Baseball 2014 (page 2)

[Brian]

The first page of the Baseball 2014 thread can be found here.

Jun 9, 2014 23:00:28 GMT -8 Brian said:

One year ago today, the Dodgers were in last place in the National League West, seven and a half games back.  Right now, they are in second place, eight and a half games behind.  For many reasons, that's much worse...

This year so far, the Giants are the best team in baseball, playing 20 games above .500.  They could settle down to winning only half of their remaining games -- and still take the division easily.

The Dodgers' lowest point was nine and a half games back in early June.  Baseball can make a fool out of any would be prognosticator in less than three weeks.  Nine days after I posted that, they were only four games back.  Two days ago, the Dodgers were in first place by half a game.  Now they are half a game behind the Giants.

Jun 16, 2014 5:19:53 GMT -8 Jeanne said:

Hi Friends.

I know some of us are baseball fans, even Dodger fans. Friday, August 15th is Methodist night at Dodger Stadium. CVUMC will have a group going. It should be fun. Yes, it conflicts with the vigil. Maybe some of us could start early or wear our MPV tshirts to the game. Let me know by 6/29 if you're interested.

Anni and I haven't attended a game at Dodger Stadium since 2011. We were dispirited by the garish electronic signs everywhere, the booming sound effects and bad music, and we've seen things getting worse each year on TV. Only Jeanne and the wonderful folks of Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church could inspire us to wholeheartedly embrace Chavez Ravine again. We'll be there on August 15 with them to watch the Milwaukee Brewers, after stopping at Montrose Peace Vigil on the way.

[Brian]

The Minnesota Twins are hosting next Tuesday's All Star Game in Minneapolis. Didn't the Twins get the 1985 and the 1965 All Star Games? That they did, back when they played on two other fields.  The annual exhibition game alternates between American and National League cities, so next year's game will come to Cincinnati at the Reds' 11 year old ballpark.  The 1988 game was played at the Reds' former home in Riverfront Stadium.

Dodger Stadium was the site of only one All Star Game -- in 1980 -- and I missed it.  With 26 teams, I figured I'd be able to attend the next one in 2006.  Since then, Major League Baseball has expanded to 30 teams, and almost all of them play in much newer stadiums.  Six of those still have not had an All Star Game, including the beautiful park in San Diego named after a chain of pet food stores.  I could go there instead, perhaps as early as 2017.

Everyone knows that the oldest ballparks still in use are Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago, which is having its centennial this year.  Dodger Stadium is the third oldest, followed by Angel Stadium, opened in 1966, and the Oakland Coliseum in 1968, all in California.  The Oakland Athletics plan to move to San Jose in 2017.

[Brian]

What a fabulous weekend I've had so far.  Friday night, I watched Yasiel Puig hit three triples and a double against the division leading Giants in their home ballpark -- 11 total bases without a home run -- tying a Dodgers record from 1901 on their way to an 8 to 1 rout.  Tonight, Clayton Kershaw pitched a complete game, giving up only two singles and a walk.  The Dodgers won 5 to 0 and regained first place in the National League West.  Everybody with cable will be able to see Sunday's game on ESPN.  This is what I'll be thinking:

Because of expansion, division realignment and the dreaded interleague play, the Dodgers only have two more three-game series against the Hated Ones in 2014, one in Chavez Ravine and the other in San Francisco, both in mid-September. They met 18 times a year in the previous century, back when the notion of the Dodgers not playing the Giants for a third of a season was inconceivable. Fans of both teams will keep glancing at the scoreboard while watching their teams play every game for the next two months. This season, the Dodgers and the Giants are the only viable teams in the NL West, and they could still be half a game apart in the standings after playing all 162 games.

And so could four teams in the NL Central, by far the most interesting division this summer.  I'm rooting for the Reds to recover again.

[Brian]

I'm totally out of step with most baseball fans.  Everybody I hear talking about the two consecutive Dodgers-Angels series seems to think interleague play is just wonderful.  The Dodgers will make the Angels pitchers bat in Chavez Ravine instead of their designated hitter, then the Dodgers will be able to send someone like Scott Van Slyke or Andre Ethier to home plate in Anaheim instead of a pitcher, so they would seem favored on paper.  Then why do the Angels and most American League teams dominate the Dodgers (and most National League teams) in interleague play?  I will be watching anyway, because these games count, unlike the exhibition Freeway Series that the Dodgers and Angels have in late March.  And I will also be watching the out of town scoreboard -- the Giants are only two and a half games behind the Dodgers, and two of their best everyday players are returning from the disabled list.

Jeanne got the tickets to the game we're attending on the 15th, blessedly against a National League team -- and a very good one, the Milwaukee Brewers.  When I gave Jeanne the discounted group rate of $22, which is $3 less than the face value of the ticket, I knew we'd be seated where they always put large church groups, especially on a weekend night -- the Lower Reserve section.  (By the way, we got real old fashioned tickets with the church's name imprinted.  Season ticket holders have to print their tickets from their computers.)  Our tickets are in the back rows of the light blue 47 box below, three aisles from the end of left field.  I've sat everywhere in that seating chart -- from the depths of the Pavilion to the heights of the Top Deck -- and I'm here to tell you there are no bad seats in Dodger Stadium.  We're looking forward to hanging out with Jeanne and the other members of Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church.

[Brian]

I just watched the White Sox defeat the Hated Ones on television in their backyard, the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Here in the land of the Giants, I cannot count the number of SF caps on male heads and all the bumper stickers and logos stenciled on trucks, mostly trucks it seems.  But nada for the best team in baseball, the Oakland A's, and certainly no Dodger blue visible anywhere.  Local Dodger fans only turn out in small groups at the ballpark when their team comes to town, reinforced by people like me from the south.  Yet in Los Angeles County, I see way too many SF caps.  Giant fans are much more loyal than Dodger fans.  The Giants played tonight into the 10th inning, and despite their team's poor play lately, I never saw one empty seat in the stands.

Anyway, I'm here to report that the Giants are now six games behind the Dodgers in the National League West.  The Dodgers are also the best team in the National League.  On this day last year, the Dodgers were seven and a half games in front of the Diamondbacks with the Giants in last place.

Clayton Kershaw was due to pitch Friday night in Dodger Stadium at the game that Jeanne, Anni and I are attending.  But because they are playing 20 games in a row without a day off, the Dodgers inserted a newly acquired pitcher to start Monday's game in Atlanta to give the five man rotation an extra day of rest.

[Brian]

Anni and I thank Jeanne, Pastor Steve and the other members of Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church for allowing us to buy two of their group's tickets to Friday's game at Dodger Stadium. It was truly a blessing to enjoy the game with so many fun and loving people all around us.

A game at Dodger Stadium, circa 1980.

Look at that.  Except for the Union 76 gasoline balls topping the then brand new Dodgervision in left field and the old fashioned electric scoreboard in right, no ads anywhere.  By the 1990's, panels appeared on the outfield walls then behind home plate, and in this 21st century, the owners Fox installed a video ribbon along the entire infield, under the Vin Scully Press Box.  The notorious cheapskate Frank McCourt finally had to replace the right field scoreboard, which the new owners have turned into a second video screen.  Although the team line ups and other game stats are presented better than ever, if sporadically, I could not figure out where to find the official scorer's rulings -- wild pitch or passed ball?  error by whom? -- despite searching for nine whole innings.

These days, each visual everywhere, moving or static, and virtually every public address announcement is sponsored by some company.  The blare of advertisements, audience contests and electronic music often drowned out all conversations I had beyond the seats immediately surrounding mine.  I did not hear and I deeply missed the old Dodger Stadium organ, from a few minutes before the game until the seventh inning stretch for "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."  For a couple of minutes, there were no ads, just a sing along with people mugging on both screens for the crowd cams, better than we did in the 1980's, and everybody seemed happy.

[Brian]

It's September already.

Aug 12, 2014 22:41:10 GMT -8 Brian said:

The Giants are now six games behind the Dodgers in the National League West.  The Dodgers are also the best team in the National League.  On this day last year, the Dodgers were seven and a half games in front of the Diamondbacks with the Giants in last place.

That day in August turned out to be the peak of the Dodgers' season so far.  Tonight, they're back where they were a month ago:  two games ahead of the Hated Ones.  The Giants have won four more games than the Dodgers over the past three and a half weeks.  Only 20 games remain.

The rest of the National League West is a wreck -- the Rockies and the Diamondbacks are the worst teams in the league, and the third place Padres would be last or next to last if they resided in the other two divisions.

If the Dodgers sweep the Diamondbacks today, they again could be the best team in the National League.  The other contenders for the National League playoffs right now are the Nationals, the Cardinals, the Brewers, the Braves and, of course, the Giants.  The Pirates are only half a game out of the second wild card slot.  The Los Angeles Dodgers have a losing record against those six teams combined this season. 

[Brian]

All L.A. fans will be able to hear Vin Scully on television again starting next Monday on KDOC.

Sept 7, 2014 0:12:59 GMT -8 Brian said:

Tonight, the Dodgers are back where they were a month ago:  two games ahead of the Hated Ones. Only 20 games remain.

And tonight, they lead the Giants by two games, with only ten left.

Despite their flaws, the Dodgers keep holding on to first place in the National League West.  In August, they couldn't hit.  This month, they've lacked a solid fourth -- and now, maybe a third -- starting pitcher.  The Dodgers appear to be in no shape to navigate the five-game Division Series, let alone the seven-game Championship Series, with just Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke.  But, as these baseball threads have proven, I've been wrong about their chances all season.

Almost certainly, the Dodgers and the Giants will play in the postseason, one of them as the wild card.  Since baseball doesn't match two teams from the same division in the first round of the playoffs, it's possible that these century-old rivals could meet in the National League Championship Series.  That would be the end of the world as I know it.

[Brian]

The Dodgers finished the season six games ahead of the Giants, after clinching the National League West while playing the Giants at Dodger Stadium.  As the Dodgers were celebrating on the field, Giants' pitching coach Dave Righetti tipped his cap from the dugout.  Still, I'll be rooting for the Pirates in Wednesday's one-game Wild Card playoff against the Giants.  I'm just not as classy as Righetti.

I'm feeling better about the postseason because the Dodgers hit so well at the end.  And this year, they open the Division Series at home.  I believe that they are better equipped to handle the Cardinals than they did last year in the Championship Series.  If Hyun-Jin Ryu can return to the starting rotation and pitch effectively in Game 3 in St. Louis, I will have to start thinking about World Series tickets.

So, farewell to these Baseball 2014 threads.  It's time for a postseason page, where I'll finally have to pay attention to the American League -- even the Anaheim Angels.