Dee Gordon – Page 3 – Dodger Thoughts

Here we are again: 9 1/2 games behind in the NL West

On June 8, 2014

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Dodgers at Rockies, 1:10 p.m.
Kershaw CXC: Kershawll the Right Moves
Chone Figgins, 2B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Scott Van Slyke, CF
Jamie Romak, RF
Miguel Rojas, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Clayton Kershaw, P

By Jon Weisman

And there it is: 9 1/2 games.

In two contests decided by the final swing Saturday, the Dodgers lost and the Giants won, pushing the Dodger 9 1/2 games back in the National League West and matching their largest deficit in the 2013 season.

In addition to this moment coming two weeks earlier this year than last, there are two key differences. One is that unlike the 2013 Diamondbacks, who were seven games over .500 at the time, the Giants are roaring: 20 games over .500, 30-11 (.731) in their past 41 games.

The other is that unlike the 2013 Dodgers, who were 12 1/2 games behind in the wild-card race when they hit rock bottom, this year’s team is only a half-game behind Washington and Miami.

There is a growing similarity between this year’s and last year’s Dodgers, however, and that’s injuries. While the hip problems that developed Saturday for Dee Gordon and Yasiel Puig might not be serious, it’s becoming harder to find Dodgers who have escaped the trainer’s room. Already, pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brian Wilson have missed significant time. So have outfielder Carl Crawford, third baseman Juan Uribe and catcher A.J. Ellis, not to mention second baseman Alex Guerrero, who you expect would be with the Dodgers by now if he weren’t still recovering from his ear bite.

Saturday could have been a rousing day for Los Angeles: a four-run, seventh-inning comeback, capped by Tim Federowicz’s three-run home run, combined with a Giants loss. Instead, the Dodgers are as far back as they’ve been in 50 weeks, and try to fight back today with only five regular starters in the nine positions of today’s lineup.

Maury Wills’ advantage over Dee Gordon

By Jon Weisman

On June 7, 2014

In History, Pregame

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Dodgers at Rockies, 1:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Zack Greinke, P

By Jon Weisman

Dee Gordon is on pace for 93 steals and has an outside shot at Maury Wills’ team record of 104, but Wills ended up with an edge that Gordon won’t have.

Because the Dodgers played in a three-game playoff with the Giants that counted in the 1962 NL regular-season standings – and because Wills was an iron man that year – Wills played in 165 games in his record-setting season.

Wills stole four bases in those extra three games, with three of the steals coming in game 165, when he went 4 for 5 in the Dodgers’ ill-fated, thank-goodness-Twitter-didn’t-exist, 6-4 loss to San Francisco.

Wills scored the Dodgers’ final run of 1962 in classic fashion: he singled to left, stole second, stole third and came home on a throwing error by Giants catcher Ed Bailey.

MauryWills.com

That gave the Dodgers a 4-2 lead, which they took to the ninth before they allowed four crushing runs.

Puig surges to lead in NL All-Star outfield vote

By Jon Weisman

On June 3, 2014

In Uncategorized

By Jon Weisman

On the anniversary of his arrival in the Major Leagues, Yasiel Puig has risen from fifth place to first in the latest update of National League All-Star balloting — thanks to more than 500,000 votes in less than a week.

How many NL second basemen are more valuable than Dee Gordon?

By Jon Weisman

On May 31, 2014

In Analysis

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By Jon Weisman

As we close out the second month of the season, it’s common knowledge that Dee Gordon has declined at the plate in May from his hot April start.

2014 NL All-Star Voting at second base – May 28 update

At the same time, his defense continues to blossom, as you can see from the video above, where he makes the kind of play you’ve rarely seen any Dodger second baseman make.

And his basestealing, always precocious, has gone supersonic. Gordon has stolen 15 consecutive bases without being caught and 21 out of 23 in 28 games this month to reach 100 for his career. He is on pace to steal 98 bases in 107 attempts this year.

So while Gordon is no slam-dunk National League All-Star, not with a veteran like Philadelphia’s Chase Utley topping the statistical charts thanks in no small part to a .904 OPS and 147 wRC+, are any NL second basemen more dynamic or exciting than Gordon?

In case you missed it: Koufax Motel

By Jon Weisman

On May 30, 2014

In History, In case you missed it, Pregame

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Pirates at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Chone Figgins, 3B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Matt Kemp, LF
Scott Van Slyke, 1B
Andre Ethier, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Josh Beckett, P

By Jon Weisman

After you enjoy Vin Scully’s description of “maestro” Yasiel Puig

Well, if this headline doesn’t make you click, I don’t know what will: “How Sandy Koufax’s Motel Helped Lead to Baseball’s Big-Money Era.” Here’s the first paragraph from Michael Beschloss’ story for the New York Times …

In 1962, the star Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax invested in a West Hollywood motor inn, which was renamed “Sandy Koufax’s Tropicana Motel.” Down Santa Monica Boulevard from the famed Troubadour club, these “74 luxurious air-conditioned rooms” — rented at “popular prices” — came to lodge some of the biggest musical acts of the period: Alice Cooper, Bob Marley, the Mamas and the Papas, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and the Doors. “I don’t know which made me more excited,” said one guest, “to be in Sandy’s motel or to be in a room right beside Sly Stone, from Sly and the Family Stone.”
Sports on Earth delivered a couple of great Dodger-related pieces this week: Jorge Arangure Jr. on Dee Gordon’s maturation and Howard Megdal bonding with A.J. Ellis over how each of their wives delivered babies in cars on their way to the hospital.
Here’s another eye-catching headline, found at The Bowery Boys: “The short shelf life of the Tip-Tops, the Brooklyn baseball team situated near the Gowanus River and named for bread.”/li>

Adrian Gonzalez leads at first base in All-Star vote

By Jon Weisman

On May 28, 2014

In Uncategorized

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By Jon Weisman

Adrian Gonzalez is in first place among first basemen and Dee Gordon is in second place among second baseman in the initial 2014 National League All-Star vote update.

Crawford still not walking, but swinging hot bat

By Jon Weisman

On May 24, 2014

In Pregame

Jon SooHoo’s Friday shoot can be found at the LA Photog Blog.

Dodgers at Phillies, 12:05 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Carl Crawford, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Dan Haren, P

By Jon Weisman

In addition to his key diving catch in the seventh inning Friday, Carl Crawford singled and homered, raising his OPS since May 3 to 1.097.

He is 22 for 53 with a double and four home runs in his past 16 games (13 starts). Crawford has tied Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez with four home runs this month, trailing only Yasiel Puig’s seven, and he is second behind Puig in May OPS (.971).

Crawford is still walking at a low rate – 3.6 percent of his plate appearances – though this isn’t that big a change. His career walk rate is 5.3 percent and his career-high is 7.6 percent in 2009. Puig, by comparison, walked 8.3 percent of the time last year and has done so 11.7 percent this year.

Dee Gordon’s speed limit: 25 and rising

By Jon Weisman

On May 19, 2014

In Baserunning

By Jon Weisman

25: The number of stolen bases Dee Gordon has.

25: The number of stolen bases the Dodgers have without Dee Gordon.

25: The average number of stolen bases for every MLB team in 2014, not counting Dee Gordon.

26: Dee Gordon’s age. Because Dee Gordon doesn’t believe in resting on 25.

May 16 pregame: Gordon against the lefties

By Jon Weisman

On May 16, 2014

In Pregame

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, CF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Zack Greinke, P

By Jon Weisman

Dee Gordon is making his fifth start of the season against a left-handed pitcher tonight, the 11th lefty to start against the Dodgers this season. Overall against southpaws in 2014, Gordon is 6 for 35 with no walks, for a .171 on-base percentage, .229 slugging and .400 OPS, shy even of his career .484 OPS against lefties.

Gordon is in the MLB bottom 10 for offense against lefties this season. The second baseman is, for what it’s worth, 3 for 9 lifetime against Diamondbacks starter Wade Miley.

One of the oddest platoon differentials in 2014 for the Dodgers comes from Matt Kemp, who is OPSing .996 against righties but is only 8 for 41 with a walk and no homers (.483 OPS) so far against lefties. For his career, Kemp is OPSing .956 against portsiders.

* * *

Juan Uribe is making his first start since May 8. Essentially, this is the first game the 22-20 Dodgers have had their full complement of position players available to start since A.J. Ellis’ last game before he went on the disabled list, April 5.

Uribe had two singles and a walk in his last 18 plate appearances before his injury, lowering his OPS from .876 to .801. He doubled as a pinch-hitter on Wednesday.

May 4 pregame: The Gordian Knot at second base finds a Gordonian solution

By Jon Weisman

On May 4, 2014

In Pregame

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Dodgers at Marlins, 10:10 a.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, CF
Carl Crawford, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Stephen Fife, P

By Jon Weisman

There’s a lot to be impressed with from Dee Gordon’s tour de force in Saturday’s game – the hit after hit, the steal after steal. The greatest play might be his dive to the left of second base and snap throw to third base to nab Casey McGehee.

But looking at the clip of highlights above, I think the most astonishing play might be when Gordon beat out a grounder to first base. Literally to the base. And yes, Garrett Jones’ momentum carried him into foul territory in order to field the ball, but still – it was a ground ball to first base.

Look where Jones is when the ball goes into his glove. Would you ever, in a million years, think Gordon is going to make it from the batter’s box to first base in time to be safe?

According to Fangraphs this morning, Gordon has been the ninth most valuable player in the Major Leagues so far this season and the third most valuable second baseman. He is the No. 1 baserunner in baseball. He has 19 stolen bases – no other Major Leaguer has more than 12. He has more stolen bases than 13 teams. He has even been above average with the glove.

Second base was supposed to be the Dodgers’ problem position. Wow.

* * *

From the Dodger press notes:

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Gordon is the first Dodger in the modern era (since 1900) with five or more hits and three or more steals in a game. Since 2000, only seven Major Leaguers have had such games, last occurring on Aug. 26, 2008, when Jimmy Rollins went 5-for-7 with three steals, a double, a homer and three RBI for the Phillies vs. the Mets. Carl Crawford, who hit the game-winning two-run homer last night, accomplished the feat on May 24, 2006 for Tampa Bay at Toronto, going 5-for-5 with four steals, five runs scored, a homer and two RBI.

Domination and redemption

By Jon Weisman

On May 3, 2014

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

What can you say about Dee Gordon? He goes 5 for 6 with two RBI and three steals, while also making a huge defensive play.

And what can you say about Brandon League? Is he on the Juan Uribe redemption path? On a night the Dodgers were trying to buy Kenley Jansen another day of rest, League stepped in after Brian Wilson, Chris Withrow and Chris Perez couldn’t hold a 7-2 lead, and shut out Miami in the 10th and 11th innings of a 9-7 Dodger victory. League has now thrown 11 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.

And while we’re at it, what can you say about Carl Crawford? Coming off the bench in the midst of a terrible slump, he blasted a two-run homer in the top of the 11th to lift give the Dodgers to victory one day before they face Marlins ace Jose Fernandez.

No, it wasn’t a walk in the park after Yasiel Puig’s titanic three-run homer. It was another extra-inning slog for a weary team. But that’s baseball – comedy, tragedy and triumph all rolled into one.

Even on 0-for-5 day, Gordon’s speed a factor in Dodger victory

By Jon Weisman

On May 1, 2014

In Postgame

By Jon Weisman

For the second game in a row, Dodger bats were hot in the cold, the team reaching base 21 times — led by Yasiel Puig with five — in a 9-4 victory over Minnesota to start today’s doubleheader.

Because I featured Puig on Wednesday, let’s focus on a huge play in the game that came early, after the Dodgers made two errors in a two-run first inning for the Twins.

Andre Ethier and Juan Uribe singled to start the top of the second, and Miguel Olivo (2 for 3 with a sacrifice fly in his Dodger debut) walked to load the bases. Carl Crawford grounded into a force at home for the first out.

Dee Gordon came up and hit what appeared to be a sure double-play grounder to short. But with his amazing speed, he narrowly beat the throw to first base, scoring a run and keeping the inning alive.

Puig then slammed a double to deep left-center to score Crawford and Gordon, and the Dodgers were on their way.

Gordon also stole his 14th base of the season, giving him 80 for his career in exactly 100 attempts. You do the math.

With four hits and a walk, Puig, whose OPS has risen to .900, became the first Dodger to reach base five times in a game since Carl Crawford on August 7. Juan Uribe had three hits (his seventh such game in 2014), while Adrian Gonzalez had a single and three walks. Hanley Ramirez went 0 for 5 but had two sparking plays on defense, one a glove flip to Gordon for a double-play, with an assist from instant replay.

Dan Haren allowed three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven. Chris Perez earned an unusual save, because he entered the game in the bottom of the eighth with the tying run on deck and then finished it out in the ninth.

Beckett a ray of sunshine for dampened Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

On April 25, 2014

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

In general, rain is as welcome in Southern California as an eight-inning, two-run outing by Josh Beckett is welcome to the Dodgers.

The combination of the two certainly made for strange bedfellows Friday, punctuated by the Dodgers setting a modern franchise record by playing their sixth extra-inning game of April (according to my research at Baseball-Reference.com).

Tonight, it was the Dodgers who ended up all wet, falling 5-4 in 11 innings, despite a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th by Adrian Gonzalez, his team-leading seventh of the year.

In the past 17 days, Dodgers have lost their past five extra-inning games, their longest streak since they lost five overtime games in a similarly shocking short stretch, from August 7-25, 2009.

Don’t blame Beckett. The righthander, coming back from season-ending injuries nearly a year ago, gave up two solo home runs in the second inning but allowed only two other baserunners, a fourth-inning single by Justin Morneau and an eighth-inning single by DJ LeMahieu. In between those last two hits, he retired 11 in a row, and when he got Charlie Blackmon to ground out to second to end the eighth inning, he had lowered his ERA to 2.45.

This was Beckett’s longest outing since losing an 8 1/3-inning complete game on April 14, 2013 and the longest outing by a Dodger this year. And Beckett did it with only 99 pitches. In his past three starts, Beckett has gone 18 innings, allowing two runs (1.00 ERA) on seven hits and seven walks with 17 strikeouts.

But what could have been a tidy, sub-3:00 victory instead extended to extra innings, with the Dodgers scoring two runs in regulation themselves — both driven home by Yasiel Puig. Puig hit a solo homer in the first inning, and then, after Dee Gordon’s remarkable infield double — yes, that’s right — Puig hit an RBI single in the third.

It’s only April, and Dodger Stadium this year has seen rain, an earthquake and a giant sheet of ice (and just barely inside the time limit on this Friday Night Fireworks night, giant sparks of light shooting in the sky). What lies ahead, one can only wonder … although signs of an approaching Clayton Kershaw are getting brighter and brighter.

Greed is good for Gordon

By Jon Weisman

On April 23, 2014

In Baserunning

By Jon Weisman

When are we allowed to start believing in Dee Gordon? When do we get to tell midnight to shove off and that we’re keeping the royal carriage?

Flash Gordon chases Flash Garvey

By Jon Weisman

On April 15, 2014

In Baserunning, History

By Jon Weisman

The Dodgers all-time stolen base leaders in Los Angeles are a funny mix. Once you get past the truly great thieves, like Maury Wills and Davey Lopes, you encounter a combination that includes short-term speedsters and team legends known more for their longevity than their legs.

Brett Butler, for example, is No. 5 on the list despite not becoming a Dodger until he was 33 years old. He’s one spot ahead of Bill Russell, whose Dodger career ran from ages 20 to 37.

Dee Gordon, who moved into 20th place with his four steals Sunday, is now only two steals behind Steve Garvey. Gordon has played 192 games as a Dodger; Garvey played 1,727.

With only 45 more steals sometime in his Dodger career, in 2014 or beyond (he has nine this year in 13 games), Gordon will zoom all the way up to the 10 spot.

For added fun, we’ll present the all-time caught stealing leaders in Los Angeles. You’ll see that players like Garvey and John Roseboro barely broke even, and Mike Marshall was underwater. Then there are some whose lack of effectiveness on the basepaths might surprise you, such as Willie Crawford and Cesar Izturis.

Neither Kirk Gibson nor Eric Davis make this second list. In their Dodger careers, the pair combined for 121 steals and were caught only 15 times.

Dodger Thoughts

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

Tag: Dee Gordon (Page 3 of 8)

Here we are again: 9 1/2 games behind in the NL West

Maury Wills’ advantage over Dee Gordon

Puig surges to lead in NL All-Star outfield vote

How many NL second basemen are more valuable than Dee Gordon?

In case you missed it: Koufax Motel

Adrian Gonzalez leads at first base in All-Star vote

Crawford still not walking, but swinging hot bat

Dee Gordon’s speed limit: 25 and rising

May 16 pregame: Gordon against the lefties

May 4 pregame: The Gordian Knot at second base finds a Gordonian solution

Domination and redemption

Even on 0-for-5 day, Gordon’s speed a factor in Dodger victory

Beckett a ray of sunshine for dampened Dodgers

Greed is good for Gordon

Flash Gordon chases Flash Garvey

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