Archives for posts with tag: Kike Hernandez
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Ending on a High Note

November 29, 2024 //
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My sweetie and I revel in victory at the World Series celebration at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Nov. 1.

I will always be grateful for the unbelievable joy and pride that the Dodgers of 2024 — the World Champion Dodgers — gave me in my final year as a Season Ticket Holder.

“What a fucking ride!” as Kiké Hernández might say!

My husband and I have watched Game 5 at least 4 times, and I’d watch it again in a second. It was heart-stopping and thrilling and so satisfying, with heroics from unexpected players and unadulterated joy in the end. What more could you want from baseball?

However, I did not renew my season tickets for 2025. The price hike of nearly 25% seemed extreme to me. But more than that, having to schedule my whole life around the Dodgers’ home games for 8 months out of the year started to feel like a job. I didn’t want to start resenting the claim on my time. I have a lot of editing to do, movies to make, books to write, friends to visit, grandsons to spoil. Going to the games has been awesome, especially this year, but it took precedence over all those things, and I needed to make a break to be able to focus and prioritize. Let’s face it, I’m not getting any younger.

Now, that doesn’t mean I’m done with the Dodgers. I will never be done with the Dodgers. I will watch games on TV and even get tickets from time to time. I will know the standings by heart, blog about games, and take score as often as possible. But it will be on my timetable, not one I feel obligated to follow.

I love the Dodgers. I love baseball. I hope my grandkids learn to love baseball and the Dodgers, too. Finally, I can’t wait until Spring.

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Slammin’ & Getting Slammed

May 22, 2024 //
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Roberto at the Gold Glove Bar makes a mean Manhattan!

I spent the past two evenings at Dodger Stadium, with two very different outcomes.

Monday, my hubby’s birthday, we watched the game from a friend’s front-row Loge seats, and the Dodgers didn’t disappoint. But before the game, I persuaded my husband to come to the Gold Glove Bar with me for drinks and a pregame snack. We had Manhattans made by everybody’s favorite bartender, Roberto.

On our way up to our seats, we stood in camera range while Nomar Garciaparra, Jerry Hairston Jr. & John Hartung did the pregame show. We also toured Centerfield Plaza. It was Hawaiian Shirt Night, so there were a lot of people wearing blue-and-white Aloha-style Dodger shirts. (It was a special-ticket package, so we didn’t get one, although some dude offered to sell us his … for $500!)

Then there was the game, which boiled down to just one inning, in the long run.

In the bottom of the 3rd — with the D’Backs ahead, 1-0 — Kiké Hernández led off with a solo home run. Then Miguel Rojas and Mookie Betts each singled and Shohei Ohtani walked to load the bases with nobody out! Up to the plate steps Freddie Freeman. On a 2-1 count, he slams it over the fence just right of centerfield. It was so beautiful! Happy Birthday, Steve!

My view of the moment that won the game.

Will Smith capped the inning off with another solo dinger, and then the Dodgers managed to hold onto the lead through the rest of the game, finished ahead, 6-4.

GAME 50: Dodgers 6-Diamondbacks 4

Side note: Channeling the L.A. Blue Bum, I wrote a haiku to celebrate Steve’s birthday, which they (sort of) put on the left-field board after the 5th inning. It said, “Who woulda thunk it? Seemayer is 70 … Go Dodgers!” The last line was edited from a 5-syllable phrase that I wasn’t sure they’d use in the first place, but I had to try.

Now, last night was a completely different story. Our bats were dead, our pitching was not up to par, and when Joc Pederson put the nail in our coffin with a 3-run homer in the 7th inning, Steve got up and left. I stayed because I was keeping score, and I always hope until the last out that we will pull off a miracle. I’ve seen it happen, so I know it can be done.

GAME 51: Diamondbacks 7-Dodgers 3
MY SCORECARDS

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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

April 18, 2024 //
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This game was more like the Dodgers I expect to see, and Mookie went 5-for-5!

Oh man! It was great to be at a the stadium last night (Tues., April 16), especially after the low-energy Jackie Robinson Day debacle!

Mookie Betts killed with three singles and two doubles. He was on fire! Kyle Hurt made his first start at Dodger Stadium, and did great, getting out of a rocky start in the 1st with no damage on the scoreboard. Then Ryan Yarbrough relieved Hurt and gave up two runs in the 3rd, bringing the score to Dodgers 3-Nationals 2. The following four innings, however, Yarbrough was perfect, while the Dodger offense tacked on two more runs. A really good energy, a major-league-debut base hit for newcomer Andy Pages, and a bomb of a homer from Kiké Hernández. Great night all around, giving me hope for winning the series.

MY SCORECARDS
GAME 20: Dodgers 6-Nationals 2

But, alas, low energy and absent offense plagued the Boys in Blue on Wednesday afternoon, and we lost that one (along with the series) in a 2-0 shutout.

That’s two series in a row that the highest-paid team in baseball has lost to sub-.500 teams. Sure, we have a great lineup, batters out our ears, but with starters on the IL and inconsistent relievers, we are right back where we were last year in the playoffs. Hitting will only take us so far. We need arms, and plenty of them. We need to be able to count on at least one pitcher in the rotation.

GAME 21: Nationals 2-Dodgers 0

On the paper ticket front, I’m still waiting for a call from the Dodgers to see if there’s a way to resolve the issue, other than them holding a gun to my husband’s head to force him to get a smartphone.

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