Manager Don Mattingly and the Los Angeles Dodgers won their third straight National League West crown this season and followed the division title with another post season failure. The chants of "Fire Mattingly" can be heard all the way on the east coast.
I have always thought Mattingly was at his best when he had less talent to work with. When they went on their run about halfway through 2014, the Dodgers had a lot of key players that were injured. The 2015 season saw the Dodgers besieged by injuries as well. Injuries decimated the pitching staff, the outfield, and the infield all at one time or another.
The Dodgers had a ton of injuries this season as well. By the beginning of May, the Dodgers only had three of their original five man rotation. The Dodgers had to cobble together a fourth and fifth starter for the last 120 games of the season. Third starter Hyun Jin-Ryu did not throw one pitch. Brandon McCarthy was lost for the season after five starts. Brett Anderson was moved into the third spot in the rotation and the Dodgers finally settled on Mike Bolsinger as their fifth starter until trade deadline deals brought the Dodgers Mat Latos and Alex Wood as well as a bevy of relief pitchers. Alex Wood is the only one of those pitchers that proved themselves of any value to the Dodgers.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Thursday, October 15, 2015
A One Game Season
The Los Angeles Dodgers played a 162 game season and have added four more games in the playoffs and it all comes down to a one game season. It is one of the Dodgers aces, Zack Greinke versus one of the New York Mets young guns, Jacob deGrom. DeGrom wore the Dodgers out in the first game of the series by striking out 13 and only giving up one run. Greinke won his only game of the series as well, giving up two runs in seven innings in what will be forever known as the "Utley slide" game.
This is the way baseball should be. Ace versus ace, winner take all, and move on to the next round to play against the Chicago Cubs. There is already talk of Clayton Kershaw being available in the bullpen on one day's rest. I am hoping it will not come to that but manager Mattingly and the Dodgers have to be willing to use the entire bench if it will win them this game.
This is the way baseball should be. Ace versus ace, winner take all, and move on to the next round to play against the Chicago Cubs. There is already talk of Clayton Kershaw being available in the bullpen on one day's rest. I am hoping it will not come to that but manager Mattingly and the Dodgers have to be willing to use the entire bench if it will win them this game.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Chase Utley's Slide
Here is the Chase Utley slide as I saw it. The Dodgers had runners on first and third with one out. Kike Hernandez was the runner on third and Chase Utley was on first. Howie Kendrick of the Dodgers hit a one hopper up the middle off of New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon that was fielded by second baseman Daniel Murphy. Shortstop Ruben Tejada went to cover second base. Murphy's momentum was carrying him away from the infield and his underhanded toss to Tejada was a little bit high and away from Tejada and to the shortstop side. Tejada caught the ball and tried to do a 360 spin that would allow him get off a throw to first base to double up Kendrick and get the Mets out of the inning. Right as Tejada completed his spin and started to throw the ball, Utley started his high and hard slide. Utley's head collided with Tejada's thigh and Utley's legs clipped Tejada's legs and knocked him down. He was not able to get off the throw. Hernandez scored from third base, tying the game at two and starting a four run Dodgers rally that allowed them to win the game 5-2.
The media reaction to Utley's slide was predictable. Baseball purists and ex-players thought it was a "hard nosed play" and Utley's intent was to not injure Tejada but to prevent the double play from occurring. The sports media described it as a "dirty play." Utley does not have a reputation as a dirty player and his intent was not to break Tejada's leg but to prevent the double play from occurring. The umpires on the field did not call Utley out for interference because he could still reach the bag making it a legal play in the eyes of the rules of the game.
Baseball analysts and ex-players Dallas Braden and Doug Glanville of ESPN's Baseball Tonight both agreed that it was a "hard-nosed play" and that the "break up slide" is a part of baseball. However, they both did agree that Utley could have and maybe should have started his slide a little bit sooner but that he was still within the rules of the game. The lead announcer immediately denounced the play as a "dirty play."
The media reaction to Utley's slide was predictable. Baseball purists and ex-players thought it was a "hard nosed play" and Utley's intent was to not injure Tejada but to prevent the double play from occurring. The sports media described it as a "dirty play." Utley does not have a reputation as a dirty player and his intent was not to break Tejada's leg but to prevent the double play from occurring. The umpires on the field did not call Utley out for interference because he could still reach the bag making it a legal play in the eyes of the rules of the game.
Baseball analysts and ex-players Dallas Braden and Doug Glanville of ESPN's Baseball Tonight both agreed that it was a "hard-nosed play" and that the "break up slide" is a part of baseball. However, they both did agree that Utley could have and maybe should have started his slide a little bit sooner but that he was still within the rules of the game. The lead announcer immediately denounced the play as a "dirty play."
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