This was a craptastic, forgettable week for the Dodgers. I, your resident source of Optimism and Sunshine, will recap only the good and beautiful from the past week. It may be a short post.
Author: Andy Lane Chapman
Position: Columnist
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Height:5'4" Weight: 140 lb.
Born: August 30, 1976 Ft Huachucha AZ
High School: Honesdale High School (Honesdale PA)
College:York College (York PA)
Dodgers Fan Since: 1976
Favorite Dodgers Players: Steve Sax, Brett Butler, Clayton Kershaw
Favorite Band: Dixie Chicks, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church
About: Wedding flower designer, knitter, avid reader and addicted to Twitter. Lover of wine, dance parties in my kitchen, and useless information. Married to a Mets fan, Mom to 2 boys and a golden retriever.
Let’s Go Crazy
Let’s go crazy
Let’s get nuts
Let’s look for the purple banana
‘Til they put us in the truck, let’s go!
(Be honest, you didn’t know those were the words either)
Of course in our musical tag line we had to use a Prince song. The way this road trip ended, the logical choice was Let’s Go Crazy. (I’m really happy I didn’t have to use I Hate U). Quite a few crazy things happened on this road trip, from the horrid conditions of Turner Field, to comebacks, to an eephus pitch, to insane flips and catches and throws.
Dancing Days Are Here Again…
“I said it’s alright – You know it’s alright – I guess it’s all in my heart.” ~Page/Plant
Safe to say DodgerFam is feeling a little better this week. The Dodgers took two of three in each series against the Diamondbacks and Giants, moving to an 8-5 record and sole ownership of first place in the division. The bullpen, the subject of so much angst in the first week, and later losing the home opener, has not allowed a run in the last 14 innings. Howie Kendrick and Yasmani Grandal returned from the disabled list, and Enrique Hernandez went on a tear against Madison Bumgarner in a 7-3 win Friday night.
Ahhhhhhh…….Freak Out! (le Freak, c’est Chic)
All that pressure got you down
Has your head spinning all around
Feel the rhythm, check the ride
Come on along and have a real good timeLe Freak – Chic
Remember last Monday? When the Dodgers scored 15 runs, Kershaw threw seven innings of shutout ball allowing only one hit, and all was right with the world? Here we are a mere week later, and all those good feelings have gone away. Coming off losing three of four to the Giants, one of which included Ross Stripling being pulled from his no-hitter in the 7th to see the lead gone in two pitches, one can only think that the Dodgers season is doomed, done, over. Time to pack it in, forget that there are 155 games left to go.
Continue reading “Ahhhhhhh…….Freak Out! (le Freak, c’est Chic)”
Shiny Happy People Holding Hands
(Photo Credit: zimbio.com)
Really, it was very sweet of the Dodgers to echo the optimism of my post earlier today. Who cares about 10 players on the DL when the team you have scores 15 runs in their first game?
Ok, so I know that not every game is going to be this good. Of course it can’t be. But there’s not much more of an emphatic way that you can start off a season by scoring 15 runs while blanking a division rival.
Anticipation
And tomorrow we might not be together I’m no prophet and I don’t know nature’s ways So I’ll try and see into your eyes right now And stay right here ’cause these are the good old days
-Carly Simon Anticipation
Opening Day is upon us. The best day of the year. Anything is possible, and dreams are full of a World Series run. Who cares if half your team is on the disabled list? Who cares that your pitching staff has the best one there is, plus who knows who? That your manager is a rookie, and there’s too many brains in the front office? That your payroll is too high for all the uncertainty. And that you’re desperately trying not to remember that the treasure of your ball club is retiring at the end of the year and you have limited time left to listen to him.
There’s (Some) New Kids in Town
“There’s talk on the street; it sounds so familiar
Great expectations, everybody’s watching you
People you meet, they all seem to know you
Even your old friends treat you like you’re something new.” ~Glenn Frey/Don Henley
Anyone paying a half bit of attention has noticed that there are quite a few names making noise in the Dodgers‘ spring training camp this year. Some are becoming famous on Twitter, such as Cody Bellinger for his quest to get to 10,000 followers (#CodyLove), Jack Murphy for his amazing hair, and Charlie Culberson for his sky high batting average. Others are opening eyes with their speed (Rico Noel), or clutch hitting like Rob Segedin. I thought I’d take a quick look at some of this newfound depth the Dodgers have.
Cody Bellinger – Cody is a left-handed first baseman who was drafted by the Dodgers in the fourth round of 2013 draft. Bellinger is the #6 ranked Dodgers prospect on MLB Pipeline. He has spent the last two years with Ogden and Rancho Cucamonga, where he was selected to both the mid-season and postseason All-Star teams.
He has a wonderful progression, hitting three homers in 2014, and 30 in 2015, which he attributes to fine-tuning his swing mechanics and putting some weight on his 6’4″ frame. He seems to be the heir apparent to Adrian Gonzalez at first base. Bellinger was given his first non-roster invite to spring training this year where in five games, has a .667 average with a 1.394 OPS. (Dennis composed a profile on Bellinger back in December)
Charlie Culberson – Culberson is a right-handed hitting utility infielder who was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the first round of the 2007 draft. He was traded to the Colorado Rockies straight-up for Marco Scutaro in 2012. He was eventually called up to the majors on July 29, 2013, platooning with Corey Dickerson in left field. Culberson signed a minor league contract, which included a spring training invite, with the Dodgers last November. He started off incredibly hot, and through six Cactus League games he has a .700 batting average and 2.000 OPS.
Jack Murphy– Murphy is a doppelgänger of Oakland A’s pitcher Dennis Eckersley — long wavy hair and a fantastic mustache. Murphy came from Toronto in the trade that saw Darwin Barney depart Los Angeles. The switch hitting catcher attended Princeton University and has played the last three offseasons with the Canberra Calvary in the Australian Baseball League, where he was named both their MVP and Silver Slugger in the 2014 season. In three games this spring he is batting .500.
Rico Noel – Jablonski Rico Noel was drafted in the 2010 MLB draft by the San Diego Padres. He stole 90 bases in 2012 with the Lake Elsinore Storm in the Class A-Advanced California League. He was in Triple-A in 2015 with the Padres, but ultimately asked to be released. After signing a new deal with the Yankees, he was promoted to the majors on Sept 1, 2015. He hit a single in his first plate appearance and stole five total bases for New York last season.
Noel was removed from the Yankees’ 40-man roster over the winter, eventually signing with the Dodgers to a minor league contract with an NRI to spring training. In eight games this spring, he’s only batting .222, but has stolen three bases. He could make a great late season call up, especially considering manager Dave Roberts‘ philosophy of manufacturing runs.
Rob Segedin – Segedin is a right-handed hitting corner infielder/outfielder who’s career has been plagued by injuries. He has suffered from Pars Defect, a stress fracture in the vertibrea of the spine, in addition to femur defects that saw him undergo labrum surgery and having the bones of his hips shaved. He was heathy through 2014, but sprained his wrist in 2015 going into the stands after a ball.
Segedin came to the Dodgers over the winter via trade with the Yankees for Ronald Torreyes and Tyler Olson. He’s off to a hot start in spring training, having a two-homer game and batting .313 with a 1.228 OPS. Playing first, third and the outfield, he figures to start at third for Oklahoma City, and be there waiting in the wings if injuries begin to plague the infield.
Trayce Thompson – Selected by the Chicago White Sox in the second round of the 2009 draft, Trayce played most of his career in the minors, being promoted to the Majors on August 3 2015. On December 16, 2015, he was traded to the Dodgers along with Frankie Montas and Micah Johnson in a three team trade that included the Cincinnati Reds sending Todd Frazier to Chicago and three players from LA to the Reds.
Trayce, as has been widely reported, is the brother of 1/2 of the Splash Brothers, Klay Thompson and son of former NBA player Mychal Thompson. He is the Dodgers #15 ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline and has played in seven of eight spring training games. An outfielder, he is poised to be in contention for Carl Crawford‘s spot of the roster should Crawford continue his decline in play.
While all stats in spring training should be taken with a grain of salt, it is safe to say that the Dodgers have players that have added excellent depth for this year and for years to come.
(Photo Credits: Noall Knighton/Ogden Raptors & Ben Southall/SMP Images)
What About Bob?
There’s another new coach I don’t know much about in the Dodgers‘ dugout. Bob Geren will be joining rookie manager Dave Roberts as bench coach. Geren is filling the role left by Tim Wallach, who followed Don Mattingly to Miami.
Geren is a former catcher who spent 10 years in the minor leagues before making his debut with the New York Yankees in 1988. He stayed with the Yankees for four years, spent a year in the minors with the Pawtucket Red Sox, then played his final year with the San Diego Padres in 1993.
Geren has coached his way through the ranks, starting in the Red Sox organization at both the Rookie and Class A levels, before joining the Oakland A’s to manage their Triple-A team in Sacramento. He was promoted to bench coach for the A’s in 2002, where he remained through 2006. On November 27, 2006 he ascended to manager in Oakland, where he guided the A’s to their first losing season since 1998.
His time with Oakland was rocky — he received an extension on his contract, but his managing style was questioned after several players voiced their displeasure. Former A’s reliever Huston Street called him the “least favorite person I have ever encountered in sports.” He was fired on June 9, 2011.
On October 14, 2011 he was hired to be the bench coach for the New York Mets. Geren would go on to spend four years in New York, which included a run to the World Series last season. In December, he was hired by the Dodgers to be bench coach, after having interviewed for the managerial position in early November. Geren and his wife are from California, and have stated that the favorable location had weighed a lot in his decision to come to Los Angeles.
Geren has many good things to say about manager Dave Roberts. In an interview with Robert Pace of Fox Sports, Geren said, “His (Roberts) enthusiasm is infectious, his personality is off the charts. He’s a great pick, just a great choice.”
Geren also feels that he can be a good teacher for the younger Roberts, and that they can lean on and learn from each other.
Hearing that he’s been called the “least favorite person” that someone has met in sports in concerning for sure, but his years of experience and his willingness to be open to the ideas of the front office should provide a good sounding board for Dave Roberts as they strive to take the Dodgers deep into the postseason.
(Photo Credits: Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA TODAY Sports & Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)
Doctor My Eyes
I’ll admit I didn’t know too much about Dodgers‘ new manager Dave Roberts when he was hired. I had a vague recollection of his steal in the ’04 ALCS that helped propel the Red Sox past the Yankees and into the World Series, and also that he had previously played for the Dodgers (’02-’04).
The first thing that I notice about him is his smile. Such a girly thing to notice, right? But from my armchair psychologist view, it says a lot. Sure, we saw Don Mattingly smile a lot during his time with the Dodgers. But in retrospect it always seemed strained to some degree. Maybe that’s just Mattingly’s nature. Roberts’ smile is huge and genuine. Being genuine surely can only help being a first time manager of an iconic baseball team.
Much of Roberts’ playing career was marred by injury. But he was excellent at manufacturing runs, which is something this Dodgers team can only benefit from after ranking 19th in the Majors in runs scored last year. More offensive output can only bolster the confidence of a pitching staff many have questions about, after Clayton Kershaw.
Roberts started out the season by reaching out to Yasiel Puig, and saying that they were starting with a fresh slate. He met with each player one-on-one at the beginning of spring training. Brandon McCarthy had some great things to say, according to Eric Stephen via Twitter
Roberts even joined in the annual ping pong tournament, partnered with Joc Pederson
Maybe the most important aspect, though, is that he buys into and is aligned with the thinking of this front office. Roberts, along with new bench coach Bob Geren who previously was with the NL champion New York Mets, take into account the analytics and stats along with the old school thought. Mattingly never seemed to be comfortable with all of that.
Dave Roberts nickname is ‘Doc’, a play on his initials DR. Maybe he is just what the doctor ordered to finally get the Dodgers into the World Series.
Allow Myself to Introduce…Myself
(Editor’s note: TBPC would like to welcome Andy Lane Chapman to the writing team. Hopefully, Andy will tolerate the quirkiness of both myself and the blog site and continue to contribute many insightful articles in the future. Feel free to give her a follow on Twitter.)
When I first joined Twitter, I was told a few times by other Dodgers fans, that I was not a “real fan”. A “real fan” couldn’t possibly live outside California, let alone all the way across the country. Of course this is a load of bull, but allow me to tell you how I became a Dodgers fan that lives in Pennsylvania.
My father was military, and I was born in Ft. Huachuca, AZ. My mother was the baseball fan in the family; she grew up going to see the Dodgers in the bleacher seats in the 50’s My family had just moved from Germany to Arizona, and my mother was able to enjoy baseball again. The only team on her TV was the Dodgers. I am proud to say that my first major league baseball game, at the ripe old age of 15 months, was at Dodger Stadium.
My father retired after 20 years of service, and moved my family back to NorthEast PA. My mother continued to follow the Dodgers, and so I grew up with the love of them, shunning the thought of rooting for the local teams, the Phillies, the Mets, or God forbid the Yankees. My first crush, age 6, was Steve Sax. Not being able to watch too many games on TV, I poured over the paper the day after games to read the box score and find out the outcome of the game. I clearly remember to this day, KNOWING Kirk Gibson was going to hit that homer in ’88.
Flash forward to today. My love of the Boys in Blue hasn’t wavered, I daresay it has only intensified. Twitter has made me feel much more connected to them, being able to converse with other fans and having access to real-time info. And thanks to the baseball package and mlb.tv, I am able to watch almost every game and listen to the best there is, Vin Scully. Now I am excited to continue that love and learning about this team though here. I look forward to connecting with other Dodgers fans, no matter where we’re located. You can follow me @DodgerGirlinPA on Twitter.
Think Blue Planning Committee 