11 | 12-15 |
| Omar Estevez | 2/25/1998 | 19 | A+ | 12-20 | NR |
| Imani Abdullah | 4/20/1997 | 20 | ExtendedSpring | 12-20 | NR |
| Edwin Rios* | 4/21/1994 | 23 | AAA | 12-20 | NR |
| D.J. Peters | 12/12/1995 | 21 | A+ | 12-20 | NR |
| Trevor Oaks | 3/26/1993 | 24 | AAA | 12-20 | NR |
| Dennis Santana | 4/12/1996 | 21 | AA | 12-20 | NR |
| Caleb Ferguson* | 7/2/1996 | 21 | A+ | 12-20 | NR |
| Cristian Santana | 2/24/1997 | 20 | A+ | 12-20 | NR |
| Morgan Cooper | 9/12/1994 | 23 | DNP | 12-20 | NA |
| Cody Bellinger | 7/13/1995 | 22 | Majors | Graduated | 2 |
| Austin Barnes | 12/28/1989 | 27 | Majors | Graduated | NA |
| Brock Stewart | 10/3/1991 | 26 | Majors | Graduated | 12-15 |
| Andrew Toles* | 5/24/1992 | 25 | Majors | Graduated | 7 |
| Starling Heredia | 2/6/1999 | 18 | A | NR | NR |
| Johan Mieses | 7/13/1995 | 22 | AA | Oops | 12-15 |
| Jose De Leon | 8/7/1992 | 25 | Tampa | Traded | 3 |
| Willie Calhoun* | 11/4/1994 | 23 | Texas | Traded | 8 |
Dodger prospect updates from BA, Fangraphs, and John Sickels
Baseball America just came out with their Dodger top ten prospect list.
Dodgers Top 10 Prospects per Baseball America
- 1. Walker Buehler, RHP
- 2. Alex Verdugo, OF
- 3. Keibert Ruiz, C
- 4. Mitchell White, RHP
- 5. Yadier Alvarez, RHP
- 6. Yusniel Diaz, OF
- 7. Jeren Kendall, OF
- 8. DJ Peters, OF
- 9. Will Smith, C
- 10. Dennis Santana, RHP
Read more at https://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2018-los-angeles-dodgers-top-10-prospects/#YOKli2hf64SP63kW.99
This comes on the heels of John Sickels last week, and Fangraphs earlier in September.
The consensus is starting to build about the top ten.
Walker Buehler is clearly the top prospect in the system and some consider him the top pitching prospect in the game.
Alex Verdugo continues to hold off Keibert Ruiz for the top positional prospect though I believe that is more about Verdugo knocking on the major league door than it is about who will have the more productive major league career.
Yadier Alvarez and Mitchell White will battle for the next best pitching prospect. This is a testament to how pedestrian a season that Alvarez had after being the top pitching prospect headed into 2016 and how much of a jump White made in 2017.
Dennis Santana is now on everyone’s radar and appears to be a consensus top ten prospect who will probably battle Dustin May for the next pitching prospect after Buehler/Alvarez/White. The Dodgers have five legit starting pitchers with four of them having pitched in at least AA. Some still consider Santana a future bullpen piece and if the rotation gets too crowded it is easy to see that scenario unfold. Especially when considering that Urias is not even being mentioned.
Dodgers have a nice group of outfielders but Sickels is on the outside looking in regarding DJ Peters, as Baseball America has him ranked 8th, just behind Diaz and Kendall. John and I disagree on DJ Peters but we agree on Starling Heredia who we both expect to eventually be better than all of them. Baseball America did not put Starling into their top ten.
Dodgers have two catchers in the top ten with Keibert Ruiz and Will Smith but Ruiz is just 19 while Smith is 22 so expect to see Smith long before we see Keibert.
The Dodgers have no infielders in the top ten unless you consider catchers, infielders. This is clearly their weakest spot but it is possible that Lux and Erroll Robinson will be making a move up. Robinson is the under the radar prospect while Lux might be ready to show why he was the 2016 number one pick. Tim Locastro tore up AAA so I’m curious what he does in 2018. Edwin Rios was unable to crack the BA top ten, Sickels also showed him little respect. The best Dodger minor league hitter for two years in a row is just not getting much respect, the scouts may know something.
The Baseball America starting lineup for the future in 2021 is always a silly exercise. I’m not sure how Joc Pederson can be listed as the projected starting center fielder in 2021 when he most likely won’t even be the starting center fielder in 2018.
Things of note among the skills:
Locastro is listed as the fastest player in the Dodger system. I saw this guy play in the 2016 AFL, I would have lost a lot of money if someone had told me that he would be the fastest Dodgers in the organization a year later. Especially when they added Jeren Kendall.
Errol Robinson is listed as the best defensive infielder even though Drew Jackson has the best arm.
As expected Alex Verdugo is listed with the best outfield arm but number one pick Jeren Kendall is listed as the best defensive outfielder.
John Sickels is bearish on Dodger number one pick
John Sickels reviewed the Dodgers minor league system and presented his rankings and grades. John ranked 2017 number one pick Jeren Kendall at eight behind Diaz and Heredia. That doesn’t seem very bearish but he was the number one pick in 2017 and in the comment section he said he agreed with a very bearish comment about Kendall.
I think it is too soon to be discounting his considerable baseball skills based on a few hundred at-bats in the tough MidWestLeague. He came right from college into pro ball, and it is doubtful any Dodger tinkering has had an effect yet. They may be right that his contact skills are going to be his downfall but I kind of see his floor as Drew Stubbs and if he can manage to get his contact skills under control, I’m not sure what his ceiling is. He also needs to work on his baserunning skills because for someone with his speed, those caught stealing numbers are abysmal. As Marc Hulet from Fangraphs noted, let’s give the excellent Dodger development team a chance with him.
I’m really interested to see what the Dodgers’ player development staff can do with him. He has a chance to be an all-star even if he hits .250.
I also completely disagree with his evaluation of DJ Peters and I expect time to show that he whiffed on his future production. DJ is going to be a playa
As expected most everyone is jumping on the Keibert Ruiz bandwagon. I said back in June that he was the Dodgers best positional prospect when he wasn’t even in the conversation and now he’s right behind Mr. Verdugo. By the time the spring rankings come out I still expect that everyone will have jumped completely on his bandwagon and the rankings will show this.
Trevor Oaks barely pitched this year but he was listed above 2016 number one pick Gavin Lux. Not that he’s bullish on Oaks, he has him listed as 13th and Lux 15th. Not exactly where you want your 2016 number one pick to be at. At noted here before Lux had a very strong finish to what had been a very disappointing season. If he can carry that forward he might be able to take a huge step forward. That Drew Jackson is even within shouting distance of Lux on the shortstop depth chart doesn’t make sense to me. Drew had his supporters in the comment section but I really don’t get it. The ISO popped in the Cal League but once he was promoted to AA it went right back to the horrible .90 level. He is 23 years old and has played most of his considerable minor league career in A ball without much offensive success. I would certainly rather have Errol Robinson over Drew Jackson, but I hope that Lux can put to rest who is the best Dodger shortstop prospect by kicking some ass in 2019.
I’d say he’s bullish on these players not so much on how he ranked them but based on how I expect others to rank them.
Estevez, Oaks, Beatty, and Drew Jackson.
Bearish on:
Jeren Kendall, Gavin Lux, Edwin Rios, DJ Peters
In the comments, Matt Beatty is getting more love than Edwin Rios which seems improper but they might be right. Beatty had a surprisingly great year and if the left handed hitting corner infielder can play a passable third, he might carve out a major league career, something no one was saying one year ago.
Verdugo is the only major league ready outfielder in the system with Diaz/Peters probably not ready until at least 2019. Depending on how the Dodgers do free agency and settle the Adrian Gonzalez situation they may have an opening in left field. A battle for left field between Verdugo and Toles would make for an interesting spring.
I have to admit I’m not as high on Verdugo as the prospect folk. Marc Hulet loves him but I’m not sure I can trust a Marc with a C instead of a K.
Verdugo has an advanced approach at the plate and really understands what he’s doing — but he sacrifices pop to hit for average and make consistent contact. He’ll probably make an excellent No. 2 hitter who will score a ton of runs and perhaps flirt with a batting title or two if he keeps the current approach
I’m not sure what Vedugo gives you that Andrew Toles does not but evidently, I’m on the wrong page. Toles is older but just as toolsy. Verdugo has the better arm, but Toles kills him in speed. Both have average pop with excellent plate discipline.
I understand Verdugo being the number one positional prospect because he had a solid year at AAA at a very young age. But he wasn’t playing in the California League and tearing it up at 18/19 as a catcher now was he?
Tim Locastro wants to know what is up? Timmy blew up AAA, blew the minds of many when he was added to the Dodger roster and was being considered for the postseason. I never thought of Locastro as a burner but there he was being considered for the spot of speed merchant.
Kyle Farmer has a very very small window to impress. If the Dodgers keep both Barnes and Grandal this winter, Farmer is headed back to AAA. Will Smith looks to have better baseball tools across the board than Farmer and will be playing in AA and possibly AAA in 2018. Behind both of them is Keibert Ruiz who was playing high A ball at the age of 18 and should be two years away but who knows. Connor Wong seems to be in the exact same mold as Barnes/Farmer/Smith, an athletic infielder who was turned into a catcher. It will be interesting to see if the classic catcher Keibert will be better than the transitional catchers. I’m betting on Ruiz.
Largest and smallest take MVP honors
Jose Altuve and Aaron Judge are about as opposite as you can get on a baseball field but they both had MVP type seasons and that might be why baseball is the greatest game of all. No matter how big or how small, desire and athletic skill can get you on the big stage. Jose Altuve won the AL MVP as he continues to morph into this generations Joe Morgan complete with World Series ring.
The giant Giancarlo Stanton had to fight off Votto and Goldschmidt to win his NL MVP.
Dodgers got little love in MVP voting for a team that won a franchise-tying record of 104 wins. Which of course made me wonder, how did other teams that have won 102 or more games do in MVP voting.
Let us find out.
2016 – Cubs won 103 games, Kris Bryant won the MVP
2011 – Phillies won 102 games but the highest ranked was the recently deceased Doc Halladay who placed 9th. They had five players receive an MVP vote including ex-Dodgers Carlos Ruiz, Shane Victorino. That seems to be the best comp for the Dodgers in that numerous players received an MVP vote but no one was considered one of the top five players in the league. A team effort indeed.
2009 – NYY won 103 games but they went a different route than the Phillies. They also had five players get MVP votes but two of them Teixeira and Jeter finished 2nd and 3rd in the voting.
2004 – Cardinals won 105 games and were 3/4/5 in the voting with Pujols / Rolen / Edmunds. That was kind of how I thought it was going for the Dodgers in July with Bellinger/Turner/Seager.
2002 – the NYY and A’s both won 103 games. Miguel Tejeda of the A’s won the MVP. Zito and Chavez were 13th and 14th, with Billy Koch plugging in at 18. The NYY placed 3rd, 5th, and 10th, with Soriano, Giambi, and Bernie Williams.
2001 – the historical 116 win season by the Mariners. Remember when the Dodgers were on track to better that as last as July 31st? Ichiro won the MVP vote and steroid poster child Brett Boone was 3rd.
Okay, that is it for the 21st century which is where I’ll stop.
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% |
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 