Roberts thinks it is 1966
and the Dodgers failed to take 1st place away from the Rockies falling in the final game and ending up splitting the series.
Many things happened in this game, and I saw none of them after the 4th inning as I cut out to take my wife to an adult movie. When I say an adult movie I mean a movie where there are no zombies, superheroes, or car chases so, of course, we had to find a Laemmle theater for such an offering.
It was just as well. I thought my eyes or ears were deceiving me when I saw Chris Taylor bunt with runners on 1st / 3rd Dodgers up 2 – 0 and only one out. In Coors.
If served Dave Roberts and the Dodgers right that the bunt ended up being a double play so instead of a big inning the Dodgers bunted their way to zippily do da.
Man, not even Walter Alston in 1966 would have pulled that boner.
When the exact same scenario unfolded in the 3rd I thought this would be a great time to see how many runs the Dodgers can score with 1st/3rd, one out with the exact same hitter. The score was now tied at 3 – 3 and only two innings were in the book so I figured that since it seemed obvious that runs were going to be plentiful that the Dodgers would need to get as many as they could.
But no…………..Chris Taylor tried to bunt. Again. I was flabbergasted. Again it did not work.
At which point I turned off the TV and headed to the movie thinking to myself that Chris Taylor must be hurt because there is no other possible reason for him to be bunting in either situation. But if he’s hurt, why is he batting 6th? If he is hurt couldn’t they simply have put Hernandez at 2nd? My head started buzzing so I turned it off.
And enjoyed the hell out of the movie. Their Finest – Great flick
Johan Mieses walks away with Weekly Farm Factory Award
You know you have been fairly horrific when you have a great week in early May and still have a batting average of .130. Whatever had been ailing the power hitting Mieses was finally put to bed with Mieses hitting four home runs in three days. Well, actually that is not true. Making contact is what ails Mr. Mieses but at least this week when he made contact he hit the ball hard, something he had failed to do so far year.
Mieses slugged twenty-eight home run last year in California League but until May 7th had only hit one home run in 2017. Last year Mieses struck out 147 times in 461 at-bats. This year he has struck out 34 times in 77 at-bats. Ugh.
Alex Wood joins Ramon Martinez
as a double-digit Coors master. Before the series started I posted the LAD leaderboard in strikeouts at Coors and was surprised to find that Ramon Martinez was the only Dodger to have double-digit strikeouts in a game at Coors.
He is no longer alone after Alex Wood pitched a masterful game on Saturday night. Wood was just continuing the trend he started last Monday when he struck out eleven Pirates. I will contend that striking out ten Rockies at Coors trumps what he did against the Pirates.
I love a new leaderboard.
Player Date Opp Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Ramon Martinez 1995-05-05 COL W 6-4 7.0 4 1 4 11 72 Alex Wood 2017-05-13 COL W 4-0 6.0 5 0 1 10 71 Clayton Kershaw 2014-06-08 COL W 6-1 5.0 3 1 0 9 66 Clayton Kershaw 2010-05-30 COL W 4-3 5.0 4 2 4 9 56 Hideo Nomo 1996-06-30 COL L 15-16 5.0 9 5 4 9 26
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/14/2017.
Blue is the new pink while pink is the new blue – who knew?
Mind blown over a comment at TBLA tonight. I guess this explains why my grandfather was dressed in pink for his 1902 painting when he was two. I had always wondered.
Ladies’ Home Journal article in June 1918 said, “The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.” Other sources said blue was flattering for blonds, pink for brunettes; or blue was for blue-eyed babies, pink for brown-eyed babies, according to Paoletti. In 1927, Time magazine printed a chart showing sex-appropriate colors for girls and boys according to leading U.S. stores. In Boston, Filene’s told parents to dress boys in pink. So did Best & Co. in New York City, Halle’s in Cleveland and Marshall Field in Chicago.
Posted by Bicoastal on May 13, 2017 | 4:45 PM up reply rec flag
Anyway all this pink is symbolically nice but I couldn’t help but wonder if all the cost of outfitting all 30 teams, 25 players, in all that pink couldn’t have been better spent on woman shelters. If you want to honor the Mom’s in your life maybe men should start treating the woman in their lives better.
Just a thought.
Masterson is masterful once again
The Dodgers rotation is so loaded they have to game the system to keep the seven legitimate rotation options on the major league roster which must leave Justin Masterson wondering how he’s going to crack the Dodger major league rotation. Masterson has done everything an NRI could do to bring attention to himself but in this numbers game, he’s the odd man out.
On Friday night, Masterson went seven more innings, gave up just three hits, two runs, walked two, and struck out six. He’s given up just three runs in his last four starts combined.
The one-time major league all-star is making his case for another chance but is anyone watching? You’d think major league teams would be seeking out the Dodgers for a chance to get Masterson onto their rotation.
Teams right and left are desperate for pitching, so much so that they are just handing the ball to relief pitchers and hoping they can put a finger into the rotational dikes that are over threatening to overflow.
Would the Dodgers listen? They probably don’t need his depth anymore, but maybe they would like him as an option for the bullpen?
Either way, all Masterson can do is keep dealing, but right now he’s starting to remind me of the reclamation project that was Wilson Alveraz back in 2003. Alvarez signed as an NRI and started out in AAA just like Masterson. Wilson was also a one-time major league all-star. Wilson was 33, Masterson is 32. Wilson made eight starts and had a 1.34 ERA. Masterson has made seven starts and has a 1.91 ERA.
Alvarez was promoted in May of 2003 and went on to be one of the Dodgers best pitchers in 2003.
I don’t think Masterson can be any better than what the current Dodger options are, but I do think he could be a better option for many other teams where they aren’t using the DL for gamesmanship, they are using it because so many of their starters are actually hurt and they could use a Masterson right about now.
Maybe the Dodgers can flip this NRI for something useful. After all, they were able to trade a useless Zach Lee for Chris Taylor.
Kershaw makes it 20 against Rockies
Joe Davis said that Kershaw with a win tonight would have the most wins against the Rockies franchise. Kershaw did notch his 20th win against the Rockies but I was left wondering who the competition was. Kind of fierce actually.
Player Split From To G W L W-L% Clayton Kershaw COL 2008 2017 35 20 6 .769 Randy Johnson COL 1997 2009 29 19 8 .704 Matt Cain COL 2005 2016 39 17 10 .630 Greg Maddux COL 1993 2008 31 16 8 .667
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/12/2017.
It took Clayton 35 games to win his 20, while HOF Randy Johnson won his 19 in only 29.
OTDIB – May 13th – Larry Miggins and Vin Scully forever intertwined
May 13th, 1952 Larry Miggins, boyhood friend of Vin Scully hits his first home run with Vin Scully making the call
Larry Miggins hits the first of his two major league home runs, going deep off Preacher Roe in the fourth inning of the Cardinals’ 14-8 loss to the Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The round-tripper hit by the Bronx-born outfielder, who had once shared his dream of playing in big leagues during a prep school assembly with a buddy with aspirations to be a baseball broadcaster, is called by an overwhelmed Vin Scully, Brooklyn’s play-by-play announcer who had wondered that day with his friend “what the odds against that would be.
Sometimes I just find nuggets OTDIB that blow my mind and this was one of them. I had never heard this story before so I googled Larry Miggins. Much to my dismay, I found out I was a few days short because it was all over the Dodger blogs already. Oh well, it was new info for me.
“I was a senior and he was a junior,” Miggins recalled. “We had an assembly for some reason and he ended up sitting right behind me. He grabbed me by the shoulder and said, ‘Larry, you’re going to be in the big leagues and the first time you hit a home run, I’m going to be the announcer to tell the world about it.’ Can you imagine that? He’s 15 years old. I’ll be damned if it didn’t happen.”
Best game scores by LAD at Coors
With Clayton Kershaw getting ready to toe the rubber tonight in Coors, I thought it would be a good time to review the best-pitched games at Coors. Yesterday we looked at the best hitting performances.
No surprise to see Clayton owning the 2nd/3rd best performances so far. Nomo’s no no is, of course, the greatest game ever pitched at Coors. Pre-Humidor even. With the pre-humidor being 2002, it looks like Kevin Brown has the second best pre-humidor game.
Who can forget Dave Mlicki?
Player Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Hideo Nomo 1996-09-17 W 9-0 9.0 0 0 4 8 91 Clayton Kershaw 2013-07-02 W 8-0 9.0 4 0 0 8 87 Clayton Kershaw 2014-07-04 W 9-0 8.0 2 0 1 8 85 Ted Lilly 2010-09-27 W 3-1 8.0 4 1 2 8 76 Greg Maddux 2008-09-14 L 0-1 7.0 2 0 0 3 76 Brad Penny 2006-06-09 W 3-0 8.1 5 0 2 5 76 Kevin Brown 2000-07-24 W 4-1 8.0 3 1 1 5 76 Dave Mlicki 1998-06-18 W 5-0 9.0 7 0 2 4 75 Kenta Maeda 2016-04-23 W 4-1 6.1 3 0 1 8 74 Odalis Perez 2002-04-15 W 5-2 9.0 5 2 1 5 73 Ramon Martinez 1995-05-05 W 6-4 7.0 4 1 4 11 72
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/12/2017.
Nice to see Ramon Martinez here with his 11 K effort which made me wonder who had best strikeout performances at Coors. Let’s find out:
How about that. Ramon is the only Dodger to have double-digit strikeouts at Coors.
Player Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Ramon Martinez 1995-05-05 W 6-4 7.0 4 1 4 11 72 Clayton Kershaw 2014-06-08 W 6-1 5.0 3 1 0 9 66 Clayton Kershaw 2010-05-30 W 4-3 5.0 4 2 4 9 56 Hideo Nomo 1996-06-30 L 15-16 5.0 9 5 4 9 26
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/12/2017.
Might be something to be said for rhythm
The Dodgers front office has shown a propensity in recent years to push MLB rules as far as they can until MLB has to change them to make sure the details of the rule can’t be pushed beyond what the original letter of intent was by a boatload of analysts.
This was never more evident in the past few weeks when the Dodgers basically thumbed their noses at the 10 day DL and have decided to use that mechanism as a way to keep all seven starters on the 25-man roster. They can do this because they have seven bonafide starters. Instead of having to make the hard decision and tell someone they going to the bullpen or AAA they are trying to appease everyone while annoying a few.
They are asking these rotation pieces to be team players but I doubt they ever ask Clayton Kershaw to take a phantom DL turn. I guess this is how they will manage the Urias innings.
I understand the Dodger motives but I can’t help but wonder that instead of making the hard decision, they are creating a bigger problem in that the rhythm of a pitcher isn’t going to be compromised by using the DL in this fashion.
The first use of it was Ryu who came off yesterday. Ryu’s command was all over the place and he was shelled. It was Colorado and Coors but does that really explain his lack of command? In his previous three starts before being put on the phantom DL Ryu had walked only five in fourteen innings. He had struck out nineteen. Last night after not having pitched in ten days, he walked six, and the balls hit hard could be blamed on lack of location.
Brandon McCarthy will come off his phantom DL this coming Monday. He will have last pitched on April 29th.
Kenta Maeda won’t pitch for at least ten days after being on an excellent three-game run.
Can these pitchers keep the beat even after being skipped
Time will tell. If it works out, expect all of baseball to follow this route once they figure out how to get seven bonafide major league starters into a rotation.
OTDIB – May 12th, 2015 – Stanton clears Dodger Stadium
May 12th, 2015 – Stanton gets even for the Dodgers not drafting him.
Giancarlo Stanton becomes the fourth player to hit a home run out of Dodger Stadium, joining McGwire (1999), Mike Piazza (1997), and Willie Stargell, who accomplished the feat twice (1969, 1973). The jaw-dropping first-inning blast off Mike Bolsinger, estimated to have travelled 475 feet, proves to be the only bright spot in the Marlins’ 11-1 loss to LA at Chavez Ravine.
I was at the game that Piazza hit it out. If I recall correctly he hit the top and it bounced over.
May 12th, 2009 – an unpleasant memory as ex-Dodger Werth steals 2nd, 3rd, and home.
In a 5-3 victory over LA at Citizens Bank Park, Jayson Werth steals home to complete his journey around the bases that also included the swiping of second and third base. In addition to becoming the first major leaguer to complete the stolen base cycle since Eric Young accomplished the feat in 1996 with Colorado, the Phillies’ right-fielder ties a team record established by Sherry Magee (2, 1906) and Garry Maddox (1978).
May 12th, 2004 – Alex Cora and the amazing at-bat
In one of the most remarkable at-bats in big league history, Alex Cora fouls off 14 consecutive pitches and then hits the 18th thrown to him by the Cubs’ Matt Clement over the right-field fence for a two-run home run which doubles LA’s lead to 4-0. The Dodger Stadium crowd cheered each foul ball as the total started to be displayed on the scoreboard.
I was definitely at the Alex Cora game. That was my first year in my new loge season tickets overlooking the Dodger bullpen so I went to just about every game in 2004. The foul balls were amazing, the crowd was amazing, but to hit a home run after all of that. Yeah
If you watch the Alex Cora video you will see his teammate Dave Roberts cheering him on with each foul ball. Vinny is priceless in this one.
May 12th, 1970 – Mr Cub hits 500
At Wrigley Field only 5,264 fans see Ernie Banks hit his 500th career home run, but on hand to witness the historic home run is Frank Secory, one of the umpires of the 1953 contest in which Mr. Cub hit his first round-tripper. The second-inning line drive, hit off Braves’ pitcher Pat Jarvis into the left-field bleachers, bounces back onto the field and is given to the Cub first baseman after the ball is retrieved by Atlanta outfielder Rico Carty.
I only posted this because of the attendance number. Only 5,000 fans. Cub fans have come a long way from 1970. When I was a kid I used to be blown away by the sad attendance numbers at baseball games compared to Dodger Stadium. I also wish Mr. Cub had lived long enough to see the Cubs win that championship.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 