I loved the players, whether it was high school or college or even little league. I hate the parents and the adults. I mean, genuinely hate them. I always put it out there that I was about 2 things: 1. Raising quality young men 2. Not being interested in a damned thing they had to say so long as I am winning. I never had problems winning big, so it allowed me to focus on #1, which was always the most important thing. Dad is a much better story teller than I am, but I assure you, we could go on about nightmare parents (and coaches) for days.
Dodgers without Bellinger: 13W vs. 16L Dodgers with Bellinger: 78W vs, 23L Bellinger returns tonight in Arizona. He was on the 10-Day DL, while the team went 4-5. As Reggie used to say, "He's the straw that stirs the drink." Kershaw returns Friday in San Diego...
:evil: The pennant race begins now. The Dbacks intentionally hit several Dodgers tonight, including Cody Bellinger. The Dodgers had been tipped off in advance that Bellinger would be plunked and sure enough, it happened. The Dbacks brought in a left-handed fire-baller who hit him in the ribs with the first pitch. This was an attempt to injure the Dodgers best player and this calls for the Dodgers to head-hunt Goldschmidt. Let's see what happens tomorrow...
Sorry to read about stuff like that JO'Co. DBacks are 17 freakin' games behind why they would want to start a beanball war with the Dodgers is beyond me. Not to mention they are currently solidly in the wild card race. Why risk suspensions of your pitchers. Not to mention injuring key players like Bellinger.
:evil: The answer is Tony La Russa. He did this before every where he's been and he did it to the Dodgers before too. All eyes here are now on Dave Roberts to see if he allows him to get away with this. We'll find out in about two hours...
:roll: Well, that was an anticlimax. With Goldschmidt coming up, the Dodgers brought in career minor leaguer Josh Ravin. He has a 100mph fastball and a reputation for wildness. He threw three straight sliders and Goldie, (expecting to be plunked) buckled on all three, striking out on three pitches. The next batter, AJ Pollock, took a 99mph fastball in the lower back. He didn't get mad, he didn't even look at the Dodgers dugout. He calmly took his base and glowered into the Dback's dugout! He was pissed that they got him plunked! It's all over now. Each side got it's pound of flesh and the books have been balanced...
Seems like every team has two or three pitchers that throw 100 MPh +. It must be the water. All three of the Yankees potential closers are unreliable at the moment. Chapman is shell-shocked. Betances can't find the plate with Google Maps. And now Robertson is getting tagged. Judge's slump officially entered its third month last night. Average down 52 points since July 1. 7 Hrs and 16 RBIs in two months.
:idea: Yanks should have benched Judge or sent him down. Just leaving him in the lineup is criminal. He's a young rookie for God's sake! Verlander to Houston is bad news for everybody. He's exactly what they needed.
:idea: :arrow: Dodgers back on track with the return of Clayton Kershaw (16-2) who lowered his ERA to 1.95. Ethier also returned and Alex Verdugo made his debut in centerfield. note: The Padres are much improved. They've played .500 ball since May and I really liked their pitcher (Lamet) tonight.
Dodgers have reached the stature this year that the Yankees had in all of their great runs. Nothing less than a World Series victory will be considered a success. Fans will flood talk radio for months wondering aloud what is wrong with the Dodgers. All regular season wins are forgotten. Going deep in the playoffs puts the manager on the hot seat. A quick exit buys him a ticket out of town. It is a special kind of pressure that few teams have hoisted upon them. The Dodgers, for better or worse, have joined that elite club this year.
:? It's difficult to analyze what's going on right now. The Dodgers are experimenting and resting starters while losing every game. They're using pitchers that I've never heard of and pulling stunts like using Forsythe at SS for the first time ever... It doesn't seem fair to the 30,000-40,000 Dodger fans who travel south to San Diego for these games... Bellinger tied Piazza's rookie HR record and he's now just three behind Frank Robinson's NL record...
:!: :idea: You make a great point Terry and I agree 100%. I used to catch hell from everyone when I was coaching for "running up the score." The truth was, I was afraid to take my foot off the pedal for fear of losing momentum. How do you restart a bunch of players after you told them the game was won? My choice was to keep pouring it on
Yankees send Chris Sale packing for the third time (0-3) this year as they once again win the season series with the Red Sox.