San Dawg Warned Us Of This
I get these NYT shorties every morning, thought this one was worth passing on.
By Carolyn RyanI’m a lifelong Red Sox fan. |
Good morning, everyone. Or should I say, “Good morning to everyone except fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers.”
Every morning is a good morning for Dodger fans. The rest of us who love baseball are out here hoping to enjoy the magic of October, yearning for the suspense and surprises of playoff baseball. But these darn Dodgers keep winning. And not just winning. This team looks unstoppable and almost superhuman.
They’re like the Goldman Sachs of baseball, with a payroll almost triple the size of the team they crushed in the National League championship, the Milwaukee Brewers. Even as the city of Los Angeles falters, its entertainment industry shrinking and its civic identity shaken, the Dodgers appear more exorbitant and unbeatable than ever.
As a lifelong baseball fan, I’m pleased to see postseason viewership at its highest in 15 years. I love the game for many reasons, but one is how it reveals a certain vulnerability. Baseball players are not as gigantic or as classically athletic as the stars of other professional sports. There’s an imperfection to them: They can be short, skinny, kind of chubby or kind of slow.
And they’re not covered in armor and headgear. We can see their expressions — pride, embarrassment, anger or elation — after a miraculous play or a humiliating stumble. That makes us feel as if we know them. It makes baseball’s characters, subplots and soap operas irresistible.
It’s why I’ve been so captivated by Pat Murphy, the Brewers’ manager. He’s a former boxer who has been married three times, survived a heart attack and alcohol addiction, and has Bruce Springsteen lyrics tattooed on his body.
It’s why I root for Cal Raleigh, the Seattle Mariners catcher. He’s nicknamed “the Big Dumper” for his oversized derrière, and is so tough and so determined that he once broke a tooth biting into a sandwich, then played a full nine innings through the pain and even hit a home run.
And it’s why I got goose bumps Thursday watching the Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer, who is 41 years old and coming off yet another injury, loudly and profanely refusing to come out of the game when his manager approached the mound. Scherzer promptly struck out the next Mariners batter and got the win.
I’m a Red Sox fan. So I’ve had a lifetime of roller-coaster Octobers. And of course I was gutted to see the Sox eliminated by the Yankees (again) earlier this month.
But I love the game enough to appreciate other teams, too. I love the Dodgers’ history and defining personalities, especially Sandy Koufax and Jackie Robinson. I applaud their talent and I admire their fans, who are knowledgeable and loyal.
These Dodgers, though, lack vulnerability. They seem inevitable. Invincible. They have Shohei Ohtani, who may just be the best in the game since Babe Ruth. He looked the part on Friday night, when he pitched six scoreless innings, struck out 10 batters and hit three home runs. The Athletic’s Jayson Stark called it “the single greatest game any human has ever had on a baseball field.”
These Dodgers have five All Stars and an ace-filled pitching staff. And everything seems to fall into place for them. When they moved their sidelined rookie starter, Roki Sasaki, to the role of closer this postseason, suddenly he, too, was perfect.
October baseball, at its best, is about nail-biters and unpredictable outcomes. It’s about extra innings and unsung utility players stealing a base and changing the arc of a series.
The World Series starts this week, with the Dodgers facing Seattle or Toronto, depending on who wins the American League championship. For the sake of the fans and the sake of the game, let’s hope it will offer a bit more drama and much-needed diversion. And that the Dodgers will get a bit of competition instead of what seems like certain coronation.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
If the Mariners make it, one of the two teams will feature a BA as low as the Giants with RISP and worse SF and K rates. The other will have spent a shit ton of money. Their fans probably don’t talk a lot about fundamentals, clubhouse culture or worry about who the manager is.
Unless ALCS winner can stop them that would give Dogs 3/6. Previous one before that 1988. While Giants celebrate 3/5, it’s 3/68 since first moving to SF. In that time Dogs already have 7: 1959 63 65 81 88 20 24.
81 and 20 don’t weigh as much. The trophies are half-sized.
cheapos for sure. I do remember watching some games in 59 WS vs. White Sox, who had cool uni and Luis Aparicio.
I understand it wasn’t for the pennant but this single game performance (below) goes right up there with Ohtani’s and with LA up 3-0 in the series it wasn’t exactly a high pressure game.
https://baseballhall.org/discover/short-stops/rick-wise-no-hitter
Nice, there were quite a few pitchers going the distance in those days. Doing it against the big red machine was no small feat.
The article from the previous thread seems to give more reasons why this guy is unlikely to become the next manager. Horrendous idea reuniting Scherzer and Verlander who the Mets paid insane money just to get rid of not so long ago. Reminds me of our 120 year old outfield of Moises, Finley and Bonds. And what does Buster care what they spend on anybody?
The Dodgers basically deferring Ohtani’s entire contract was a major nail in baseball’s coffin…
Loo, I remember that Rick Wise game, watching on the tube, probably with my Dad, big Phils fan. That was special because it was so unexpected. I don’t know, man. Ohtani is on a whole other level. Kinda reminds me of some Chinese physical education students I’d see at some of the universities I worked at now and then in China way back. Definitely bred for athletics. Not saying that about O, I know he’s not Chinese, but he reminds me of that…. almost machine like. Who was that character in some Sci Fi thing i forget the name of… Gunny someone…
They can play some ping pong too.
HS buddy of mine was at Stanford-Florida State game last night and Cardinal won. that’s gotta be a fireable offense.
Vlad Jr. makes it 5-0.
How about what O’s starter Dave McNally did in Game 3 of the 1970 World Series vs. the Reds? Pitched a complete game victory — Ohtani only went 6 — and hit a grand slam for 4 RBI, or 1 more than Ohtani had with his 3 clouts.
Hell yeah, and how about the Tony Cloninger game of 1966 (against SF of course) on 7/3/66, which btw he played in while his son Moises was being born…
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN196607030.shtml
And get a load of Cloninger’s little known dress rehearsal just 19 days earlier…
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL196606160.shtml
Great win for the Niners!
Well the Dodgers will have long break. Lets hope it messes them up!
Great share Craig. My dad was a life long Sox fan, and us getting 6 titles 11 years was great for him. We were always glad they never played each other in the WS!