It has long been said that no matter how much you love baseball, baseball doesn’t always love you back. In fact, as former MLB commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti once wrote: “[Baseball] breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart.” But on Wednesday night, October 30, 2019, baseball got as close as it will ever […]

The 2019 World Series will be remembered for many things, the least of which is (unfortunately) that the Dodgers were not in it. From a baseball fan’s perspective, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, better than a World Series going seven games. Oh sure, if your favorite team is in it, a four-game sweep might be […]

During Tuesday night’s Game-6 of the 2019 World Series, Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez was ejected from the game after the top half of the seventh inning for vehemently arguing a controversial umpire judgment call. The pros and cons of the umpire’s decision would make a good debate, but that isn’t the point here. Some […]

The 2019 Dodgers pitching staff will be remembered as one of the best units in the long history of the organization that is recognized for pitching excellence. The cadre of Dodgers hurlers led Major League Baseball in: ERA (earned run average) – 3.37; WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) – 1.10; OBP (opposing hitters […]

It has long been said that if you are a major league umpire and nobody knows your name, you did a great job. Needless to say, everybody knows the names Angel Hernandez, Laz Diaz, C.B. Buckner, and several other horrible MLB umpires very well. It appears that another name can now be added to that […]

Just as Dodger fans were slowly … slowly getting over (or at least getting past) Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ bonehead decisions to utilize starter Clayton Kershaw in a relief role and to not utilized closer Kenley Jansen in a spot in which he absolutely positively should have, baseball fans were reminded once again on Saturday […]

It took 1,613 games, but on March 30, 2019, 36-year-old Russell Martin made his Major League debut … as a pitcher. On that historic day, the East York, Ontario, Canada native and Dodgers 17th-round draft pick in 2002 out of Chipola College in Marianna, FL, Martin entered the game at Dodger Stadium in the top of […]

We cannot look forward to the Dodgers outfield in 2020 without first looking back at the regular season performances in 2019. Using Fangraphs wins above replacement (WAR), weighted runs created (wRC+), and defensive runs above average (DEF) the Dodgers outfielders in the just-completed regular season ranged from exceptional to horrid. Right field was first in […]

It was Opening Day 2015 for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate in the extremely competitive California League. A tall, lanky 19-year-old kid was on the Quakes roster and in the Opening Day lineup as their first baseman. His name was Cody Bellinger and he immediately drew the attention of those attending […]

Barring injuries, trades, or free-agent signings, the Dodgers will head into Spring Training 2020 with a deep and talented group of infielders. According to Fangraphs, Dodgers first basemen in 2019 had the highest WAR (Wins Above Replacement) in Major League Baseball. Second base was fourth and shortstop fifth. Surprisingly, third base was the weak link […]