By Jon Weisman
All at once, I feel the need to say something and say nothing.
With the contradiction of a first-place team that’s lost five straight games, my sense is that anyone who would listen to me already knows what I’m going to say, and anyone who doesn’t already know what I’m going to say won’t be convinced. People have had plenty of opportunity to hear my way of thinking, and to take it or leave it.
So maybe I’m just talking to myself here, or maybe I should be.
Here’s what frustrates me. When the Dodgers were at their best this season, scoring runs at a record pace or winning two-thirds of their games, I would never have said they were a World Series lock. Not because they weren’t capable, not because that wasn’t the goal, but because even the best teams can lose a playoff series in an instant. You have to wait and see.
But when the Dodgers fall on hard times, there’s almost nowhere you can turn without people saying the season is over. Even though, as horrible as I keep hearing the Dodgers are, they moved into first place April 17 and have stayed there every day except one.
Maybe the Dodgers are the democracy of baseball — the worst team of the National League West except for all the others. Or maybe they’ll be passed by the Giants this week and left behind forever.
The Dodgers can’t keep struggling to take a lead, can’t keep giving the lead up once they get one, and expect to hang on. After Sunday’s loss, even Clayton Kershaw threw out the word “panic,” though he later changed it to “urgency.”
What I can’t relate to is the insistence that the Dodgers at their worst must be the true Dodgers, that every win is an aberration, every loss is reality and no problem will be solved. I can’t relate to the race within the community to condemn this team — a race that frankly has been going on most of the year on social media.
In many cases, this is just frustration talking, and the fans in reality won’t give up until the last out. But sometimes, it feels like the frustration when the Dodgers lose is a lot louder than the celebration when they win.
Dodger fans have perennially been more invested in their team than anyone outside Los Angeles gives them credit for, living and dying with every game, every inning, every moment. But when cynicism becomes the dominant attitude, I guess I wonder, what’s the point?
We cherish the story of Bob Costas ridiculing the 1988 Dodgers’ World Series lineup and being proven wrong, yet with the 2015 Dodgers, so many have become Bob Costases themselves, the irony lost. The 1981 champions sleepwalked through the second half of that season (27-26) and scored one run in their first 20 postseason innings. Local fans and media routinely trashed the 1965 champions. The 1959 champions spent 21 days in first place all year.
It’s a long season.
While blind faith might not be useful, neither is blind dissent. I would never suggest anyone ignore the Dodgers’ flaws — believe me, no one inside the organization is — but even in the name of frustration, must we ignore their capabilities as well? Clayton Kershaw is as much of a realist as anyone, but he’s not giving up.
Forgive the melodrama, forgive my tired old act, but who will stand with me in the face of hard times and simply say they still believe?
Tot Holmes
Of course you are right but it is tough to see them lose in so many different ways.
Terry Bowers
I have been a Dodger Fan (Brooklyn and LA) since I saw them in Cooperstown in 1951 and have been up and down with them since. I certainly am not gonna give up on a team that is in IST PLACE !
Steven Shaw
In Brooklyn we called them the Bums but they were our Bums and nobody better tell us they stank cause only we could say they stank. and only we could call them Bums. they were the Brooklyn Bums and we loved them.
suekamm
It’s hard to believe when we see the bullpen implode. It’s hard to believe with a starting rotation of Kershaw, Greinke, and three guys named “who?” It’s hard to believe when management (a) trades Dee Gordon, who’s been tearing up the league for Miami, and (b) sends Mike Bolsinger to AAA. (Let’s bring Ned Coletti back. Please.)
I still believe in Donnie Baseball. (I applaud his decision to sit Joc Pederson. IMNSHO, Joc has let his early-season fame go to his head.) I still believe in Yasiel Puig, Andre Ethier, and Justin Turner.
Jason Ungar
if they bring back coletti then i really would never believe. id rather have kendrick and KIke then Gordon.
Al Kenderes (@Coach__K)
I remain a fan, but we need to see some more effort from the players and coaches. Show some emotion! Act like you care!
Another area to improve on is: situational hitting (especially in close games). I am not sure the hitting coach or manager believes in it, I know Mattingly was criticized for bunting too much, but there are other ways to move runners (e.g. hit & run, steals, hitting oppo). Their mental approach at the plate seems to consist of swinging hard and hoping to make contact. I think this mind set is what is hurting Pederson. Maybe this is what the hitting coach preaches. I would like to see more effort to giving yourself up advance runners.
Larry Manocchio
I gave up on the Dodgers when they stopped showing their games on television for the last 2 years. Any organization that treats fans like that is crap. I hope the team wins but if they don’t, who cares??
Al Kenderes (@Coach__K)
giving yourself up to advance runners.
juhlieann
Expressing frustration or disappointment means we still care. Should we have a flatlined reaction whether they win or lose? It sure seems like Mattingly does – his emotion seems the same no matter what the scoreboard says.
Maybe the team (or writers like yourself) shouldn’t freak out when fans express their feelings. They’re just feelings. We get to have them, up or down.
I would also point out that the game more than statistics, just like I’m more than my resume′. Sometimes its the intangibles that make all the difference.
Finally, history is prologue. Mattingly keeps saying that was yesterday, today’s a new day. Well, yeah, but analyzing ‘history’ is valuable information to make decisions today.
artieboy
Exactly…kudos to you!
Yolie Scott
I love my Dodgers but you can’t stay in 1st place and hope to get to the World Series with only two pitchers and no bull pen to speak of.
AL Jabour
I have been a dodger fan for 61 years , and this new gm & vp have no concept of how to put a team together. zahadi needs to step down as well as honeycutt who has dragged down at least 4 managers to be fired. How in hell do you take out Kershaw on sunday when he is pitching so well. I know he probably wanted to finish what he started. Good grief & with there resources they did not pick a good starting pitcher. very dissapointing
Mark Hagerstrom
I am going to guess that you have a ton of grievances behind these sweeping claims. Hopefully, bringing in one of the game’s top relievers after your starter has thrown 111 pitches is not one of them.
jpavko
I had about reached ny limit before Sunday, but Jansen letting that game get away was inexcusable. I still think Kershaw should have been left in to finish. As the lifelong Brooklander said, they’re my team and I’ll stick with them until the end. “A lot” of team play and self sacrifice would be appreciated , but I’ll go to the grave or October, whichever comes first saying “Go Blue”
frednaz
The frustrating part of watching the Dodgers is not knowing what the coaches are saying to the players and what the front office is capable of. I like the addition of Utley. I don’t like signing both McCarthy and Anderson. Take a chance with one pitcher that has an injury history but not two. That is like a few years ago when the Dodgers had their 3, 4, and 5 hitters composed of injury prone Drew, Werth, and Garciaparra.
If the Dodgers are not going to win a Division or a playoff round or two or a World Series, then I want to root for the players that have come up from the Dodger organization and not have to root for rentals from other teams.
I don’t think Kemp and Puig meshed well and I don’t think Kemp was going to be happy with Pederson playing CF but I liked Kemp and I liked Gordon and I liked Loney for that matter.
I have been really rooting for Pederson starting before this year and now I might not be able to watch him play as painful as that has been for a few months. All I read about is how much Pederson wants to succeed and how much he listens and how hard he works and now I hear that maybe he is too much in love with the home run.
I want to watch Pederson play but I agree that he needs a week off. That is different than saying he has lost his starting job to Hernandez. I hope he hasn’t.
Mark Hagerstrom
Thanks for reminding me how much I hate that song. Go Dodgers!
dembums55
Here’s what I’m fighting: will a division championship and first round exit leave me even remotely happy or satisfied? I really don’t think so. Obviously all fans want the ultimate prize for their teams; however, most know that it isn’t within realistic reach. I live in Colorado and any realistic Rockies fan knows that a WS is not in the cards before spring training starts. It is so frustrating to see a team that, at least in my opinion, is capable of so much more. It’s odd to say that about a first place team, I realize, but this team just isn’t doing what I thought it would.
John, to answer your question, I stand with you. I believe. But I feel like I’m relying on faith and hope, not proof.
Supervillain Corey (@SuperVillainMe)
After 27 years of losing, I have no optimism left for the Dodgers. Dodgers fans are the new Cubs fans.
Don Bright
I’m a Dodger fan until I die (hell if I can survive McCourt, FOX, and the countless boneheads they’ve had running the show since Clair and LaSorda, I can survive this bump in the road). That said, this team was never one of the best teams in the NL (Cards and Pirates were always better) this year, was hoping they would mesh and gel to prove me wrong, but they haven’t (and now more teams like the Mets and Cubs are better). About the only hope right now, is that things start turning around and they are hot going into the playoffs.
14hodges
Jon, I am going to continue believing!
mlblogscatlovesthedodgers
Well said Jon!!!
Michael Green
Of course Jon is right, and that’s normal. But this also brings to mind the story of the 1947 Dodgers, when Branch Rickey said to his wife that he wasn’t sure he had World Series-winning pitching staff and later, when he said it again, she said she wasn’t sure he had a pennant-winning pitching staff. This team has its share of problems, and not just at the back of the starting rotation and in the bullpen. The lack of speed and the ability to make things happen (speed never slumps, remember) has hurt this team, but it’s also much more easily said than done to create the kind of team that will be as successful as we wish. The new executive team is a vast improvement over the previous one (I am convinced that Ned Colletti believes that if you were with the Giants, you are automatically a Hall of Famer). The manager and coaches cannot swing the bats or throw the pitches for the players. And to paraphrase one of the gods of baseball writing, Tom Boswell, you cannot ask a player to do what he cannot do and expect him to succeed.
Further, if it takes an emotional explosion from Don Mattingly to get this team to play better, then they weren’t very good in the first place, and if Mattingly isn’t very good at managing his pitching staff (and he isn’t, and I’ve never thought Rick Honeycutt made much of a contribution to the festivities), we may be comparing them with what we believe rather than what actually was. Walt Alston got four World Series rings, and one of them was arguably due to such an explosion (when he screamed at the 1963 team on the bus), and Tommy Lasorda got two rings being rah-rah. Both of them executed great strategy and terrible strategy. Alston (lest we forget) spent his early career constantly being rumored to be about to be fired. Lasorda sincerely believed that no left-handed hitter ever got a hit off of a left-handed pitcher.
This is not a statement that will appeal to the statistically minded, but I have always felt that on Dodger teams, historically, players and managers have waited for something to happen rather than making something happen. This team may be the best of the worst and may win the division. In a short series, lots of things can happen. There’s no reason to give up. There is reason to be concerned.
Mr. Beachcat (@thebeachcatz)
One of the reasons this team and its construction are controversial is because of the front office changes. I’ve seen a few people attribute whatever good they want to Colletti and whatever negative they see to Friedman/Zaidi. I’ve also seen people do the reverse. Reminds me of the good old days of 2005. A lot of fans talking past one another and not taking a longer view. I guess not enough people learned from Dodger Thoughts.
Roger Miller
What Dodger team do we truly believe this is ? The one that started 22-10 during the first 6 weeks of the season which raised hopes and expectations or the one who’s been 45-46 in the last 14 weeks ? The larger sample size suggests that this may well be a mediocre non-playoff caliber team.
The offense has been very ordinary post- All Star (11th in RPG and 10th in OPS) and the bullpen is 13th in NL ERA. Anderson, Wood, and Latos have collectively an over 5.00 ERA since the AS break.
I can’t blame current Management for these woes, but neither do they deserve all the praise that the stat media heaped upon them early on.
Mark Hagerstrom
Why not go with the largest sample available to date, 67-56? Anyone who thought that the 22-10 start scoring 5.4 R/G was sustainable was fooling themselves and to now use it as some sort of yardstick seems masochistic. Seasons are full of ups and downs.
juhlieann
Being concerned and expressing that concern doesn’t mean one has given up believing.
Jon Weisman
Would never say otherwise. But I’ve seen plenty who have explicitly said over and over that the Dodgers have no chance.
paulgarzajr
I have bled Dodger blue since 1958. There have heroic times and horrific ones – blowing a 2 run lead with Drysdale on the mound. Sad day. I could go on.
I am furious, however, about the destruction of a team that won 94 games last year into this impotent monstrosity that we were told would be so great because of Friedman and Zaidi’s moves. Well, what a mess. Dee Gordon is having a great year offensively, defensively and is stealing bases, as always. As of today, Matt Kemp is 5th in the National League in RBI – while Pederson and Puig race to the bottom. Puig’s anemic .250ish average disguises his failure to move and score runners. Pederson is probably a reserve for the remainder of the season. Dan Haren is pitching well – better than Anderson, Woods and Latos for sure. BTW- why is Bolsinger in Triple A? Oh, yes we have a group of relievers who instead of being ‘firemen’ collectively have become the arspn squad – that is lighting them rather than putting them out. Why wasn’t League even given a opportunity. We couldn’t have been worse than Johnson or Avilan.
The people making personnel decisions for the Dodgers are every bit as skilled as Paul DePodesta. Great job guys!
I know Mattingly is going to get blamed for this but the front office has been a disaster. That is where the finger needs to point. I respectfully disagree with Mr. Beachchat above, they are to blame. Our only hope is that the Giants play worse than we do . . . their rotation is even more troubled . . . and we squeak into the playoffs. But then, we will go quietly – again.
paulgarzajr
Horrific refeence – October 3. 1962.
oldbrooklynfan
Personally I think the FO has made to many changes to what was a division champion. Getting rid of, If I may put it that way, of Dee Gordon, Hanley Ramirez, Juan Uribe and Matt Kemp IMO did not do this team any good. I think they tore the heart out of it. It’s not over yet, but if they don’t get back to the postseason, that would be the main reason.
Jon Weisman
Hanley is regarded pretty much as a disaster this year, and Kemp for Grandal meant solving out catching problem. Don’t know how you say those moves did this team no good.
Gordon (and Haren) brought Kendrick, Hernandez and Barnes — that’s actually an increase in talent. Uribe trade doesn’t look great right now, but we’ll see how the pitchers turn out. As far as tearing the heart out … that’s a thing people say but with all due respect to Uribe/Gordon et al, they didn’t take the Dodgers to the World Series either.
Last year’s team was very good, but standing pat would have been a mistake.
Don Bright
I still shake my head whenever someone thinks the Gordon trade was bad. The worse thing they may end up about it is the Dodgers traded Heney to the Angels for Kendrick, when Kike and Turner may have been just as good at 2B (and keeping Uribe at third), but that would have meant having a crystal ball to see if that would have worked out. And the one trade that absolutely worked was the Kemp trade, anyone who rather have Kemp and his bad attitude and D over Grandal isn’t thinking right. Also Anderson has pitched as well if not better than Haren (now if you say Haren has been better than who the Dodgers plugged in at 4 and 5 this year, then you have a point).
Has the FO made mistakes, absolutely, time will tell if they are as bad as Depo or Ned. But to fire them after one season isn’t the answer. Now Mattingly is a different story.
Craig Gary Phillips (@craigary)
No. :)
Frustrated, yes, sometimes very dubious, but I also know they have the talent, and in addition, have seen how the eventual WS champs the last 5 years or so, many of them went into funks in late summer only to get hot when it really counted and rolled that into a championship. May very well not happen to our boys in blue, but I’ll keep watching and believing til the end.
Btw, didn’t understand comments from Harold Reynolds last night (and Pedro I guess) that the Dodgers problem is they are platooning too much. First of all, platoons based on splits are the modern, smart thing to do Harold. Second, they really haven’t been rotating lineups constantly, but have had injuries that necessitated changes. And then some seriously slumping guys like Joc. (Harold also stupidly said Joc needs to play more. Um, he was playing a ton and batting like 170 over two months. I love the kid, but come on. Anyway, I digress…)
So, no, I have not stopped believing. I refuse to sing the Journey song, however.
Neil Turetsky
The infuriating thing is HOW they play. They never bunt, seldom hit and run, no speed, no steals, no moving runners over, no concept of sacrificing themselves individually for the team, just swing for the fences, a stupid, lazy, spiritless sort of team. No matter how many injuries they have, the Giants will kill them, wait and see. You can’t keep trading guys and expecting any team harmony to develop. Something is very wrong with Mattingly, he constantly takes out pitchers who are doing well for some sort of stupid sabermatric considerations. Never any creativity, surprises, squeeze bunts, etc. Horrible baserunning consistently. And I’ve been a Dodger fan since I was a kid in Brooklyn.
Mark Hagerstrom
Wow! Anything you like about them?
Roger Miller
Was trying to figure out the differences in the “great” 2014 team that some are blaming the FO of “breaking up” and this year’s team. Differences actually aren’t as much as they now seem. At this point last year, Dodgers were 70-53, or just three games better than this year’s 67-56. As late as Sept 12th last year, Dodgers were only 1 game up on the Giants but finished with a 11-4 spurt. The same sort of thing could happen this year but as noted, this year’s team has issues and hoping for some sort of surge may be wishful thinking. The biggest issue aside from the obvious one in the bullpen is Puig . He’s nearly 3 WAR behind his last yr’s pace. Whether he’s still hurt or just has regressed is hard to tell. Not having a Ryu-like # 3 starter is another problem.Of course, Rollins terrible offense at SS is also an issue. Even with his better defense than Hanley’s, Dodgers are still a couple wins down at SS.
For those wishing for Colletti’s leadership instead of the current FO’s, that’s looking in the wrong direction. Yes, Colletti wouldn’t have traded Gordon, and Dee would have helped the Dodgers more than Kendrick has (roughly by 2 wins so far), But on the flip side, Colletti would have made the mistake of keeping Kemp, and thus far the Dodgers are about 5 wins better as a result ( 3 wins from getting Grandal v. Ellis at Catcher plus 2 wins better in Joc v. Kemp, largely because of defense. I don’t think Colletti would have re-signed Hanley either, and he would have been all over Rollins too.
I think the keys at the end will be in getting something more from Latos and Wood than they’ve shown so far, Puig rebounding some, Gonzo not falling apart, Joc coming back and finding a solution to this bullpen mess.
Al Kenderes (@Coach__K)
A big difference is this year’s team may have to win their Division to make the playoffs, due to the stronger teams in the NL (Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs)