Ike Davis is the son of 1981 LAD World Series hero Ron Davis?
Ike Davis is getting some play today because of the news from Bill Shaikin that Ike is transitioning from a 1st baseman to a pitcher while in the Dodger organization. For months I’ve been asking why is Ike Davis in the Dodger organization? His days as a slugging 1st baseman were long gone, and the Dodgers had a plethora of 1st base types in the system. Now I know why?
“Ike has been a tremendous teammate,” Dodgers minor league director Gabe Kapler said. “He’s demonstrated humility and flexibility by taking this first step. We’re watching his mound progress very carefully. Before we take further action, we want to ensure he stays healthy. He has our enthusiastic support in this journey.”
This is a huge longshot but you never know. Either I had forgotten when Ike was a slugging 1st baseman with the Mets or simply never knew but Ike is the son of ex NYY and Dodger Ron Davis.
Most of you are saying who cares. As a Dodger Ron Davis was at the end of his career. However, in his own way, he still did as much as anyone when it came to the Dodgers winning the 1981 World Series.
WAT? you say
Ron Davis was the premiere setup man for the NYY in 1981, setting everything up for Goose Gossage. He was an all-star, he finished 22 of the 43 games he pitched in giving the Yankees a sweet one/two punch of Goose and Davis. He even had a great postseason for the NYY. Coming into the World Series, Davis had been in six games and thrown thirteen innings while allowing only one run. He was a big reason why the Dodgers were facing the Yankees in the World Series.
By all accounts, Ron Davis had, had a premiere season in 1981.
Until the World Series
The NYY won game one, but Ron Davis didn’t record an out giving up two runs on two hits and two walks.
In game four with the NYY leading two games to one, they had a 4 – 2 lead in the bottom of the fifth. A Ron Cey single narrowed the lead to 4 – 3 but Ron Davis came in and struck out the last two hitters to end the inning and looked like a hero. In the bottom of the sixth, the NYY were now leading 6 – 3 when Davis took the mound. At this time the Dodgers executed one of their greatest World Series comebacks. Jay Johnstone hit a two run home run off of Ron Davis to cut the lead to 6 – 4. Lopes got on an error, promptly stole second, and Mr Reliable Bill Russel tied the game with a single. That was it for Ron Davis but it was all the Dodgers needed. From the bottom of the 6th in game four the Dodgers would outscore the NYY 16 – 4 and win the series in six games.
Relief pitcher George Frazier rightly gets singled out for helping the Dodgers win the 81 World Series because of how bad he was, but Ron Davis can stand right next to him.
The NYY had a killer bullpen in 1981 of Frazier / Ron Davis / Goose Gossage. The Dodgers cut them all down, one by one until they had won four straight games after being down two games to zero. It was the greatest four game stretch by any Dodger team since 1963 when they swept the NYY.
OTDIB – 08/15/89 – Dave Dravecky makes strong men throw up
Chad Bettis made headlines last night by throwing seven fantastic innings after coming back from his cancer treatment. That was his first start.
Anyone who was watching Dave Dravecky pitching on August 15, 1989 will never forget it. He was making his second start after coming back from cancer treatment and much like Chad Bettis was the feel good story of the day in baseball. Pitching to HOF Tim Raines he broke his arm and would never pitch again. It looked horrific at the time, and twenty-eight years later, it still does.
August 15th, 1965 – The Japanese community of San Francisco holds Masanori Murakami Day
at Candlestick Park to honor the first Japanese player to have reached the American major leagues. Ordinarily a reliever, Murakami makes his first major league start as the Giants outslug the Phillies 15-9.
Baseball Reliquary has the run down on him.
“In the spring of 1964, the Nankai Hawks of Japan’s Pacific League sent nineteen-year-old Masanori Murakami to the Class A Fresno Giants to improve his skills. To nearly everyone’s surprise, Murakami, known as Mashi, dominated the American hitters. With the San Francisco Giants caught in a close pennant race and desperate for a left-handed reliever, Masanori was called up to join the big league club, becoming the first Japanese player in the Major Leagues.
Dodgers own the lineup positions
We all know that Yasiel Puig has been the best number eight hitter in baseball but when Joe Davis said that Chris Taylor has been the best leadoff hitter in baseball that made me turn to Fangraphs and use the batting position split tool to find out how the rest of the lineup stacks up.
I was fully expecting Cory Seager and Justin Turner from the two and three batting order positions to be near the top but I was not expecting Cody Bellinger to be the top cleanup hitter in all of baseball.
I used Fangraphs wRC+ for this exercise with a minimum of 150 plate appearances. It was interesting to note that many players exceeded the 150 plate appearances threshold for batting positions 1 – 5 but once we hit the number six and seven spot, not even ten hitters could reach the threshold including zero Dodgers. The Dodgers may bounce around the 5,6, and 7 spots in the order, but one – four, and eight have been consistently the same folk game after game. Chris Taylor, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, and Puig.
This is why the Dodgers are on pace to have the greatest season in Dodger history. Per wRC+
- They have the best lead off hitter in baseball (Chris Taylor)
- They have the cleanup hitter in baseball (Cody Bellinger)
- They have the best eight hitter in baseball (Yasiel Puig)
- They have the fifth best five hitter in baseball (Corey Seager)
- They have the fourth best three hitter in baseball (Justin Turner)
Lead Off:
| Name | Team | PA | wRC+ |
| Chris Taylor | Dodgers | 165 | 197 |
| George Springer | Astros | 436 | 159 |
| Michael Conforto | Mets | 317 | 148 |
| Matt Carpenter | Cardinals | 255 | 146 |
| Charlie Blackmon | Rockies | 523 | 141 |
| Matt Joyce | Athletics | 224 | 136 |
| Corey Dickerson | Rays | 251 | 132 |
| Jean Segura | Mariners | 376 | 126 |
| Shin-Soo Choo | Rangers | 269 | 120 |
Batting 2nd:
| Name | Team | PA | wRC+ |
| Mike Trout | Angels | 155 | 211 |
| Jose Altuve | Astros | 178 | 196 |
| Giancarlo Stanton | Marlins | 304 | 178 |
| Josh Donaldson | Blue Jays | 157 | 169 |
| Corey Seager | Dodgers | 466 | 144 |
| Eduardo Nunez | – – – | 158 | 144 |
| Zack Cozart | Reds | 275 | 142 |
| Kris Bryant | Cubs | 405 | 142 |
| Eric Thames | Brewers | 385 | 141 |
Batting 3rd:
| Name | Team | PA | wRC+ |
| Mike Trout | Angels | 174 | 198 |
| Freddie Freeman | Braves | 311 | 168 |
| Joey Votto | Reds | 514 | 165 |
| Bryce Harper | Nationals | 447 | 164 |
| Justin Turner | Dodgers | 379 | 164 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | Diamondbacks | 399 | 157 |
| Justin Upton | Tigers | 170 | 153 |
| Jose Altuve | Astros | 304 | 141 |
| Ryan Braun | Brewers | 244 | 136 |
Batting cleanup:
| Name | Team | PA | wRC+ |
| Cody Bellinger | Dodgers | 271 | 152 |
| Justin Smoak | Blue Jays | 202 | 149 |
| Nelson Cruz | Mariners | 418 | 148 |
| Adrian Beltre | Rangers | 260 | 140 |
| Khris Davis | Athletics | 447 | 139 |
| Ryan Zimmerman | Nationals | 355 | 138 |
| Buster Posey | Giants | 415 | 138 |
| Jay Bruce | Mets | 194 | 136 |
| Carlos Correa | Astros | 284 | 133 |
| Travis Shaw | Brewers | 406 | 132 |
| Neil Walker | – – – | 155 | 132 |
| Logan Morrison | Rays | 348 | 132 |
Batting eighth:
| Name | Team | PA | wRC+ |
| Yasiel Puig | Dodgers | 224 | 132 |
| Travis d’Arnaud | Mets | 155 | 120 |
| Alex Bregman | Astros | 195 | 118 |
| Jordy Mercer | Pirates | 198 | 98 |
| Orlando Arcia | Brewers | 346 | 93 |
| Omar Narvaez | White Sox | 168 | 86 |
| Tucker Barnhart | Reds | 287 | 85 |
| Freddy Galvis | Phillies | 154 | 82 |
This will be fun to look back on, at the end of the year.
NL Central Update
I just want to post this.
At the end of August 12th the top three teams in the NL Central have this interesting won/loss record.
Come on, how cool is that.
| Team | Wins | Losses |
| Cubs | 61 | 55 |
| Cardinals | 61 | 57 |
| Brewers | 61 | 59 |
AL Wild Wild card race
The Yankee’s did enough at the trade deadline that most figured they would not only handily win a wild card spot but overtake the Boston Red Sox and win the AL East outright. They started out that way proving the few skeptics (me) wrong and the majority correct. Several games after the big trades the Yankees were sitting in first place by 1/2 a game on July 31st. But hold on, that was as big a lead as they got, as they have fallen from being in 1st place to 5.5 games back in a span of twelve games. Turns out you need more than just a killer bullpen to win games. Who knew?
Meanwhile, the Angels were given little chance in the hectic wild card race for the second spot (everyone assumed the Yankees or Red Sox have the first one locked up) but with Trout back in the lineup the Angels came out blazing in August and won their first four games. They followed that with three straight losses and that looked like curtains. Somewhere they found another gear and have now won six games in a row, including a sweep of Seattle in Seattle as they try to douse the Mariner postseason hopes. The Angels did this with a rotation in August so far of Parker Bridwell, Rickey Nolasco, JC Ramirez, Tyler Skaggs, and someone named Troy Scribner. I can safely say I had never heard of three of those pitchers on March 1st, 2017.
If you look at the Wild Card standings right now you will see the Angels now have the same record as NYY. If the season ended today, the NYY and Angels would be playing the play-in game.
They both have 61 wins.
Four teams have 59 wins, Seattle, Twins, KC, and Tampa Bay. The Orioles have 58 wins.
Going to be a wild ride from here.
Go Angels
FFA for Week August 7th – August 13th
Contenders:
Wilmer Font – SP – AAA/OKC – Font started two games last week, went twelve innings, gave up nine hits, two earned runs, walked two, and struck out fourteen. Over his last seven starts, he has pitched 41 innings, giving up just six earned runs, twenty-eight hits, walked eight and struck out fifty-four.
Tim Locastro – Inf – AAA/OKC – Tim was promoted to AAA to replace Willie Calhoun as the OKC second baseman and has responded well to his promotion with a .970 OPS so far. This past week Tim had ten hits in twenty-six at-bats, with one home run.
Yusniel Diaz – OF – AA/Tulsa – Yusniel has taken to AA with a flourish putting up a .925 OPS in just 37 at-bats. Diaz is playing mostly RF for Tulsa. For the week, Diaz had eight hits in nineteen at-bats.
Mitchell White – SP – AA/Tulsa – Mitch had his most dominating game since coming back from his injury going five innings, giving up just two hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts. Over his last two games, he has gone ten innings, given up just three hits, two walks, and thirteen strikeouts. His overall work at AA has been outstanding though in limited innings. A WHIP of 0.82 catches your eye for a starting pitcher.
Chris Mathewson – SP – A-/Loons – With Dustin May sidelined and Jordan Sheffield getting scuffed around at Rancho, Chris is trying is his best to be the best pitcher for the Loons. Last week he threw a doozy, going seven innings, four hits, zero earned runs, four walks, and nine strikeouts. Chris has been on a nice five game run.
Edwin Uceta – SP – Rookie/Ogden – Uceta followed up his six inning perfect game with a very nice five inning outing. He gave up just two hits, zero runs, one walk, and four strikeouts.
And the winner of the Dodger Farm Factory Award for August 12th is …………
Mitchell White
Diaz was on pace to take the FFA but he didn’t do much this past weekend after starting the week on a torrid pace.
Dodger Minor League Notes:
I may have jumped the gun on Walker Buehler. I was very confident over at the TBLA comment section that Walker Buehler would not be sniffing the Dodger postseason roster because of several hurdles he would need to clear for that to happen. The first hurdle was simply proving he could be an effective relief pitcher and after several stumbles in the role, he wowed everyone last night with five strikeouts of his six outs throwing two perfect relief innings. A few more outings like that and he just might get to prove himself at the major league level in leveraged situations.
Rob Segedin is also on rehab duty, and unlike Adrian, he had a good offensive week, just not enough to make the contender cut. What the future plans are for Segedin as a Dodger remain murky. There does not seem to be any need for his services at this time.
Alex Verdugo continues to flail in August. He hit a game winning home run last week but still managed only five hits for the whole week. In August he has a .622 OPS.
Dennis Santana is struggling in AA. The brilliant command he was displaying for Rancho did not follow him to Tulsa as he has walked fourteen hitters in his last three starts. For Rancho, he had walked in 22 in 85 innings, but for Tulsa, he has walked sixteen in sixteen innings.
Keibert Ruiz has finally cooled off going 1 for 15 with zero walks. This was bound to happen, now we get to see how he deals with it.
The last two number one picks are both struggling in the MWL with the Loons. Gavin Lux had shown signs of breaking out and while he did go did go eight for twenty-five last week, it was pretty empty with one walk, and seven strikeouts including four in one game. Kendall had a four hit game but managed only one other hit for the week. Jeren now has twenty-one strikeouts in just sixty-five at-bats and is carrying a .592 OPS so far.
Chasing Piazza/Robinson/Green/McGwire/Judge on Aug 13th
Cody Bellinger now has 34 home runs and could catch Mike Piazza today. He continues to outpace Frank Robinson and looks like a good bet to end the year with at least forty home runs and the NL Rookie Home Run record which currently stands at 38.
He has also moved within striking distance of the all time Rookie record of 49 by Mark McGwire. He is now within one home run of Aaron Judge who sits at 35.
Shawn Green is about to hit three home runs in one game on August 15th, so while Cody is currently in front of the LAD all time home record pace of 49, it won’t be for long unless Cody continues his own torrid pace. At his current pace, the only rookies that Cody will be chasing by the end of August will be Mark McGwire and Aaron Judge. The only Dodger he’ll be chasing is Shawn Green.
His home run per plate appearance is crushing the competition except for Big Mac.
| Player | PA | HR | HR/PA | Aug 12th | Total | Leader | Year |
| Mike Piazza | 598 | 34 | 17.59 | 22 | 35 | LAD Rookie HR | 1993 |
| Frank Robinson | 548 | 34 | 16.12 | 25 | 38 | NL Rookie HR | 1956 |
| Mark McGwire | 344 | 34 | 10.12 | 38 | 49 | AL Rookie HR | 1987 |
| Shawn Green | 515 | 34 | 15.15 | 32 | 49 | LAD Alltime HR | 2001 |
| Cody Bellinger | 380 | 34 | 11.18 | 34 | ??? | Chasing | 2017 |
| Aaron Judge | 451 | 34 | 13.26 | 35 | ??? | Chasing | 2017 |
If this confusing here is a quick legend.
PA – this is the number of plate appearances it took for each player to reach 34 home runs. We used 34 home runs because that is where Bellinger is right now. This would be within 4 PA of accuracy as I didn’t check the game log for the specific plate appearance they hit the home run.
HR – This is a marker showing you 34 home runs.
HR/PA – this is the home runs per plate appearance pace when they each hit their 34th home run.
Total HR through August August 12
Total – season home run total
Leader – this is why they are on the list. For example Mike Piazza is the LAD Rookie Home Run Leader
Year – this is the year they accomplished the home run record that Cody Bellinger is chasing
Cody Bellinger gets the Dropo on Braun
Cody Bellinger hit his 34th home run last night and tied Ryan Braun and Walt Dropo as he sets his sights on Hal Trosky and Mike Piazza. Cody is also only one behind Aaron Judge who has hit his 35 home runs in eighty more plate appearances.
Cody now sits alone with the most home runs by rookie left handed hitter in the NL with his 34 and is just one behind the major league record of 35 by a left handed rookie set by Hal Trosky.
Trosky had an interesting career. When you look at his baseball reference page you see a player who started with a bang but stopped playing at age 28 in 1941. I thought the war interrupted his career but the baseball sabr bio says it was migraines.
his career reached its apex in 1936, when he led the American League in runs batted in with 162, yet he has largely been consigned to historical obscurity. This anonymity is not only due to the reality that his career overlapped a triumvirate of Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, and Lou Gehrig, a triumvirate of future Hall of Fame first basemen who held a virtual lock on the position on the American League All Star teams of the mid-’30s, but also because, at what should have been the peak of his career, Trosky was sidelined with two years of severe migraine headaches, pain so debilitating that he became unable to take the field for days in a row.
From age 21 – 28 Trosky hit 215 home runs. He tried to come back in 1944 and 1946 but it didn’t work out and he ended his career with only 5748 plate appearances and 228 home runs with an OPS+ of 130. He had a short but brilliant career. The man once hit 42 home runs, drove in 162 runs, had an OPS of 146, led the league in TB with 405 and finished 10th in MVP voting.
Player HR Year Age Tm Lg PA Mark McGwire (RoY-1st) 49 1987 23 OAK AL 641 Frank Robinson (RoY-1st) 38 1956 20 CIN NL 667 Albert Pujols (RoY-1st) 37 2001 21 STL NL 676 Al Rosen 37 1950 26 CLE AL 668 Jose Abreu (RoY-1st) 36 2014 27 CHW AL 622 Mike Piazza (RoY-1st) 35 1993 24 LAD NL 602 Ron Kittle (RoY-1st) 35 1983 25 CHW AL 570 Rudy York 35 1937 23 DET AL 417 Hal Trosky 35 1934 21 CLE AL 685 Aaron Judge 35 2017 25 NYY AL 484 Cody Bellinger 34 2017 21 LAD NL 403 Ryan Braun (RoY-1st) 34 2007 23 MIL NL 492 Walt Dropo (RoY-1st) 34 1950 27 BOS AL 609 Jose Canseco (RoY-1st) 33 1986 21 OAK AL 682 Earl Williams (RoY-1st) 33 1971 22 ATL NL 550 Jimmie Hall (RoY-3rd) 33 1963 25 MIN AL 571
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/3/2017.
Julio Urias Update on Aug 12, 2017
All the good stuff that happened to Julio Urias happened in 2016. In 2017 he didn’t make the opening day roster, he didn’t pitch that well in AAA, he came up and didn’t pitch that well for the Dodgers, was sent back to AAA, and blew out his arm resulting in surgery for a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder.
Speaking for the first time since the surgery, Urias said he had trouble processing the reality that his career would be set back so significantly.
“I had a lot of emotions,” Urias said through interpreter Jesus Quinonez. “You feel sadness. You feel angry. Everything goes to your head. You think about your career, everything you’ve done to get to that point.
“I tried to get out of that stage as fast as I could. Now I feel very motivated and ready for everything.”
Manager Dave Roberts said he sensed from conversation that Urias had recently adjusted his perspective.
“He had clarity,” Roberts said. “And, in recent weeks, he hadn’t really had that.”
Urias is the reason I started blogging again, I didn’t want to miss writing about the career of the teenager. Everything fell into place in 2016 as he gave me plenty to write about. I expected the same in 2017 but on a more grander scale. I felt he would be the second best starter on the team by this time but baseball being baseball put on the brakes.
Now we have to wait another year before we can write about Julio again. He’ll be old news by then. It was quite the story when he was 16, 17, and 18 doing what he was doing in the minor leagues. At 19 and 20 he had the greatest year ever for a LAD pitcher who started the year as a teenager.
Next time he toes a mound in a professional game he’ll be 22. Not so exciting anymore, but hopefully he gets his career back on track and makes us remember once again why we all gathered at the bar in Hollywood to watch his major league debut at the age of 19.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 