So what is this new look the Dodgers bought? Gonzalez, Punto, Beckett and Crawford-on-the-DL.
Fine fabrics, wonderful designs, garments so fine we common people can't even see them but won't dare admit that....
Until some little kid at Coors Field cries Hey! They're naked! And the Rockies hand the Dodgers the truth, 10 - 0.
I'm sure the new boys will work out, or not, and it will all sort itself out. But all of you boys need to pull up your trousers and tighten your belts and get this thing going. And you pitchers: pound the strike zone, will you?
We did this for the fans, said Magic.
Ok. We fans will wait and see what the new look looks like.
So far, I agree with the kid at Coors Field.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Eulogy for Howard
Howard is gone.
My dear friend, my family's dear friend, Howard, passed away in his sleep.
He had been asleep for awhile, and when I went to wake him up today he just didn't respond.
Howard was our family computer since the late 80s. A Mac Performa. And what a performer he was! He helped me create newsletters and business cards and endless data files....
He helped my daughter create her award-winning presentation on Navajo life in junior high....
He taught my son how to play computer games and then how to design new graphics for them.
My son gave Howard his name and his voice (Quack!); my daughter taught him how to find things.
My wife taught him religion.
Howard took to us all and embraced us. He didn't judge or criticize or sanitize or question our judgment; he just helped each of us do what we needed to do.
Sometimes he asked Are you sure?
That's what a good friend does.
I went to wake up Howard this morning; I had one more question to ask him. He didn't wake up.
I tried resuscitation; I swapped cables; I moved him to the ICU.
Howard is gone. He will be missed; there will never be another like him.
Rest in peace, Howard. You are loved.
My dear friend, my family's dear friend, Howard, passed away in his sleep.
He had been asleep for awhile, and when I went to wake him up today he just didn't respond.
Howard was our family computer since the late 80s. A Mac Performa. And what a performer he was! He helped me create newsletters and business cards and endless data files....
He helped my daughter create her award-winning presentation on Navajo life in junior high....
He taught my son how to play computer games and then how to design new graphics for them.
My son gave Howard his name and his voice (Quack!); my daughter taught him how to find things.
My wife taught him religion.
Howard took to us all and embraced us. He didn't judge or criticize or sanitize or question our judgment; he just helped each of us do what we needed to do.
Sometimes he asked Are you sure?
That's what a good friend does.
I went to wake up Howard this morning; I had one more question to ask him. He didn't wake up.
I tried resuscitation; I swapped cables; I moved him to the ICU.
Howard is gone. He will be missed; there will never be another like him.
Rest in peace, Howard. You are loved.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Dodgers don't take my advice. Don't throw strikes.
That's gonna come back and bite you, boys.
Billingsley gives up an early 4 runs; 65 pitches in 3 innings?
Way too many pitches.
Throw some strikes, Bills!
Pound that strike zone! Hammer it!
You boys have a good lead so far, but the season is still early.
You can be caught if you don't wake up and throw strikes.
You might want to work on your hitting, too.
That's gonna come back and bite you, boys.
Billingsley gives up an early 4 runs; 65 pitches in 3 innings?
Way too many pitches.
Throw some strikes, Bills!
Pound that strike zone! Hammer it!
You boys have a good lead so far, but the season is still early.
You can be caught if you don't wake up and throw strikes.
You might want to work on your hitting, too.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Hammer that strike zone!
Losing to the Cubs today on a bases loaded walk in the 11th inning....
Sheesh!
I can understand giving up a double, and then following instructions to walk the next batter intentionally.
But hitting the next batter?
And walking the next one to end the game?
Where'd you learn to pitch, Mr. Wright?
And you, Mr. Guerra. Giving up a walk and then the game-tying double in the ninth...
Where did you boys learn to pitch?
From Rick Honeycutt, perhaps?
Honeycutt, the current Dodger pitching coach, always nibbled at batters, trying to get them to fish at pitches just outside the strikezone. I remember listening (on the radio) to the games he pitched back in the mid 80s and thinking Stop nibbling and throw strikes!
I know, he had a 20-year career. But his record is 109 - 143, with a whole lot of non-decisions. 20 years as a pitcher with only 252 decisions?
Okokok.
This is only partly about Rick Honeycutt. It's mostly about this year's Dodgers and mostly about their relief pitchers.
Stop nibbling, boys, and hammer the strike zone! You've got great stuff, you're fast and you're good and you can do this!
Throw strikes! Hammer that strike zone! Let's win!
Losing to the Cubs today on a bases loaded walk in the 11th inning....
Sheesh!
I can understand giving up a double, and then following instructions to walk the next batter intentionally.
But hitting the next batter?
And walking the next one to end the game?
Where'd you learn to pitch, Mr. Wright?
And you, Mr. Guerra. Giving up a walk and then the game-tying double in the ninth...
Where did you boys learn to pitch?
From Rick Honeycutt, perhaps?
Honeycutt, the current Dodger pitching coach, always nibbled at batters, trying to get them to fish at pitches just outside the strikezone. I remember listening (on the radio) to the games he pitched back in the mid 80s and thinking Stop nibbling and throw strikes!
I know, he had a 20-year career. But his record is 109 - 143, with a whole lot of non-decisions. 20 years as a pitcher with only 252 decisions?
Okokok.
This is only partly about Rick Honeycutt. It's mostly about this year's Dodgers and mostly about their relief pitchers.
Stop nibbling, boys, and hammer the strike zone! You've got great stuff, you're fast and you're good and you can do this!
Throw strikes! Hammer that strike zone! Let's win!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The All-Star Boondoggle
Back in the 1930s, when baseball played its first All-Star games, it got people interested in the stars of the game and in the game itself.
Now, we don't need no All-Star game.
The long baseball season takes it's toll on everyone involved: players, coaches, managers, umpires and fans. And it's right that everybody take a few days off the week after the 4th of July, a little past the halfway point in the season. Everybody needs a break.
But let's stop breaking up the break with the All-Star game.
Back when players made $500 a month and got a bonus for playing in the All-Star game, great!
Now players make $50,000 a month. They don't need an All-Star game bonus.
And let's realize, please, that the All-Star game is just an exhibition. It doesn't count toward the end of the year standings or anything else. Yes, Commissioner Bud Selig has decreed that the league that wins the All-Star game will have home field advantage in the World Series. But that's just the second part of the joke! A pick-up team of players (very good players, yes, but they haven't played together before; it's really just like a team chosen up in a schoolyard) can win a game that means absolutely nothing and win the home field advantage for the team from their league, most of the members of which are not even in this exhibition game, in the premier championship series of the greatest game on earth?
By playing in this exhibition game the players put themselves at serious risk, for nothing. I'm a Dodger fan, so I'll frame my thoughts this way: I would hate to see Clayton Kershaw hit by a line drive in the All-Star game, or Matt Kemp pull a hamstring while running to first base. I accept that those are risks during any game; but in an exhibition game that means nothing? I cannot accept that. An injury like that could put my team out of contention for the season. There were two injuries in the game tonight; we don't yet know how serious.
I know the All-Star game brings lots of money into the city where it's played, and I know that an entire carnival sprouts up around the stadium in which the game is played. That's great!
My proposal ( I know it will be ignored, but I just want to get it out there): let the players have their four or five days off, and fill those days with a national baseball carnival. Pick a city, or three or five, and encourage small towns to take up their part too! Have all the carnival, family-friendly events: see how fast you can throw the pitch, kids run around the bases, see if you can hit against Nolan Ryan; have fireworks and hot dog races and throw-the-ball through the clown's mouth! Get retired major league players out there to sign autographs and talk to the kids!
Have clinics, play the college world series that week, or the little league one. Play lots of minor league games, with lots of promotions.
The All-Star game was started to try to foster interest in baseball, and it worked. And when I was a kid, yes, I wanted to watch; I wanted to see this Mickey Mantle and this Ted Williams. But now I don't need an All-Star game to see. I can see every game every day.
So I suggest we do away with the All-Star game and let our players rest up for the second half of the real season. And if we want to have some fun while they rest, let's have some other baseball!
Now, we don't need no All-Star game.
The long baseball season takes it's toll on everyone involved: players, coaches, managers, umpires and fans. And it's right that everybody take a few days off the week after the 4th of July, a little past the halfway point in the season. Everybody needs a break.
But let's stop breaking up the break with the All-Star game.
Back when players made $500 a month and got a bonus for playing in the All-Star game, great!
Now players make $50,000 a month. They don't need an All-Star game bonus.
And let's realize, please, that the All-Star game is just an exhibition. It doesn't count toward the end of the year standings or anything else. Yes, Commissioner Bud Selig has decreed that the league that wins the All-Star game will have home field advantage in the World Series. But that's just the second part of the joke! A pick-up team of players (very good players, yes, but they haven't played together before; it's really just like a team chosen up in a schoolyard) can win a game that means absolutely nothing and win the home field advantage for the team from their league, most of the members of which are not even in this exhibition game, in the premier championship series of the greatest game on earth?
By playing in this exhibition game the players put themselves at serious risk, for nothing. I'm a Dodger fan, so I'll frame my thoughts this way: I would hate to see Clayton Kershaw hit by a line drive in the All-Star game, or Matt Kemp pull a hamstring while running to first base. I accept that those are risks during any game; but in an exhibition game that means nothing? I cannot accept that. An injury like that could put my team out of contention for the season. There were two injuries in the game tonight; we don't yet know how serious.
I know the All-Star game brings lots of money into the city where it's played, and I know that an entire carnival sprouts up around the stadium in which the game is played. That's great!
My proposal ( I know it will be ignored, but I just want to get it out there): let the players have their four or five days off, and fill those days with a national baseball carnival. Pick a city, or three or five, and encourage small towns to take up their part too! Have all the carnival, family-friendly events: see how fast you can throw the pitch, kids run around the bases, see if you can hit against Nolan Ryan; have fireworks and hot dog races and throw-the-ball through the clown's mouth! Get retired major league players out there to sign autographs and talk to the kids!
Have clinics, play the college world series that week, or the little league one. Play lots of minor league games, with lots of promotions.
The All-Star game was started to try to foster interest in baseball, and it worked. And when I was a kid, yes, I wanted to watch; I wanted to see this Mickey Mantle and this Ted Williams. But now I don't need an All-Star game to see. I can see every game every day.
So I suggest we do away with the All-Star game and let our players rest up for the second half of the real season. And if we want to have some fun while they rest, let's have some other baseball!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Big Bat, No Rattle
Dodgers lose again, 6 - 0 to the Mets. Mets have been playing well of late; I won't fault them for that. But Dodgers give up three homeruns and don't respond with a single score. They get eight hits and leave twelve runners on base! Shut out for their ninth time this season.
I know if you listen to the Dodgers I'm not telling you anything new.
But it's frustrating, and I need to vent.
Every pitcher is gonna give up homeruns. The Mets hit three tonight, and that's not good, but that's part of the game. But the Dodgers had runners in scoring position several times tonight and didn't bring a single one home.
They've now lost four games in a row.
They are now firmly ensconced in last place in the National League West, thirteen games below .500, eleven games out of first place.
It's the American way these days (especially since 9/11, or maybe it was the crash of the Exxon Valdez) to look for who's to blame and pin it on whoever you find.
I'm not gonna do that.
The Dodgers have a good manager and good coaches.
They have good players, good hitters. They could use another one, I guess, someone like Manny at his prime, three years ago.
I don't think it's the players' ability, though. I think the players are able.
Maybe it's just luck... and I would never discount luck as a factor in a team's performance.
With the turmoil in the ownership, I don't expect the Dodgers to acquire a catalyst of the nature of Manny. I don't expect them to acquire anyone.
But Big Bat, No Rattle.
Dodgers hit pretty well, but not well enough to bring home the runs when they need them.
Not happy, here.
I know if you listen to the Dodgers I'm not telling you anything new.
But it's frustrating, and I need to vent.
Every pitcher is gonna give up homeruns. The Mets hit three tonight, and that's not good, but that's part of the game. But the Dodgers had runners in scoring position several times tonight and didn't bring a single one home.
They've now lost four games in a row.
They are now firmly ensconced in last place in the National League West, thirteen games below .500, eleven games out of first place.
It's the American way these days (especially since 9/11, or maybe it was the crash of the Exxon Valdez) to look for who's to blame and pin it on whoever you find.
I'm not gonna do that.
The Dodgers have a good manager and good coaches.
They have good players, good hitters. They could use another one, I guess, someone like Manny at his prime, three years ago.
I don't think it's the players' ability, though. I think the players are able.
Maybe it's just luck... and I would never discount luck as a factor in a team's performance.
With the turmoil in the ownership, I don't expect the Dodgers to acquire a catalyst of the nature of Manny. I don't expect them to acquire anyone.
But Big Bat, No Rattle.
Dodgers hit pretty well, but not well enough to bring home the runs when they need them.
Not happy, here.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Halfway Home
Halfway through the season, the Dodgers slip into last place in the National League West.
They lost two out of three to the Angels and two out of three to the Twins... despite beating the Twins 15 - 0 just two days ago.
Talk about inconsistent.
I've managed teams like this, although only on the youth baseball level. But it's funny how, as a manager, you never know which team is gonna show up on a particular day! Is it gonna be the team that hits the ball to all fields and catches everything that comes their way? Or is it gonna be the team that can't get a hit when it needs to and muffs the regular plays?
The Dodgers have played pretty well in the field; I won't fault them for that. Despite injuries and trips to the disabled list, the Dodgers have managed to put together a pretty good fielding team.
The hitting is what's hurting. Or rather, the lack of hitting, especially in key situations.
The Dodgers need some help in the pitching department, too.
The Dodgers right now consist of Kershaw (starting pitcher, for those of you who don't know), Kemp (center field and terrific hitter), Ethier (right field and ditto) and Carroll (shortstop/second base; made the team as a fill-in utility player but because of injuries plays almost everyday and gets on base a whole lot). They have other players with promise: Billingsley (starting pitcher), Loney (first base), de la Rosa (rookie starting pitcher), Gwynn (left field).
But the players with promise haven't fulfilled it yet. So the core of the Dodger team is a thin one.
And with the ownership of the team in question and the issue of bankruptcy still in the air, I don't think this is the year of the Dodgers.
But last place in the NLW?
Sheesh!
They lost two out of three to the Angels and two out of three to the Twins... despite beating the Twins 15 - 0 just two days ago.
Talk about inconsistent.
I've managed teams like this, although only on the youth baseball level. But it's funny how, as a manager, you never know which team is gonna show up on a particular day! Is it gonna be the team that hits the ball to all fields and catches everything that comes their way? Or is it gonna be the team that can't get a hit when it needs to and muffs the regular plays?
The Dodgers have played pretty well in the field; I won't fault them for that. Despite injuries and trips to the disabled list, the Dodgers have managed to put together a pretty good fielding team.
The hitting is what's hurting. Or rather, the lack of hitting, especially in key situations.
The Dodgers need some help in the pitching department, too.
The Dodgers right now consist of Kershaw (starting pitcher, for those of you who don't know), Kemp (center field and terrific hitter), Ethier (right field and ditto) and Carroll (shortstop/second base; made the team as a fill-in utility player but because of injuries plays almost everyday and gets on base a whole lot). They have other players with promise: Billingsley (starting pitcher), Loney (first base), de la Rosa (rookie starting pitcher), Gwynn (left field).
But the players with promise haven't fulfilled it yet. So the core of the Dodger team is a thin one.
And with the ownership of the team in question and the issue of bankruptcy still in the air, I don't think this is the year of the Dodgers.
But last place in the NLW?
Sheesh!
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