tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86360695048492529492024-03-13T06:44:43.037-07:00THE TEAM!!! official blogFormerly known as The Jenny Smith Frosh-Soph All-Stars of Burbank.Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01229324352456935863noreply@blogger.comBlogger287125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-12541625948811895022021-09-03T13:28:00.003-07:002021-09-03T13:28:59.865-07:00It's Come to This<p> The last time there was any typing in here we were taking the San Diego Padres seriously. Who would have expected the San Francisco Giants to be the best team in baseball. </p><p>Well it's true.</p><p>Now The Dodgers and Giants are tied for first in the NL West and tied for the best record in all of MLB. That's a pretty exciting detail going into the three game series this weekend.</p><p>So Dodger starters have an MLB best 2.83 ERA. Giants starters are third best with a 3.39 ERA. The Dodger bullpen has a 3.31 ERA while the Giants are at 3.14.</p><p>The Dodgers are hitting .242 with 1205 Ks. The Giants are hitting .243 with 1228 Ks.</p><p>This is such an even matchup so it's going to be extra painful to watch Dave Roberts flush this down the toilet.</p><p>Dave Roberts thinks he is playing chess but what really is playing is Let's Flush This Game Down the Toilet.</p><p>Let's look at the last game. </p><p>Max Scherzer threw six scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, zero walks and 9 strikeouts. He was ahead 2-0 and had thrown 76 pitches. SEVENTY SIX PITCHES. So Dave Roberts comes in with the hook and ten pitches later the game is tied.</p><p>There are plenty of examples of that kind of thing throughout the season. He is too quick to pull his starters. He makes all kinds of bad choices with his batting order. For example, he keeps letting Cody Bellinger play. </p><p>I know you want to get Cody going, but we are 262 ABs into his season. Cody isn't going. Have a seat. Your hitting has been a bigger disaster than Joey Chestnut's 5th of July bowel movement.</p><p><br /></p>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-30748317551624785412021-04-07T17:55:00.001-07:002021-04-07T17:55:30.837-07:005 Wins and 2 Losses<p>What have we learned so far? </p><p>We have learned that Kenley Jansen is not the guy anymore. If you can't hold the Oakland A's in check then the San Diego Padres are going to blow their shoulders out taking huge swings at your cutter. Ok that was a cheap shot.</p><p>Sorry about that</p><p>We have learned to never give Corey Seager a day off. He hit .667 with zero strikeouts in the first three games so Dave Roberts paid tribute to Joe Torre by giving him a day off to cool down. He has hit .214 with 6 strikeouts in the three games since that day off so Dave Roberts knows what he has to do. Eat your Wheaties Corey. We need you!</p><p>We learned that Chris Taylor is OK but we are still worried about Cody Bellinger. </p><p>Dodger hitting has been great. The strikouts are too high but they are still hitting .310 as a team. Starting pitching has been good. Having a 3.02 ERA isn't good but starting the season with four games in Coors Field is going leave a lot of ERAs bloated.</p><p>The bullpen has been atrocious but every year the bullpen starts that way. It just seems like until there are live bullets you don't really know what you have. Who knows what to expect from David Price or Jimmy Nelson. Hell who knows what to expect from Kenley Jansen. The 6.11 ERA isn't going to stay that way. Joe Kelly will be back and Bruiser Gatorade will be back. </p><p>Overall this still looks like the best team in baseball</p><p>Well, the season is young but you could make a case for The Astros. We'll see. Hey that's another thing we learned. We learned that Dusty Baker should shut up! I hate to say anything bad about Dusty Baker but fans booing a team of cheaters that they didn't get to boo last year is right and fair. You knew they were snakes when you picked them up Dusty so throw on an extra set of wrist bands and fill your entire mouth with tooth picks. Fans don't want to hear it.</p><p>But I still love you #12 LF Dusty Baker </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-3274143168436837032020-11-01T08:36:00.002-08:002020-11-01T08:36:24.173-08:00Some Nice Thoughts<p>This whole deal where The Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series is the best. It's real. It happened. There were some nice things said online about some of the great Dodgers from the last few years.</p><p>Matt Kemp</p><p>Adrian Gonzalez</p><p>Andre Ethier</p><p>These were guys that played like champions for The Dodgers even if they weren't there when The Dodgers were finally crowned champions.</p><p>There should also be a big middle finger to:</p><p>Logan Forsythe</p><p>Manny Machado</p><p>Brandon League</p><p>These guys were complete garbage as Los Angeles Dodgers and it's justice that they won't be around when everybody gets their rings.</p><p><br /></p>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-83593564188954094582020-10-28T21:12:00.001-07:002020-10-28T21:12:41.133-07:002020 World Series Champions<p> It happened and it was beautiful. It took 32 years to get back to the top of the mountain but it is sweeter than ever.</p><p>There are a lot of people piling on Kevin Cash for pulling Blake Snell. The best defense was that Snell was used that way all season and it got them to the World Series. OK that is one way to look at it but the rest of the world was correct. It was a truly mysterious choice.</p><p>Snell was 5 1/3 into his start. He threw 73 pitches. He struck out 9. He allowed zero runs. The line shows one earned run but Anderson let that happen. Austin Barnes hit a single and Snell was about to face Betts, Seager, and Turner. Those are some fierce hitters but up to that point they were 0 for 6 with 6 strikeouts. </p><p>Why don't they fire Kevin Cash and use an app to manage The Rays. </p><p>The thing that is tiresome about all this talk is that it doesn't give The Dodgers credit for being great. The bottom line is that The Rays scored only one run. Snell never pitched into the 7th inning all season. Did anybody really think he was about to pitch a complete game shut out against a team that had not been shut out all season?</p><p>Nope</p><p>Let's stop talking about Kevin Cash filling his diaper on the big stage and talk about the best team in baseball.</p><p>This isn't some fluke that snuck in in a 60 game season. They played under the same rules and guidelines as all 30 teams. They had the best record in all of baseball because they were the best team. That is why the Los Angeles Dodgers are the 2020 World Series Champions.</p><p>It IS sweeter than ever</p><p>Los Angeles Dodgers 2020 World Series Champions</p>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-2779924730561361892020-10-27T16:05:00.003-07:002020-10-27T16:05:44.179-07:00This Could Be It<p> Game 6 is just about an hour away. </p><p>It's been a good series. </p><p>The Tampa Bay offense has been clutch. It would be nice if Willy Adames would stay in the dugout. It's like he wants to be on TV more.</p><p>Take your .176 average and your 1 RBI and have a seat Adames!</p>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-11759601877740297072020-10-21T09:01:00.000-07:002020-10-21T09:01:06.597-07:00Game 1<p>That went well. </p><p>It started off looking like a low scoring pitcher's duel but it sure didn't end up that way. Does Tyler Glasnow always look so spooked when he pitches? Maybe that's how he always looks. His first three innings were good. There was a hit and two walks but he struck out 5 and allowed zero runs. It should be noted that one of those strike outs was Joc Pederson swinging at trash and another one was a bad call to sit Justin Turner down.</p><p>If Glasnow wasn't nervous through three then it was time to be nervous in the fourth. Max Muncy looked at strike one because that what he likes to do. After that it was four straight balls for a walk. Will Smith bounced one to third. Joey Wendle made a pretty slick play on a short hop to get that out. Then Bellinger came up on the first pitch and put it in the seats. Instead of high fives or flying forearm bashes, everybody was going low five. They were going really low five like five toes. Everybody was tapping their feet together to avoid blowing Cody's shoulder out again.</p><p>Fun!</p><p>2-0 Dodgers</p><p>He walked Chris Taylor. Chris Taylor took second base on a play that ended up being called a wild pitch but it mattered that Glasnow didn't get out of the way when Zunino threw to second. It didn't look like it made that much difference on the throw even if Glasnow is 6'8", it just seemed important because maybe he was unraveling. Well he struck out the next two to end the inning so maybe he wasn't completely unglued.</p><p>Kershaw gave up a home run to Kiermaier. Oops</p><p>Tyler Glasnow then became unglued. He walked Betts. He walked Seager. Turner struck out but there was a double steal in there. Max Muncy drove one in on a fielder's choice.</p><p>3-0 Dodgers</p><p>The Rays brought in Ryan Yarbrough and he got pushed around. </p><p>6-1 Dodgers</p><p>Statistically the Dodger bullpen has an ERA of 6.00 after one game. We can blame Dylan Floro because he gave up 2 earned on one third of an inning but let's not do that. Let's blame that giant stiff World Series patch that has been put on their sleeves. </p><p>It was really great to see Clayton Kershaw keep it together in a post season game. He went 6 innings. he gave up one earned run on two hits and struck out 8. He deserves good things.</p><p>The Dodgers hit .294, walked 7 times and struck out 11 times.</p><p>The Rays hit .188, walked once and struck out 10 times.</p><p>That seemed right</p><p>Dodgers 8 Rays 3</p><p>Los Angeles leads the series 1-0 </p>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-57365382397422900822020-10-19T23:32:00.000-07:002020-10-19T23:34:46.178-07:00THIS IS EXCITING<p> There were some pretty bleak moments in the NLCS. A game 7 is always stressful but a late homer from Hernandez tied it and a later homer by Bellinger put the Dodgers up 4-3. Dave Roberts left Julio Urias in with the one run lead and he got it done.</p><p>The matchup with the Rays looks pretty promising. Let's look at it from a "tale of the tape" angle.</p><p><b>Starting Pitching Regular Season</b></p><p>Los Angeles 3.29 ERA 259 Ks Tampa Bay 3.77 ERA 289 Ks</p><p><b>Starting Pitching Post Season</b></p><p>Los Angeles 3.33 ERA 69 Ks Tampa Bay 3.30 ERA 71 Ks</p><p><b>Relief Pitching Regular Season</b></p><p>Los Angeles 2.74 ERA 258 Ks Tampa Bay 3.37 ERA 263 Ks</p><p><b>Relief Pitching Post Season</b></p><p>Los Angeles 3.40 ERA 54 Ks Tampa Bay 3.20 ERA 55 Ks</p><p><br /></p><p>You see it all looks like a pretty even matchup. It looks like one for the ages as long as nobody starts banging trash cans but it really looks promising when you look at offense.</p><p>During the regular season The Dodgers hit .256. They scored 349 runs and struckout 471 times. The Rays hit .238, scored 289 runs and struckout 608 times. That's kind of a big difference.</p><p>It gets even better when you look at the Post Season</p><p>The Rays have hit .209, scored 57 runs and struckout 151 times.</p><p>The Dodgers have hit .256, scored 69 runs and struckout 106 times.</p><p>That's a huge difference. The Dodgers have scored 12 more runs in two fewer post season games.</p><p><br /></p><p>This really might be the year.</p>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-80671573210324501622020-08-20T20:57:00.001-07:002020-08-20T20:57:43.612-07:00Pitching and Hitting<p> OK we are going to look at the week of August 3rd to August 10th. Over those 7 games The Dodgers only hit .189. The looked like they were not there to play baseball at all. They looked like they were there for the free sunflower seeds. Wait! During this whole Covid deal they are not allowed to have sunflower seeds. We might be onto something. </p><p>Anyway</p><p>Of the 42 hits they managed, 12 of them were Home Runs so they still averaged 4.9 runs a game over that stretch. They struck out and average of 6.7 times a game and that is well below the league average. That's just always a good sign.</p><p>During those seven games the starting pitchers had an ERA of 4.48. The bullpen has an ERA of 2.13. A pedestrian result from the starters and a strong result from the relievers.</p><p>Somehow they went 4-3 over those seven days.</p><p>Things only got better from there</p>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-54867092787306956282020-08-10T11:29:00.002-07:002020-08-10T11:29:43.397-07:00San Francisco Giants Again<p> The Dodgers have five losses so far this season and three of then have been to the Giants. The 7-10 Giants. The Dodgers are surviving on good pitching and timely hitting. They are batting .234 for the season. They are batting .256 with runners in scoring position and .266 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs. That's how they can hit .185 for a three games series and still win two out of three.</p><p>Who can complain.</p><p>Charlie Steiner is another really great broadcaster. He brought up how it's not just Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy who forgot how to hit the ball. There are several All-Stars that are not even close to what they are capable of doing. </p><p>Here is how we are going to look at that. If you take the stats of the top 10 guys from last season and added it all up they hit.321. They were averaging .21 Home Runs, .58 RBIs, .36 Walks and .75 Strikeouts per game.</p><p>So far this season those same 10 guys are hitting .258. The per game deal is .13 Home Runs, .44 RBIs, .46 Walks and .82 Strikeouts.</p><p>So it's not just Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy. What a relief!</p><p>There's still time</p><p>55-5</p>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-4681247610625070712020-08-07T15:11:00.001-07:002020-08-07T17:32:49.270-07:00San Diego Padres<p> Someone on MLB Network said that the Padres were going to be good. Since that turned out to be true let's assume it was Harold Reynolds. That guy does a good job of liking baseball and talking about it.</p><p>The Dodgers won the series 2-1 and that's good considering how atrocious the offense was. Over the three games series they hit .200 with 22 Strikeouts. Let's give credit where credit is due. The staring pitchers for the Padres looked really good. Lamet and Richards both had velocity and serious movement on their pitches. </p><p>The starters for the Dodgers had a 4.86 ERA over the three game set so the person that we have decided is Harold Reynolds was spot on.</p><p>It seems like the difference was that the Dodgers got the hits they needed when they needed them. The other difference was that the Padres looked like they tried to do too much when it came to base running. I don't if that was players losing their marbles or Glenn Hoffman just waving everybody through but it helped.</p><p>The Dodgers are 9-4. Hopefully Mookie's finger is feeling better and Corey's calf is feeling better and Cody's whatever stops getting in the way.</p><p>Now the Giants are coming back to town.</p><p>They are the next step toward...</p><p>56-4</p>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-64108350341944394212020-08-03T13:19:00.000-07:002020-08-03T13:19:29.857-07:00Seven and ThreeOK seriously, so far so good. If you take a moment and consider that one weird move by Dave Roberts, they could have swept the Diamondbacks and had an MLB best 8-2 record. It might have been an insane, untreated syphilis crazy type of move but let's let that go.<div><br /></div><div>Cody Bellinger was given a day off on Saturday and in his first at bat on Sunday he hit his first Home Run of the season. That was great.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mookie Betts has finally become Mookie Betts and that's great.</div><div><br /></div><div>Starting pitching has and ERA of 2.66 making them the 5th best in MLB. The bullpen has been out of this world! They have and ERA of 0.99 so all together the pitching staff has an MLB best 1.84 ERA.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now it's time to beat up on the Padres. They have scored an MLB best 59 runs so far so we are about to find how good the pitching really is.</div><div><br /></div><div>57-3! Sure. No problem.</div>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-64812785574845325292020-07-31T22:50:00.001-07:002020-07-31T22:50:19.540-07:00What Was ThatThe first of this four game deal with the Diamondbacks started out nice and zesty. They hung three runs in the first and another in the second. Jumping out early like that made it look like it was going to be non-stop spanky spank but then the bats just went cold. There was a run in the 5th and a run on the 6th but in the end there is nothing to complain about because they won 6-3. <div><br /></div><div>Good deal.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next game was a fiasco. It started out nice. Tony Gonsolin looked like a pro and Mookie Betts finally put one in the seats. Mookie gunned Ketel Marte down at third with a throw that made Yasiel Puig look like Johnny Damon. It was nice to see him start doing the things that made Freidman give him all that money.</div><div><br /></div><div>On to the fiasco. Why on earth would Dave Roberts walk a guy hitting .133 to load the bases for a guy hitting .308? Walking a lefty to get the right handed matchup is normal baseball but the Dodgers would have had better luck if they just asked Blake Treinen to pitch to Eduardo Escobar lefthanded.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cody Bellinger still looks awful. He is hitting .139. He has only struckout 6 times but he is missing on good pitches. He came up with the tying run in scoring position and popped up on one pitch to end the game. It's probably time to move Cody Bellinger back in the lineup. Have him switch spots with Corey Seager. That guy is going to get a bill for breaking empty seats with how hard he is hitting the ball. I think if he hit one off of your cardboard cutouts you would feel while you were sitting on the couch.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of cardboard cutouts, AJ Pollock looked at a couple of strikes and then swung and missed. The next time he looked at a strike and fouled a couple off and looked at strike three. He hit .467 over the previous five games so it was tough to watch him go backward.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway</div><div><br /></div><div>Tough loss</div><div><br /></div><div>We'll have to settle for 57-3</div>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-66028869811665240242020-07-29T21:37:00.000-07:002020-07-29T21:37:01.801-07:00Houston AsterisksWho would have thought that Joe Kelly would be the guy that would start throwing at Houston Astros. He was still in Boston in 2017. Of course that Boston team lost to the Astros in the 2017 playoffs so maybe he's still sore about that. Either way an 8 game suspension is preposterous. <div><br /></div><div>Of course the nice thing is that The Dodgers swept the adorable little two game mini-series. They did with an offense that has not come together. They are leaving a ton of tunner out there and they are looking at a lot of strikes. It feels like they haven't been able to rinse all the of Turner Ward off of them. Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger are hitting a combined .196 with only 5 RBIs. On the bright side they have only struckout a combined 8 times so they are going to figure it out. It's just that the 60 game season makes it all so urgent. </div><div><br /></div><div>It should also be in here that AJ Pollock deserves an apology for that cardboard cutout joke. He's only had 12 ABs but he's hitting .500 and some of those have been absolute rockets.</div><div><br /></div><div>So right now they are 4-2 and that has been mainly around starting pitchers have a very decent 2.96 ERA and a bullpen with an outstanding 1.14 ERA.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once the offense really gets going they will probably go 58-2 for the season.</div><div><br /></div><div>Right?</div>Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-20689280961821590042020-07-26T23:11:00.003-07:002020-07-26T23:11:42.362-07:00Evaporated OptimismSplitting a 4 Game series with the Giants just didn't seem like a thing that could happen. It really doesn't matter that the Giants always look like Disney child actors that outgrew their TV shows. It mattered that they really looked like a bad baseball team in the first two games.<br />
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Julio Urias didn't look too sharp. Overall it was a good outing. He gave up only one earned run in 5 innings. If he wants to do that every fifth day I'm sure the almighty Friedman won't be looking for a replacement. He walked three. He threw 78 pitched and 51 of them were strikes. I don't know, maybe it was just that the walks ended up really hurting and maybe it was that a lot of the pitches were nowhere near the zone. Who knows.<br />
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The other alarming detail is that The Dodgers sure did look at a lot of first pitch strikes. That was new. <br />
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Also<br />
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What is going with the #11? Who remembers the agony of watching a Logan Forsythe plate appearance? Who remembers the unwashed grouch that Josh Reddick was in his short time with The Dodgers? How many letters did they waste putting Erisbel Arruebarrena's name on the back of a #11 jersey. Manny Mota must have run out of middle fingers to give these guys.<br />
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Now AJ Pollock goes up there, looks at the ball and refuses to swing. I thought they sent a cardboard cutout to take his place in the batting order. <br />
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Well he drove and exquisite double into the gap to leadoff the 9th but a popout, a flyout and a strikeout later left things at 3-1 and the Dodgers with a 2-2 split in their opening series.<br />
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So they aren't going to win all 60 but they can still go 58-2 and that would be just fine.Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-67447718688810584762020-07-24T22:59:00.002-07:002020-07-27T22:13:20.537-07:00This Weird Dodger SeasonThe nation should be appropriately electrified by the return of Major League Baseball. There are a lot of weird details attached to the season but most of the good things to do are closed so getting excited about it is easy.<br />
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We are only two games in and it should be noted that the Giants look terrible. However, if the Dodgers are going to play a bad team they are doing what you are supposed to do. So far they have won both games with a run differential of +15. They have hit .338 with 13 Walks and 9 Ks. They have done that with Mookie Betts hitting .182 with one RBI and he isn't going to keep doing that.<br />
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In two games Dodger pitching has only walked one batter and that walk was issued by some slob named Jake McGee that they got from the Rockies.<br />
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It's a short season so each of these games means a little more important than normal. Hey maybe the Dodgers can with them all! Yeah let's see them go 60-0!Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-74407548496880493142019-07-12T12:09:00.001-07:002019-07-12T12:09:59.936-07:00Your Los Angeles DodgersThe Dodgers honked out of three in a row against the Padres going into the All-Star Break. That sucked from every angle but their 60-32 record was still the best in Major League Baseball so it's far from emergency time.<br />
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All of earth knows that the kryptonite for the 2019 Dodgers is 4.08 ERA the bullpen has barfed up. There are all kinds of rumors attached to that (Matthew Boyd from the Tigers, Amanda Whurlitzer from the Bad News Bears). It really looks like the pieces are there though. Joe Kelly looks like he figured it out. We have learned that you can't bring Scott Alexander in to get a lefty out. Caleb Ferguson is back in Oklahoma City but he looks like he is also closing in on being legit.<br />
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All the winning has been fun to watch but they have done plenty of winning over the last 7 years. That Guggenheim group had its first full season in 2013. The Dodgers are 625-440 since. That is a .587 Win percentage. They have won the NL West every year since 2013. That's great but it's time to win the World Series. Seriously.<br />
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OK let's get optimistic<br />
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92 games into 2017 The Dodgers were 63-29 hitting .257 scoring 476 runs and striking out 808 times. When the 2018 Dodgers were 92 games in they were 50-42 hitting .243 scoring 438 runs and striking out 771 times. From that angle things are really looking up because here in 2019 they are 60-32 hitting .263 scoring 480 runs and striking out 726 times. Here are couple of other ways to look at the improved offense. These numbers are all 92 games into the season.<br />
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The 2017 Dodgers had 36 games where they struckout 10 or more times. In 2018 they had 33 games with 10 or more strikeouts. In 2019 they have struckout 10+ times in 26 games. That's an improvement.<br />
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How about games where they hit under .200 as a team 92 games in? In 2017 they did it 26 times. In 2018 it was 30 times. In 2019 they have stunk it up at that level only 23 times.<br />
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This offense is clearly better than the 2017 and 2018 teams that couldn't win the World Series.<br />
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As long as we are looking at things this way let's look at the ERA for starting pitchers after 92 games. 2017 3.24. 2018 3.34. 2019 3.07. Look! More improvement!<br />
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So the question is if this is good enough to overcome the 4.08 bullpen ERA or if there is a move out there to get that on track. Oh and the bullpen ERA was 2.95 in 2017 and 3.85 in 2018 so that should bring the concern into focus.<br />
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So far it's been fun.<br />
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Let's get a dog and a beer<br />
<br />Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-44867887547722783882019-04-08T23:07:00.001-07:002019-04-08T23:07:04.942-07:00Oh Hey!Well it's been a while. Most of these blogs have been written on Sinaloa burner cell phones and those have become scarce with El Chapo in the clink. There were a few things that really should have been in here so even though the moment has come and gone, let's go ahead and put 200 games of Peter in here. <br />
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In his 200 games of unstoppable greatness Peter batted .747 with 471 RBIs. He hit 89 Doubles, 30 Triples and 81 Home Runs.<br />
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Nobody is surprised by any of that.<br />
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The other thing that should have been in here is Natasha leading THE TEAM to a 4th Championship. There was a detail in that journey that was certainly memorable. THE TEAM lost in the playoffs to La Seleccion by one run but it turned out they used a non-roster player so they had to forfeit. There were a lot of wild guesses as to who the ringer was. You would think if a team was going to cheat they would want to wrangle up a cocaine fueled Darryl Strawberry or something but whatever. THE TEAM moved on the Championship game and opened up a can on Ctrl Z for 22-8 win.<br />
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Ancient history<br />
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THE TEAM 2019 split a doubleheader. The rumor was that THE TEAM hung a quick 10 runs on Killustrators and hung for a 13-11 victory. Jimmy hit a Home Run in that one. That's true.<br />
<br />
The second game was a tough one against Imma Beast. Jack hit a Home Run and a Triple with 2 RBIs. Natasha went 2 for 3 with an RBI. Overall THE TEAM hit .483 with 5 Doubles and a Home Run. THE TEAM never struck out so that's good to see. Natasha struck out 3 pitching a complete game. Too bad those Imma Beast people were pretty good at softball. They turned 4 Double Plays and beat THE TEAM 9-5. I think the website says 9-4 but the website lies.<br />
<br />
In the second round THE TEAM is 3-1 and finishing the season against My Hittas. They are also 3-1 so if THE TEAM wins, THE TEAM goes to the playoffs. <br />
<br />
GO THE TEAM!!!Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-53033372806156763782018-08-17T11:40:00.001-07:002018-08-17T11:40:55.096-07:00100 Games of DaveDuring the magic that was the Summer 2018 Season Dave played in game number 100 with THE TEAM. I'm sure he played in another 100 games when he was pitching for The Flappers but zero of the those seasons made him a champion. Dave is actually a 3 time champion. He did it by hitting .551 with 95 RBIs. He has hit 25 Doubles, 5 Triples and 4 Home Runs. He is a lot of fun because he is having a lot of fun. Did that make sense? Well good job Dave. And Good Morning!Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-45304669771187550342018-08-15T10:21:00.002-07:002018-08-15T10:21:49.150-07:00First Round LeadersThis is way too late but it seems like there should be some loose form of continuity in these things. We all know how this season ends and that's great but right now, let's look at the first round. THE TEAM finished 1-4 so it was no afternoon stroll through the butterfly pavilion. Let's get on with it<br />
<br />
<b>Batting Avg Gentlemen</b><br />
<br />
.875 Jack<br />
.706 Peter<br />
.650 Lou<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Batting Avg Ladies</b><br />
<br />
.692 Kelly<br />
.526 Natasha<br />
.429 Katie Mae<br />
<br />
<b>RBIs Gentlemen</b><br />
<br />
9 Peter<br />
8 Rick<br />
6 Jimmy<br />
<br />
<b>RBIs Ladies</b><br />
<br />
4 Natasha<br />
4 Dora<br />
4 Melody<br />
<br />
<b>Doubles</b><br />
<br />
5 Lou<br />
4 Jimmy<br />
2 Kelly<br />
1 Dave<br />
1 Dora<br />
1 Melody<br />
<br />
<b>Triples</b><br />
<br />
1 Peter<br />
1 Dora<br />
1 Jimmy<br />
1 Jack<br />
<br />
<b>Home Runs</b><br />
<br />
1 Lou<br />
1 Peter<br />
1 Jack<br />
1 Rick<br />
<br />
Overall THE TEAM hit .519 with 11 Walks and 2 Strikeouts. Is that good? Who can remember. The first round ended long ago.<br />
<br />
GO THE TEAM!!!Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-21938330200695080192018-04-23T23:12:00.003-07:002018-04-23T23:14:27.696-07:00THE TEAM = Winter 2018Now that all that adolescent shitheaderry is complete there are couple of things that never made it in here and they should have. Jimmy pitched a complete game and won. There was that game that ended on an unassisted double play by Peter. There was that game were Dora made something like a thousand outs catching strong throws to home and gloving foul balls behind the plate.<br />
<br />
A couple of offensive records were broken this season. Of course it was Peter and Lou who broke them. Peter drove in 39 runs this season breaking the record of 32 set in the Winter 2012 season. Lou broke his Summer 2012 record of .900 hitting .944 this season. Is anybody surprised? Yeah that's about as surprising as finding out there is no radio edit for Last Call by Outkast.<br />
<br />
Overall THE TEAM went 5-5. THE TEAM hit a best ever .660 and scored a best ever 171 runs on the season but the defense was kind a roman candle of errors so... 5-5.<br />
<br />
Your effort paid off<br />
<br />
<b>1</b> Katie Mae played in 8 games. She hit .231 with 2 Walks for an OBP of .286. She really got the hang of it in the second round hitting .416 with an RBI.<br />
<br />
<b>3 </b>Lou played in 10 games. He hit .944 with 23 RBIs, 4 Home Runs and 2 Walks. He led THE TEAM with 11 Doubles and led THE TEAM with 3 Triples.<br />
<br />
<b>4</b> Lauren played in 2 games. She hit .875 with an RBI, a Double and a Walk. THE TEAM is better with her.<br />
<br />
<b>5</b> Kelly played in 8 games. She hit .636 with 8 RBIs a Double and a Walk<br />
<br />
<b>7</b> Natasha played in 8 games. Our fearless leader hit .679 and led the ladies with 19 RBIs. She also led the ladies with 5 Doubles. She also handled it all.<br />
<br />
<b>22</b> Dave played in 9 games. He hit .520 with 10 RBIs, 2 Doubles and a Home Run. His show was really good<br />
<br />
<b>23</b> Melody played in 10 games. She hit .457 with 4 RBIs, 2 Doubles and 5 Walks.<br />
<br />
<b>24</b> Peter played in 10 games. He hit .771 with 369 RBIs, a Double and a Triple. He led THE TEAM with 5 Home Runs.<br />
<br />
<b>25</b> Dora played in 9 games. She led the ladies hitting a career best .710. She had 8 RBIs, a Double and a Walk.<br />
<br />
<b>33</b> Jimmy played in 9 games. He hit .815 with 16 RBIs, 5 Doubles and 2 Home Runs. He is also the most versatile defender on THE TEAM<br />
<br />
<b>38</b> Jack played in 8 games. He hit .741 with 24 RBIs, 2 Doubles, a Triple and 4 Home Runs. His Home runs were crazy missiles that he made look easy. What does that guy eat?<br />
<br />
As long as we are talking so friendly, Peter got his 500th career hit this season. Guess who the only other person in the 500 hit club is? That's right! It's Outkast. Jimmy joined the 100 RBI Club. We can look at those hits if you want.<br />
<br />
Here is everybody with over 100 hits for THE TEAM<br />
<br />
539 Lou<br />
508 Peter<br />
332 Rick<br />
277 Dora<br />
225 Natasha<br />
202 Doug<br />
195 Victor<br />
188 Melody<br />
183 Kelly<br />
176 Jimmy<br />
143 Dave<br />
104 Aerial<br />
<br />
That's 12 players and 9 of them are still on THE TEAM.<br />
<br />
GO THE TEAM!!!<br />
<br />Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-34994326805522848092018-02-13T08:19:00.002-08:002018-02-13T08:19:46.131-08:00THE TEAM - The First Round of Winter 2018 The offense sure got it together for that last game. THE TEAM hit .722 and scored 17 runs. There were no strikeouts! Lauren dragged her sick self to the game to go 4 for 4 with a Double and fried up a base runner with a perfect snap throw to first. Dave hit his first Home Run of the season. He should be shirtless, oiled and carrying the flag of Tonga for the next game.<br />
<br />
The defense made a lot of errors so THE TEAM lost though.<br />
<br />
Oops<br />
<br />That was the First Round. Here are your leaders:<br />
<br />
<b>Batting Average Gentlemen</b><br />
<br />
.941 Lou<br />
.824 Peter<br />
.769 Jimmy<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Batting Average Ladies</b><br />
<br />
.875 Lauren<br />
.778 Dora<br />
.750 Natasha<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>RBIs Gentlemen</b><br />
<br />
19 Peter<br />
11 Lou<br />
11 Jack<br />
<br />
<b>RBIs Ladies</b><br />
<br />
12 Natasha<br />
6 Kelly<br />
6 Dora<br />
<br />
<b>Doubles</b><br />
<br />
4 Lou<br />
2 Natasha<br />
2 Jimmy<br />
2 Melody<br />
2 Rick<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Triples</b><br />
<br />
2 Lou<br />
1 Peter<br />
1 Rick<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Home Runs</b><br />
<br />
3 Lou<br />
2 Peter<br />
2 Jack<br />
1 Jimmy<br />
1 Dave<br />
<br />
Overall THE TEAM hit .656 with a +23 Run Differential. THE TEAM did other stuff<br />
<br />
GO THE TEAM!!!Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-49371637667497623932018-02-06T22:19:00.001-08:002018-02-06T22:19:16.324-08:00It's TrueThings are looking up for THE TEAM. After The Sucks there was a 30 to 15 win against the LA River Yacht Club. Get this: Jimmy and Jack both hit Grand Slams in that game. <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Are you out of your f**king kidding me?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's true!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The next week THE TEAM swept a Doubleheader. That hasn't happened in a while. In the 20 to 17 win against The Ding Bats most of those runs happened on 2 out rallies so that's keen. Katie Mae got her first hit of the season in that one.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Sweeping a Doubleheader would seen impossible without Jack and Lauren. If Natasha is the Heart and Lou is the Hustle and Peter is the Brain then winning without Lauren and Jack is like winning without the endocrine system or something.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Natasha driving in 9 runs in the two games also helps cover for not having an endocrine system.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Hey here's something people seem to be curious about. THE TEAM has been around forever. This is how many seasons you have been around:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Lou - 30 Seasons</div>
<div>
Rick - 30 Seasons</div>
<div>
Peter - 28 Seasons</div>
<div>
Melody - 22 Seasons</div>
<div>
Dora - 20 Seasons</div>
<div>
Natasha - 17 Seasons</div>
<div>
Kelly - 13 Seasons</div>
<div>
Dave - 12 Seasons</div>
<div>
Jimmy - 8 Seasons</div>
<div>
Lauren - 5 Seasons</div>
<div>
Jack - 2 Seasons</div>
<div>
Katie Mae - 1 Season </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That's 188 Seasons of highly charged softball experience. No wonder THE TEAM is awesome</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
GO THE TEAM!!!</div>
Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-75602380044424363062018-01-18T22:48:00.000-08:002018-01-21T11:23:02.579-08:00Game 1 - This is the SucksLet's start the way we always start. The roster. Everybody knows that<br />
<br />
1 Katie Mae<br />
3 Lou<br />
4 Lauren<br />
5 Kelly<br />
6 Rick<br />
7 Natasha<br />
22 Dave<br />
23 Melody<br />
24 Peter<br />
25 Dora<br />
33 Jimmy<br />
38 Jack<br />
<br />
That's an athletic and attractive group. That's not the part that is the sucks.<br />
<br />
Losing an E League game that THE TEAM should have won is the thing that is dragging this whole blog to a halt.<br />
<br />
OK now that's out of the way. Let's get on with it<br />
<br />
THE TEAM hit .515 so that's good. There is always some defensive razzle dazzle and that's something. There is a lot of softball left to play so let's celebrate THE TEAM being around for 10 years by winning a championship.<br />
<br />
It's true! THE TEAM started in the Winter of 2008. There are only two players that have been there for the whole thing. A lot of people have come and gone. It could be millions but who cares about them. Let's focus on who is here now and having a great season.<br />
<br />
GO THE TEAM!!!Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-53393264247305964422018-01-10T21:36:00.000-08:002018-01-10T21:36:44.831-08:00THE TEAM - THE BLOGIt's not clear where we should start. Do we acknowledge the new roster? Do we mention the victory in the placement game? There seems to be a lot of hostility where that team is concerned. Maybe that one guy isn't there anymore. He was a real class act. Classy like pulling his gym shorts out of his ass before being seated at the Olive Garden and saying it is his birthday when it isn't his birthday.<br />
<br />
Let's not do that.<br />
<br />
The Fall Season was a brutal 2-8 deal. It sounds like a roaring furnace of bad softball but really it was more like glowing coals of bad softball.<br />
<br />
Here's what you did:<br />
<br />
<b>3</b> Lou played in 10 games. He hit .765 with 17 RBIs with 3 Walks, 4 Doubles, 2 Triples and 3 Home Runs. He collected his 500th career hit making him the all-time leader for THE TEAM. He deserves a medal.<br />
<br />
<b>4</b> Lauren played in 9 games. She hit .379 with 5 RBIs. She deserves a medal.<br />
<br />
<b>5</b> Kelly played in 10 games. She hit .371 with 4 Walks giving her on OBP of .436. She had 2 Triples and 4 RBIs. She deserves a medal<br />
<br />
<b>7</b> Natasha played in 8 games. She hit .480 with 2 Doubles and led the ladies with 9 RBIs. She collected her 200th career hit. She deserves a medal<br />
<br />
<b>15</b> Debbie played in 3 games and went 2 for 5 before vanishing and she does not deserve a medal<br />
<br />
<b>21</b> Miriam played in 5 games. She hit .100 with an RBI. She deserves a medal.<br />
<br />
<b>22</b> Dave played in 6 games. He hit .438 with 2 RBIs, He deserves a medal.<br />
<br />
<b>23</b> Melody played in 9 games. She led the ladies hitting .583. She had 6 Walks for an OBP of .667. She had a Double and 2 RBIs. She deserves a medal.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>24</b> Peter played in 10 games. He led THE TEAM hitting .778. He led THE TEAM with 27 RBIs passing 400 RBIs for his career. He had 2 Doubles, 3 Triples and 5 Home Runs. Guess what he deserves.<br />
<br />
<b>25</b> Dora played in 9 games. She hit .393 with 5 RBIs. She deserves a medal.<br />
<br />
<b>33</b> Jimmy played in 10 games. He hit .765 with 21 RBIs. He had a Triple and a Home Run and led THE TEAM with 7 Doubles. He deserves a medal.<br />
<br />
<b>38</b> Jack played in 9 games. He hit .704 and led THE TEAM with 6 Home Runs.He had 2 Doubles and Triple and 23 RBIs. He really went bananas in the second round. AND he deserves a medal.<br />
<br />
There you have it<br />
<br />
GO THE TEAM!!!Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636069504849252949.post-63704404112329947382017-11-02T18:25:00.001-07:002017-11-02T18:25:06.842-07:00The Natasha DynastySo this blog has been aggressively ignored. That means there is a lot of catching up to do with the things that have been in here over the past 28 seasons. One of the things that keeps turning up in here is how awesome Natasha is as a player and a person. She has always been great at having fun and still being competitive. No one has done a better balancing act than her and that's a really good thing because it's her team now. Let's welcome the new manager of THE TEAM.<br />
<br />
Next up is the Roster. It is as follows:<br />
<br />
3 Lou<br />
4 Lauren<br />
5 Kelly<br />
7 Natasha<br />
15 Debbie<br />
18 Rick<br />
21 Miriam<br />
22 Dave<br />
23 Melody<br />
24 Peter<br />
25 Dora<br />
33 Jimmy<br />
38 Jack<br />
<br />
Usually that is followed by some slice of optimism about how dangerous and athletic that group is but in a world so insane that somebody would pay $17,800,000 for Paul Newman's Rolex, THE TEAM was put in C League.<br />
<br />
That was about as realistic as Chris Cuomo's teeth but let's keep moving. Another thing that zoomed past was the leaders after the first round.<br />
<br />
Here we go<br />
<br />
<b>Batting Average Gentlemen</b><br />
<br />
.882 Peter<br />
.813 Lou<br />
.750 Jimmy<br />
<br />
<b>Batting Average Ladies</b><br />
<br />
.647 Kelly<br />
.417 Melody<br />
.400 Debbie<br />
<br />
<b>RBIs Gentleman</b><br />
<br />
14 Peter<br />
13 Jimmy<br />
8 Lou<br />
<br />
<b>RBIs Ladies</b><br />
<br />
2 Natasha<br />
2 Kelly<br />
1 Dora<br />
1 Miriam<br />
<br />
<b>Doubles</b><br />
<br />
3 Jimmy<br />
2 Lou<br />
1 Melody<br />
1 Jack<br />
1 Rick<br />
<br />
<b>Triples</b><br />
<br />
1 Peter<br />
1 Jimmy<br />
1 Kelly<br />
<br />
<b>Home Runs</b><br />
<br />
4 Peter<br />
3 Lou<br />
<br />
Finally Kelly played in game 100. She batted .500 with 62 RBIs, 16 Doubles and a Triple. She was a child when she first joined THE TEAM. Now she is an adult full of bad ideas and foul language. Good job!<br />
<br />
There are some other things that have taken shape as the season has chugged along but let's zip right past those and move straight into...<br />
<br />
GO THE TEAM!!!<br />
Rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14833370356924454969noreply@blogger.com2