Hello,
Released in 1982 was Aldo Nova's self-titled CD, a CD that quickly brought attention to itself with the amazing rock classic "Fantasy". Sometime after seeing "Fantasy" video I bought the actual record, over the years I added the CD to my collection. I still had fond memories of the CD, that is when I thought of it. However I usually only thought of "Aldo Nova" when a song from it would play randomly on my iTunes. The other day I stumbled on this CD on Spotify and I honestly was expecting it to sound dated.
The CD "Aldo Nova" is 31 years old. Also it's not only from the 80s, but it's from the early 80s. Some influence from the 70s could work it's way into the record, although I don't hear that. A lot of 80s music sounds dated now, especially the cheesy synth music that dominated 80s movie's soundtracks. (Despite bring from the 80s, Prince's "Purple Rain" won't sound dated for a long time. That easily is one of the best CDs of all-time, although I'm still perplexed Prince refuses to allow his music to be on Youtube.) Surprisingly this CD didn't sound dated at all, although the videos are definitely dated.
If you were unsure what era this CD was from, all you have to do is to see what Nova is wearing. The complete leopard print outfit clearly shows this is a product of the 80s. In doing a little research on this CD, I'm surprised "Fantasy" only reached number 23 on the Billboard charts. Of course this was a few years before Quiet Riot busted out and heavy medal exploded.
Here's the complete CD of Aldo Nova's self-titled CD for your listening pleasure:
If I remember right the video for "Fantasy" was very popular:
Although some people consider Nova a one hit wonder, and that may be technically true, he has many than just one great song. Here's the other 9 songs on his self-titled CD:
2) "Hot Love":
"Hot Love" and "Foolin' Yourself" live in 2011:
3) "It's Too Late":
4) "Ball and Chain":
5) "Heart To Heart":
6) "Foolin' Yourself":
7) "Under The Gun":
8)"You're My Love":
9) "Can't Stop Lovin' You":
10) "See The Light": (I could only find one video for "See The Light" and it was some skanky looking dude with way too much confidence singing Karaoke.) Here's the Spotify link if you want to listen to the song.
https://play.spotify.com/track/3I8HmSfIQbScaE6Nkfwfet
What I don't understand is why Nova disappeared so quickly after the release of this great CD. "Aldo Nova" is a great CD and he released other great music over the years. According to Wikipedia.org his self-titled album reached Double Platinum sales. But that wasn't until 1994, 22 years after it was released. I've listened to some of Nova's other songs on Spotify and he has a lot of good music. Why has he disappeared? Nova is still in the music business writing songs for Celine Dion and Jon Bon Jovi.
(I wonder am I the only one that thinks his voice sometimes sounds like Jovi's voice?)
Usually these blogs are just about one specific CD, but I'd like to highlight some of Nova's many other great songs. Here's a random selection below:
"Monkey On Your Back:
"Blood On The Bricks" (live):
Here's the actual video (without people yelling in the background)
"Rumors of You":
"Hey Ronnie (Veronica's Song)":
"Cry Baby Cry":
"Always Be Mine":
themusicaddict
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Dodger Daily, August 5th, 2013: Dodgers Continue Unbelievable Run
Hello,
As always thanks to ESPN for all their great facts and nuggets of information that are sprinkled throughout this blog.
On Monday LA opened up a 4 game series with the Cardinals, a series that figures to be much more challenging than the series with the Cubs was. However in the first of four games the Dodgers won 3-2. LA continues their unbelievable run of late, this is their 15th straight road win. The Dodgers are also 15-2 since the All-Star break. I'm loving the roll LA is on, but it seems like I'm in a dream. I keep on waiting for the dream to end. This hot streak has that too good to be true feel to it.
I cheer for 7 MLB teams, yes I realize that is way overboard. But it is what it is and I'm just going to stick with it now. It's not just the Dodgers that are doing well, most of my teams are doing well. The Cubs aren't, but they are the Cubs, they rarely do well. My other 5 teams are strong, at least above .500.
In the NL Central the Pirates are in first place, leading second place St. Louis by 2 games. In the AL East Boston is in first place and Baltimore is in third place, although it does look like the Orioles won't be in the playoffs. The Oakland A's are leading the AL West, they lead the Rangers by 2 games. Texas has lost Nelson Cruz for 50 games due to a PED suspension. The Braves are also in first place and making a mockery of the NL East. Of my 7 teams 5 are in first place and have a decent chance to reach the playoffs. For those keeping track at home I have teams in 5 of 6 divisions but I'll not be adding a team from the AL Central to my favorites. Although if I did it would be.... , never mind I'm not even going down that road.
Back to the Dodgers, who are currently living the dream. Zack Greinke bolstered LA with both his pitching and his batting. With LA's offense so anemic at scoring runs as Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp are injured, their pitchers are realizing they need to help themselves when they can. The little of the game I saw Greinke looked sharp. But his stats show that he struggled more than what I saw. In 6.1 innings, he gave up 8 hits but only 2 runs. Greinke runs his record to 9-3, but still has a bit too high ERA at 3.40.
The stalwart Paco Rodriguez pitched the final two innings to earn his second save of the season. It's good to have Kenley Jansen as your closer and it's even better with Paco Rodriguez that can give him a rest. I'm glad that Carlos Marmol and Brandon League stayed comfortably out in the relievers area.
As for the Dodgers offense I'd really like to write something nice here, but there's not much nice to write. LA only had 7 hits total and 1 of those hits was by Greinke. In fact Greinke was the one that had the game winning RBI. I realize it's a limited sample size, but Greinke leads the Dodgers with a .405 batting average.
With Arizona not playing last night, LA expanded it's NL West lead to 5 games. With LA's recent domination their chances of reaching the playoffs have improved to 86.5%. Arizona is in second place and essentially looks like they are done. They have a 25.5% chance of reaching the playoffs. But over the last few weeks they are trending downward and have only won 4 of their last 10 games.
Today's Dodgers-Cards scheduled pitching matchup is the killer Clayton Kershaw (10-6, 1.87 ERA) vs. Joe Kelly (2-3, 3.10 ERA). If the Dodgers can muster some offense, things look good for them winning again today with Kershaw pitching. However LA sometimes forgets how to score when Kershaw is pitching.
What I would also like to know is what is going on in the NL East? That division has turned into a complete joke, how did the Braves become so dominant? Are the other 4 NL East teams even trying any more? And if you say that they are, do you have proof of that?
Granted the Braves are playing out of their minds right now, they've won 11 in a row. They are almost as hot as the Dodgers since the All-Star Break and have gone 14-4 since then. Atlanta is playing the best they have all season, will anyone stop them? Of course the Braves will have times ahead when they don't play so well. In the last several years the Braves nearly always have been a good regular season team, it's how they'll do in the postseason which is the question. Can Braves supporters point to one thing to show that this year will be different? I can't see one thing that sets them apart.
After Justin Upton seemed to disappear he's reemerging again. Upton was 3 for 4 in this game, raising his batting average to .265. Even more importantly he had the game winning homer in the 8th inning, that's his 20th homer of the season. Upton also has 57 RBIs this season.
I'd love for the Braves to have some competition, it's way too early in the season for a team to have a 99.9% chance of reaching the playoffs. Atlanta is the only team in that division that has a winning record. I honestly think the rest of the division has given up on the season. The second place team is Washington, they are 54-58 and trail Atlanta by 13.5 games. It just gets uglier from there, in third place is the Phillies. They are 50-61 and tied for third place with the Mets in number of games behind. The Phillies and Mets have the same winning percentage, and both are 17 games back. Perhaps for the rest of the season MLB should allow the other 4 NL East teams to use steroids.
themusicaddict
As always thanks to ESPN for all their great facts and nuggets of information that are sprinkled throughout this blog.
On Monday LA opened up a 4 game series with the Cardinals, a series that figures to be much more challenging than the series with the Cubs was. However in the first of four games the Dodgers won 3-2. LA continues their unbelievable run of late, this is their 15th straight road win. The Dodgers are also 15-2 since the All-Star break. I'm loving the roll LA is on, but it seems like I'm in a dream. I keep on waiting for the dream to end. This hot streak has that too good to be true feel to it.
I cheer for 7 MLB teams, yes I realize that is way overboard. But it is what it is and I'm just going to stick with it now. It's not just the Dodgers that are doing well, most of my teams are doing well. The Cubs aren't, but they are the Cubs, they rarely do well. My other 5 teams are strong, at least above .500.
In the NL Central the Pirates are in first place, leading second place St. Louis by 2 games. In the AL East Boston is in first place and Baltimore is in third place, although it does look like the Orioles won't be in the playoffs. The Oakland A's are leading the AL West, they lead the Rangers by 2 games. Texas has lost Nelson Cruz for 50 games due to a PED suspension. The Braves are also in first place and making a mockery of the NL East. Of my 7 teams 5 are in first place and have a decent chance to reach the playoffs. For those keeping track at home I have teams in 5 of 6 divisions but I'll not be adding a team from the AL Central to my favorites. Although if I did it would be.... , never mind I'm not even going down that road.
Back to the Dodgers, who are currently living the dream. Zack Greinke bolstered LA with both his pitching and his batting. With LA's offense so anemic at scoring runs as Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp are injured, their pitchers are realizing they need to help themselves when they can. The little of the game I saw Greinke looked sharp. But his stats show that he struggled more than what I saw. In 6.1 innings, he gave up 8 hits but only 2 runs. Greinke runs his record to 9-3, but still has a bit too high ERA at 3.40.
The stalwart Paco Rodriguez pitched the final two innings to earn his second save of the season. It's good to have Kenley Jansen as your closer and it's even better with Paco Rodriguez that can give him a rest. I'm glad that Carlos Marmol and Brandon League stayed comfortably out in the relievers area.
As for the Dodgers offense I'd really like to write something nice here, but there's not much nice to write. LA only had 7 hits total and 1 of those hits was by Greinke. In fact Greinke was the one that had the game winning RBI. I realize it's a limited sample size, but Greinke leads the Dodgers with a .405 batting average.
With Arizona not playing last night, LA expanded it's NL West lead to 5 games. With LA's recent domination their chances of reaching the playoffs have improved to 86.5%. Arizona is in second place and essentially looks like they are done. They have a 25.5% chance of reaching the playoffs. But over the last few weeks they are trending downward and have only won 4 of their last 10 games.
Today's Dodgers-Cards scheduled pitching matchup is the killer Clayton Kershaw (10-6, 1.87 ERA) vs. Joe Kelly (2-3, 3.10 ERA). If the Dodgers can muster some offense, things look good for them winning again today with Kershaw pitching. However LA sometimes forgets how to score when Kershaw is pitching.
What I would also like to know is what is going on in the NL East? That division has turned into a complete joke, how did the Braves become so dominant? Are the other 4 NL East teams even trying any more? And if you say that they are, do you have proof of that?
Granted the Braves are playing out of their minds right now, they've won 11 in a row. They are almost as hot as the Dodgers since the All-Star Break and have gone 14-4 since then. Atlanta is playing the best they have all season, will anyone stop them? Of course the Braves will have times ahead when they don't play so well. In the last several years the Braves nearly always have been a good regular season team, it's how they'll do in the postseason which is the question. Can Braves supporters point to one thing to show that this year will be different? I can't see one thing that sets them apart.
After Justin Upton seemed to disappear he's reemerging again. Upton was 3 for 4 in this game, raising his batting average to .265. Even more importantly he had the game winning homer in the 8th inning, that's his 20th homer of the season. Upton also has 57 RBIs this season.
I'd love for the Braves to have some competition, it's way too early in the season for a team to have a 99.9% chance of reaching the playoffs. Atlanta is the only team in that division that has a winning record. I honestly think the rest of the division has given up on the season. The second place team is Washington, they are 54-58 and trail Atlanta by 13.5 games. It just gets uglier from there, in third place is the Phillies. They are 50-61 and tied for third place with the Mets in number of games behind. The Phillies and Mets have the same winning percentage, and both are 17 games back. Perhaps for the rest of the season MLB should allow the other 4 NL East teams to use steroids.
themusicaddict
Monday, August 5, 2013
Dodgers Daily, August 4th, 2013: Dodgers Continue Rolling, Built On A Solid Foundation?
Hello,
The Dodgers keep on rolling, culminating their series with the Cubs by winning the 4th game. In fact LA swept the series. Although the Dodgers won all 4 games in this series, they didn't do it in a very attractive way. They were able to get away with their less than inspiring play against the Cubs, but they won't be able to do the same thing in their next series. LA is going up several levels in competition when they play the Cardinals Monday to Thursday.
Who's the heroes in a 1-0 game, well obviously the pitchers. That would be at least 4 heroes for LA, I'll highlight the two most important pitchers. Stephen Fife pitched 5.1 innings, scattering 7 hits and 2 walks in a game in which he didn't give up any runs. He earned the win, moving to 4-3 on the season, he has a very impressive 2.47 ERA. I read that Don Mattingly is going to send Ted Lilly to the bullpen, so who's going to be the Dodgers fifth starter? Will it be Chris Capuano or Fife or someone they may potentially trade for. Both gave decent outings in their most recent starts, but I'm concerned that they were only able to work a few innings.
The other Dodgers hero pitcher on Sunday was Kenley Jansen, he struck out all 3 Cubs he faced. He earned his 17th save and lowered his ERA to 2.04. I'm sure this is what Ned Colletti was expecting.... he just thought it would be coming from Brandon League.
As for the Dodgers offense, well at least they got enough runs to win :) On Monday night the Dodgers take on the St. Louis Cardinals. This series will be much tougher than LA's series with the Cubs. Let me set the stage a bit. If LA wants to get at least a split in this series, which I'd be very excited about, their offense needs to pick up. The Cardinals scored 31 runs in their last 3 games, strangely they only won 2 of those 3 games. Meanwhile in the Dodgers last 4 games, they only scored 16 runs.
The Cardinals may be the best team in MLB. Although they've only won 3 of their last 10 games, they are still 65-45. That shows how consistently good they've been all season. Despite their poor record of late they still have a 99.1% chance of reaching the playoffs. Also this 4 game series will be in St. Louis, can you see why I'd be ecstatic about a split?
ESPN is fairly sure this will be an exciting series as they'll be showing the Dodgers-Cards game on Monday and Wednesday. Also the Dodgers play on Sunday Night Baseball against the Rays this week.
I've been enjoying this crazy Dodgers run of late, but how solid of a foundation is it built on? Dodgers starting pitching is good through Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Also the late innings guys are pretty solid, especially Jansen and Paco Rodriguez.
However I'm not overwhelmed by Ricky Nolasco, Fife or Capuano. What will they get out of Ted Lilly the rest of the season, anything? Will the starting pitching last until the 7th or 8th inning enough times to get to Rodriguez and Jansen? If Dodgers starting pitching falters will J.P. Howell, Chris Withrow et. al be solid enough to limit opponents to few runs? How much can the Dodgers rely on the blown save twosome, Carlos Marmol and Brandon League? For that last question I hope they don't have to rely on them at all.
Remember this team has Chad Billingsley and Josh Beckett out for the rest of the season. Billingsley barely played and Beckett was ineffective when he pitched. Also Lilly has basically been on season long DL. He's back now but how long is he going to last. Like Carl Crawford he seems he could go on season ending DL any day.
The offense continues to really struggle, currently the Dodgers are 21st in MLB in runs scored. Of all the teams that look like they have a legitimate shot of making the playoffs, LA has scored the fewest runs. (Sorry Yankees, you aren't going to the playoffs.) The Dodgers have scored 9 less runs than the Cubs, the team they swept over the weekend.
Will Matt Kemp really come back this season? If he does at what level will he come back? How serious are Yasiel Puig's and Hanley Ramirez's injuries? What will LA get out of Carl Crawford the rest of the season? Mr. Consistent, Adrian Gonzalez, should continue to hit about .300 the rest of the season. But will he be able to elevate his game in those upcoming clutch moments? What will LA get out of Mark Ellis, A.J. Ellis, Juan Uribe and Andre Ethier? The Dodgers certainly seem to sign some fragile players.
Don Mattingly has been criticized for some of his pitching moves, will he make the right call when the Dodgers need his managerial insight?
Looking at this Dodgers roster, I'm not fully convinced they can have a lot of success in the playoffs. It just doesn't seem they are built on a very solid foundation? Will the Dodgers make one more trade to help them with some of their issues?
Thank goodness MLB has finally suspended Alex Rodriguez, Alex will you please shut up now and take your suspension like a man. Even the most hard core and blind Yankees fan recognizes that you have used steroids to help your career. The Yankees are out of the playoff chase, they have a 5.6% chance of making the playoffs, so even if you go back there's really nothing you can do to help them. Honestly the Yankees don't want you to come back, they'd rather save the money than run your broke down body on the field.
Everyone knows you are just playing to "earn" that ridiculous amount of money that the Yankees foolishly agreed to pay you. Please go away and work on becoming a much better person. Even without the suspension your career is basically over anyway.
themusicaddict
The Dodgers keep on rolling, culminating their series with the Cubs by winning the 4th game. In fact LA swept the series. Although the Dodgers won all 4 games in this series, they didn't do it in a very attractive way. They were able to get away with their less than inspiring play against the Cubs, but they won't be able to do the same thing in their next series. LA is going up several levels in competition when they play the Cardinals Monday to Thursday.
Who's the heroes in a 1-0 game, well obviously the pitchers. That would be at least 4 heroes for LA, I'll highlight the two most important pitchers. Stephen Fife pitched 5.1 innings, scattering 7 hits and 2 walks in a game in which he didn't give up any runs. He earned the win, moving to 4-3 on the season, he has a very impressive 2.47 ERA. I read that Don Mattingly is going to send Ted Lilly to the bullpen, so who's going to be the Dodgers fifth starter? Will it be Chris Capuano or Fife or someone they may potentially trade for. Both gave decent outings in their most recent starts, but I'm concerned that they were only able to work a few innings.
The other Dodgers hero pitcher on Sunday was Kenley Jansen, he struck out all 3 Cubs he faced. He earned his 17th save and lowered his ERA to 2.04. I'm sure this is what Ned Colletti was expecting.... he just thought it would be coming from Brandon League.
As for the Dodgers offense, well at least they got enough runs to win :) On Monday night the Dodgers take on the St. Louis Cardinals. This series will be much tougher than LA's series with the Cubs. Let me set the stage a bit. If LA wants to get at least a split in this series, which I'd be very excited about, their offense needs to pick up. The Cardinals scored 31 runs in their last 3 games, strangely they only won 2 of those 3 games. Meanwhile in the Dodgers last 4 games, they only scored 16 runs.
The Cardinals may be the best team in MLB. Although they've only won 3 of their last 10 games, they are still 65-45. That shows how consistently good they've been all season. Despite their poor record of late they still have a 99.1% chance of reaching the playoffs. Also this 4 game series will be in St. Louis, can you see why I'd be ecstatic about a split?
ESPN is fairly sure this will be an exciting series as they'll be showing the Dodgers-Cards game on Monday and Wednesday. Also the Dodgers play on Sunday Night Baseball against the Rays this week.
I've been enjoying this crazy Dodgers run of late, but how solid of a foundation is it built on? Dodgers starting pitching is good through Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Also the late innings guys are pretty solid, especially Jansen and Paco Rodriguez.
However I'm not overwhelmed by Ricky Nolasco, Fife or Capuano. What will they get out of Ted Lilly the rest of the season, anything? Will the starting pitching last until the 7th or 8th inning enough times to get to Rodriguez and Jansen? If Dodgers starting pitching falters will J.P. Howell, Chris Withrow et. al be solid enough to limit opponents to few runs? How much can the Dodgers rely on the blown save twosome, Carlos Marmol and Brandon League? For that last question I hope they don't have to rely on them at all.
Remember this team has Chad Billingsley and Josh Beckett out for the rest of the season. Billingsley barely played and Beckett was ineffective when he pitched. Also Lilly has basically been on season long DL. He's back now but how long is he going to last. Like Carl Crawford he seems he could go on season ending DL any day.
The offense continues to really struggle, currently the Dodgers are 21st in MLB in runs scored. Of all the teams that look like they have a legitimate shot of making the playoffs, LA has scored the fewest runs. (Sorry Yankees, you aren't going to the playoffs.) The Dodgers have scored 9 less runs than the Cubs, the team they swept over the weekend.
Will Matt Kemp really come back this season? If he does at what level will he come back? How serious are Yasiel Puig's and Hanley Ramirez's injuries? What will LA get out of Carl Crawford the rest of the season? Mr. Consistent, Adrian Gonzalez, should continue to hit about .300 the rest of the season. But will he be able to elevate his game in those upcoming clutch moments? What will LA get out of Mark Ellis, A.J. Ellis, Juan Uribe and Andre Ethier? The Dodgers certainly seem to sign some fragile players.
Don Mattingly has been criticized for some of his pitching moves, will he make the right call when the Dodgers need his managerial insight?
Looking at this Dodgers roster, I'm not fully convinced they can have a lot of success in the playoffs. It just doesn't seem they are built on a very solid foundation? Will the Dodgers make one more trade to help them with some of their issues?
Thank goodness MLB has finally suspended Alex Rodriguez, Alex will you please shut up now and take your suspension like a man. Even the most hard core and blind Yankees fan recognizes that you have used steroids to help your career. The Yankees are out of the playoff chase, they have a 5.6% chance of making the playoffs, so even if you go back there's really nothing you can do to help them. Honestly the Yankees don't want you to come back, they'd rather save the money than run your broke down body on the field.
Everyone knows you are just playing to "earn" that ridiculous amount of money that the Yankees foolishly agreed to pay you. Please go away and work on becoming a much better person. Even without the suspension your career is basically over anyway.
themusicaddict
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Dodgers Daily: August 3rd, 2013: Dodgers 13th Straight Road Win, Set Dodgers Record, Braves Crushing NL East
Hello,
The Dodgers won yet again on the road, they've won 13 straight road games. That's the Dodgers team record. They've also won the first 3 games in this 4 game series with the Cubs. I don't want to say the Cubs aren't trying. But I do wonder if they are really as bad as the last 3 games would indicate. The Cubs have scored a grand total of 6 runs in those first 3 games.
LA is in the midst of playing a brutal stretch of games, 26 games in 27 days. They have 11 games over the next 11 days remaining in that brutal stretch. I'm sure August 15th is circled on the Dodgers calendar, that's their next day off.
LA has won 13 straight road games, breaking the record from 1924 by the Brooklyn Robins. (Thanks to ESPN.com.) The heroes of this game include Carl Crawford, he was 3 for 5 and raised his batting average to .284. He also had two RBI's which gave the Dodgers more than enough runs needed to win. That gives him a pretty wimpy total of 18 RBIs this season. He also was caught stealing in this game. Crawford will never live up to his contract, I just hope he can have occasional flashes of brilliance like he did Saturday.
In a pretty lackluster game devoid of much excitement, the heroes don't leap out. I'd say two other heroes were starter Chris Capuano. Don Mattingly called on Capuano to play in place of Zack Greinke, to give Greinke some rest during this brutal stretch. In 6.1 innings Capuano gave up 6 hits, but no runs. He improves to 4-6 as he lowers his ERA to 4.16. The other hero was Kenley Jansen, he struck out 2 and didn't give up a hit in his one inning. Jansen has 16 saves and his ERA decreases to 2.08.
Thanks to Boston and new pitcher Jake Peavy for their 5-2 victory over the Diamondbacks. With Arizona's loss, they now trail the Dodgers by 4.5 games. There's no one else to challenge the Dodgers in the NL West, Colorado is in third place and they are 9.5 games back. Unless LA reverts to it's early season play, they will coast to the NL West title.
Also my Red Sox continue strengthening their hold on a playoff spot. It's quite likely at this point that Boston and Tampa Bay will make the playoffs, the question is which one will be the AL East champs? (Sorry Baltimore I don't think that's going to be you.) Both teams have won 6 of their last 10 games and the Red Sox leads the Rays by 1 game. By adding Peavy to an already good pitching staff, I like the Red Sox chances of winning the World Series this season.
It seems Boston has figured out a solution to the closer situation. With both Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Miller out for the season, the closer burden has fallen on Koji Uehara. In not the best situation, he has performed admirably. He earned his 10th save Saturday night and has a sterling ERA of 1.43.
Upcoming: Sunday is the 4th and final game in the Dodgers-Cubs series. I wouldn't be surprised if LA wins and sweeps the sacrificial lambs. Today's scheduled pitching matchup is Stephen Fife, who is just barely coming off of the DL. Fife (3-3, 2.76 ERA) vs. Carlos Villanueva (2-7, 4.33 ERA).
Once this series is complete, the Dodgers task becomes much more challenging. They go to St. Louis to play a 4 game series with the Cardinals from Monday to Thursday. St. Louis is 64-45 and has a 98.6% chance to reach the playoffs. Although St. Louis has the fifth best record in MLB, they are only 2nd place in their division. They trail the Pirates by 1.5 games. Obviously it's a big series, two of the games will be on ESPN.
Meanwhile the Braves are even making more of a joke of the NL East than the Dodgers are making of the NL West. At least in the NL West there's at least one other team that has a pulse. The Braves won their 9th straight game to improve to 66-45. They have a 99.7% chance of reaching the playoffs. The second place team in the NL East is the Nationals (54-56, 6.4 Poff%). They trail the Braves by 11.5 games.
Although Cincinnati has fallen off a bit of late, it looks highly likely 3 NL Central teams will make the playoffs. That's a pretty amazing feat and tells you how bad the rest of the NL is this season. Of course that also tells you how good the Cardinals, Pirates and Reds are.
themusicaddict
The Dodgers won yet again on the road, they've won 13 straight road games. That's the Dodgers team record. They've also won the first 3 games in this 4 game series with the Cubs. I don't want to say the Cubs aren't trying. But I do wonder if they are really as bad as the last 3 games would indicate. The Cubs have scored a grand total of 6 runs in those first 3 games.
LA is in the midst of playing a brutal stretch of games, 26 games in 27 days. They have 11 games over the next 11 days remaining in that brutal stretch. I'm sure August 15th is circled on the Dodgers calendar, that's their next day off.
LA has won 13 straight road games, breaking the record from 1924 by the Brooklyn Robins. (Thanks to ESPN.com.) The heroes of this game include Carl Crawford, he was 3 for 5 and raised his batting average to .284. He also had two RBI's which gave the Dodgers more than enough runs needed to win. That gives him a pretty wimpy total of 18 RBIs this season. He also was caught stealing in this game. Crawford will never live up to his contract, I just hope he can have occasional flashes of brilliance like he did Saturday.
In a pretty lackluster game devoid of much excitement, the heroes don't leap out. I'd say two other heroes were starter Chris Capuano. Don Mattingly called on Capuano to play in place of Zack Greinke, to give Greinke some rest during this brutal stretch. In 6.1 innings Capuano gave up 6 hits, but no runs. He improves to 4-6 as he lowers his ERA to 4.16. The other hero was Kenley Jansen, he struck out 2 and didn't give up a hit in his one inning. Jansen has 16 saves and his ERA decreases to 2.08.
Thanks to Boston and new pitcher Jake Peavy for their 5-2 victory over the Diamondbacks. With Arizona's loss, they now trail the Dodgers by 4.5 games. There's no one else to challenge the Dodgers in the NL West, Colorado is in third place and they are 9.5 games back. Unless LA reverts to it's early season play, they will coast to the NL West title.
Also my Red Sox continue strengthening their hold on a playoff spot. It's quite likely at this point that Boston and Tampa Bay will make the playoffs, the question is which one will be the AL East champs? (Sorry Baltimore I don't think that's going to be you.) Both teams have won 6 of their last 10 games and the Red Sox leads the Rays by 1 game. By adding Peavy to an already good pitching staff, I like the Red Sox chances of winning the World Series this season.
It seems Boston has figured out a solution to the closer situation. With both Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Miller out for the season, the closer burden has fallen on Koji Uehara. In not the best situation, he has performed admirably. He earned his 10th save Saturday night and has a sterling ERA of 1.43.
Upcoming: Sunday is the 4th and final game in the Dodgers-Cubs series. I wouldn't be surprised if LA wins and sweeps the sacrificial lambs. Today's scheduled pitching matchup is Stephen Fife, who is just barely coming off of the DL. Fife (3-3, 2.76 ERA) vs. Carlos Villanueva (2-7, 4.33 ERA).
Once this series is complete, the Dodgers task becomes much more challenging. They go to St. Louis to play a 4 game series with the Cardinals from Monday to Thursday. St. Louis is 64-45 and has a 98.6% chance to reach the playoffs. Although St. Louis has the fifth best record in MLB, they are only 2nd place in their division. They trail the Pirates by 1.5 games. Obviously it's a big series, two of the games will be on ESPN.
Meanwhile the Braves are even making more of a joke of the NL East than the Dodgers are making of the NL West. At least in the NL West there's at least one other team that has a pulse. The Braves won their 9th straight game to improve to 66-45. They have a 99.7% chance of reaching the playoffs. The second place team in the NL East is the Nationals (54-56, 6.4 Poff%). They trail the Braves by 11.5 games.
Although Cincinnati has fallen off a bit of late, it looks highly likely 3 NL Central teams will make the playoffs. That's a pretty amazing feat and tells you how bad the rest of the NL is this season. Of course that also tells you how good the Cardinals, Pirates and Reds are.
themusicaddict
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Dodgers Daily, August 2nd, 2013: Dodgers Continue Rolling On The Road
Hello,
The Dodgers won again in Chicago, they've won the first two games in the 4 game series. As I'm writing this it looks like they are going to win the 3rd game in the series as well, the game played on August 3rd.
With LA's 6-2 victory over the Cubs, LA has won 12 straight road games. In case you are wondering that's tied for the longest streak in Dodgers history, yes including when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn.
Yasiel Puig is bouncing back a bit from his recent doldrums. On Friday he was 2 for 3 and is hitting .371. He also was walked once and has a .423 on base percentage this season. Mr. Consistent, Adrian Gonzalez, was 2 for 5 and is hitting .301. He's been flirting with hitting .300 most of the season. The third and last Dodger that had two hits was Nick Punto. He's really struggled the last few weeks, do I think this is a sign that he's bouncing back to his earlier season success. Um, no. But if everyone comes back healthy he probably won't be playing a lot anyway. If he could just be a consistent bat off the bench, that would be great.
Both Hanley Ramirez and Carl Crawford were given the day off. Matt Kemp remains on the mend and should be back in September.
I'm very concerned about Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu. His pattern for a lot of this season has been giving up a lot of hits, but not many runs. That's what happened on Friday. He gave up 11 Cubs hit, but only 2 runs. Because he can avoid giving up a lot of runs, he improved to 10-3 on the season, with a 3.15 ERA. However that's the shakiest 10-3 record for the last several years.
Also the Diamondbacks won on Friday, beating the Red Sox 7-6. The Red Sox didn't have any walk off magic in this game. LA continues to lead Arizona by 3.5 games.
themusicaddict
The Dodgers won again in Chicago, they've won the first two games in the 4 game series. As I'm writing this it looks like they are going to win the 3rd game in the series as well, the game played on August 3rd.
With LA's 6-2 victory over the Cubs, LA has won 12 straight road games. In case you are wondering that's tied for the longest streak in Dodgers history, yes including when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn.
Yasiel Puig is bouncing back a bit from his recent doldrums. On Friday he was 2 for 3 and is hitting .371. He also was walked once and has a .423 on base percentage this season. Mr. Consistent, Adrian Gonzalez, was 2 for 5 and is hitting .301. He's been flirting with hitting .300 most of the season. The third and last Dodger that had two hits was Nick Punto. He's really struggled the last few weeks, do I think this is a sign that he's bouncing back to his earlier season success. Um, no. But if everyone comes back healthy he probably won't be playing a lot anyway. If he could just be a consistent bat off the bench, that would be great.
Both Hanley Ramirez and Carl Crawford were given the day off. Matt Kemp remains on the mend and should be back in September.
I'm very concerned about Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu. His pattern for a lot of this season has been giving up a lot of hits, but not many runs. That's what happened on Friday. He gave up 11 Cubs hit, but only 2 runs. Because he can avoid giving up a lot of runs, he improved to 10-3 on the season, with a 3.15 ERA. However that's the shakiest 10-3 record for the last several years.
Also the Diamondbacks won on Friday, beating the Red Sox 7-6. The Red Sox didn't have any walk off magic in this game. LA continues to lead Arizona by 3.5 games.
themusicaddict
Friday, August 2, 2013
Dodgers Daily, August 1st, 2013: Dodgers Win 11th Straight On The Road, Red Sox Wild Comeback!
Hello,
The Dodgers were able to start their 8 game road trip with a spirited 6-4 win over the talent deprived Cubs. The Dodgers have 3 more games against the Cubs, including Friday afternoon. Following the Cubs series LA goes to St. Louis to play a 4 game set against the Cardinals. I realize that Pittsburgh just took 4 of 5 from St. Louis, but I still think the Cardinals might be the best team in MLB.
With LA winning and the Diamondbacks losing, LA moved back in front of the NL West by 3.5 games. Unless the Dodgers completely crash and burn, I expect them to coast to the playoffs. The other 4 teams in the NL West just aren't that good, and frankly the Dodgers are pretty mediocre. Because they're in a wimpy division, they'll be able to able to avoid the one game Wild Card matchup.
How about those Red Sox! Thursday night they had a comeback for the ages as they came all the way back from trailing 7-2. Going into the bottom of the 9th inning the Red Sox had a 1% chance of winning that game. But powered by 9th inning clutch hits from Brock Holt (who?), Shane Victorino, Dustin Pedroia, Jonny Gomes and Daniel Nava the Red Sox powered back to win.
Boston won this game in walk off fashion, their second straight walk off win. They also lead all of MLB with 11 walk off wins this season. That tells me that this team doesn't ever give up and they continue fighting to the end. Also with their explosive offense, it seems they nearly can overcome any deficit.
The Red Sox are now 66-44 and have a 92.6% chance of reaching the playoffs. Following their meltdown of two years ago and the season of Valentine, it looks like the Red Sox will return to the playoffs.
The Rays are in second place in the AL East, they only trail the Red Sox by 1 game. I expect that they will make the playoffs as well. Although I'm a big Orioles fan, I don't see them making the playoffs. They would have to overcome two very tough teams and I don't think they have enough to do so. Bud Norris will help their starting pitching, but I don't see that as a being a big enough move to help get the Orioles into the playoffs. Currently the Orioles are 60-49, with a 31.5% chance of reaching the playoffs.
Would someone please slap Alex Rodriguez? He's arguing with MLB about how long of a suspension he's going to get. According to various reports he wants some of the money he's owed. Alex don't you have enough money already, how greedy are you? If you are poor then sell that picture of you as a Centaur that you had in your bedroom. That should fetch you at least $5 or $6 and if you sign it, that might drive the value all the way up to $10.
Again I hate so much that MLB is negotiating with these players. That's got to be changed in the next CBA. If the MLB has the needed proof and have done their due diligence, they should be able to suspend who they want and for how long they want. This namby pamby negotiating has got to go!!
themusicaddict
The Dodgers were able to start their 8 game road trip with a spirited 6-4 win over the talent deprived Cubs. The Dodgers have 3 more games against the Cubs, including Friday afternoon. Following the Cubs series LA goes to St. Louis to play a 4 game set against the Cardinals. I realize that Pittsburgh just took 4 of 5 from St. Louis, but I still think the Cardinals might be the best team in MLB.
With LA winning and the Diamondbacks losing, LA moved back in front of the NL West by 3.5 games. Unless the Dodgers completely crash and burn, I expect them to coast to the playoffs. The other 4 teams in the NL West just aren't that good, and frankly the Dodgers are pretty mediocre. Because they're in a wimpy division, they'll be able to able to avoid the one game Wild Card matchup.
How about those Red Sox! Thursday night they had a comeback for the ages as they came all the way back from trailing 7-2. Going into the bottom of the 9th inning the Red Sox had a 1% chance of winning that game. But powered by 9th inning clutch hits from Brock Holt (who?), Shane Victorino, Dustin Pedroia, Jonny Gomes and Daniel Nava the Red Sox powered back to win.
Boston won this game in walk off fashion, their second straight walk off win. They also lead all of MLB with 11 walk off wins this season. That tells me that this team doesn't ever give up and they continue fighting to the end. Also with their explosive offense, it seems they nearly can overcome any deficit.
The Red Sox are now 66-44 and have a 92.6% chance of reaching the playoffs. Following their meltdown of two years ago and the season of Valentine, it looks like the Red Sox will return to the playoffs.
The Rays are in second place in the AL East, they only trail the Red Sox by 1 game. I expect that they will make the playoffs as well. Although I'm a big Orioles fan, I don't see them making the playoffs. They would have to overcome two very tough teams and I don't think they have enough to do so. Bud Norris will help their starting pitching, but I don't see that as a being a big enough move to help get the Orioles into the playoffs. Currently the Orioles are 60-49, with a 31.5% chance of reaching the playoffs.
Would someone please slap Alex Rodriguez? He's arguing with MLB about how long of a suspension he's going to get. According to various reports he wants some of the money he's owed. Alex don't you have enough money already, how greedy are you? If you are poor then sell that picture of you as a Centaur that you had in your bedroom. That should fetch you at least $5 or $6 and if you sign it, that might drive the value all the way up to $10.
Again I hate so much that MLB is negotiating with these players. That's got to be changed in the next CBA. If the MLB has the needed proof and have done their due diligence, they should be able to suspend who they want and for how long they want. This namby pamby negotiating has got to go!!
themusicaddict
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Dodgers Daily, July 31st: Dodgers Offense Grinds To A Halt, Hard Luck Kershaw Gets Little Support
Hello,
It's been a busy day and this likely will be a relatively short blog.
In the second and final game of their series with the Yankees, the Dodgers "offense" finished with 6 hits and no runs. All of the hits were singles, not an extra base hit among the hits. In LA's last 6 games they've scored 2, 2, 4, 1, 3 and no runs last night. In those 6 games LA has scored a not so grand total of 12 runs, which works out to 2 runs a game. Thanks to great pitching, amazingly LA has won 4 of those 6 games.
With the Diamondbacks winning Wednesday, LA's lead was cut to 2.5 games. LA still has a 68.7% chance of reaching the playoffs.
Hard luck Clayton Kershaw was betrayed again by the alleged Dodgers offense. Kershaw only gave up 5 hits and no runs. He also had 5 strikeouts while lowering his ERA to 1.87. Kershaw currently leads all of MLB's starting pitchers with that amazing ERA. I know I've written this before: if Kershaw isn't the best pitcher in MLB then who is? Don't be fooled by Kershaw's 10-6 record, that's more a sign of the LA's offensive ineptness than Kershaw's ineffectiveness.
With MLB's trading deadline passing yesterday mostly very quietly, I was a bit disappointed that LA didn't go out and get one more player. I know there's still the waiver deadline and any team has until August 31st to trade for players who pass through waivers. The Dodgers and Red Sox made their big 2012 trade during the month of August. It's been announced that Matt Kemp probably won't be back until September. I don't know how actively they were looking to make a move, but I was hoping they would add one more bat. I would feel better with another bat in their lineup with the ineffective Andre Ethier and injury prone Kemp and Carl Crawford on the roster.
Kemp has played in 62 games so far this season, let's be optimistic and say he's back on September 1st. LA has 27 games in September. If Kemp plays in them all, that would mean he played in 89 games this season. That means he would just barely play in slightly more than half of LA's games. Of course that's assuming that he's actually back on September 1st and that he doesn't get injured again. If he goes on DL again, the Dodgers should just shut him down for the season back. For you keeping track at home, Kemp currently is on his 3rd DL stint. Although if he comes back as a healthy player, it would be like making a trade but without any additional salary.
LA starts play against the 49-58 Cubs on Thursday. With only a scant chance of making the playoffs, the only thing the Cubs have to play for is pride and their jobs next season. I'm hoping the Cubs will be much better next season, that's year 3 of Theo Epstein running the Cubs. If his reign is going to be successful I'd expect some positive signs of that in season 3. Anyway Thursday's scheduled pitching matchup is Ricky Nolasco (6-9, 3.72) vs. Chris Rusin (1-0, 2.93 ERA.)
Will the Braves be the first team to reach a 100% chance of making the playoffs? As of Wednesday's game they had a 99.4% chance of reaching the playoffs. The NL East continues to fall apart below them. The Braves lead the second place Nationals by 11 games.
Meanwhile in Pittsburgh's current 5 game series with the Cardinals, the Pirates have won the 4 games played so far. Pittsburgh is 65-42 and they're 23 games above. 500 for the first time since 1972. Long time Pirate fans know that was 7 years before their magical "We Are Family" World Series winning season. Pittsburgh only has to go 17-38 to finish above .500 for the first time in the 20 years. If they can't accomplish that minor goal, then they are in a collapse for the ages. But I don't think that's going to happen.
themusicaddict
It's been a busy day and this likely will be a relatively short blog.
In the second and final game of their series with the Yankees, the Dodgers "offense" finished with 6 hits and no runs. All of the hits were singles, not an extra base hit among the hits. In LA's last 6 games they've scored 2, 2, 4, 1, 3 and no runs last night. In those 6 games LA has scored a not so grand total of 12 runs, which works out to 2 runs a game. Thanks to great pitching, amazingly LA has won 4 of those 6 games.
With the Diamondbacks winning Wednesday, LA's lead was cut to 2.5 games. LA still has a 68.7% chance of reaching the playoffs.
Hard luck Clayton Kershaw was betrayed again by the alleged Dodgers offense. Kershaw only gave up 5 hits and no runs. He also had 5 strikeouts while lowering his ERA to 1.87. Kershaw currently leads all of MLB's starting pitchers with that amazing ERA. I know I've written this before: if Kershaw isn't the best pitcher in MLB then who is? Don't be fooled by Kershaw's 10-6 record, that's more a sign of the LA's offensive ineptness than Kershaw's ineffectiveness.
With MLB's trading deadline passing yesterday mostly very quietly, I was a bit disappointed that LA didn't go out and get one more player. I know there's still the waiver deadline and any team has until August 31st to trade for players who pass through waivers. The Dodgers and Red Sox made their big 2012 trade during the month of August. It's been announced that Matt Kemp probably won't be back until September. I don't know how actively they were looking to make a move, but I was hoping they would add one more bat. I would feel better with another bat in their lineup with the ineffective Andre Ethier and injury prone Kemp and Carl Crawford on the roster.
Kemp has played in 62 games so far this season, let's be optimistic and say he's back on September 1st. LA has 27 games in September. If Kemp plays in them all, that would mean he played in 89 games this season. That means he would just barely play in slightly more than half of LA's games. Of course that's assuming that he's actually back on September 1st and that he doesn't get injured again. If he goes on DL again, the Dodgers should just shut him down for the season back. For you keeping track at home, Kemp currently is on his 3rd DL stint. Although if he comes back as a healthy player, it would be like making a trade but without any additional salary.
LA starts play against the 49-58 Cubs on Thursday. With only a scant chance of making the playoffs, the only thing the Cubs have to play for is pride and their jobs next season. I'm hoping the Cubs will be much better next season, that's year 3 of Theo Epstein running the Cubs. If his reign is going to be successful I'd expect some positive signs of that in season 3. Anyway Thursday's scheduled pitching matchup is Ricky Nolasco (6-9, 3.72) vs. Chris Rusin (1-0, 2.93 ERA.)
Will the Braves be the first team to reach a 100% chance of making the playoffs? As of Wednesday's game they had a 99.4% chance of reaching the playoffs. The NL East continues to fall apart below them. The Braves lead the second place Nationals by 11 games.
Meanwhile in Pittsburgh's current 5 game series with the Cardinals, the Pirates have won the 4 games played so far. Pittsburgh is 65-42 and they're 23 games above. 500 for the first time since 1972. Long time Pirate fans know that was 7 years before their magical "We Are Family" World Series winning season. Pittsburgh only has to go 17-38 to finish above .500 for the first time in the 20 years. If they can't accomplish that minor goal, then they are in a collapse for the ages. But I don't think that's going to happen.
themusicaddict
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