“Don’t you know?
Don’t you know things can change
Things’ll go your way
If you hold on for one more day”
~Wilson Philips
Good morning from our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.! I think I picked a good time to be on limited social media and TV time of watching our beloved team. Last week was not the best of weeks for the Dodgers. But, it is my job in this weekly recap to come up with only the positives. So, here we go.
“Cue the music out the driveway
Slow summer on a Friday
Here we go again, wild in the wind
Mama knows she’s gonna be late”
~David Nail
Last week was almost the tale of two different teams. But then again, the games were against the best team in the National League, and then the worst team in the National League. The Dodgers offense sputtered against the Chicago Cubs pitchers, except for the Cubs bullpen in Tuesday’s game, losing three of four against them, then came home to sweep the Braves.
“Hit that playback
Let’s get back to it now.
You and Me we’re like a simple song
Yeah so damn easy to sing along,
I don’t need a guitar or a band,
Cause baby you’re my Summer Jam”
“Like any great love, it keeps you guessing
Like any real love, it’s ever changing
Like any true love, it drives you crazy
But you know you are wouldn’t change it for anything, anything, anything”
~Taylor Swift
“And when the tears you cry
Are all you can believe
Just give these loving arms a try
Have a little faith in me”
~Joe Cocker
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain
I’ll bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you?
~Carly Simon
As a fan, sometimes it feels as though the national media may be against your team. It really seemed that the ESPN Sunday Night game was very Cardinals heavy, and not so much about the Dodgers. I decided to go back through the game and time how much each team, and subsequent filler, were talked about.
Strangers waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlights, people
Livin’ just to find emotion
Hidin’ somewhere in the night
Going into the previous week, I was a little worried about how the Dodgers would be able to handle two good teams back-to-back, starting with a four-game series versus the defending National League Champion New York Mets, and the ever tough to play St. Louis Cardinals. And it ended up about as good as I could’ve hoped, with a split with the Mets and taking two of three from the Cards.
“Nobody does it better
Makes me feel sad for the rest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Baby you’re the best”
~Carly Simon
A little something different on the blog tonight. I will be doing a play-by-play of sorts, following the game along from my point of view and that of DodgerFam on Twitter.
“Times have changed and times are strange
Here I come but I ain’t the same
Mama I’m Coming Home”
~Ozzy Osbourne
Part of the fun of doing a weekly baseball column is that so many things vary from week to week. Last week I was looking for optimistic things to write about. This week is a bit easier. The Dodgers‘ offensive and bullpen woes are still there, but a winning road trip capped off with win on Mother’s Day is always cause for celebration.
“Do you wake up on your own
And wonder where you are?
You live with all your faults”
~Johnny Rzeznik
My first memories of Chase Utley are with the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Red Barons. The Red Barons were my local Triple-A affiliate and there was quite the crew there for awhile — in addition to Chase, there was also Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell and Shane Victorino. Utley was only in Scranton for a year, and even though I’m not a Phillies fan, I have always continued to follow him and the others throughout their careers.
Think Blue Planning Committee 