Official 2014 GT!!! Pennant Bound and Down...

[Kilroy]

I'd leave him, unless he gets like white hot or something... Puig doesn't lack confidence, but some of the other guys seem to need the more prestigious spots to get into a groove.
Plus it'll probably piss Puig off a little, and I like him with an edge to him.

[Quake Griffin]

I believe in Puig's hit tool. Too bad we couldn't put him on the 15 day DL at some point to give him a real rest.

But if he could wake up....now is as good a time as any.
I'm confident in our starters going into this weekend.

Concerns for the biggest series of the year:
We really kicked the ball around against San Diego; and
We're going to see our pen in a real playoff atmosphere. I truly dunno whether to expect greatness or choke jobs.

[Neddy]

if we were 6 or more games up, yeah making up some lame fake injury excuse to put puig on 15 DL to rest up would be the best idea going into the playoffs, but Donny grapefruit balls Mattingley pissed away that chance. now we need him at least on the bench in case a need of a pinch hitter and hope he can get his mojo back asap all the while cross our fingers maybe joc can shake off the rookie jitters and swing the damn bat like he did down in AAA. if not we are going to see Ethier in the center field way too often from here on.

[Neddy]

What a piss poor performance by Ryu to get blown out in the first inning, and what a piss poor choices made by Donny as usual all through out the game.

I game lead. Greinke and Kershaw are now up. this is pretty much the turning point for the NLW in next two days.

[Quake Griffin]

What a piss poor performance by Ryu to get blown out in the first inning, and what a piss poor choices made by Donny as usual all through out the game.

I game lead. Greinke and Kershaw are now up. this is pretty much the turning point for the NLW in next two days.

yea, we have 3 more at Dodger Stadium but I think this is it.

I really didn't think much of him aligning those 3 for this series.
if Kershaw wasn't going to go 1st, i didn't care.

we just need one win out of this series if we're being completely honest though.

[Neddy]

What a piss poor performance by Ryu to get blown out in the first inning, and what a piss poor choices made by Donny as usual all through out the game.

I game lead. Greinke and Kershaw are now up. this is pretty much the turning point for the NLW in next two days.

yea, we have 3 more at Dodger Stadium but I think this is it.

I really didn't think much of him aligning those 3 for this series.
if Kershaw wasn't going to go 1st, i didn't care.

we just need one win out of this series if we're being completely honest though.

anything can happen in baseball, but yeah, at least 1 win for sure.

we play the CR two series, one with the Cubs before that 1 more series with the Gnats

Gnats play the Padres twice and Dirtbags once more before the series with us.

i think the team that will make or break may be the SD as Vin Scully mentioned before the game yesterday.

[Quake Griffin]

couldn't ask for a better start.

great start to the top of the 1st. Matt helping Greinke with the assist in the bottom.
awesome. Let's shut the door on this game.


btw, very interesting about the Giants wetting their infield. This is why Vin is the GOAT in any sport. Something I would have never thought about.

[Neddy]

couldn't ask for a better start.

great start to the top of the 1st. Matt helping Greinke with the assist in the bottom.
awesome. Let's shut the door on this game.


btw, very interesting about the Giants wetting their infield. This is why Vin is the GOAT in any sport. Something I would have never thought about.

Vin just maybe the all time greatest in sports broadcasting history.

and i am loving the deja vu of last night, except the table being turned.

[Quake Griffin]

Man. After a 9-0 loss, I'd be lying if I said I saw us coming back and taking the next two from these guys. They were hot and their bats weren't missing too many balls. But man oh man do I like what this team can do going into October.

no time to celebrate now. The Rockies in CO are always tough no matter what. Put the Bad News Bears in Rockies Uniforms in Denver and they'd still give us trouble.

let's focus and let's close the deal.

[Quake Griffin]

a little breathing room after we crushed colorado yesterday and a Giant's loss.

4 game lead. 12 games left.
let's close.

[Quake Griffin]

What a huge let down int he last 2 games in Colorado.

[Neddy]

well tonight is it! fellas lets celebrate clenching the NLW when our boy kershaw goes up there to stick it to the gigantes of friscos. i even went to work wearing my LA Dodgers tie and i rarely ever wear tie lol.

lets shut them out!

[Quake Griffin]

"RUN IT UP HERMAN! LEAVE NO DOUBT!"

[Quake Griffin]

Question.

Are we better than last year?
We haven't went 42-8 but we're in a position to finish up with a better record than last year. Kemp is healthy and actually participating in the playoffs. Our bullpen is down from last year's.

thoughts?

[Neddy]

Question.

Are we better than last year?
We haven't went 42-8 but we're in a position to finish up with a better record than last year. Kemp is healthy and actually participating in the playoffs. Our bullpen is down from last year's.

thoughts?

i think so. it might not be by much on paper, but i think the recovering health of some of our players are playing a pretty big role along with some growth and pure dumb luck.

first of all, despite the early injuries coming back from the land of kangaroos, Kershaw posted 21-3 record at 26 starts, going 1.7 ERA and .89 WHIP. that is sandy koufax amazing. Greinke and Ryu did a fine job as well as the last season behind him too. Dan Haren was unlucky for some time, posting around 1.27WHIP from what i remember without looking up yet ended up with 4.00+ ERA. he still makes a sound argument as our 4th starter comes the playoffs.

secondly, looks to me that Gonzo and more importantly, Kemp has made it back fully from their injuries of the past. Gonzo's peak may have passed him but he still is at the end of his prime imo. Kemp is flat out the MVP of the second half. even Crawford ended up with nearly a .300 BA. that's a progress.

thirdly, the sudden insurgence of soon to be a retiree Josh Beckett's performance for the first half of the season really helped while Kershaw was hurt and Jansen seemingly struggling momentarily. looks like Josh is done for good but his half a season of effort will be appreciated by many diehard dodger fans around the world.

fourthly, some of the Ned Colletti's retread spare parts actually performed like gold. of course we all know Brian Wilson wasn't worth the contract and we shouldn't pick him up again unless he comes dirt cheap, but guys like Justin Turner and 2 year stop gap signing of Uribe paid off handsomely.

fifth, the emergence of all star Dee Gordon. i still think he can get on base a hell of a lot more and if he does, he could be the next player to steal 100 a season since ricky henderson. i remember reading his stat line after last night's game and i think i recall his OBP being only .038 better than his batting average. that is not Juan Pierre bad, but it is not good.

lastly, the refurbished farm and the guggenheim's dollars bought some safety net every time we had injury problem. what if we didn't have guys like Miguel Rojas and Arruebarruena when Hanley was hurt? what if we didn't have enough to plug in as the bullpen fell apart and injuries started to pile up there? when Withrow was out with his arm problem, i thought we could be in trouble with the bullpen being what it was. I didn't think we would have enough to win 90+ games when Paco was in slump and had to be sent down. but somehow we managed with countless spare parts. remember, aside from the starters being out with injuries to likes of Kershaw and Ryu, we have two guys go down with TommyJohn and a career ending hip injury among the guys who wore the major league dodger uniforms this season. we didn't perform excellently out of the pen and got bent more than a few times, but we did not break.

if i can add one more, I think the video challenge worked very well to make Don Mattingley to look like an actual major league manager. all hail to the challenge.

[Kilroy]

I think we had more momentum last year, but I think we're a slightly better/more prepared team this year.

All that doesn't matter though if we can't win games... And I am taking nothing for granted at this point. We just need to play one inning at a time and win games... No matter who we're playing.

[Neddy]

it is settled.

the Nats have the best record, and we have the second best. that is set.

so we will most likely play the winner of the central division. the cards and the pitt got each two games to go, and just a game separates them.

now, do you guys want the redbirds now with a payback that is owed? their rotation will come at us with Wainwright-Lynn-Miller-Lackey which pitcher by pitcher matches our Kershaw-Greinke-Ryu-Haren and both teams will have the same rest days.

or do you want the Pirates to make it out of the central? they sport some old faces, led by Edinson Volquez for their rotation and Russel Martin for their bats. and they still come with last years MVP Andrew Mc and a pair of strong players in Walker and Harrison in their lineup too. and they are the hottest team in baseball right now.

there is a chance one of them gets knocked out by the gigantes in the one game wildcard and anything can happen there, and if i had a choice among all 3, I want the cards now and the giants to beat out the Nats, paving the way for our WS.

[Quake Griffin]

I want the Cardinals in the NLDS for 3 reasons:

1) Pittsburgh is just a hot team and I don't want to face a hot team in a short series...particularly with how we're kicking the ball around lately. That's a setup for 1-1 going back to Pitt which is terrifying.

2) Revenge.

3) i don't have the numbers on me. But McCutcheon DESTROYED us in the 4 game set at Dodger Stadium.


Wainwright was having problems with deadarm. Wacha's shoulder has left him with unimaginative stuff. I think we can actually sweep the Cards in a 5 game series.

After that. Give me those Nats. The SABR champs. I don't believe in their mental make up. I believe theyre choke artists and that they don't have players who will step up to meet the moment (particularly in their lineup and bullpen).

I'd love nothing more than to beat the Giants in the NLCS and then the Angels in the World Series. But if we get the Giants in the NLCS, that means they won a Wild Card game on the road and beat the Nats in the NLDS without home field advantage.

AKA they'd be an unfavored HOT team with nothing to lose against us. Not my cup of tea for an NLCS opponent.

[Neddy]

i agree that i also want the cards and i also think we can beat them relatively easily and possibly sweep them. but i do not agree about the Nats. they are deep, they are talented top to bottom. and they have the player from the yesteryears that i knew was very special, and also the person i have always been a huge fan of, also knew that no other GMs knew at the time. I am talking about Paul DePodesta and his insight on reading what you may look at as insignificant, the SABR analysis of Jayson Werth. i don't wish to be beaten by my favorite non dodger player in the most important series of the last 26 years of dodger post season games. the Giants on the other hand, will have to play through the 1 game wild card, then the divisional series against the heavily favored nationals. they will have to use every resource possible just to beat them out by a nose. if this is the case, the giants will have their pitching rotation all messed up and we should be able to exploit that without much difficulty, assuming we take care of our own business within first 4 games against the cards. i would assume that kershaw and greinke should give us the wins in dodger stadium, then go to the bird house with 2-0 lead, then Ryu may close the deal or he could be rusty coming off a bit long injury time off but Haren+Carmona should beat out the birds and sit at home while we watch the giants and Nationals waste their pitchers in a battle of attrition. this doesn't only mean the rotation for the starters but their top relief pitchers will be wasted as well. if and when they are both wasted, the deeper team would recover better and that is the nationals imo.

but good to know wainwright have a deadarm issues. i have heard something about it sometime ago but i didn't think it still lingered and not sure why they have him scheduled to start the last game of the season as they are in the playoffs regardless.

[Kilroy]

I'm generally a big believer in an early test for playoff teams... I think Championship teams are always tested early in the playoffs and use that experience to get focused and build momentum.

But I'm not crazy about facing Pitt first up either... I'm content with the Nats being our first big test if it works out that way.