Goodbye to the 2013 season (and to the blog)

(sigh)

Well, that's the way it's going to end.  We send our best pitcher to the mound and he gets destroyed.  In that respect, the Cards more than deserve it.  They're much more consistent in hitting and pitching.  Doesn't make their fans any easier to take, of course.

Expectations for the Dodgers this year were all over the map, but there was unity in where we as fans wanted to go, and that was the World Series.  Damn it, if we have to over-spend to get there, we don't care.  It's not "our" money, right?  Despite stunning incoherence in the dugout, they made it to the NLCS and, unlike the strong Dodger teams at the end of last decade, we waited until the end of the sixth game to bow out.  That's progress, I guess.  It was really a tale of 3 seasons this year...

Season 1:

The start was mediocre until we hit May.  San Fran swept the Dodgers out of town...who then arrived home to have Arizona do the same.  That six game stretch was one of the least inspiring efforts I'd seen the Dodgers make since Jim "I think I'm awake" Tracy was the manager.  This was tough to watch for a lot of reasons, the biggest being that this was NOT a difficult division this year.  The Dodgers were doing it to themselves where it doesn't feel good.  Compound that with Donny's "managing" and it felt like the team was screwed before the game began.  June started the same way, and it took an 8-2 end to the month to push the team to a winning monthly record for the first time this year.  Things were turning around.

Season 2:

People were getting healthy, Puig arrived to do his thing, and the increased run support made it tougher for Donny to fuck up the games.  He got to do what American League managers do best: sit.

Monthly average run totals per game
April: 3.38
May: 3.67
June: 3.82
July: 5.00
August: 4.41

Notice a trend there?  The team was scoring more, easing the burden on pitching (particularly keeping away the problem children in the bullpen) and setting in motion the sensational streak during the dog days of summer.  Like a rocket, the Dodgers were in first...and it didn't look like it would be a struggle to clinch.

Season 3:
After such a streak, and against an average-to-bad division, this should continue to be a breeze, right?  The only non-division series was against Cincinnati and it showed that, after Donny masterminded the game before the trip, the Dodgers were swept by a play-in game playoff team.  Didn't do much for anyone's confidence, but Donny (in press and on this blog) didn't seem to care.  The rest of the month?  A losing record.  That back and forth.

Atlanta was good.  I think we all knew as long as the bullpen of the early season series wouldn't get to make the trip, we liked their chances.

St. Louis...well, it was rose colored glasses.  I knew they'd be tough, but it didn't work out.  As said above, so be it.

Player I was wrong about

Juan Uribe

OK, I admit it.  I also admit my failure in not noticing one key motivator for Juan, beyond food (of course): his contract is up at the end of the year.  When Luis Cruz showed up DOA at the start of the season, and HanRam out more often than not, Cruz filled the void with his "swing from the heels" bat.  No speed what-so-ever, but pretty good fielding.  Juan gives his best batting average and on-base percentage since 2009.  Good for him.  The home run against Atlanta in game 4?  INSANE.  He made $8 million last year, and he can command more than that now if his agent is good enough...I would rather he not do it for the Dodgers.  The team paid him over $20 million and received .204/.191 and then .278.  With the team signing another Cuban escapee (Alex Guerrero) for large bucks, it means he he'd have to prove his ability at 3rd quickly (or Ellis is out at 2nd).  Still, send the guy some pizza(s).  He over-achieved in a big way...one I didn't think was possible.

Player I was right about

Dee Gordon

Can barely hit.  Can barely field.  In the immortal words of Lou Brown "You may run like Mays but you hit like shit."  Donny puts him on the playoff roster, and was part of Donny's genius swap in game 1.  Pinch runner, replaces Gonzo at 1st, and then DOESN'T ATTEMPT TO STEAL A BASE.  

Moves - fielders

Re-sign

A.J. Ellis

Young (for a 1-2 year contract, and a better deal for us)

Send to minors

Federowicz

Van Slyke

Cut/Release

Schumaker (unless he wants to just pitch)

Punto

Hairston

You know what...I don't care...I really don't.  I don't care if we get screwed on the deal, and I don't care about the rest, just get rid of Brandon League.  Or Donny.  One or the other.  When they get together, the results are disastrous.  And we want to win.  Every game.  The Dodgers owe Brandon $20 million+ in that contract.  Guys, figure it out.  I could do more research on this, but I don't think I need to - you understand my point.

And so, goodbye

I can't say I was really involved in the creation of this blog (it started as Twins-focused) but I'd chime in every now and then.  There were some really entertaining writers around as you can see in the history.  After the famous 2010 ALDS, it all shut down.  Drew said it best: they entered Vikings territory.  I increased my Dodger writings but continued to hope (want) someone else to join me.  The reaction I received more often than not was "send me some posts...I like reading your stuff."  Well, thanks, but do you...

It isn't just the rough Midwestern obstacle effort that presented the problem - it was LA folks, too.  I'm well aware this blog is way too late in the game to make a difference (and we all have real lives and jobs in the way) but this wasn't intended to be a one-man operation.  And as I see other blogs I write on die (and die), blogs that were fun to read and participate within, well, there's no need speak into an unplugged microphone.  Maybe it's all passe, I don't know.  I'll continue to write on Pacific Gold when the mood strikes (a blog much more free form) but it appears now only for my benefit when everyone else is taking pictures of food.

Though it goes without saying, I'll say it anyway - good season!  Optimistic for next season.  Always enjoying a great Lasorda picture (eating or otherwise).  He outlived the blog and he'll outlive a lot of those cows out in the pasture ready to transform themselves to meatballs.  

Thanks for reading.  And, as Vin says...

So Long. 

Yea, our prayers are answered

Steve Lyons and Eric Collins will no longer be in the broadcast booth for the Dodgers next season. The LA Times writes that the team will make a change next year ending a run that saw Lyons working on the Dodgers' television broadcasts for nine years, most recently as an analyst on road games and on pregame and postgame shows. Collins has covered the team for five years, and handled play-by-play on televised games outside California and Arizona which were also games that the legendary Vin Scully did not travel.  

One Down, Two to Go!

(Former Dodgers manager and famous eater Tommy Lasorda was caught in a break of his post-game celebratory meal where he answered a few questions.)

So I finished that "personal size" pizza, but if that's all you got, I'm gonna need two more.  Huh?  These are medium?  Whatever.  Ah - extra Italian sausage!  Perfecto!

I'm about to...can I get another glass of my award-winning wine?  Thanks, Dave.  I can't begin to eat pizza #2 unless we have some wine here.  People talk about me and talk pasta, but I love pizza, too.  It's a great "on-the-go" meal.  Sometimes I'm eating Sicilian Sausage sandwiches, and next thing you know, the bread slips, and it's a huge mess.  Remember what I always tell you: Never Waste Food.  If someone's about to toss about a wedge of garlic bread, pizza crust, half bottle of vinaigrette, or Hostess Baseball, I'm right in their face!  Then that food goes into my face.

I've got to start quick, where's the wine?  Uribe is one of my heroes from our first round victory over the Braves!  Crawford is as well, and don't forget about K.  Kershaw and Koufax.  They are the bookends of this franchise.  Hershiser is the bookmark.  But Uribe, once he sees this pizza, I'm screwed.  He might match me in pounds, but he's got decades on me.

Los Angeles can be a tough place to find decent pizza.  This is a burger town, as you know.  It's tough when I'd be on my way home from a game, and all the Italian restaurants are closed.  The open pizza places serve that "New York" style that's like sauce on a paper towel.  I once ate a New York style pizza in one sitting and then turned to Jerry Reuss and said "where are we going for dinner?"  That frustration lead me to one of my famous endorsements: Chicago Brothers frozen pizza.


My brothers have a restaurant back east, too.  You can get the Lasorda family special - 5 pounds of pasta in a big - ah there's the wine!

The fruits of victory!  There's nothing like it.  Hey Juan...you oughtta try some fruit one of these (belch) whoop.  OK, time to eat.  Move it.