By Jon Weisman
When are we allowed to start believing in Dee Gordon? When do we get to tell midnight to shove off and that we’re keeping the royal carriage?
By Jon Weisman
When are we allowed to start believing in Dee Gordon? When do we get to tell midnight to shove off and that we’re keeping the royal carriage?
By Jon Weisman
More times than I can count since the Dodgers hired me nearly six months ago, I’ve been told I have a dream job, and I’m in no position to dispute that.
But landing employment in your own personal Neverland doesn’t diminish the stakes of your work. If anything, it heightens them, because if you can’t do the job at the place you love, there must be something wrong with you, right? You live from one “What have you done for me lately?” to the next.
Everyone on the Dodger roster has a job they dreamed of as children, a job they have spent their lives working toward. When I walk into the Dodger clubhouse, I never fail to be struck by the sense of accomplishment of everyone in it. On Monday, Jose Dominguez walked in, the latest to serve as the last man on the squad, but no less someone who is where he aimed to be. And you have to pay homage to that.
Then the “games” start. Games … dream job … play ball … but what have you done for me lately?
The grounded people find a base camp in the effort they make, in their inner John Wooden. (“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”) That can comfort you through an 0-for-4, or run-scoring single you didn’t want to allow or the error you can’t believe happened.
But let’s be real here. You don’t make all that effort to come up short. You make it to win. You are constantly aiming to conquer expectations, driven from within or without.
When you dream — more to the point, when you fantasize — do you dream of effort? Or do you dream of results?
On a night like tonight, when the Dodgers lose on an unearned run in the 10th inning, you’re reminded again that dreams still bring their share of heartbreak.
This is not a new backup infielder for the Dodgers. Hyun-Jin Ryu Bobblehead Night is May 27.
By Jon Weisman
Since Chone Figgins was sent to Albuquerque, I’ve spent a little time thinking about this four-man bench the Dodgers are using. Normally, a 13-man pitching staff strikes me as excessive, but it’s hard to deny that right now, the 25th spot on the roster is better spent on an arm than … well, an arm and all the other body parts that position players use.
The five existing outfielders have the grass portion of Dodger Stadium covered. Juan Uribe, Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez aren’t coming out for a pinch-hitter anytime soon, and Dee Gordon and Justin Turner have locked up second base. If anyone needs a rest or is knocked out by injury mid-game, Scott Van Slyke can play first, and Turner the rest.
The Dodgers are thin in the pinch-hitting department, but it’s also not something they’ve done much of. In 20 games, the Dodgers have used 29 pinch-hitters — less than two per game. That’s not to say that with a deeper bench there wouldn’t have been more, but it wouldn’t have been much more. Last year, the Dodgers gave 209 plate appearances to pinch-hitters.
Figgins, believe it or not, is the only Dodger pinch-hitter to reach base more than twice this season, and 20 games into 2014, the Dodgers still don’t have a pinch-homer, pinch-triple or pinch-double. (They do have a pinch-sacrifice fly, from Justin Turner.)
By comparison, the 2014 Dodgers have gone to the bullpen 79 times, practically four times a game, for a total of 74 1/3 innings. And even the guys who have struggled some this year have an impact by taking away innings that would otherwise stress out the others. In most cases, a pinch-hitter is there for a minute and then gone.
Where the Dodgers could benefit is where every MLB team could benefit. It would be nice if their backup catcher weren’t held hostage and chained to the bench by the potential of an emergency. For most games, the backup catcher doesn’t exist as an option, meaning that realistically, the Dodgers’ four-man bench is actually three. But until the pitching changes decrease, less is probably more when it comes to the bench.
* * *
This is from a couple weeks back, but still worth a look. “Dr. James Andrews explains why Tommy John surgery is on the rise,” via Craig Calcaterra at Hardball Talk.
His answer: it’s not an anomaly, it’s a trend. And an alarming one, he says, in that so many more of the surgeries he’s performing are for high school pitchers as opposed to professionals with a few years under their belt. Kids are bigger and stronger these days, and their ability to throw harder is outpacing the development of their ulnar collateral ligaments.
But the biggest risk factor he and his researchers are seeing: year-round baseball. The fact that not only do pitchers throw year-round, but that they are pitching in competition year-round, and don’t have time to recover. Also: young players are playing in more than one league, where pitch count and innings rules aren’t coordinated. Another factor: the radar gun. Young pitchers who throw over 85 or so are at risk, and all of them who are on a major league track are throwing that fast or faster, and are going up in effort when scouts with guns are around.
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From today’s bullpen session.
— Jon Weisman
Start getting yourself in shape for November.
The Los Angeles Dodgers Adult Baseball Camp will return November 9-15 to Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida.
“The Dodgers are delighted our fans will have the opportunity to interact with Dodger legends and experience the wonders of Historic Dodgertown at the adult baseball camp,” Dodger president and CEO Stan Kasten said. “Historic Dodgertown plays an integral role in the lore of Dodger baseball and the camp will surely provide lasting memories for all participants.”
Campers will stay, play and dine on the Dodgertown campus, featuring 10 fields and 60 years of Dodger Spring Training history. It’s a short walk in a park-like setting from their housing villa to the baseball fields, the major league clubhouse, the inviting dining room, relaxing lounge and fitness center.
“Historic Dodgertown has been the site of more than 50 adult baseball camps, and we are committed to making the November 9-15 camp the most memorable ever,” said Peter O’Malley, chairman of Historic Dodgertown.
In the near future, the Dodgers will announce the past players and coaches who will serve as camp instructors. Instructors at previous camps have included Tommy Lasorda, Carl Erskine, Ralph Branca, Don Zimmer, Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Bill Russell, Davey Lopes, Rick Monday, Reggie Smith, Steve Yeager, Burt Hooton, Mike Scioscia, Jerry Reuss and camp coordinator Guy Wellman.
Included in the camp price are three meals a day, double occupancy lodging in one of Historic Dodgertown’s newly-designed villas, two authentic personalized Dodger jerseys (both home and road), a video of camp activities and team photo, an autographed baseball by the instructors and other Dodger personnel in attendance, participation in a game between instructors and campers at Holman Stadium, a poolside cocktail party on the first day after check-in, and use of the fitness center and recreational facilities (including basketball and tennis courts and the competition-size swimming pool). We worked with the best Tennis Court Contractors so we can guarantee top-notch conditions for these private sports spaces.
For reservations or more information, call (844) 670-2735 or visit historicdodgertown.com.
You don’t set out to lose a game, but it’s hard for me not to take a game like Monday’s 7-0 loss to Cliff Lee and the Phillies as a write-off. When Lee is so dominant that he can retire 20 guys in a row, my first thought is … hopefully, the Dodgers will have their answer soon in Clayton Kershaw.
Long toss with @ClaytonKersh22: https://t.co/VSBX0yN4IU
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 21, 2014
By Jon Weisman
To address the rather constant use of the bullpen during this stretch of 13 games in a row (not to mention 29 in 30 days), the Dodgers have recalled pitcher Jose Dominguez and optioned Chone Figgins to Albuquerque.
Don Mattingly called the use of the short bench “a temporary thing,” but said it has been something the Dodgers have been contemplating because as great as the starting pitching has been, the starters haven’t been pitching past the sixth inning very often. Extra-inning games in recent days haven’t helped.
“Every day, it seems like we’re walking a tightrope,” Mattingly said.
In case you’re wondering, Paco Rodriguez wasn’t eligible to be recalled because 10 days haven’t passed since he was optioned, and he’s not replacing a player on the disabled list. Figgins will use the opportunity to get some playing time in after registering only nine plate appearances and one putout since the 2014 season began 31 days ago.
“At the end of the day, I don’t think it’s going to be horrible for Figgy to go down and get 25-30 at-bats,” Mattingly said.
Meanwhile …
Photo: 2013 strikeout leader Clayton Kershaw throws his simulated game Sunday.
By Jon Weisman
Dodger hitters have never struck out more than 1,190 times in a season, a record set in 1996. This year, they’re on pace for 1,501.
Dodger pitchers have never struck out more than 1,292 batters in a season, a record set in 2013. This year, they’re on pace for 1,543. And Clayton Kershaw hasn’t pitched in a game since March.
When I posted my picks for the top 10 Dodger home runs of 2013, it was noted to me that Arizona’s Josh Collmenter gave up three of the 10 – which was surprising simply from a “What are the odds?” standpoint, as well as the fact that Collmenter allowed only eight in 92 innings last season.
By Jon Weisman
In 18 games so far this season, Dodger starting pitching has held opponents to one run or less 14 times (while going at least five innings). Which is pretty cool.
Los Angeles is 10-4 in those games. The four losses were:
Each of these games is a what-might-have been-a-win, but note that the bullpen never a lead of more than one run to protect – and twice had no lead at all. Those are slim margins, indeed. Some, if not all, of those bullpen losses are really losses you could pin on the offense – not that the offense wasn’t challenged by playing at San Francisco.
Baseball today in a sense boils down to four elements: starting pitching, relief pitching, offense and fielding. (You could say two elements if you combined everything but offense into defense, but work with me.) If you have at least three of those elements working for you in a game, your chances of winning will be excellent. The Dodgers are a pretty good bet almost every day out.
.@HyunJinRyu99 paying respect to those affected by the sinking of the Sewol ferry in South Korea: pic.twitter.com/JjyrmPOel9
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 17, 2014
By Jon Weisman
Dodger pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu will sign autographs for fans Sunday from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Viva Los Dodgers in Lot 6 for monetary donations that will benefit the survivors and families of those who lost their lives aboard the South Korean ferry Sewol, which capsized on April 16.
Ryu will also select a fan at Viva Los Dodgers to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Sunday’s game.
Ryu will sign autographs for donations in the Dodgers’ autograph tent located to the right of the stage. On Friday, Ryu pledged a $100,000 donation via his HJ 99 foundation to a charity to help those affected by the Sewol ferry disaster.
Viva Los Dodgers, which begins at 10:30 a.m., is free with a ticket to Sunday’s game against Arizona.
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By Jon Weisman
Though the Dodgers haven’t exactly been giving up runs by the bushel — only 10 in the past four days — thanks to two 12-inning games, the bullpen has been fairly taxed.
Even after Hyun-Jin Ryu threw seven innings on Thursday, Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen combined to throw 58 pitches, a total that effectively kept the pair out of Friday’s 4-2, 12-inning loss to Arizona.
Thankfully for the Dodgers, Wednesday’s game was relatively light.
Here are the day-by-day totals:
Tuesday: 6 2/3 innings, 121 pitches
Wednesday: two innings, 31 pitches
Thursday: two innings, 58 pitches
Friday: six innings, 84 pitches
Wilson, Jansen and J.P. Howell would probably be the prime relievers as needed in support of Dan Haren tonight, when Los Angeles tries to bounce back from Friday’s disappointment, a game in which they rallied twice to tie (on home runs by Scott Van Slyke and Juan Uribe) only to lose.
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By Jon Weisman
At this point, you could argue that Yasiel Puig is single-handedly funding the Internet, with all the clicks he is generating.
With two consecutive plays in the third inning of today’s Dodger game at San Francisco, Puig once again left the baseball world agog.
First, there was this not-by-design, 9-3 forceout.
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Then, this whirling dervish of a catch in windy deep right.
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I mean …
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) April 17, 2014
That’s the most Puig thing that ever Puig’d.
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) April 17, 2014
That had to be the most entertaining half-inning by a right fielder in the history of the game
— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) April 17, 2014
It took four hours to tell the story of Ben Hur. It took one minute to tell the story of Yasiel Puig.
— Grant Brisbee (@mccoveychron) April 17, 2014
On a scale of Puig to Puig, that inning was the most Puig ever
— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) April 17, 2014
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By Jon Weisman
Though X-rays were negative on Hanley Ramirez’s left hand, which was struck by a Ryan Vogelsong pitch Wednesday, the Dodger shortstop will miss his first start of the season in today’s afternoon affair (and road trip finale) against at San Francisco.
It’s not implausible that Ramirez would have been on the bench even if healthy, given that he had played every inning for the Dodgers in 2014 until leaving in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss. Juan Uribe and Adrian Gonzalez, on the other hand, will make their 15th consecutive starts.
Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweeted that Ramirez expects to start Friday at home against Arizona.
The Dodgers had more decent news about Chad Billingsley, whose right elbow ligament remains sound despite tendinitis, and Clayton Kershaw, who completed a bullpen session Tuesday and has another one Thursday. Neither pitcher, however, has a timetable for a rehab start.
If it’s better to be lucky than good, it’s best to be both.
Matt Kemp has the interesting dichotomy so far this year of a .194 batting average with an .890 OPS, thanks to the fact that he has seven walks, three homers and two doubles but only one single in 38 plate appearances.
That compelled me to do some poking around, and among other things, I found that in the early going this young season, Kemp is both walking (18.4 percent of the time) and striking out (34.2 percent) at the highest rates of his career. Of his 38 plate appearances, he has only put the ball in play 15 times. (That’s 39 percent, compared with a 64 percent career rate entering this season.)
Of those 15 times, he has gotten only the aforementioned double doubles and single single, for a .200 batting average on balls in play. That’s on the unlucky side. I remembered that early in his career, Kemp had high BABIP numbers — folks who followed such things were always wondering if his BABIP would hold up as he got older — so I decided to see when the decline happened.
It never did.
Going into this season, Kemp had a career BABIP of .352. (It has since dropped to .351.) I’m no super-expert on stats, but this struck me as extraordinary. And, in fact, it’s tops in Dodger history.
Here’s a chart showing the best BABIP hitters since the team moved to Los Angeles:
Kemp is also near the top in the Majors over the past 10 years.
If Derek Jeter’s presence on this chart is any indication, BABIP is not necessarily something that declines significantly in your 30s. (Jeter was at .364 in his 20s, .345 since.) We’ll see, of course, in Kemp’s case. But I wouldn’t worry about that .194 batting average too much, or in any case, I’d be much happier about his returning power numbers than sad about the arguably temporary loss of singles.
Page 182 of 381
What happens when three old friends in crisis fall into an unexpected love triangle? In The Catch, Maya, Henry and Daniel embark upon an emotional journey that forces them to confront unresolved pain, present-day traumas and powerful desires, leading them to question the very meaning of love and fulfillment. The Catch tells a tale of ordinary people seeking the extraordinary – or, if that’s asking too much, some damn peace of mind.
Catch ‘The Catch,’ the new novel by Jon Weisman!
November 1, 2023
A new beginning with the Dodgers
August 31, 2023
Fernando Valenzuela: Ranking the games that defined the legend
August 7, 2023
Interview: Ken Gurnick
on Ron Cey and writing
about the Dodgers
June 25, 2023
Interview: Ron Cey talks about the experiences that led to his new memoir, Penguin Power
June 22, 2023
Thank You For Not ...
1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
1991-2013
Dodgers at home: 1,028-812 (.558695)
When Jon attended: 338-267 (.558677)*
When Jon didn’t: 695-554 (.556)
* includes road games attended
2013
Dodgers at home: 51-35 (.593)
When Jon attended: 5-2 (.714)
When Jon didn’t: 46-33 (.582)
Note: I got so busy working for the Dodgers that in 2014, I stopped keeping track, much to my regret.
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