Archives for category: 2016

yasiel-puig-mlb-san-francisco-giants-los-angeles-dodgers

I know how you feel, Yasiel.

You’re thinking, “If only we had more than one starting pitcher. If only we didn’t commit a ton of errors. If only I had gotten one clutch hit in the postseason.” (That one’s not just for you, but for so many of your teammates.)

If only, if only, if only.

Actually, the Dodgers did a lot better than they should have this year, given all the injuries and the misplaced investments in reclamation projects. They needed more than just Clayton Kershaw on the mound. They needed at least ONE other decent starter. (Sorry, Rich Hill. You had a nice game at the end there, but reliable you were not.)

It was a miracle they got as far as they did, to be honest with you. Dave Roberts did an amazing job managing a team with gumption and guts. Through unprecedented use of the disabled list, they got lucky a ton of times, and they beat the Giants, which is always satisfying.

But when you find yourself seriously wishing that Kershaw could start every single game, there isn’t much hope of going all the way.

And at the end, when Kershaw needed it most, the team didn’t pull together as it had so many times before. Everything fell apart. There were a few bad calls, but the final wound was self-inflicted. And the Cubs had an actual rotation and hitters who seemed to want it more.

I thought for a little while that this would be the season I got to use my World Series tickets.

Oh, well. Maybe next year. (If Andrew Friedman gets his head out of his Moneyball ass and gets some real aces to back up Kersh!)

Now, GO INDIANS!!!

win-for-vin

Would you believe a home run? The Dodgers have clinched the division and will celebrate on schedule.

Vin Scully, like many of us in the stadium yesterday, had been watching the other game (Giants 3, Padres 4 in the top of the 9th) as Dodger second-baseman Charlie Culberson came to the plate. There were two outs, and his team was tied with the Rockies 3-3 in the bottom of the 10th. We were bracing to go to the 11th and to clinch the National League West championship via San Francisco’s demise.

“Culberson doesn’t have any homers,” my husband lamented. “It’s time for him to get his first.”

BAM! Vin Scully got to report one last miracle in Chavez Ravine before hanging up his microphone and heading home.

For me, it was better than Kirk Gibson’s home run simply because I was there to see it with my own eyes.

I’ve witnessed many amazing moments at Dodger Stadium — Fernando’s no-hitter, Manny’s bobblehead slam, Steve Finley’s clinching homer — but they came mostly from players who were well-known to be capable of such big contributions.

No one expected anything like this from Culberson, who practically danced from third to his waiting teammates at home plate. It was a beautiful, joyful and totally surprising turn of events.

When Kershaw was injured, a postseason berth looked like a lost cause. Luckily, this scrappy team didn’t see what so many of the rest of us saw.

To a man, they came through when needed. The unlikeliest of heroes emerged game after game. With the steady leadership of manager Dave Roberts, the veterans — Adrián González, Chase Utley, Howie Kendrick and A.J. Ellis (now gone but never forgotten) — and the rest of a roster made from spare parts came together to make history.

This is a team in the truest sense of the word.

I resent that the owners of my neighborhood team have made me feel like a sucker for supporting them.

blue dollar signCharging little kids and other fans $150 for an autograph of a mediocre player on a team that hasn’t won a championship in almost three decades, $tan Ka$ten and the others should be ashamed of themselves.

I’m undeniably appalled at the unbridled venality of the Dodgers’ management strategies. They are nothing new — skyrocketing price increases, a skimpy LA hoodie with a price tag of $104, no TV coverage for most of L.A., a coaching staff almost entirely made up of rookies and a pitching staff with only one good arm. They actually had me considering giving up my lifelong love of Dodgers baseball this year. I will not let them take that away from me too.

I realize that my last post was all sunshine-and-roses, looking forward to a brighter future, blah, blah, blah, but then I went to Select-a-Seat and heard all about how Fan Fest was “free” for all, but that was just to walk in the door. If you actually wanted to partake in ANY activity there, you had to be prepared to shell out hundreds more dollars for the privilege of being a fan of the team that was once the working man’s Brooklyn Bums. It’s shameful.

vin and michaelA New Address
On the bright side, Elysian Park Avenue from Sunset to Stadium Way will soon be called Vin Scully Avenue. He deserves it. We all love you, Vinnie, and that’s something those bastards in charge can never change.