“You know, the Dodgers, when you look at it, are a questionable first-place team. It’s really a shock to realize how poorly they have played with the bases loaded. You expect a heck of a lot more, to be honest, from a first-place team.”

This is not a quote from a major league manager or player. It is not a quote from a baseball executive or team owner. It is not a quote from a fan, Dodgers or otherwise. It is a quote from a man who, in all likelihood, has personally witnessed more baseball games than the number of days that most people have been alive. It is a quote from Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully and it’s the God’s honest truth.

It is also a statistic that leaves even the most ardent Sabermetricians scratching their heads. How is it possible for a team to be in first place (for now, that is) when hitting a paltry .163 with the bases loaded? This is dead last in all of baseball.

With a team that has Adrian Gonzalez, the guy who will most likely win the National League RBI title (due to an unfortunate and terrifying injury to Giancarlo Stanton) and guys named Carl Crawford, Hanley Ramirez, Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig on it, it is inconceivable that the Dodgers are incapable of hitting with the bases loaded – but they are.

There is no one Dodger fans would rather see at the plate with the bases loaded than Adrian Gonzalez – or so it would seem. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Individually these five guys, who are making a combined $80.25 million in 2014, are hitting as follows with the bases loaded:

• Gonzalez – .308
• Crawford – .200
• Ramirez – .167
• Kemp – .000 (this is not a misprint)
• Puig – .000 (ditto)

You would think that there is no better person to have at the plate with the bases loaded than Gonzalez, yet in fifth inning of Friday night’s game against the hated Giants this is exactly what happened. With ducks on the pond AGon hit a routine fly ball to center to end the inning. The Dodgers would leave a total of 6 men on base and go 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. They would also not have another opportunity to score as not one Dodger reached base after the fifth inning and they were no-hit by the Giants for the remainder of the game.

Ironically, there are only two teams in all of baseball this season without a grand slam home run – the Seattle Mariners and (you guess it) the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As funny as it may sound (in a sad way, that is), Dodger fans frequently joke about the Dodgers inability to hit with the bases loaded, calling it the Dodgers’ Kryptonite.

Yes, Vin, the Dodgers are indeed “a questionable first-place team” – for the time being, that is.