Hello,
I have to admit I love having a hard time coming up with headlines for these blogs. There's only so many ways I can come up with Dodgers win again titles. Also I keep on pinching myself and haven't yet woke up, maybe the Dodgers are really this good.
LA defeated Tampa 5-0 on Saturday afternoon. The Dodgers winning is the highlight of the game for me, but the big story about this game is LA fell for the old hidden ball trick. Although that has received the most attention, it's one of the least important things about this game. The last team I remember the hidden ball trick working is in the movie "The Rookie".
The hidden ball trick isn't tried much and it works even less.
Back to the truly important aspect of this game, LA continues coasting with a 5-0 win over the Rays. Zack Greinke combined with two other Dodgers pitchers for a shutout. Greinke overall had a good game, but he gave up 6 hits. He also had 7 strikeouts, improved to 10-3 and lowered his ERA to 3.21. If it wasn't for the stupid fight he was involved in, Greinke would probably be mentioned more prominently in the Cy Young talk. I'd much rather him win the World Series than the Cy Young though.
Chris Withrow pitched the final two innings, giving up no hits and no walks. Since the Dodgers were ahead by more than 3 runs when Withrow entered the game, he doesn't get a save. However he had an incredibly effective outing and lowers his ERA to 2.45.
ESPN LA's Mark Saxon makes a compelling case for why Adrian Gonzalez should get a couple of mentions in the MVP race, I expect that Gonzalez won't even come close to winning that award. While his team is in first place, only a monumental meltdown away from making the playoffs, Gonzalez's individual numbers aren't gaudy enough for the MVP. I've called Gonzalez Mr. Consistent for most of the season, without him I'd hate to see where this Dodgers team would be. Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez have been flashier, but Gonzalez is that steady veteran presence this Dodgers team has so desperately needed this season. Also as Saxon points out Gonzalez has played 112 of 116 games this season. This Dodgers team has so many injury prone players on it, knowing Gonzalez should be able to play everyday has been a big boost.
Upcoming: LA won the first two games of this series. The third and final game is this week's Sunday Night Baseball game. The Dodgers have scored 12 runs in their last 2 games, hopefully they can stay close to that average tonight. I have my doubts about that as hard luck Clayton Kershaw is pitching for the Dodgers. Kershaw leads the MLB with a 1.91 ERA, but only has a 10-7 record. That's not due to his performance, LA batters usually don't give him much run support. Pitching for the Rays is Jeremy Hellickson, who is 10-5, with a 4.77 ERA.
Starting tomorrow the Dodgers play 3 more games at home, they'll welcome the Mets. It looks like Mets wunderkind Matt Harvey has been moved from pitching Monday to pitching Tuesday. Following the third Mets game, the Dodgers get a much needed day off. LA then plays 7 games on the road, they will be playing two of the worst teams in MLB. They should win at least 5 of 7 games against the awful Phillies and even worse Marlins.
The Braves lost 1-0 to the Marlins on Saturday, that ended their 14 game winning streak. Atlanta still has a 99.9% chance of reaching the playoffs and should coast into them. Atlanta leads the second place team in the NL East, the Nationals, by 14.5 games.
From the hard to believe file: The Yankees could suspend Alex Rodriguez for one game, although a formal punishment hasn't been announced yet. If Rodriguez isn't paid for one game, the penalty would cost Rodriguez about $153,000. Arod received a letter from the Yankees letting him know about this possible suspension. However when asked about it by the press, he denied receiving the letter. In the letter his name is listed as 1 of 7 names who received the letter. Why would Arod lie about receiving the letter, what benefit does he get from that? I think that Arod has got so used to lying that he doesn't know any other way now. Sarcasm alert: Who can blame Arod for lying, look how well it has worked out for him. I'm so glad I'm not a Yankees fan right now. As a 100% Yankees hater, I'm enjoying the Yanks paying a .200 hitter $153,000 a game, whether he plays or not. (Thanks to Wallace Matthew's article on ESPN New York.)
themusicaddict
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Dodgers Daily, August 9th, 2013: Dodgers Rally In 9th To Win
Hello,
Two of the hottest teams in MLB started a three game series on Friday. Those two teams are LA and Tampa Bay. The Dodgers ended up prevailing in the first game 7-6, but it was only after a wild 4 run 9th inning comeback.
LA continues defying expectations and logic, remember they are doing most of this without Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez. It seems Ramirez will be back fairly soon, in fact he pinch hit last night. ESPN is reporting that he won't play in Saturday's afternoon game. If LA is truly as good as they appear to be right now, then why were they so bad earlier in the season? I'm starting to feel a bit silly that I still have all these doubts about LA. But I can't quite give up the lingering doubts yet.
Entering the bottom of the 9th inning, Tampa leads 6-3 with closer Fernando Rodney pitching for the Rays. Rodney has 27 saves this season, but not a mid 4.00 ERA. LA won 7-6 by scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th. The first Dodger up was Skip Schumaker, who had a single. One Dodger on, 0 outs. Up next was light hitting Dee Gordon, who struck out swinging. Still Schumaker's on first base, but now there's 1 out. Up next: Mark Ellis, who tripled to left field driving in Schumaker. Tampa leads 6-4, Ellis is on third base and there's still one out. He's followed by Nick Punto, who doubles to left and drove in Ellis. Rays 6, Dodgers 5, Punto on second base and still only one out. The next Dodgers batter is Mr. Consistent, Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez doubles, Punto scores and the game is tied at 6. Still only one out with Gonzalez on second base. Yasiel Puig is the next Dodgers batter, with first base open the Rays choose to intentionally walk him. Jerry Hairston Jr. then grounds into a fielder's choice. Gonzalez scores on a throwing error by Rodney. Dodgers win 7-6 and continue this great run they are on.
This is Fernando Rodney's seventh blown save of the season. He's tied in blown saves with the Orioles Jim Johnson and the Cubs James Russell.
Although this was a great win by the Dodgers, LA still seems at least one or two pitchers short. Chris Capuano struggled, giving up 10 hits in 4.1 innings. It makes me nervous that LA had to have Brandon League and Carlos Marmol pitch 3 innings. Thankfully LA seems to have unlimited resources and recently signed Brian Wilson to a year contract. He's currently in the minor leagues getting ready to play in the big leagues again. I feel confident about Dodgers late inning pitching with Paco Rodriguez, Kenley Jansen and Brian Wilson.
The Dodgers continue cruising, they've won 8 of their last 10 games and 3 in a row. LA has a 88.5% chance of making the playoffs. The Diamondbacks were able to beat the Mets 5-4 to remain 5.5 games back in the NL West.
Thanks to my friends at MLB Network I was able to see the mano a mano battle between the greatest closer ever and probably the best hitter in MLB now. Of course I'm referring to the top of the 9th inning showdown between Miguel Cabrera and Mariano Rivera. What a battle, Cabrera won by hitting a 2 run game tying home run. Although New York ended up winning the war by winning 4-3. That breaks the Tigers 12 game winning streak. But at the end of the season the Yanks will be watching the Tigers in the playoffs.
Initially I was extremely irritated that ARod was still able to play after filing an appeal to his 211 game suspension. Due to that appeal, he'll be able to finish playing this season. I've changed my mind a bit, I'm enjoying the Yankees having to pay Rodriguez a lot of money for very little production. On Friday Rodriguez was 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts and he's currently hitting .200. It seems the Yankees can't wait around on the MLB for him to be suspended. ESPN reports the Yanks delivered a letter to Rodriguez yesterday that he'll be suspended for getting a second opinion without getting the Yankees permission. I researched this but I didn't find a definitive answer to if the Yanks would have to pay him during any team initiated suspension. Yes, I'm saying that's the main reason they'd suspend him. They realize they agreed to one of the worst contracts of all-time and are looking to reduce that financial burden where they can. Out of everyone the Yankees are probably the most excited about ARod's MLB suspension when it finally arrives.
In other games the Braves continue their winning streak, they've won 14 straight games now. Their latest victory was a 5-0 victory over the Marlins. This is the Braves longest winning streak since 2000, and I believe the longest MLB winning streak since 2002. Justin Upton had his 22nd home run and has 6 homers in August. Chris Johnson and Brian McCann also homered.
The Braves didn't make an August trade, but it might seem that way with Brandon Beachy back. In only his third appearance since recovering from major elbow surgery, he pitched 8 scoreless innings. Beachy is 1-0 this season and this is first win in 15 months.
Miami and the Chicago White Sox are the first two teams to drop to 0% chance of reaching the playoffs. Meanwhile Atlanta looks to be the first team to clinch a playoff birth, currently they are at 99.9% chance.
Finally the AL East continues to be a close battle, both the Red Sox and Rays lost on Friday. However the Orioles won. Boston is 70-48 and remains in first place in the AL East. The Red Sox lost again to the incredibly hot Royals as new Red Sox pitcher Jake Peavy had a rough outing. The Rays are in second place, they trail Boston by 2 games. Meanwhile the Orioles are still fighting to remain in the AL East playoff chase. They've won 3 games in a row and are only 4.5 games behind Boston. The Yanks are completely irrelevant in the AL East. They are 4th place and 10 games behind Boston. New York has a 2.0% chance of reaching the postseason. I'm guessing they are much more interested in ending the ARod era as quickly and cheaply as possible than this season's limited playoff chances.
themusicaddict
Two of the hottest teams in MLB started a three game series on Friday. Those two teams are LA and Tampa Bay. The Dodgers ended up prevailing in the first game 7-6, but it was only after a wild 4 run 9th inning comeback.
LA continues defying expectations and logic, remember they are doing most of this without Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez. It seems Ramirez will be back fairly soon, in fact he pinch hit last night. ESPN is reporting that he won't play in Saturday's afternoon game. If LA is truly as good as they appear to be right now, then why were they so bad earlier in the season? I'm starting to feel a bit silly that I still have all these doubts about LA. But I can't quite give up the lingering doubts yet.
Entering the bottom of the 9th inning, Tampa leads 6-3 with closer Fernando Rodney pitching for the Rays. Rodney has 27 saves this season, but not a mid 4.00 ERA. LA won 7-6 by scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th. The first Dodger up was Skip Schumaker, who had a single. One Dodger on, 0 outs. Up next was light hitting Dee Gordon, who struck out swinging. Still Schumaker's on first base, but now there's 1 out. Up next: Mark Ellis, who tripled to left field driving in Schumaker. Tampa leads 6-4, Ellis is on third base and there's still one out. He's followed by Nick Punto, who doubles to left and drove in Ellis. Rays 6, Dodgers 5, Punto on second base and still only one out. The next Dodgers batter is Mr. Consistent, Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez doubles, Punto scores and the game is tied at 6. Still only one out with Gonzalez on second base. Yasiel Puig is the next Dodgers batter, with first base open the Rays choose to intentionally walk him. Jerry Hairston Jr. then grounds into a fielder's choice. Gonzalez scores on a throwing error by Rodney. Dodgers win 7-6 and continue this great run they are on.
This is Fernando Rodney's seventh blown save of the season. He's tied in blown saves with the Orioles Jim Johnson and the Cubs James Russell.
Although this was a great win by the Dodgers, LA still seems at least one or two pitchers short. Chris Capuano struggled, giving up 10 hits in 4.1 innings. It makes me nervous that LA had to have Brandon League and Carlos Marmol pitch 3 innings. Thankfully LA seems to have unlimited resources and recently signed Brian Wilson to a year contract. He's currently in the minor leagues getting ready to play in the big leagues again. I feel confident about Dodgers late inning pitching with Paco Rodriguez, Kenley Jansen and Brian Wilson.
The Dodgers continue cruising, they've won 8 of their last 10 games and 3 in a row. LA has a 88.5% chance of making the playoffs. The Diamondbacks were able to beat the Mets 5-4 to remain 5.5 games back in the NL West.
Thanks to my friends at MLB Network I was able to see the mano a mano battle between the greatest closer ever and probably the best hitter in MLB now. Of course I'm referring to the top of the 9th inning showdown between Miguel Cabrera and Mariano Rivera. What a battle, Cabrera won by hitting a 2 run game tying home run. Although New York ended up winning the war by winning 4-3. That breaks the Tigers 12 game winning streak. But at the end of the season the Yanks will be watching the Tigers in the playoffs.
Initially I was extremely irritated that ARod was still able to play after filing an appeal to his 211 game suspension. Due to that appeal, he'll be able to finish playing this season. I've changed my mind a bit, I'm enjoying the Yankees having to pay Rodriguez a lot of money for very little production. On Friday Rodriguez was 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts and he's currently hitting .200. It seems the Yankees can't wait around on the MLB for him to be suspended. ESPN reports the Yanks delivered a letter to Rodriguez yesterday that he'll be suspended for getting a second opinion without getting the Yankees permission. I researched this but I didn't find a definitive answer to if the Yanks would have to pay him during any team initiated suspension. Yes, I'm saying that's the main reason they'd suspend him. They realize they agreed to one of the worst contracts of all-time and are looking to reduce that financial burden where they can. Out of everyone the Yankees are probably the most excited about ARod's MLB suspension when it finally arrives.
In other games the Braves continue their winning streak, they've won 14 straight games now. Their latest victory was a 5-0 victory over the Marlins. This is the Braves longest winning streak since 2000, and I believe the longest MLB winning streak since 2002. Justin Upton had his 22nd home run and has 6 homers in August. Chris Johnson and Brian McCann also homered.
The Braves didn't make an August trade, but it might seem that way with Brandon Beachy back. In only his third appearance since recovering from major elbow surgery, he pitched 8 scoreless innings. Beachy is 1-0 this season and this is first win in 15 months.
Miami and the Chicago White Sox are the first two teams to drop to 0% chance of reaching the playoffs. Meanwhile Atlanta looks to be the first team to clinch a playoff birth, currently they are at 99.9% chance.
Finally the AL East continues to be a close battle, both the Red Sox and Rays lost on Friday. However the Orioles won. Boston is 70-48 and remains in first place in the AL East. The Red Sox lost again to the incredibly hot Royals as new Red Sox pitcher Jake Peavy had a rough outing. The Rays are in second place, they trail Boston by 2 games. Meanwhile the Orioles are still fighting to remain in the AL East playoff chase. They've won 3 games in a row and are only 4.5 games behind Boston. The Yanks are completely irrelevant in the AL East. They are 4th place and 10 games behind Boston. New York has a 2.0% chance of reaching the postseason. I'm guessing they are much more interested in ending the ARod era as quickly and cheaply as possible than this season's limited playoff chances.
themusicaddict
Friday, August 9, 2013
"Orange Is The New Black", The Gorgeous Taylor Schilling
Hello,
With "The Killing" and "Falling Skies" both ending their less than exciting seasons, I was looking for something new to watch. We recently have added Netflix where I live and I'd heard good things about "Orange Is The New Black". Last night I watched the first two episodes and honestly I have mixed feelings. I like shows that are quirky and this show definitely qualifies. I like it's skewered sense-of-humor also. I also love Commander Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) being in charge of the prison kitchen. Mulgrew is certainly a versatile actress.
After watching the first two episodes I can't say that I'm a big fan, but I can't say I hate the show either. Parts of episode 2 were boring and I would be so glad if the lesbianism was toned down. (That's not a judgement on lesbians, it's just something that I don't personally want to see.)
I enjoy the quirky prisoners, including the prisoner who's happy she got cancer. Because "nobody messes with cancer". I find it hilarious that Chapman (Taylor Schilling) studied what living in prison would be like.
But honestly my favorite thing about the show is the gorgeous Taylor Schilling. She's so hot she can even make orange look good.
 |
| Orange is the new hawt! |
 |
| Schilling simply is a gorgeous woman.
themusicaddict
|
Dodgers Daily, August 8th, 2013: Dodgers Take 3 of 4 From The Cardinals, Pirates Pulls Away From NL Central A Bit
Hello,
On Thursday there were only 7 MLB games played. Four of my seven teams played and two of those teams won. LA and Pittsburgh won while Boston and Chicago lost.
LA beat St. Louis 5-1 on Thursday, winning 3 of 4 games against the Cardinals in St. Louis. I keep on thinking this Dodgers hot streak could come to a screeching halt any time. I just don't believe that LA is this good. I'm sorry, just keeping it real.
Yesterday the Dodgers completed their 8 game road trip, finishing 7-1 on that road trip. The fact that they beat the have given up on the season Cubs isn't a big shock. But I'm a bit shocked that the Cubs were swept at home. The fact that LA took 3 of 4 from the powerful Cardinals is simply amazing. This Cardinals team is truly loaded and a fantastic organization from top to bottom, I have a tremendous amount of respect for them. By no means do I think they are done though, not even close. St. Louis will still be one of the 3 NL Central teams that qualifies for the playoffs. Although I do understand they want to avoid the one game wildcard playoff.
LA is 64-50 and has a 87.0% chance of reaching the playoffs. The Diamondbacks didn't play yesterday and they have dropped 5.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. The NL West remains the second weakest division in MLB, only stronger than the pathetic NL East.
The big blow in LA's victory was A.J. Ellis' 3 run homer. That home run turned a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 Dodgers lead, which ended up being more than enough runs to win. Ellis is hitting .260, has six homers and 38 RBIs on the season. It's players like Ellis that LA needs consistent production from if they want to make a lot of noise in the playoffs. Hyun-Jin Ryu also had a good game. He has a good win-loss record, but has had a tendency to give up a lot of hits. He pitched 7 innings, only allowing 5 hits and 1 run. His record improves to 11-3 and his ERA dipped below 3.00, it's now 2.99.
After winning 7 of 8 games on their road trip the Dodgers return home for a 6 game home stand. First they play 3 games against the very tough Rays, followed by 3 games against the not so tough Mets. LA- Tampa are this week's Sunday Night Baseball telecast. On Monday the Dodgers are set to play against Mets ace Matt Harvey. I was hoping the Dodgers would be able to avoid him. Harvey is 9-3 this season and has a Kershaw like 2.09 ERA. Harvey was absolutely dominant in his last start.
Anyway for tonight's game the scheduled pitching matchup is Chris Capuano (4-6, 4.16 ERA) vs. David Price (6-5, 3.36 ERA). Tampa Bay is currently second place in the AL East, trailing the Red Sox by 2 games. I'd be very surprised if the Red Sox and Rays don't make the playoffs.
Thanks to LA beating St. Louis and Pittsburgh beating Miami, the Pirates now lead St. Louis by 4 games in the NL Central. The Reds are falling off the pace a bit, although the Reds are still 63-51. They trail the first place Pirates by 7 games. Pittsburgh's chances of reaching the playoffs is now 99.2%. The Pirates are making any talk of them collapsing obsolete, all Pittsburgh has to do is finish the season 12-36 and they'll finish above. 500 for the first time in 20 years. Even the bad old Pirates could win 1/4th of their games.
I wish the Pirates would score a few more runs, they are only 22nd in all of MLB in runs scored. I've been frustrated by the Dodgers inability to score runs all season and Pittsburgh has even scored fewer runs than LA. LA has touched home plate 12 more times than Pittsburgh.
By not scoring as much as other teams, the Pirates are putting a lot of pressure on their injury prone pitching staff. The Pirates currently have 5 pitchers on the disabled list, including Wandy Rodriguez, James McDonald and Jason Grilli. Good news is coming now about Grilli though. According to ESPN, Grilli will start playing catch today this week and optimistically he could be back on the active roster by the end of August.
Sorry I'm a day late on this, but I congratulate the Red Sox for winning their 70th game this season on Wednesday. With their 70th victory, Boston has won more games this season than all of the disastrous 2012 Year of Valentine. Every time I see Terry Francona in a Indians jersey, I grind my teeth just a bit. Sure it may have been time for Francona to move on, but what the hell was the Red Sox brain trust thinking when they hired the combustible Bobby Valentine?
themusicaddict
On Thursday there were only 7 MLB games played. Four of my seven teams played and two of those teams won. LA and Pittsburgh won while Boston and Chicago lost.
LA beat St. Louis 5-1 on Thursday, winning 3 of 4 games against the Cardinals in St. Louis. I keep on thinking this Dodgers hot streak could come to a screeching halt any time. I just don't believe that LA is this good. I'm sorry, just keeping it real.
Yesterday the Dodgers completed their 8 game road trip, finishing 7-1 on that road trip. The fact that they beat the have given up on the season Cubs isn't a big shock. But I'm a bit shocked that the Cubs were swept at home. The fact that LA took 3 of 4 from the powerful Cardinals is simply amazing. This Cardinals team is truly loaded and a fantastic organization from top to bottom, I have a tremendous amount of respect for them. By no means do I think they are done though, not even close. St. Louis will still be one of the 3 NL Central teams that qualifies for the playoffs. Although I do understand they want to avoid the one game wildcard playoff.
LA is 64-50 and has a 87.0% chance of reaching the playoffs. The Diamondbacks didn't play yesterday and they have dropped 5.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. The NL West remains the second weakest division in MLB, only stronger than the pathetic NL East.
The big blow in LA's victory was A.J. Ellis' 3 run homer. That home run turned a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 Dodgers lead, which ended up being more than enough runs to win. Ellis is hitting .260, has six homers and 38 RBIs on the season. It's players like Ellis that LA needs consistent production from if they want to make a lot of noise in the playoffs. Hyun-Jin Ryu also had a good game. He has a good win-loss record, but has had a tendency to give up a lot of hits. He pitched 7 innings, only allowing 5 hits and 1 run. His record improves to 11-3 and his ERA dipped below 3.00, it's now 2.99.
After winning 7 of 8 games on their road trip the Dodgers return home for a 6 game home stand. First they play 3 games against the very tough Rays, followed by 3 games against the not so tough Mets. LA- Tampa are this week's Sunday Night Baseball telecast. On Monday the Dodgers are set to play against Mets ace Matt Harvey. I was hoping the Dodgers would be able to avoid him. Harvey is 9-3 this season and has a Kershaw like 2.09 ERA. Harvey was absolutely dominant in his last start.
Anyway for tonight's game the scheduled pitching matchup is Chris Capuano (4-6, 4.16 ERA) vs. David Price (6-5, 3.36 ERA). Tampa Bay is currently second place in the AL East, trailing the Red Sox by 2 games. I'd be very surprised if the Red Sox and Rays don't make the playoffs.
Thanks to LA beating St. Louis and Pittsburgh beating Miami, the Pirates now lead St. Louis by 4 games in the NL Central. The Reds are falling off the pace a bit, although the Reds are still 63-51. They trail the first place Pirates by 7 games. Pittsburgh's chances of reaching the playoffs is now 99.2%. The Pirates are making any talk of them collapsing obsolete, all Pittsburgh has to do is finish the season 12-36 and they'll finish above. 500 for the first time in 20 years. Even the bad old Pirates could win 1/4th of their games.
I wish the Pirates would score a few more runs, they are only 22nd in all of MLB in runs scored. I've been frustrated by the Dodgers inability to score runs all season and Pittsburgh has even scored fewer runs than LA. LA has touched home plate 12 more times than Pittsburgh.
By not scoring as much as other teams, the Pirates are putting a lot of pressure on their injury prone pitching staff. The Pirates currently have 5 pitchers on the disabled list, including Wandy Rodriguez, James McDonald and Jason Grilli. Good news is coming now about Grilli though. According to ESPN, Grilli will start playing catch today this week and optimistically he could be back on the active roster by the end of August.
Sorry I'm a day late on this, but I congratulate the Red Sox for winning their 70th game this season on Wednesday. With their 70th victory, Boston has won more games this season than all of the disastrous 2012 Year of Valentine. Every time I see Terry Francona in a Indians jersey, I grind my teeth just a bit. Sure it may have been time for Francona to move on, but what the hell was the Red Sox brain trust thinking when they hired the combustible Bobby Valentine?
themusicaddict
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Dodgers Daily: August 7th, 2013: Dodgers Explode For 13 Runs, Braves Rolling, ARod Appeals
Hello,
On Wednesday the Dodgers broke out in a big way. After struggling to score the last few games, LA exploded for 13 runs. With this one game outburst they moved from 21st to 16th in runs scored, which is probably about as high as they'll get this season. I'm glad the Dodgers exploded for all those runs, but it seems LA is the only team that could win 13-4 and not hit any home runs. This team needs to figure out a way to score at least 3 runs a game from here on out.
This was a great all around offensive game by LA, but only a decent pitching game for them. LA had 18 hits and Carl Crawford got in on the fun. He was 4 for 5 and raised his batting average to .293, he also had his 18th double and 19th RBI of the season. Andre Ethier also had a good game, he was 3 for 5 which raises his batting average to .273. He had 4 RBIs in this game, which gives him 41 on the season. Obviously that's one reason LA hasn't scored as many runs as they could this season, mediocre performances by people like Ethier. If the Dodgers will make noise in the playoffs, they need increased production from Crawford and Ethier. A fully healthy Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez are also crucial.
The part of the game that I watched I wasn't that impressed by Ricky Nolasco, I couldn't figure out who he was until I saw the back of his uniform. He had a decent enough game, he raised his record to 8-9, but he only lasted 5 innings. In those 5 innings, he gave up 7 hits and 3 runs. LA's starting rotation still has a few holes. Kershaw, Greinke and Ryu I feel comfortable with, but what would happen if one of those 3 pitchers get injured? I'm sorry, but I don't really want Ted Lilly to be called on to save the day.
The Dodgers continue coasting along, winning 8 of their last 10 games and have a 84.1% chance of reaching the playoffs. The Diamondbacks won last night, to remain 5 games back. However LA has won 8 of their last 10, while the Diamondbacks have only won 4 of 10 games. I'm pretty sure Arizona is done, it's doubtful they have enough to catch the Dodgers. This may be the only division that LA could win. Thankfully LA doesn't play in the NL Central or AL East, they would be fighting for 4th place and planning for next season.
The NL West isn't always this weak, but this season it is. Will there be only team that finishes the NL West with a winning record? I think that's a possibility. If the Diamondbacks stop fighting, they could quickly sink below .500.
After yesterday's 6-3 win, the Braves are 70-45. They have a mind boggling 99.9% chance of making the playoffs. Atlanta just keeps on rolling, they've won 13 games and continue destroying the NL East. If LA was in the NL East with this record, they'd be in second place and trail Atlanta by 6 games. Of course that would be more competition than any other NL East team is providing. The Nationals are the second place team in the NL East. Remember that after you read the upcoming stats.
Washington isn't even at .500, the team many picked to win the NL East is 54-60. They just finished being swept by the Braves. The Nationals kept those games close, but still ended up losing 3 in a row. It's hard to believe any second place team could be behind by 15.5 games and only have a 1.8% chance of reaching the playoffs. As hard as that is to believe, that is indeed the case in the NL East.
The Alex Rodriguez travesty continues on, when this whole nonsense is finished does he want any fans left? He doesn't act like it. Yesterday he officially appealed his 211 game suspension. The arbitrator isn't going to rule on his appeal until late fall. Since a player can play until his appeal is heard it means that Rodriguez will play the rest of this season. If the arbitrator finds in favor of MLB, I hope he keeps the punishment at 211 games.
It's too bad, okay not really, that ARod's bad karma fell on the Yankees. Going into their 3 game series with the White Sox, Chicago had lost 10 games in a row. New York came to town and were swept. Aroid should have taken his punishment starting this season, the Yanks are out of the playoff race now anyway. New York trails their hated rivals the Red Sox by 11.5 games and only have a 1.8% chance of reaching the playoffs. New York has only won 6 of 18 games since the All-Star break and things don't get any easier. The Tigers are coming to town, the second hottest team in MLB. Detroit has won 11 games in a row and score a lot of runs.
Rodriguez won't be a difference maker this season, especially for a team that's going nowhere. He should've accepted his punishment, like the other 12 players suspended at the same time, saving himself and his team embarrassment. But he got his pride involved, it's hard to see clear when one's pride gets in the way.
themusicaddict
On Wednesday the Dodgers broke out in a big way. After struggling to score the last few games, LA exploded for 13 runs. With this one game outburst they moved from 21st to 16th in runs scored, which is probably about as high as they'll get this season. I'm glad the Dodgers exploded for all those runs, but it seems LA is the only team that could win 13-4 and not hit any home runs. This team needs to figure out a way to score at least 3 runs a game from here on out.
This was a great all around offensive game by LA, but only a decent pitching game for them. LA had 18 hits and Carl Crawford got in on the fun. He was 4 for 5 and raised his batting average to .293, he also had his 18th double and 19th RBI of the season. Andre Ethier also had a good game, he was 3 for 5 which raises his batting average to .273. He had 4 RBIs in this game, which gives him 41 on the season. Obviously that's one reason LA hasn't scored as many runs as they could this season, mediocre performances by people like Ethier. If the Dodgers will make noise in the playoffs, they need increased production from Crawford and Ethier. A fully healthy Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez are also crucial.
The part of the game that I watched I wasn't that impressed by Ricky Nolasco, I couldn't figure out who he was until I saw the back of his uniform. He had a decent enough game, he raised his record to 8-9, but he only lasted 5 innings. In those 5 innings, he gave up 7 hits and 3 runs. LA's starting rotation still has a few holes. Kershaw, Greinke and Ryu I feel comfortable with, but what would happen if one of those 3 pitchers get injured? I'm sorry, but I don't really want Ted Lilly to be called on to save the day.
The Dodgers continue coasting along, winning 8 of their last 10 games and have a 84.1% chance of reaching the playoffs. The Diamondbacks won last night, to remain 5 games back. However LA has won 8 of their last 10, while the Diamondbacks have only won 4 of 10 games. I'm pretty sure Arizona is done, it's doubtful they have enough to catch the Dodgers. This may be the only division that LA could win. Thankfully LA doesn't play in the NL Central or AL East, they would be fighting for 4th place and planning for next season.
The NL West isn't always this weak, but this season it is. Will there be only team that finishes the NL West with a winning record? I think that's a possibility. If the Diamondbacks stop fighting, they could quickly sink below .500.
After yesterday's 6-3 win, the Braves are 70-45. They have a mind boggling 99.9% chance of making the playoffs. Atlanta just keeps on rolling, they've won 13 games and continue destroying the NL East. If LA was in the NL East with this record, they'd be in second place and trail Atlanta by 6 games. Of course that would be more competition than any other NL East team is providing. The Nationals are the second place team in the NL East. Remember that after you read the upcoming stats.
Washington isn't even at .500, the team many picked to win the NL East is 54-60. They just finished being swept by the Braves. The Nationals kept those games close, but still ended up losing 3 in a row. It's hard to believe any second place team could be behind by 15.5 games and only have a 1.8% chance of reaching the playoffs. As hard as that is to believe, that is indeed the case in the NL East.
The Alex Rodriguez travesty continues on, when this whole nonsense is finished does he want any fans left? He doesn't act like it. Yesterday he officially appealed his 211 game suspension. The arbitrator isn't going to rule on his appeal until late fall. Since a player can play until his appeal is heard it means that Rodriguez will play the rest of this season. If the arbitrator finds in favor of MLB, I hope he keeps the punishment at 211 games.
It's too bad, okay not really, that ARod's bad karma fell on the Yankees. Going into their 3 game series with the White Sox, Chicago had lost 10 games in a row. New York came to town and were swept. Aroid should have taken his punishment starting this season, the Yanks are out of the playoff race now anyway. New York trails their hated rivals the Red Sox by 11.5 games and only have a 1.8% chance of reaching the playoffs. New York has only won 6 of 18 games since the All-Star break and things don't get any easier. The Tigers are coming to town, the second hottest team in MLB. Detroit has won 11 games in a row and score a lot of runs.
Rodriguez won't be a difference maker this season, especially for a team that's going nowhere. He should've accepted his punishment, like the other 12 players suspended at the same time, saving himself and his team embarrassment. But he got his pride involved, it's hard to see clear when one's pride gets in the way.
themusicaddict
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
themusicaddict's Greatest CDs Of All-Time: Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation 1814" (Completed June 12th, 2014)
Hello,
Update: I was looking at blogs I'd written a year ago and I realized I hadn't ever finished this blog. I apologize for that, I have no idea why I didn't complete it. Listening to songs from this CD again, all I can say is this is an amazing CD.
"Rhythm Nation 1814" is Janet Jackson's fourth CD, it was released on September 19, 1989. It has gone on to sell over 6 million copies in the USA and over 14 million copies worldwide. It was the #1 CD in the USA for weeks. By any definition of the word this CD was a monster. There were 7 songs released as singles and all of those songs reached the Top 5. The songs that went to #1 were "Miss You Much", "Escapade", "Black Cat" and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)".
Originally I thought about writing about "Control" as one of themusicaddict's greatest CDs of all-time. I still might write that blog at a later day. But in listening to "Rhythm Nation 1814", I realized that it's a better CD. I'm not quite ready to call "Control" a classic, but "Rhythm Nation 1814" is definitely a classic. Listening to it today with fresh ears I'd forgotten how many great songs this CD contains. It has at least 7 or 8 classic songs.
Janet Jackson released two CDs early in her career that essentially went nowhere. In 1985 with the help of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Jackson took "control" of her career. "Control" is a great CD, but that was to be followed by the even better CD "Rhythm Nation 1814" three years later. For those that are wondering what the 1814 refers to: R is the 18th letter and N is the 14th letter in the alphabet. Isn't Janet and her producers clever? Jackson worked with Jam and Lewis on both "Control" and "Rhythm Nation 1814". (Thanks to Wikipedia for much of the personal information on here.)
Here's the full CD including all the interludes:
Here's all the interludes compiled together:
However from here on below I'm only adding the amazing songs from this CD. I copied and pasted the track listing from Wikipedia. The names listed after the song are the people who wrote the songs and then obviously the numbers are the length of each song. Enjoy!
1."Interlude: Pledge" 0:47
2."Rhythm Nation" Janet Jackson, James Harris III, Terry Lewis 5:31. The song below contains the above interlude.
"Rhythm Nation" (Live), the live version has even more punch than the studio record:
3."Interlude: T.V." 0:22
4."State of the World" Jackson, Harris, Lewis 4:48 this song also features the above interlude:
5."Interlude: Race" 0:05
6."The Knowledge" Harris, Lewis 3:54:
7."Interlude: Let's Dance" 0:03
8."Miss You Much" Harris, Lewis 4:12:
Great dancing, poor lip synching: "Miss You Much" (Live):
9."Interlude: Come Back" 0:21
10."Love Will Never Do (Without You)" Harris, Lewis 5:50:
11."Livin' in a World (They Didn't Make)" Harris, Lewis 4:41:
12."Alright" Jackson, Harris, Lewis 6:26:
"Alright" (Live):
13."Interlude: Hey Baby" 0:10
14."Escapade" Jackson, Harris, Lewis 4:44:
15."Interlude: No Acid" 0:05
16."Black Cat" Jackson 4:50:
"Black Cat" (Live):
17."Lonely" Harris, Lewis 4:59
18."Come Back To Me" Jackson, Harris, Lewis 5:33:
19."Someday Is Tonight" Jackson, Harris, Lewis 6:00:
20."Interlude: Livin'...In Complete Darkness" 1:07
themusicaddict
Update: I was looking at blogs I'd written a year ago and I realized I hadn't ever finished this blog. I apologize for that, I have no idea why I didn't complete it. Listening to songs from this CD again, all I can say is this is an amazing CD.
"Rhythm Nation 1814" is Janet Jackson's fourth CD, it was released on September 19, 1989. It has gone on to sell over 6 million copies in the USA and over 14 million copies worldwide. It was the #1 CD in the USA for weeks. By any definition of the word this CD was a monster. There were 7 songs released as singles and all of those songs reached the Top 5. The songs that went to #1 were "Miss You Much", "Escapade", "Black Cat" and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)".
Originally I thought about writing about "Control" as one of themusicaddict's greatest CDs of all-time. I still might write that blog at a later day. But in listening to "Rhythm Nation 1814", I realized that it's a better CD. I'm not quite ready to call "Control" a classic, but "Rhythm Nation 1814" is definitely a classic. Listening to it today with fresh ears I'd forgotten how many great songs this CD contains. It has at least 7 or 8 classic songs.
Janet Jackson released two CDs early in her career that essentially went nowhere. In 1985 with the help of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Jackson took "control" of her career. "Control" is a great CD, but that was to be followed by the even better CD "Rhythm Nation 1814" three years later. For those that are wondering what the 1814 refers to: R is the 18th letter and N is the 14th letter in the alphabet. Isn't Janet and her producers clever? Jackson worked with Jam and Lewis on both "Control" and "Rhythm Nation 1814". (Thanks to Wikipedia for much of the personal information on here.)
Here's the full CD including all the interludes:
Here's all the interludes compiled together:
However from here on below I'm only adding the amazing songs from this CD. I copied and pasted the track listing from Wikipedia. The names listed after the song are the people who wrote the songs and then obviously the numbers are the length of each song. Enjoy!
1."Interlude: Pledge" 0:47
2."Rhythm Nation" Janet Jackson, James Harris III, Terry Lewis 5:31. The song below contains the above interlude.
"Rhythm Nation" (Live), the live version has even more punch than the studio record:
3."Interlude: T.V." 0:22
4."State of the World" Jackson, Harris, Lewis 4:48 this song also features the above interlude:
5."Interlude: Race" 0:05
6."The Knowledge" Harris, Lewis 3:54:
7."Interlude: Let's Dance" 0:03
8."Miss You Much" Harris, Lewis 4:12:
Great dancing, poor lip synching: "Miss You Much" (Live):
9."Interlude: Come Back" 0:21
10."Love Will Never Do (Without You)" Harris, Lewis 5:50:
11."Livin' in a World (They Didn't Make)" Harris, Lewis 4:41:
12."Alright" Jackson, Harris, Lewis 6:26:
"Alright" (Live):
13."Interlude: Hey Baby" 0:10
14."Escapade" Jackson, Harris, Lewis 4:44:
15."Interlude: No Acid" 0:05
16."Black Cat" Jackson 4:50:
"Black Cat" (Live):
17."Lonely" Harris, Lewis 4:59
18."Come Back To Me" Jackson, Harris, Lewis 5:33:
19."Someday Is Tonight" Jackson, Harris, Lewis 6:00:
20."Interlude: Livin'...In Complete Darkness" 1:07
Dodgers Daily, August 6th, 2013: Dodgers Score Once, 15 Game Winning Road Streak Ends, Pirates Best Record In MLB
Hello,
After a glorious 15 game consecutive road winning streak by LA, it came to a grinding halt last night. I still want to celebrate that amazing streak, the longest such single season streak since 1984. Obviously it wasn't going to last forever and there's no shame in losing to the powerful Cardinals. I would still like to congratulate LA for their amazing streak! I'm not a big fan of roller coasters, but this roller coaster season has had many good memories.
St. Louis and LA have split the first two games of their 4 game series so far. The third game in the series will be shown on ESPN tonight.
This loss continued two disturbing trends for the Dodgers. The first trend is how few runs each game LA scores and the second is how little of run support is given Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers are in 21st place in runs scored. Currently they are scoring more runs than earlier in the season, but their recent lack of run production won't be enough in the playoffs. LA has scored at least 5 runs in only two of their last 12 games. By my count LA is 34-6 when they score at least five runs. However LA has only scored 8 runs over the last 4 games. That's the kind of run production you'd expect out of the Marlins or White Sox, not a team fighting to make the playoffs.
The Dodgers were only able to score 1 run for Kershaw, continuing an unbelievable streak of lack run support for Kershaw, perhaps the best pitcher in MLB. Not that you could tell that by his 10-7 record, his ERA tells his true abilities much better. His ERA is 1.91, he leads all of MLB in that stat.
LA had 9 hits, but weren't able to string enough hits together to produce more than a lonesome run. Of course both Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez are still both out. LA's offense will be better once those two get back, assuming that Kemp eventually does get back. In this game Carl Crawford was 2 for 3 and is hitting .284 this season. The only other Dodger with more than 1 hit was Nick Punto, he was 2 for 3 and is hitting .252. Mr. Consistent, Adrian Gonzalez, had one hit and he's hitting .297 this season. Mr. Everything, Yasiel Puig, also added a hit and his batting average decreased slightly to .373.
Although LA lost and Arizona won, LA still leads Arizona by a comfortable 5 games. It seems to me that the Diamondbacks are pretty much done, I don't think they have enough gas in the tank to catch LA. Not that LA has the NL West in the bag, despite current appearances. I expect a few more rough patches for LA in the days ahead. They're still a long ways away from having the NL West nailed down, although none of the other NL West teams really make me nervous.
I found it ironic, on the day that Don Mattingly was talking about almost being fired earlier this season, he summoned Brandon League to pitch in a 2-1 game. Since I'm not in the Dodgers clubhouse, perhaps their other relievers needed a break. But other than that I'm not sure why Mattingly would tab League to pitch. League has been awful this season, his play on Tuesday was more of the same. League lasted all of 1/3rd of an inning, he was able to produce some amazing numbers...... for the Cardinals. He gave up 2 hits, both of which were home runs, 3 runs and 1 walk. League has a 5.53 ERA and the Dodgers still owe him money for two more years. Did the Cardinals batters eyes light up when League walked in from the bullpen?
Why oh why are the Dodgers ever playing League, if they are that desperate for a pitcher go with Skip Schumaker.
The Pirates have the best record in MLB, just barely. Pittsburgh is 68-44 for a .607 winning percentage, the Braves are right behind with a .605 winning percentage. Pittsburgh continues to hold a slim 2 game lead over the tough Cardinals in the NL East. Andrew McCutchen had a great game for the Pirates on Tuesday. He was 2 for 3 and is hitting .309 this season. He added his 31st double and his 63rd and 64th RBIs. McCutchen also had a nice diving catch in the 7th inning with 2 Marlins on base. MLBN keeps on talking about how McCutchen hasn't even got hot this season.
That was a big walk off homer by Josh Harrison to give the Pirates the victory. That's his second home run and 7th RBI of the season.
The Pirates also have a hard time scoring runs, I don't think they are going to win the World Series this season. It's hard to be good at something that you've never done before. That being said when the Pirates make the playoffs, I hope they aren't overwhelmed by the experience. I fully expect the Pirates to get to the playoffs and I plan on enjoying every minute of that. Getting to the NLCS or World Series just would be the cherry on top of the sundae. (I do realize that cheering for the Pirates, Braves and Dodgers that two of my teams will be playing each other in the playoffs.)
The Braves won their 12th straight game and continue running away from their embarrassingly bad division. With the Braves, Red Sox, Dodgers and Pirates doing so well I think there's a good chance that one of "my teams" will win the World Series this season. Also you can't count out the Orioles or A's if either of those teams get on a hot streak. My last team to win the World Series was the 2007 Red Sox. Of course with all my optimism the Cardinals will win the World Series.
themusicaddict
After a glorious 15 game consecutive road winning streak by LA, it came to a grinding halt last night. I still want to celebrate that amazing streak, the longest such single season streak since 1984. Obviously it wasn't going to last forever and there's no shame in losing to the powerful Cardinals. I would still like to congratulate LA for their amazing streak! I'm not a big fan of roller coasters, but this roller coaster season has had many good memories.
St. Louis and LA have split the first two games of their 4 game series so far. The third game in the series will be shown on ESPN tonight.
This loss continued two disturbing trends for the Dodgers. The first trend is how few runs each game LA scores and the second is how little of run support is given Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers are in 21st place in runs scored. Currently they are scoring more runs than earlier in the season, but their recent lack of run production won't be enough in the playoffs. LA has scored at least 5 runs in only two of their last 12 games. By my count LA is 34-6 when they score at least five runs. However LA has only scored 8 runs over the last 4 games. That's the kind of run production you'd expect out of the Marlins or White Sox, not a team fighting to make the playoffs.
The Dodgers were only able to score 1 run for Kershaw, continuing an unbelievable streak of lack run support for Kershaw, perhaps the best pitcher in MLB. Not that you could tell that by his 10-7 record, his ERA tells his true abilities much better. His ERA is 1.91, he leads all of MLB in that stat.
LA had 9 hits, but weren't able to string enough hits together to produce more than a lonesome run. Of course both Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez are still both out. LA's offense will be better once those two get back, assuming that Kemp eventually does get back. In this game Carl Crawford was 2 for 3 and is hitting .284 this season. The only other Dodger with more than 1 hit was Nick Punto, he was 2 for 3 and is hitting .252. Mr. Consistent, Adrian Gonzalez, had one hit and he's hitting .297 this season. Mr. Everything, Yasiel Puig, also added a hit and his batting average decreased slightly to .373.
Although LA lost and Arizona won, LA still leads Arizona by a comfortable 5 games. It seems to me that the Diamondbacks are pretty much done, I don't think they have enough gas in the tank to catch LA. Not that LA has the NL West in the bag, despite current appearances. I expect a few more rough patches for LA in the days ahead. They're still a long ways away from having the NL West nailed down, although none of the other NL West teams really make me nervous.
I found it ironic, on the day that Don Mattingly was talking about almost being fired earlier this season, he summoned Brandon League to pitch in a 2-1 game. Since I'm not in the Dodgers clubhouse, perhaps their other relievers needed a break. But other than that I'm not sure why Mattingly would tab League to pitch. League has been awful this season, his play on Tuesday was more of the same. League lasted all of 1/3rd of an inning, he was able to produce some amazing numbers...... for the Cardinals. He gave up 2 hits, both of which were home runs, 3 runs and 1 walk. League has a 5.53 ERA and the Dodgers still owe him money for two more years. Did the Cardinals batters eyes light up when League walked in from the bullpen?
Why oh why are the Dodgers ever playing League, if they are that desperate for a pitcher go with Skip Schumaker.
The Pirates have the best record in MLB, just barely. Pittsburgh is 68-44 for a .607 winning percentage, the Braves are right behind with a .605 winning percentage. Pittsburgh continues to hold a slim 2 game lead over the tough Cardinals in the NL East. Andrew McCutchen had a great game for the Pirates on Tuesday. He was 2 for 3 and is hitting .309 this season. He added his 31st double and his 63rd and 64th RBIs. McCutchen also had a nice diving catch in the 7th inning with 2 Marlins on base. MLBN keeps on talking about how McCutchen hasn't even got hot this season.
That was a big walk off homer by Josh Harrison to give the Pirates the victory. That's his second home run and 7th RBI of the season.
The Pirates also have a hard time scoring runs, I don't think they are going to win the World Series this season. It's hard to be good at something that you've never done before. That being said when the Pirates make the playoffs, I hope they aren't overwhelmed by the experience. I fully expect the Pirates to get to the playoffs and I plan on enjoying every minute of that. Getting to the NLCS or World Series just would be the cherry on top of the sundae. (I do realize that cheering for the Pirates, Braves and Dodgers that two of my teams will be playing each other in the playoffs.)
The Braves won their 12th straight game and continue running away from their embarrassingly bad division. With the Braves, Red Sox, Dodgers and Pirates doing so well I think there's a good chance that one of "my teams" will win the World Series this season. Also you can't count out the Orioles or A's if either of those teams get on a hot streak. My last team to win the World Series was the 2007 Red Sox. Of course with all my optimism the Cardinals will win the World Series.
themusicaddict
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)