September 7th, 2012 at 10:42 am 
by Ron Cervenka Like most of you, I check out the more popular Dodgers-related blog sites daily, sometimes even several times a day. Without question, one of the most comprehensive yet relatively unbiased sites out there is True Blue LA under the skillful and creative hands of Eric Stephen.
Through the Dodgers ‘blog spot,’ which I have been blessed to participate in several times this season, I have come to know and respect Eric Stephen. In fact, on my very first night in the blog spot, it was Eric who showed me the ropes and the proper etiquette in the Vin Scully Press Box, the Dodgers clubhouse, the Dodgers dugout, and on the field before the games, for which I will forever be grateful.
Eric Stephen is recognized as one of the very best in the business. (Photo credit – truebluela.com)
Eric has a tremendous reputation among the entire media brigade that covers the Dodgers and he is very highly regarded by Dodgers manager Don Mattingly for his statistical and sabermetric knowledge of the game and the entire Dodgers organization. On more than one occasion Mattingly has deferred to Eric for help in answering statistical questions. The bottom line is that Eric Stephen is that good and among the very best in the business.
How good, you ask?
Because Thursday was an off day for the Dodgers, I had a little more time to surf the various Dodgers blogs sights and, sure enough, yesterday afternoon Eric added a new post to his site. (Note: True Blue LA is one of very few Dodgers-related blog sites that frequently posts several articles daily and worthy of several visits every day). This article, entitled “Dodgers Have Been Playing From Behind Of Late”, was excellent. It explained it great detail that when the Dodgers score first, the usually win. In fact, Eric points out that the Dodgers are 45-21 (.682) when they have scored first this season, and won all three games in which they scored first in their last 10 games and only went 1-6 in the other seven games. These are very compelling numbers and suggest that Mattingly might want to consider making an adjustment to his line-up by putting the smoking hot Luis Cruz in the number two hole and moving Shane Victorino to the number seven hole.
Anyway, I thought this article by Eric Stephen was very good and I encourage all of you to give it a look.
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Eric has the inside track on minor league transactions.
Just a quick scan of the last 18 games reveals that we have given up 21 first inning runs. That is, the other team has scored on us in the first inning 11 times, meaning it often was more than one run in the inning. Playing from behind so often is not conducive to a needed winning streak. We don’t seem to come back easily.
I’m not buying into this gelling thing. I know how important it is to have good team chemistry which overcomes team deficiencies and wins championships. However, it is an individual game played in a team context. It’s not like football where you have to have guys blocking for you on every play, nor like basketball or hockey where players are reliant on team mates to make passes. The batter is one on one with the pitcher. He alone has to hit the ball. Team chemistry doesn’t hit it for him. These guys are professionals.
Some of our acquisitions were unhappy with their former teams and that was used as an excuse for not succeeding. Now they are happy, or say they are, so hit the dang ball. Adrian Gonzalez blaming the wall in Fenway for his diminished power is an excuse not a reason, horse puckey. He has one homer with the Dodgers in 12 games. James Loney has one with the Red Sox in 11 games.
Don’t get me wrong. I am happy with our moves and the direction in which we seem to be headed. But, I am not happy with excuse making by baseball pundits, Dodger management, nor people on blogs who float this “gelling ” thing as an explanation for dead bats. How is it known they will gel in ST and in the 2013 season? How is it that a pennant race is not enough for them to pick up each other now?
I guess that theory went out the window tonight, huh? 🙄
Just hit the dang ball. You don’t have to be peas in a pod to hit the ball. Don’t give me the pressing too hard thing either. These guys aren’t rookies trying to impress. They are seasoned players who have experienced success. If we have to wait for a gelling thing, the white flag is in order. The gelling thing grows with winning, producing more winning, unexpected results. Throwing guys together from various teams makes it very difficult to build that family atmosphere.
I think it’s the same old story of the pitching and the offense going in the same direction, not if the pitching is doing it’s job while the offense isn’t or visa versa.
That seems to be the trouble over the past few years, not being successful at the same time. When ones up the other is down.
Another thing is some teams seem to motivate each other. They all seem to get hot at the same time, meaning the offense. The Dodgers seem to have trouble getting more than two hits in a row and fail to hit with RISP, much more often than not.
On the positive side, the Dodgers, as we all know, are very streaky and it’s not unsual to see them run off with a string of victories.
That said, I find it very hard to know what’ll happen next.