They did it, and now they (and we) can bask until March or April. Let’s hope there’s been excellent progress toward a COVID-19 vaccine by then.
The Dodgers are favorites to repeat next season at +400, according to Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill. The New York Yankees are next at +650, followed by the San Diego Padres at +850.
https://twitter.com/TMZ/status/1328006229222858756?s=20
https://twitter.com/dodgers_cards/status/1327304115240673285?s=20
In the completely unimportant – but still curiously weird – files of baseball:
The Atlanta Braves had 5 different players receive NL MVP votes.
The Los Angeles Angels – that amazing 26-34 team – had 3 different players receive AL MVP votes.
The Dodgers had 2 (Betts and Seager). 2!
Just saw that Kim Ng was hired as the Marlins GM. That is awesome! Although I would have been even more excited if it was the Dodgers who had hired her.
But we got Ned instead!
So awesome.
https://twitter.com/Nationals/status/1325255940363448323?s=20
Nick Groke of The Athletic agrees with me that Roberts deserved recognition as the best manager in the NL.
Only because he has been for several consecutive years. His apparent ability to keep everyone satisfied with playing time doesn’t get the credit it deserves. You’re dealing with 25 (or more) massive egos, but nobody gripes publicly. That’s the real challenge of managing (it’s hard enough with a recreational softball team, let alone a bunch of millionaires.).
Sounds like a must-have. https://twitter.com/THR/status/1326555376289001472?s=20
I’ll say! Sign me up.
Some recent developments have been encouraging, but now 2020 takes a step backwards. https://twitter.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1326314936335732736?s=20
I guess if you’re the odds-on favorite to win the World Series before the season you’re supposed to win, so you don’t deserve very many votes for Manager of the Year. Only one first-place vote for Roberts.
Whither Kershaw after winning the World Series? Well, he’s finally getting rid of his Wilson A2000-CK22 glove (note the model initials and number). Oh, and he’s a happy guy.
There are some details in that article about the minimal celebration the Dodgers were able to have after winning Game 6 that I hadn’t read before.
The Dodgers went 43-17 during this irregular regular season for a winning percentage of .717. This is their highest dating back to Brooklyn before they were called the Dodgers, but it was the same franchise. Their first season was 1884 and they were known as the Brooklyn Atlantics. They went 40-64-5 (.385) and finished 9th in the 13-team American Association.
Had the Dodgers maintained the same winning percentage for a 162-game season that they had for 60 games this season they would have gone 116-46.
Their highest previous winning percentage was .682 in 1953 when they went 105-49 and won the NL only to lose the WS to the Yankees in six games. Those Dodgers included future Hall of Famers Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider. Hall-of-Famers to be for the Yankees were Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, Phil Rizzuto and manager Casey Stengel.
Including their 13-5 mark in the postseason (.722), the Dodgers this season went 56-22 (.718). Because of the extended playoffs, this is the most number of games that a team has ever won in the postseason. The Rays went 11-9 in the postseason (.550).
In the list of all-time best winning percentages starting with 1900 only four teams had higher regular season winning percentages than .717.
1906 Cubs, .763, 116-36, lost WS to White Sox, 4-2.
1902 Pirates, .741, no WS.
1909 Pirates, .724, won WS over Tigers. 4-3.
1954 Indians, .721, lost WS 4-0 to Giants, 4-0.
2020 Dodgers, .717, went 13-5 in postseason.
If you include the postseason records of the teams above, none of whose postseasons included anything but the World Series, if that, their final winning percentages were:
1906 Cubs, .747.
1902 Pirates .741 (no change because of no WS).
2020 Dodgers, .718.
1909 Pirates, .717.
1954 Indians .703.
Yes, it was only a 60-game season followed by four rounds of playoffs, but it was nonetheless a remarkable winning percentage (and season).
2017 is not going away quite yet. https://twitter.com/BillShaikin/status/1325655026367254529?s=20
Hmm. Who does this remind me of? Some guy in DC…I’ll think of it.
None of them is clean, but Crane and Manfred – and their denialist players – are the worst. Just because Luhnow is guilty doesn’t mean he isn’t a scapegoat.
Dodgers champs and (rule 5 violation)! Great day.
Anyone who wants to discuss that Great Day can do so at my non-Dodgers blog. I put up a post about the election here.
No punishment for Turner or the Dodgers for his on-field appearance after the Game Six win.
Good. I hated the swiftness with which MLB threw JT under the bus – and I didn’t believe their storyline, which suggested Justin somehow strong armed his way through a bunch of guards to get to the field…
And this just popped up in Bleacher Report (also that more members of the org just tested positive!)
https://www.dodgersnation.com/dodgers-president-stan-kasten-defends-justin-turner-in-wake-of-non-punishment/2020/11/06/
What they need to do is fire Manfred. Bart Giamatti’s corpse would be a major upgrade.
Hmm.
https://twitter.com/BauerOutage/status/1324781531353673728
I rather enjoy Bauer’s flakiness, but I prefer Quique’s.
Cody Bellinger has a part in “Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla”, the latest episode in the video game.
Cody Bellinger has a part in “Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla”, the latest episode in the video game.
Hmm. There may be more to the Turner Covid-19 on-field story than we know, says Blake Treinen.
Thinking of all my friends in the US today. Hope it is a day filled with stories of peaceful civic action (ie. voting) at the polling stations and ballet boxes.
Ballet boxes? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9cc05066a57631ed205d8aff892b0306edd6d520b7452979ef861be77d50074f.png
Really thorough analysis of what happened and what’s to come. https://twitter.com/FutureDodgers/status/1323286868889358337?s=20
Where will they all end up? Joc a Redbird? https://twitter.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1323281301705805825?s=20
The whole season in perspective. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/magazine/covid-baseball.html
I miss everyone too! Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween night!
Here are a few fun facts of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles franchise all time post-season records:
Post-season Series W-L Record
1916 0-1 (Boston Red Sox)
1920 0-1 (Cleveland Indians)
1941 0-1 (New York Yankees)
1947 0-1 (New York Yankees)
1949 0-1 (New York Yankees)
1952 0-1 (New York Yankees)
1953 0-1 (New York Yankees)
1955 1-0 (New York Yankees)
1956 0-1 (New York Yankees)
1959 1-0 (Chicago White Sox)
1963 1-0 (New York Yankees)
1965 1-0 (Minnesota Twins)
1966 0-1 (Baltimore Orioles)
1974 1-1 (Pittsburgh, Oakland)
1977 1-1 (Philadelphia, NYY)
1978 1-1 (Philadelphia, NYY)
1981 3-0 (Houston, Montreal, NYY)
1983 0-1 (Philadelphia)
1985 0-1 (St. Louis)
1988 2-0 (New York, Oakland)
1995 0-1 (Cincinnati)
1996 0-1 (Atlanta)
2004 0-1 (St. Louis)
2006 0-1 (New York)
2008 1-1 (Chicago, Philadelphia)
2009 1-1 (St. Louis, Philadelphia)
2013 1-1 (Atlanta, St. Louis)
2014 0-1 (St. Louis)
2015 0-1 (New York)
2016 1-1 (Washington, Chicago)
2017 2-1 (AZ, Chicago, Houston)
2018 2-1 (Atlnta, Milwkee, Boston)
2019 0-1 (Washington)
2020 4-0 (Mlwke, SD, Atlnta, TBay)
NLWC 1-0 [2-0 W-L record]
NLDS 8-7 [30-27 W-L record]
NLCS 8-6 [37-38 W-L record]
WS 7-14 [51-70 W-L record]
Total 24-27 [122-135 W-L record]
Brooklyn/Los Angeles Versus:
New York Yanks 11 times (3-8)
Philadelphia Phillies 5 times (2-3)
St. Louis Cardinals 5 times (1-4)
Atlanta Braves 4 times (3-1)
Montreal/Washington 3 times (2-1)
Chicago Cubs 3 times (2-1)
New York Mets 3 times (1-2)
Milwaukee Brewers 2 times (2-0)
Houston Astros 2 times (1-1)
Oakland Athletics 2 times (1-1)
Boston Red Sox 2 times (0-2)
Tampa Bay 1 time (1-0)
San Diego Padres 1 time (1-0)
Arizona DBacks 1 time (1-0)
Pittsburgh Pirates 1 time (1-0)
Minnesota Twins 1 time (1-0)
Chicago White Sox 1 time (1-0)
Cincinnati Reds 1 time (0-1)
Baltimore Orioles 1 time (0-1) Cleveland Indians 1 time (0-1)
Good post, WPD. Thank you.
The only AL team of the original eight they’ve never played in a World Series is Detroit.
Interesting fact.
Which is now banking on a cheater to get them there.
The 2020 redemption tour continues. https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/1322977187717246976?s=20
https://twitter.com/DodgerYard/status/1322946593121832960?s=20
I miss everyone too! Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween night!
Here are a few fun facts of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles franchise all time post-season records:
Post-season Series W-L Record
1916 0-1 (Boston Red Sox)
1920 0-1 (Cleveland Indians)
1941 0-1 (New York Yankees)
1947 0-1 (New York Yankees)
1949 0-1 (New York Yankees)
1952 0-1 (New York Yankees)
1953 0-1 (New York Yankees)
1955 1-0 (New York Yankees)
1956 0-1 (New York Yankees)
1959 1-0 (Chicago White Sox)
1963 1-0 (New York Yankees)
1965 1-0 (Minnesota Twins)
1966 0-1 (Baltimore Orioles)
1974 1-1 (Pittsburgh, Oakland)
1977 1-1 (Philadelphia, NYY)
1978 1-1 (Philadelphia, NYY)
1981 3-0 (Houston, Montreal, NYY)
1983 0-1 (Philadelphia)
1985 0-1 (St. Louis)
1988 2-0 (New York, Oakland)
1995 0-1 (Cincinnati)
1996 0-1 (Atlanta)
2004 0-1 (St. Louis)
2006 0-1 (New York)
2008 1-1 (Chicago, Philadelphia)
2009 1-1 (St. Louis, Philadelphia)
2013 1-1 (Atlanta, St. Louis)
2014 0-1 (St. Louis)
2015 0-1 (New York)
2016 1-1 (Washington, Chicago)
2017 2-1 (AZ, Chicago, Houston)
2018 2-1 (Atlnta, Milwkee, Boston)
2019 0-1 (Washington)
2020 4-0 (Mlwke, SD, Atlnta, TBay)
NLWC 1-0 [2-0 W-L record]
NLDS 8-7 [30-27 W-L record]
NLCS 8-6 [37-38 W-L record]
WS 7-14 [51-70 W-L record]
Total 24-27 [122-135 W-L record]
Brooklyn/Los Angeles Versus:
New York Yanks 11 times (3-8)
Philadelphia Phillies 5 times (2-3)
St. Louis Cardinals 5 times (1-4)
Atlanta Braves 4 times (3-1)
Montreal/Washington 3 times (2-1)
Chicago Cubs 3 times (2-1)
New York Mets 3 times (1-2)
Milwaukee Brewers 2 times (2-0)
Houston Astros 2 times (1-1)
Oakland Athletics 2 times (1-1)
Boston Red Sox 2 times (0-2)
Tampa Bay 1 time (1-0)
San Diego Padres 1 time (1-0)
Arizona DBacks 1 time (1-0)
Pittsburgh Pirates 1 time (1-0)
Minnesota Twins 1 time (1-0)
Chicago White Sox 1 time (1-0)
Cincinnati Reds 1 time (0-1)
Baltimore Orioles 1 time (0-1) Cleveland Indians 1 time (0-1)
Interesting numbers: The Rays ended up losing seven of their final ten games; the Dodgers won seven of their final nine games.
Miss you guys…
Ain’t that the truth! Perhaps someone more computer literate than I could set up a Zoom session.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eb47d7d9a934998ca4223e6e4aae3c0e812c2dfd899abc57055805701d8e687f.jpg Too soon? (Cowvid – 19)
I haven’t seen a can of Lysol on a store shelf in 8 months. Like the pic.