OTDIB – May 27th – Ken Brett again
On this date in baseball, May 27th
May 27th, 1974 – Ken Brett again. For a guy who was overshadowed by his HOF brother, Ken sure shows up here alot.
In a game that takes only one-hour and thirty eight minutes to complete, Pirates starter Ken Brett blanks the Padres 6-0, allowing just two hits in the Three Rivers Stadium contest. In the second game of a twin bill, the Bucs’ southpaw pinch-hits a seventh-inning two-run triple which contributes to the Pirates’ 8-7 victory over the Friars.
One year, seven hundred posts later
It has been about a year since I started blogging again and the results have been mixed. I’ve been interested enough to write about something seven hundred times but those interested in what I’m writing are a rare breed.
I’m not sure who is reading what I’m writing, based on comments Gary is my regular customer who comes into my bar every day and has everything on the menu. Jim shows up once in a while when his other bar is crowded or remembers that drink he liked that he could only get at my bar. Mike started showing up feigning ignorance of the place even though he had to walk right by it every day on his way to the regular bar. Those are my commentators and while the quantity is low, the quality is top notch. I feel lucky that I like everyone who bothers to comment.
The readership is low but has climbed to the point my Google stat bar charts can be seen without having to use reading glasses.
I’m still feeling my way around this blog, trying to figure out what I can write about without saying the same thing 100 other Dodger blogs are saying. My twitter feed is funny, I do have about ten Dodger bloggers on the feed and every time there is any Dodger news, I get about twenty tweets about the exact same thing. I’ve tried to stay away from that realm, the minutia of the Dodgers is covered very extensively.
I write for two reasons. Reason one is that I need to stay creative during my time on the system. I trade options for income now and so I need to be on-line starting at 06:30 in the morning until 01:00 PM. But trading options has lots and lots of down time. Some days can be very busy, but other days I’ll make zero trades if all my money is tied up. To fill in the time gaps I write. and write. and write. I think it has helped keep my mind sharp. When I was running an Information system department, I had to make multiple decisions about many different environments and was always multi-tasking. Without that stimulus to keep my mind sharp I was afraid it would atrophy. I’m not sure if writing has replaced that stimulus but it has helped mitigate it so along with the option writing I think I’m okay with working the brain. Reason two is that I simply like to write.
Vocally, words have always been hard for me to work with. Anyone who has ever known me for any length of time has known that when I’m talking I’ll search for a word but it just won’t show up for me. One of my best friends used to be my fill in the blank person, but he moved to Seattle leaving me to grasp with the language as best I could. I have a different problem when it comes to writing. Any of my first drafts would basically be unreadable but my brain did get the content right as it flowed out too fast for my writing skills to translate a readable or grammatically correct form. Luckily Grammarly has helped me greatly to find both the flow mistakes and the simple grammatical mistakes. I’m not sure why my brain works like this. I know writing and verbal exchange comes easily to many of you. As a child, I had hearing issues and extensive earaches until they removed the adenoids that were blocking my hearing ability. Many people I’ve talked with can remember parts of their life much earlier than I can. My first real memories don’t occur for me until 1st grade right after they cleared my adenoids. I thought that was normal until people would tell me things they remembered when they were two or three. That seemed crazy to me. I only have two real memories before kindergarten. Our cat running away during a trip across the country, and our dog being run over in front of my mother. Everything else is vague. Ok, that is the verbal part. I really do think my hearing issues as a child impacted my verbal skills.
But……sheer laziness is the writing issue. I get that conundrum. How could anyone write who doesn’t want to spend time learning how to write grammatically correct prose? A lazy fuck, that is who. I’ve spent most of my life not working hard at anything I wasn’t interested in. I’m interested in writing, grammar, not so much.
Sorry
Baseball Reference and Fangraphs have been used extensively when I write about the Dodgers or baseball. The Baseball Reference sharing tool is probably used in 80% of everything I write. I could copy and paste to excel. manipulate, and pop back into the post but they have made is so easy to read with <pre> format that it saves me oodles of time and looks great.
I turned my back on programming ten years ago and while I know some HTML I could stand to learn more. Over the next year, I’d like to make the blog better visually. If I was to have created this blog from scratch using my own server instead of WordPress I envisioned a home page with a border of baseball cards that would randomly change every time the home page was opened by a unique user. Each card would have links to any articles on the blog that mentioned them. The wallpaper would be a gorgeous view of Dodger Stadium much like the original artwork for TrueBLueLA. I had hoped to work with Andrew Grant to purchase his minor league central system since he had stopped keeping it up, but he never returned any attempt to communicate with him.
Maybe I’ll get to that.
For now I’ll keep putting out
- This day in baseball with mostly Dodger content and some commentary if I remember anything about the event or player. I just started doing this about a month ago and I really enjoy it.
- Dodger leaderboards related to game scores, strikeouts, and total bases based on the team they are playing and where. These are easy to do, and I love seeing the history of the Dodgers on these leaderboards. Maybe no one cares that Hideo Nomo has the highest game score against the Cardinals at Dodger Stadium. I’m not even sure I care, I just like to write about it and for some reason I enjoy it when an Alex Wood cracks those leaderboards right after I post them.
- The Dodger farm system. I’m no scout and never pretend to be but I do read lots of scouting information. The Weekly Farm Factory just gives me a reason to stay current on what is happening throughout the farm system. If anything has grown in the Dodger blogosphere since I started blogging in 2007 it is the growth in the coverage of farm systems. I don’t have anything to add here, but since I like the prospects I’m going to write about them.
- Great games during the year. There is no need to do a recap of every game, that is done by everyone, but I do want to write about games that in my mind, were games that stood out.
- The weird stuff that no one cares about but me. Like Howie Kendrick going 100 plate appearances and only driving in one run as a starting LF during a stretch in 2016. AJ Ellis unable to score in 2016 in over 100 plate appearances.
- Personal touches I can add that are really diary stories for myself to look back on and go oh yeah, I remember that. Or realize I don’t remember and start to prepare my life without my brain.
So in recap, if you do read the blog, thanks and if you do want to say anything please do so.
The House
The passing of Greg Allman this past weekend made me put on Eat a Peach and kick back as though I was fifteen years old and let the memories wash over me. The Allman Brothers music was made for being stoned and nobody was more stoned in the early 70’s than my brothers and his friends.
When my 3rd oldest brother moved out of the family house he rented a home in southern Glendale with two of his best friends, Vance Faulkner and Chris Clarke. Eventually, my 4th oldest brother would take refuge there.
The house had three constants. Everyone was always stoned. The house was filled with guests. The music of choice was the Allman Brothers or the Doors. You could get stoned there simply by opening the door and taking your first breath. The kids who stayed at the house were between 17 – 25 years old.
They all worked hard at labor intensive jobs. My two brothers and his two friends all worked at a wallpaper making company in Glendale. It might have been the same building that Golden Road Brewing is kicking up such a storm. If not, it was in the same vicinity. But at that time, the Glendale past the railroad tracks in South Eastern Glendale was all industrial. They put the paint on the wallpaper, heck they were probably stoned from the paint fumes before they ever got home. None of them went to college though all of them were smart enough to have. I’m not sure what role the pot played in that but these kids were getting high by the age of fifteen and never stopped.
This went on a few years until the house was busted. My brother and Vance fled the state. Chris Clarke took off for parts unknown. My other brother was not involved in the bust but left the house. The once packed house was now empty. The chords of Whipping Post from Fillmore East were now baked into the woodwork. Whoever rented it next probably wondered if they would ever get the smell of pot out of the house.
The bust caused the group to grow up a little. Vance came back and did his time at a minimum detention facility for six months. He would get out of jail and start a new life, form a softball team and while drugs and booze were always a part of his life, for a while he had things going for him. He would eventually die in Needles after being paralyzed in a car accident. That is another story, his life is worth a story. Vance was big man and a big presence in my life until he moved to Needles.
I never saw Chris Clarke again. Word was that he had died in Palmdale/Lancaster when he was driven over by a car while sleeping on a road. I don’t know if that was true, but I do know that when I knew Chris Clarke when he was eighteen, I never expected him to live past twenty-one.
My brothers survived the house and ended up having five great children between them. For a while, I didn’t think they would get out of that house and live the lives they ended up making for themselves.
They did me a great service though. I watched that house from afar, and while one part of me wanted to be part of the drug culture, to take some hits, curl up on the floor and groove to the Allman Brothers, another part of me said. “behold, these guys aren’t going anywhere, stay away stay away”.
And while I’d like to say my brothers cautioned me from this life that was not the case. They liked to get me stoned. In this case, I stayed away on my own because something else kept me on a different path.
For a long time, I stayed away from listening to the Allman Brothers. I kind of considered their music to go hand in hand with a lifestyle I wasn’t interested in, but eventually, as I got older I went back to those beautiful southern blues songs. They became my music of choice for long drives, for sitting on my swinging porch. For relaxing.
When I heard Greg Allman had died, for the first time in a long time, I really wanted to get stoned, lay down and let Alexa play me all the Allman Brothers she could muster from my catalog.
I just didn’t have any pot. I probably need to get some for these occasions.
No letup for Kyle Farmer
Kyle Farmer was promoted to AAA on May 23rd and while they can’t figure out where to play him, they know they want his bat in the lineup. Since being promoted Farmer has started at 1st base, 3rd base, and catcher. He’s hit three doubles and two home runs in just twenty-four at-bats. His TSL for AAA so far is .375 / .464 / .750.
So, Farm Factory award for the week ending May 28th goes to Kyle Farmer who continues to make a claim to be considered the next Austin Barnes.
Dodgers win 18th game in May
The red-hot Dodgers won their 18th game in May, something they haven’t done since 2010 when they went 20 – 8. Those 18 wins are the fourth most in LAD franchise history with the most being 21 wins in 1962. With two games left the Dodgers have a shot at 20 wins which they accomplished in both 2009 and 2010.
They accomplished the win today with a Bellinger blast and bullet. Bellinger crushed a 3-0 pitch deep into the right-field seats and followed that with a fantastic throw to nail a Cardinal at home plate. With DeJong at 2nd base, a shot to SS caromed off of Seager into shallow left field. Bellinger charged and picked it up with his bare hand and fired a bullet to Grandal who applied the tag to the face of DeJong.
Rich Hill gave the Dodgers four great innings plus three more outs to get the game to the bullpen with a 3 – 1. The bullpen took it from there firing four more scoreless innings. Brandon Morrow who was just brought up even threw a scoreless inning.
Chase Utley hit his 3rd home run in five games, and Logan Forsythe hit his first home run of the year.
The Rockies finally lost and the Dodgers are now just 1/2 game from 1st place. The Rockies had to have been hoping that playing the Cardinals/Cubs/Cardinals/Brewers would slow down the Dodgers but instead the Dodgers have gone 6 – 1 so far with six games left.
They are doing it in a crazy way:
- Their starting 3rd baseman who leads the league in hitting is on the DL
- Their starting CF is on the DL and he was struggling anyway before he got hurt
- Their original starting LF is out for the year
- The 20-year-old pitcher who was supposed to be a fixture in the rotation is now in AAA trying to find his command
- Their clean up hitter and slugging 1st baseman has hit one home run, and it is May 29th
Yeah, I’d be worried if I was the Rockies.
Updated May Stats – Wood rules the roost
May Record – 17/8
National League West Position – 2nd place, 1 1/2 games back of the Rockies who have gone 17/9 in May.
The Good Stuff:
- Alex Wood has been the best pitcher for the month and since he is now on the DL, that won’t change any.
- The bullpen has been unbelievable. Josh Fields, Ross Stripling, and Pedro Baez have been the best setup group in baseball. They have basically been unhittable in May with every OPS against below .600.
- Chris Hatcher has had two bad games out of eight. The other six outing have been as dominant as the three mentioned above.
- The Kenta/Ryu piggyback game last week was a success for both pitchers, the team, and the bullpen.
The Bad Stuff:
- Clayton Kershaw has given up six home runs in only forty innings. His SO9 ratio is below 9, and his OPS against is over .650. This might be normal for 95% of major league pitchers but for Kershaw this might be his worst month in years. We will have to look into this further when the month closes in a few days.
- Rich Hill hasn’t pitched much, but when he has he hasn’t been impressive. With Wood going on the DL, Hill needs to steup up his game.
May 2017 Pitching Stats as of May 28th:
Player G IP W ERA GS HR BB SO WHIP SO9 SO/W OPS Clayton Kershaw 6 40.2 3 2.43 6 6 7 39 1.082 8.6 5.57 .676 Alex Wood 5 28.1 5 1.27 5 0 7 41 1.024 13.0 5.86 .510 Kenta Maeda 3 18.1 2 2.95 3 1 5 17 1.091 8.3 3.40 .621 Brandon McCarthy 3 17.2 2 3.57 3 0 3 16 0.906 8.2 5.33 .496 Julio Urias 4 17.2 0 6.62 4 1 10 7 1.642 3.6 0.70 .829 Josh Fields 12 14.1 2 0.63 0 1 3 14 0.767 8.8 4.67 .456 Ross Stripling 7 14.1 0 1.26 0 0 3 18 0.837 11.3 6.00 .451 Hyun-Jin Ryu 3 13.1 1 4.73 2 2 8 9 1.875 6.1 1.13 .943 Chris Hatcher 9 12.1 0 2.92 0 2 1 16 1.135 11.7 16.00 .738 Pedro Baez 12 12.0 0 1.50 0 1 5 11 1.083 8.3 2.20 .573 Kenley Jansen 9 9.1 1 0.96 0 1 0 17 0.536 16.4 .394 Rich Hill 2 9.0 0 6.00 2 1 7 10 1.889 10.0 1.43 .833 Sergio Romo 9 7.2 1 4.70 0 3 1 9 0.783 10.6 9.00 .743 Luis Avilan 10 6.2 0 4.05 0 0 4 12 1.800 16.2 3.00 .746 Grant Dayton 5 4.0 0 11.25 0 1 3 3 2.000 6.8 1.00 1.088 Adam Liberatore 2 2.1 0 0.00 0 0 1 3 0.429 11.6 3.00 .125
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/29/2017.
Memorial Day
I count myself lucky that while cancer has intervened into the circle of my life, I’ve never had a friend or family member who died in battle. My dad did. Many of his West Point class of 1950 perished either in Korea or Vietnam. At 91 next month he may be one of the last men standing from that class. His brother, thirteen years his junior did two tours of Vietnam. He saw many friends die but as a Vietnam vet, he was able to put that part of his life behind him and move on as best as he could. My age group was lucky related to Vietnam, as was my family. The selective draft stopped with only my oldest brother being eligible and his number didn’t come up.
Nephews and nieces have served in the air force but they all came home. One not so safely and is on lifetime disability but at least he came home, was able to start a family.
Yes, I count myself lucky.
I should leave it at that, and I will but with one final thought. Memorial day simply makes me angry and sad, because it just reminds me how the human species will never learn. We will forever be honoring future Memorial days for future wars. The capacity for the human species to rationalize the killing of their own goes unabated as we head into the 21st century.
In the long run, no one is right, everyone is wrong.
Kershaw goes for 2,000th strikeout today
It was just nine years ago that Clayton Kershaw was making his first start for the LAD, now he’s trying to notch his 2,000th strikeout. Time flies when you are having fun.
Kershaw already owns the most strikeouts for any Dodger by age 29, but if he can wrangle ten strikeouts today, he would hit the coveted 2,000 strikeout level.
Heck of list, three HOF pitchers, one future HOF pitcher, and the most popular LAD. Won’t be long now before the historians start laying claims that Clayton Kershaw is the greatest pitcher in history before age 30.
Player SO IP From To Age W-L% ERA+ OPS+ Clayton Kershaw 1990 1831.2 2008 2017 20-29 .682 160 60 Don Drysdale 1908 2528.1 1958 1966 21-29 .564 119 84 Sandy Koufax 1897 1796.2 1958 1965 22-29 .655 129 68 Fernando Valenzuela 1759 2348.2 1980 1990 19-29 .549 107 90 Don Sutton 1738 2290.0 1966 1974 21-29 .552 109 83 Ramon Martinez 1223 1630.0 1988 1997 20-29 .611 107 91 Bob Welch 1096 1569.0 1978 1986 21-29 .565 112 89
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/28/2017.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 