Brian
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Post by Brian on Apr 27, 2023 23:00:46 GMT -8
Welcome to the 16th annual baseball thread on the Montrose Peace Vigil message board. Here's hoping others post too so this doesn't became a ceaseless rant about the Los Angeles Dodgers and the National League West for the next six months!
I delayed starting this thread while I evaluated all of this season's rules changes. I already knew that I'd love the ban on infield shifts, when three or four infielders are positioned on the right side of the diamond to prevent hits by left handers, one of the worst trends of the past several years. I like the added three inches on the infield bases, which has resulted in more steals. And after a month of watching, I have to admit that the pitch clock has improved the game. It isn't just that the games are much shorter -- the pace has quickened considerably. That's how games were played when I really fell in love with baseball in the 1980's.
But the one thing I really hate is the expansion of interleague games. To make room for them, the Dodgers will only play 13 games against their NL West rivals instead of the 19 match ups against each team in the division as in past seasons. The Dodgers went to San Francisco two weeks ago and the Giants will come here in June. Then the last times they will play is late September. Truly, this sucks.
I picked the San Diego Padres to win the NL west and the Dodgers second with a Wild Card slot, a reversal of last year. I expected the Dodgers to be mediocre and so far they are. Currently, the Padres are in third place, half a game behind the Dodgers and a game and a half behind the surprising Arizona Diamondbacks.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on May 16, 2023 23:00:31 GMT -8
The Dodgers' record was break even three weeks ago when I last posted. Now they have the best record in the National League -- and the third best in baseball behind the Tampa Bay Rays with their .744 winning percentage, a bit of a slide from their .800-plus percentages of April and early May, and only one loss behind the amazing Baltimore Orioles with their .643.
In the National League West, the Arizona Diamondbacks have faded to three games back and second place. The third place San Diego Padres are seven games behind the Dodgers with a losing record. With three quarters of the season left to play, the Padres could still win the division. But they could only defeat the Dodgers once in the six games they played last week. The San Francisco Giants are just half a game behind the Padres, yet they're hovering only a game and a half above the last place Colorado Rockies.
The Dodgers and Padres won't meet again until August. Before that, the Dodgers will play a dozen series at home and on the road with the Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Anaheim Angels, Houston Asterisks, Kansas City Royals, the Angels again, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics of the American League. The expansion of interleague play has skewed the standings: only five American League teams have losing records while the clearly inferior National League currently has nine of its 15 teams underwater. Tonight, every team in the American League East has a winning record.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Jun 19, 2023 23:00:21 GMT -8
Since my last post, the Dodgers have won 12 games and lost 17 while the Giants won 21 games and lost 9. The Giants leaped over the Dodgers into second place in the National League West after sweeping them last weekend in Chavez Ravine for the first time since 2012, the last year that the Dodgers failed to qualify for the postseason. The Diamondbacks returned to first place with a three and a half game lead over the Giants. The Padres languish in fourth place with a losing record.
Can't blame Dodger batters, who've performed well overall, winning enough games in spectacular fashion to keep the team out of fourth place. Today I read a stat that explains my gloom and why it feels so different than other bad Dodger seasons in my 65 years. So far in 2023, Dodger pitchers have the worst earned run average of any squad since the Dodgers played in Brooklyn in 1944.
Because two Montrose Peace Vigil stalwarts are lifelong Cincinnati Reds fans, I must note that the Reds have won nine games in a row, taking first place in the National League Central division.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Jul 11, 2023 23:00:17 GMT -8
The Diamondbacks lost on Sunday, relinquishing first place in the National League West to the Dodgers by two tenths of one percent at the All-Star break, the traditional midpoint in the season when fans assess their team's chances just as the 30 major league clubs decide whether to buy or sell players before the trade deadline. The Giants at two and a half games back are still in contention for the Wild Card. And the Reds lead the Central division by one game over the Brewers with a record of 50-41, nine games above .500. I'm flying high tonight because the National League won the All-Star Game for the first time since 2012. From now on, I will stand up and applaud Rockies catcher Elias Díaz every time I see him for his two-run homer that took the game from the American League, 3 to 2. Dodger J.D. Martinez scored the first run. From what I could discern through all the gimmicks that Major League Baseball and the Fox network threw into the broadcast, it was a great game. The players certainly seemed to be having fun -- while seriously competing.
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Roberta
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Post by Roberta on Jul 28, 2023 20:00:57 GMT -8
I’m watching the Dodgers play the Reds at LAX and flying high later tonight. Missing you all and the corner!!!
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Jul 30, 2023 23:00:34 GMT -8
I'm glad that Roberta got to see her Reds playing the Dodgers on TV because I know that she can't watch Dodger games at home since she doesn't pay the exorbitant cable bill I do for the privilege. The Reds won, 6 to 5. Somehow the Dodgers defeated the Reds on Saturday, 3 to 2, on just two hits -- both home runs by Max Muncy. Then the Reds handed the Dodgers their tenth consecutive defeat on a Sunday, 9 to 0 -- which happened to be Christian Faith and Family Day at the stadium -- restoring Cincinnati to first place in the National League Central Division. Even with God's help, presumably, the Dodgers could not win more than two of six games in this season's two series against the Reds. Cincinnati has one of its best teams since the Reds last won the World Series in 1990, thanks to a bunch of rookies led by Elly De La Cruz, age 21, one of the most exciting and talented players I've ever seen. I'd never even heard his name before I saw him make his major league debut against the Dodgers on June 6 -- he got my attention when the hometown crowd gave him a standing ovation as he stepped up to the plate in the first inning. In less than two months, he's dazzled fans with feats like stealing second, third and home after a base hit -- and only three pitches. On Sunday, he had hits in four of his five at bats, including a home run, clearly ditching the first major league batting slump of his nascent career. Perhaps God is on his side. That logo above dates to the glory days of the Big Red Machine in the 1970's, when the Reds were in the National League West with the Dodgers. Since the Cubs finally won another World Series in 2016, I have rooted for the Reds in the Central Division 156 days every year out of the 162 games in the season. I'd love to see Elly play in the postseason.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Aug 22, 2023 23:00:13 GMT -8
Following up on my previous post, the Reds are back in third place in the National League Central Division -- but just half a game behind the second place Cubs -- with only 36 games left in the season. The Reds are also half a game into the Wild Card race right now.
Back to the Dodgers. Their pitching has gotten much better since I wrote my gloomy post on June 20, so much so that the Dodgers have been baseball's winningest team since then because the batters keep scoring at a furious clip overall and the defense remains solid. They lead the National League West by 11-1/2 games over the Diamondbacks, who leaped over the Giants into second place by half a game tonight. The Giants, who've lost five of their last six games, are barely clinging to a Wild Card slot.
In my five decades following the Dodgers, I can think of only two teams as loving and cohesive as this one and both of those won the World Series, in 1981 and 1988. That thing that fans call chemistry is hard to define but we know it when we see it, as the cliche goes. The players gelled even better when utilityman Kike Hernandez and relief pitcher Joe Kelly returned to the Dodgers before the trade deadline. Not only were they part of the World Champion 2020 Dodgers, they've gained even more postseason experience with the Red Sox since. Somehow, they're playing like their younger old selves again. No doubt the Dodgers' superior coaching staff can claim a large share of the credit for their improved stats. But I think Kike and Joe feel better wearing Dodger blue in Chavez Ravine with these beautiful players.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Sept 25, 2023 23:26:41 GMT -8
Lookee here, it's the final week of the 2023 season.
The Dodgers won the National League West ten days ago. The second place Diamondbacks -- 14-1/2 games back! -- are tied with the Chicago Cubs for the other two National League Wild Card slots behind the Philadelphia Phillies. The Giants are in third place, just a game ahead of the Padres, on the verge of being mathematically eliminated. But both teams have a shot at finishing with a winning record. I feel sad about the Padres, not because I like so many others picked them to win the division. They're among the best hitting and pitching teams in all of baseball. Yet they didn't show the same togetherness and spirit this year that they demonstrated so forcefully when they rolled over the Dodgers as a Wild Card last year. The most revealing stat about the Padres is that they played 12 extra innings games this season and lost all of them. If they'd won half, they'd be in contention now.
Rounding out the rest of the NL Wild Card race: The Cincinnati Reds are 2-1/2 games below the line and the Miami Marlins are ahead of them with only five games left to play. So even if the Reds win all of them, their fate is not in their hands, bats and gloves.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 11, 2023 23:00:14 GMT -8
I didn't wrap up the glorious 2023 season, so allow me to start this on a high note. The Dodgers won two of three games in their last season series against the Giants in San Francisco, the next best thing to a sweep, and ended with 100 wins for the fourth season in a row (not counting the 60-game pandemic year of 2020). The Giants' shortstop Brandon Crawford came off the injured list to play the final game -- maybe his last. He's been one of the greatest players of this century and if he hit a home run in his last at bat, that would have been O.K. with me since the Dodgers led by three runs. Sadly, he went 0 for 4. Yet every Giants fan in the stands gave Brandon a standing ovation as he walked back to the dugout. If he retires this year, he will no doubt be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2028. Then the Dodgers and the 104-win Atlanta Braves waited five days while lesser National League teams played in two best-of-three Wild Card series. I had no rooting interests for or against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Miami Marlins or the Philadelphia Phillies. But I love the Arizona Diamondbacks, not just because they are an NL West team. They won only 84 games but by the time they qualified for the postseason, the mostly young squad felt they had nothing to lose. It seemed that only their fans thought that they belonged. They relaxed and dispatched the Brewers handily in just two games. The Diamondbacks mercifully defeated the Dodgers soundly and quickly in the NL Division Series, the first time the Dodgers were swept in the postseason since 2006. My team had absolutely zero effective starting pitchers and batters Mookie Wilson and Freddie Friedman might as well have been benched. Reams will be written about this historical meltdown in the coming days and I'll probably read everything, but meanwhile I'll be rooting for a National League team that could win the World Series. Go Diamondbacks! In the other Division Series, the Phillies lead the Braves two games to one. The Phillies could win it all on Thursday. If not, there will be a deciding fifth game on Saturday. In past years, I rooted against the Braves because I didn't want to see and hear the tomahawk chop in Atlanta. But now almost every ballpark (except Dodger Stadium) features the racist chant. I give up. I want the Braves to win Game 4 so I can enjoy a Game 5 before the NL Championship Series starts on Monday, October 16.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Oct 23, 2023 23:00:14 GMT -8
In a rare occurrence, both the National League and the American League Championship Series are being decided this season in seven games. Late Monday afternoon, the Arizona Diamondbacks forced the Philadelphia Phillies into a Game 7 on Tuesday by defeating them 5 to 1 in Philadelphia, where many of the fans who often stand throughout entire games were seen heading for the exits before the eighth inning. The Diamondbacks' previous victories were both by one run after comebacks at home in Phoenix in the late innings. I'm still rooting for them as a National League West loyalist. Yet I have to wonder if the Phillies are better equipped to win the World Series for the National League this year after losing the Fall Classic last year -- even if their fans give up on them in a potentially decisive Game 6 when they're down only four runs with six outs to play. Then the Texas Rangers faced the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series in Houston. Senator Ted Cruz is a big fan of the trash can bangers, but the Astros lost every game he attended in the postseason. So Astros fans were pleading with him online to give away his ticket to Monday's game while Rangers fans were urging him to come. Ted must have been there, because the Asterisks went down, 11 to 4, denying the team its second consecutive AL championship.
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