This is no joke: My wife and I went to see “The Way Way Back” tonight, and in the moments before the movie started, I was tracking the Dodgers and Blue Jays on my cellphone.
With two out in the ninth and two strikes on Andre Ethier, I stopped getting updates.
I checked Twitter, and this is the last tweet that was made available.
Wow
— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) July 25, 2013
That was all I got. The movie started, and my phone went reluctantly back into my pocket.
But the picture was quite enjoyable. I actually lost myself in it right away. When it ended, I hesitated to go back to my cellphone to spoil my state of contentment.
But walking to the car, I checked again.
Here’s the part that I think is the craziest (aside from scoring the tying run from first base on a single, or following that with five runs in the 10th inning off a pitcher with a 0.00 ERA, or Brandon “Never give up! Never surrender!” League pitching two shutout innings for his second win in two nights):
Seventeen runners in scoring position. I know Dodger fans, like me, were frustrated that the team wasn’t converting those runners into runs, that it was an unpleasant reminder of the first 2 1/2 months of the season. Honestly, during that Ethier at-bat, I was ready to tweet, “The Dodgers stole one Tuesday, then gave it back tonight.”
But 17 runners in scoring position. Do you realize what it takes to get that? And it was just another night for the Dodgers, who ended up with at least eight runs for the fourth night in a row for the first time since 1985 and the third time in Los Angeles history.
And as you no doubt have heard by now, the Dodgers won their 10th consecutive road game for the first time since 1954, and as Mike Petriello at Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness points out, they are on their first 23-5 run since 1955.
Can we just call this October and pop the champagne? I sure feel like it. Why let The Man decide when we declare ourselves World Champions? This is our moment.
Or can the Dodgers play like this in the fall? That’d be good, too.
KT
Jon, you know what even with the poor hitting with RISP I knew we would pull this game out…not quite in the fashion we did but the faith is there…so much stronger than before
KT
were do I push the like button for this post
Anonymous
Things are clicking right now and I’m loving it!
Anonymous
Cubs win in 12 innings!
Anonymous
Cubs just beat the DBacks, 7-6, in 12 innings. The Dodgers now lead the NL West by 1.5 games over Arizona.
Anonymous
For the second night in a row, I had to go off line when we were behind in the eighth, and back they came! What a grand team to watch right now!
KT
You realize now that you are going to have to do this every time from now on when we are behind
Anonymous
Uh-oh. What if I’m at the game, like tonight?
KT
a quick trip to the bathroom should cover it ^_^
Casey Barker
Ha! I left for a walk after the eighth and came back as Mark Ellis was being interviewed after the game. Incredible.
Anonymous
I’m hoping for #7 to celebrate Vinny’s bobblehead . . . and my annual (now that McCourt’s not getting my ticket $) visit to Dodger Stadium!
Anonymous
The greatest thing was, I was absolutely confident that they’d come back and win. What kind of crazy feeling is that?
Anonymous
Same here.
KT
me too
Anonymous
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324783204578624080945629380.html
I enjoyed this article on the A’s which is subtitled “If You Turn Your Back on an Athletics Baserunner, He May Already Be Halfway to Second”
Anonymous
Exciting, but overall, not very productive. If you’re getting thrown out 3 out of 7 times, you’re hurting your team. That said, I’m still amazed that the A’s continue to find inequities to exploit.
Jon Weisman
John Sickels revisits his preseason look at the Dodger farm system. http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/7/25/4552856/los-angeles-dodgers-top-20-2013-pre-season-prospects-in-review
Anonymous
We’re seeing The Way Way Back during game time tonight. I may have to sneak a peek around 9.
foul tip
Crazy as this is, since it involved a season-ending injury, it’s amazing it didn’t happen to the Dodgers
Especially since the player’s first name is Mattingly.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20130724/skydiver-minor-league-mattingly-romanin.ap/?sct=hp_t2_a16&eref=sihp
Anonymous
wtf. Can we be done with this kind of idiocy before ballgames? If this had happened to Hanley, there would have been lawsuits a plenty.
Anonymous
Eric Stephen put up the following: Dodgers VP of scouting Logan White was a guest of Jarred Massey and Dustin Nosler on the Dugout Blues podcast.
Jon Weisman
Ted Lilly has been designated for assignment.
KT
the only real option they had…every one knew we had no spot for him and who would want to give you something for him when they knew it would cost nothing
Anonymous
I thought he was going to be an out-of-the-bullpen guy? When did that change?
KT
He wouldn’t be able to handle the warming up and cooling down that a reliever has to endure also it takes a lot longer for him to get ready to pitch
Anonymous
Wasn’t Puig hitting him hard in bp during the time Puig wasn’t making contact during games. Assumes both players were practicing against each other rather than Lilly merely tossing home run derby lobs.
Anonymous
How glad are we that Steve Cohen didn’t win the bidding for the Dodgers last year.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/sac-capital-is-indicted/?hp
Jon Weisman
NPUT