By Jon Weisman
Though the Dodgers haven’t announced their full starting lineup for Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Friday, Dave Roberts did tell reporters today that Andrew Toles will be the left fielder.
Month: October 2016 (Page 5 of 8)
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Tomorrow really is just a day away. Friday’s opening game of the National League Division Series between the Dodgers and Nationals comes in about 24 hours, depending on when exactly you’re reading this.
Here’s what been percolating …
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
This is exorcism time.
Though it has been nearly 28 years since the Dodgers last reached the World Series, they have come tantalizingly close — closer than you might realize. The list of turning points — any one of which might have redirected the Dodgers from a title — doesn’t merely boggle the mind. It jengas the mind. It gnip-gnops the mind.
In all, there have been four National League Division Series (1996, 2006, 2014, 2015) and three National League Championship Series (2008, 2009, 2013) that might have gone the Dodgers’ way if not for a single play. There are 17 such plays captured below, and that’s not even an all-inclusive list.
Perhaps by confronting this chamber of horrors at once, we can spiritually move the Dodgers forward …
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
The Dodgers faced several hard choices in coming up with their 25-man roster for the National League Division Series — and to some extent, the specific matchup with the Washington Nationals served as a tiebreaker.
At dusk, the Dodgers were in a workout ahead of their Wednesday flight to Washington D.C. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
Though the Dodgers haven’t officially revealed their 25-man roster for the National League Division Series, Dave Roberts answered the remaining questions about the final spots today before the team’s final pre-NLDS workout in Los Angeles.
Here’s how it shakes out, pending any last-minute changes:
As Hurricane Matthew makes its way up the Atlantic this week, it’s unclear — to take an extremely narrow view of things — how it will impact the Dodgers’ first two games in the National League Division Series at Washington. But with a 40 percent chance of rain already forecast for Saturday, everyone might need to brace themselves for at least a delay.
It’s funny (now) — when I was living in Washington D.C. in 1992-93, I got tickets for a game in Baltimore at Camden Yards that turned out to be called because of a hurricane. Driving home, the storm was blinding, and in retrospect it was crazy for me to have even tried to go in the first place. And then I got a flat tire. That night nearly destroyed me.
Oh well — here’s hoping for the best.
— Jon Weisman
Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Grant Dayton is a 28-year-old rookie who had a 9.26 for Triple-A Oklahoma City last summer.
Since then, something wicked this way came.
Making his Major League debut July 22, Dayton has a 2.05 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and 13.3 strikeouts per nine innings for Los Angeles, putting him on everyone’s shortlist for the postseason roster. It’s not exactly something one would have easily predicted 12 months ago.
“I don’t know what happened to me last year, to be honest,” Dayton said during the Dodgers’ last homestand. “I was having a great year, and then I got traded. And then I lost feel for all my pitches. It was definitely mental, but I have no idea why it happened.
“Looking back on it, I don’t know if I’d be here if it didn’t happen.”
By Jon Weisman
Adam Liberatore, who had a 0.85 WHIP and 0.61 ERA before the All-Star Break but 1.95 WHIP and 9.45 ERA after, is expected to undergo an arthroscopic left elbow debridement Tuesday, which should allow him to return for the 2017 season.
Dr. Neal ElAttrache will perform the operation in Los Angeles on Liberatore, who set a franchise record July 9 with his 24th consecutive scoreless appearance. Alex Wood recently returned to action after a similar procedure in July.
Liberatore was placed on the disabled list August 3 (retroactive to July 30), and pitched 9 1/3 innings in 14 games thereafter with a 9.64 ERA and 18 baserunners.
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Hi — welcome to our annual attempt to kill the myth that Clayton Kershaw always fails in the postseason.
Last year, Kershaw pitched 13 2/3 innings in the National League Division Series with a 2.63 ERA, losing a 3-1 decision in Game 1 before winning Game 4 by the same score on three days’ rest.
In eight playoff starts since 2013, Kershaw has six quality starts — including all three times he has pitched on three days’ rest — and allowed one earned run or less in four of the eight.
We covered this ground already this year, but this seems like the right time for a reminder. What follows is from our May 24 piece: Postseason Kershaw: Do you remember only the bad, or also the good?
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Dodgers and Nationals will begin Friday in Washington at 2:38 p.m. Pacific Time, with Game 2 to follow Saturday at 1:08 p.m. PT.
The NLDS opener matches Clayton Kershaw against Max Scherzer, with Rich Hill opposing either Tanner Roark or Gio Gonzalez in Game 2.
Both games will air nationally on Fox Sports 1.
The other NLDS matchup, between the Cubs and either the Mets or Giants, will have the late games both nights, beginning at 6:15 p.m. PT Friday and 5:08 p.m. PT Saturday from Chicago.
By Jon Weisman
Dodger pitching great Orel Hershiser is one of five former Major Leaguers who will be considered for Hall of Fame election this winter.
Former Dodger manager Davey Johnson and coach Mark McGwire are also among the 10 names on the Today’s Game Era ballot that will be reviewed and voted upon December 5 at the Baseball Winter Meetings in National Harbor, Maryland, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced today.
By Jon Weisman
I don’t doubt for a moment Vin Scully’s sincerity when he says that he has needed us far more than we have needed him, but I don’t think that he’s correct. I just don’t think, no matter how hard we try, we can traverse his humility to convey the enormous scope of how much we has affected us.
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After 67 years, here are Vin’s final words as a professional broadcaster.
You know friends, so many people have wished me congratulations on a 67-year career in baseball, and they’ve wished me a wonderful retirement with my family. And now, all I can do is tell you what I wish for you.
May God give you for every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.You and I have been friends for a long time, but I know in my heart that I’ve always needed you more than you’ve needed me, and I’ll miss our time together more I can say.
But you know what — there will be a new day, and eventually a new year. And when the upcoming winter gives way to spring, rest assured it will be time for Dodger baseball.
So this is Vin Scully, wishing you a very pleasant good afternoon, wherever you may be.
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By Jon Weisman
Over the past several weeks, I have written stories, edited stories, read stories, looked at photos old and new, watched video, heard calls from the 1950s to the present, all trying to capture Vin Scully before he bids us, his audience, farewell.
The comfort is that there will be no shortage of ways to remember Vin, to relive and revive our keepsakes of him. You’d often come away from a Vin Scully broadcast with a wonderful story or some remarkably clever one-liner — much of which has been preserved, especially in recent history.
It’s the sensory experience of Vin in the present that will be gone forever. Sharing the moment in time with him.
His lack of attention to his own departure has reinforced that. His focus on what’s in front of him, rather than what’s moving past and behind him. Vin himself lives so in the moment, that riding on his airwaves becomes something of a spiritual journey. I’m cringing a bit as I write those words, fearing they sound far too over the top, but I don’t know that there’s a better description of his effect.
Vin has touched me in a way no one else has.
In the remaining few hours we have with Vin, do nothing more than just enjoy this connection we have had. Because this moment will pass, even if the memories will always remain, and the spirit will never die.
Dodgers at Giants, 12:05 p.m.
Howie Kendrick, LF
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrián González, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Chase Utley, 2B
Kenta Maeda, P
Howie Kendrick, LF
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrián González, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Chase Utley, 2B
Kenta Maeda, P
By Jon Weisman
Andre Ethier will be on the Dodgers’ roster for the National League Division Series, Dave Roberts said before today’s regular-season finale at San Francisco.
Ethier joins fellow outfielders Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Josh Reddick, Andrew Toles, Howie Kendrick, Kiké Hernández, though Ethier’s role would primarily be off the bench. Roberts praised the quality of Ethier’s at-bats since his return in September from six months on the disabled list.
With Ethier on the squad, that leaves at most one more opening for a position player. Right now, Charlie Culberson seems to be the leading candidate, if that slot doesn’t go to an extra pitcher. Potentially, Hernández’s spot would also be in jeopardy, which would be surprising given his presence in the big leagues essentially all season.
Carl Erskine. Don Newcombe. Jamie Jarrín. And more, and more — all talking about Vin.
For our Dodger Insider tribute to Vin Scully, we presented numerous remembrances and tributes, offered in two different collections in the magazine.
The Legends’ Legend
Vin Appreciation Day
Please click each link above to read the full stories.
— Jon Weisman
Originally published September 28, 2016
