Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Tag: Daniel Murphy

Purging the ghosts of Dodger postseasons past

By

On October 6, 2016

In History, Postseason

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

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 …

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America’s irrational pastime

By

On October 19, 2015

In Other teams, Postseason

Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers

Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

Daniel Murphy.

It’s not just us. He killed our team, and now he’s killing my Dad’s team. He’s reminding me why it’s never safe to expect our lovable, horrible, irrational sport to make sense.

Daniel Murphy has had a good career. Solid. Even an All-Star in 2014. But home runs in four consecutive playoff games — off Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta?

Do you know what Daniel Murphy’s longest streak of consecutive games with a home run was, before October? Two. Once in his career, Daniel Murphy hit a home run in one game, and then hit a home run in the very next game. That was 6 1/2 years ago.

Daniel Murphy. For some reason I can’t just call him Murphy, even on second reference. It’s just too familiar, too pal-sy. I need to maintain a formal distance from this person, this person who pulled the bat from the stone. Daniel Murphy has no right to do what he has done over the past four games. Except he has every right, because it’s baseball.

It makes me tired. It makes me wonder why one reads or writes or plans before a baseball game. Because no matter what you do, no matter how smart you think you are or that you might actually be, that baseball game’s going to do whatever it wants.

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Season ends for Dodgers in narrow Game 5 defeat

By

On October 15, 2015

In Postgame, Postseason

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

It was a brutal, bloody game of King of the Mountain, a struggle, a scrambling boulder climb between two foes, toe-to-toe, claw to claw, slipping and soaring.

The clock ticked, baseball’s clock of outs counting down in its own unique measure. And when the final one drained away, one team stood.

The New York Mets will advance to play the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series, having beaten back the Dodgers to win the deciding Game 5 of the National League Division Series, 3-2.

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Buy ‘The Catch: A novel’

What happens when three old friends in crisis fall into an unexpected love triangle? In The Catch, Maya, Henry and Daniel embark upon an emotional journey that forces them to confront unresolved pain, present-day traumas and powerful desires, leading them to question the very meaning of love and fulfillment. The Catch tells a tale of ordinary people seeking the extraordinary – or, if that’s asking too much, some damn peace of mind.

Click here to order The Catch in paperback.

Click here to order The Catch on Kindle.

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Attendance

1991-2013
Dodgers at home: 1,028-812 (.558695)
When Jon attended: 338-267 (.558677)*
When Jon didn’t: 695-554 (.556)
* includes road games attended

2013
Dodgers at home: 51-35 (.593)
When Jon attended: 5-2 (.714)
When Jon didn’t: 46-33 (.582)

Note: I got so busy working for the Dodgers that in 2014, I stopped keeping track, much to my regret. 

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