Angels at Dodgers, 12:10 PM PDT, TV: FS-W, SPNLA
In this, the final game of this extraordinary and extraordinarily weird season, it seems fitting the Dodgers have not yet decided who’s gonna start the game. (Update: It’s Victor Gonzalez, 3-0, 1.40 ERA.)The Angels ask LHP Patrick Sandoval (1-4, 5.56 ERA) to start after three straight good relief appearances. The 23-year-old has only made 18 appearances in the big leagues, 14 of them starts.
Here’s what the playoff picture looks like right now:
…the AL postseason field [is] complete, but with all but two seeds (Rays at No. 1 and Astros at No. 6) unresolved heading into today’s action. And in the NL, the top four seeds have been claimed by the Dodgers, Braves, Cubs and Padres, but No. 5 through No. 8 are all up for grabs. The Brewers blanked the Cardinals in St. Louis and by the end of Saturday found themselves holding the eighth and final NL seed. The Giants and Phillies are on the outside looking in, but with hopes of sneaking into the playoffs still alive.
On this date in Dodgers’ history:
- 1936 Replacing Johnny Mize, tossed by an ump for arguing, Cardinal rookie first baseman Walter Alston makes an error in handling two chances and strikes out in his only major league at-bat. ‘Smokey’ will, however, win seven pennants and four World Series in his 23-year Hall of Fame career as Dodger manager from 1954 to 1976.
- 1951 Bill Sharman, recently called up from Fort Worth, is one of 15 Dodgers who are ejected by umpire Frank Dascoli for bench jockeying after a close call at home plate. The future basketball Hall of Famer will never play in the big leagues, and thus he will become the only player to be ejected from a major league game without ever appearing in one.
- 1960 Ryne Duren makes his first start in two years memorable when he strikes out the first five batters he faces in the Yankees’ 5-1 victory over Washington. The feat ties a modern major league record shared by Lefty Gomez (Yankees), Dazzy Vance (Dodgers), and Walter Johnson (Senators).
- 1961 Sandy Koufax breaks the National League mark for strikeouts in a season, surpassing Christy Mathewson’s mark of 267 established in 1903. Unlike the turmoil caused by commissioner Ford Frick’s edict of having to hit 61 homers by the 154th game in the extended 162-game schedule to break Babe Ruth’s single season home run record, little is made that the Dodgers southpaw’s 268th punch-out occurs in the 151st game of the season, compared to the 142-game sked played early in the century.
- 1964 The Houston Colt .45’s play their final game in Colt Stadium, the team’s home ballpark since joining the National League in 1962. The future Astros beat the Dodgers in the 12th inning, 1-0, when Jimmy Wynn’s single plates Bob Aspromonte.
- 1993 In a 7-3 victory over the Dodgers, Cubs’ reliever Randy Myers becomes the first National League pitcher to record 50 saves in a season.
- 1993 Mike Piazza, who broke the major league rookie record for home runs by a catcher earlier in the month, sets another mark for round-trippers when he hits his 34th, surpassing the previous L.A. Dodger mark shared by Steve Garvey (1977) and Pedro Guerrero (1985). Duke Snider established the franchise record with 43 homers playing with Brooklyn in 1956.
- 2000 The United States Olympic team, managed by former Dodger skipper Tommy Lasorda, stuns the world, beating the much-favored Cuban team to win the country’s first gold medal in its national pastime. Ben Sheets ends Cuba’s 21-game Olympic winning streak with a 4-0 shutout.
- 2011 After giving up five runs in the top of the tenth inning, the Diamondbacks score six times in the bottom of the frame in an amazing 7-6 come-from-behind victory over the Dodgers. Arizona infielder Ryan Roberts delivers the decisive blow in the Chase Field contest, a walk-off grand slam with two outs.
Lineup when available.
Today's lineup vs. Angels: #Dodgers | @Biofreeze pic.twitter.com/2xyCP5X8sf
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 27, 2020
NPUT
I noticed 4 ex dodgers to pitch for their teams in first round of playoffs
Maeda, Ryu, who else?
Greinke and Darvish
Of course. Do you realize the Astros are the sixth team Greinke’s played for? Rare for such a highly-talented guy to move around so much, even in these days of free agency.
The Cubs are just Darvish’s third MLB team (and just one in Japan).
Where you been?
Meanwhile, in Saint Louie… https://twitter.com/AdamMcCalvy/status/1310307722001362944?s=20
So he will either lose or get the ND.
3 more and they hit 120 (2.0/game).
https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/1310355938617044992
The Brewers batted .223 this season and had an ERA of 4.16.
Let’s get it done.
In a short series, you don’t want to write anybody off. In that context, baseball is the most volatile of sports.
Dodgers win! (Belated)
Too much tea, eh?
Lol! Blessing on Yom Kippur.
Thank you very much. It will be weird “attending” services on Zoom, but we have to do what we have to do.
The Gnats are dead.
Cardinals won, Phillies lost. So its down to Brewers or Giants. Depends if Giants win. 5-4 padres in bottom of 8th.
Top of ninth.
If Giants come back to win, and Cardiinals win, we play Giants round 1 I think.
Pads manager seems to be enamored of his worth reliever, who’s gotten the Gnats closer.
A new Fred and Barney thought for the Wild Card Series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcQzdYk7QHE
A very nice finishing touch to the regular season. Thank you.
Looking forward to continuing the conversations on Wednesday. Meanwhile, I will be observing Yom Kippur, atoning for my sins, starting tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpGx4foRdPw
On to face the whosits!
Woo-HOO!!!!
Bring on the Cerveceros!
According to Gameday, Kolarek is now in right field. For those watching/listening, is that correct?
Yep. Orel and Joe were reminded of Davey Johnson doing that back in the Cretaceous with Roger McDowell and Jesse Orozco of the Mets.
No longer, because the inning is over.
So it was correct for a couple of innings?
He went to bench when the Dodgers batted, but he’s back out there now.
Interesting. He has played a little first base in his pro career but never in the outfield.
We need just two more HRs to reach 120, which would be an average of precisely 2 per game.
Pollock’s real name is Allen Lorenz Pollock. I wonder why he is AJ.
Nothing in Wikipedia explains it.
AJ again. Orel and Joe having fun multiplying 16 x 2.7 to extrapolate his nbr of HRs in an ordinary season.
Treinen’s name is in pencil on the postseason roster….Pollock is showing why we signed him, and then some.
What a battle! Pederson now up to .190, Muncy ends year at .192.
Pad gnow lead Gnats 5-1 after 6-1/2.
Phillies trial by 5 in the 7th, Cardinals lead the Brewers by 4 in the 7th.
Giants losing by a run, cardinal up by 4. Monday baseball not looking likely as a result.
With the Phillies also losing at the moment, we will face the Brewers on Wednesday.
The Pads are letting their worst relievers face the Gnats, so no sure thing there.
Cardinals are up by 4 now, so that gets it down to Phillies or Brewers. If Philles win its the Phillies, but they are down 3 at the moment.
That almost ensures that Max will finish the season below .200.
Accompanied by lots of Ks.
about the same rate as last year.
Well – I’m off for an afternoon coffee time with some friends. Have fun for the next few innings.
I’m reporting you to the tea police
Ha. I’m actually going to have hot chocolate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6ho3NCShpY
Don’t get too hyped up on caffeine. We need your calm demeanor come Wednesday.
Will do!
Last game of the season for him and Sandoval injures himself. That’s unfortunate.
Absolutely.
Is there a better time?
After retirement?
Sometimes on Gameday “In play, run(s)” can be disappointing.
And sometimes it’s not!
True, true. With two outs it is not disappointing.
No grand slam all year, and not this chance either. Rats.
Saving them for October.
Lettuce hope.
Lettuce prey…
It romaines to be seen
The romaines of the day…
Walk them full
It’s like Kenley’s game against Houston. Getting 2 strikes but not putting anyone away. Glad the Dodgers are on this side of it this time.
AJ helped him get those two strikes
As if this game were meaningful…
And yet you are here
Meaningless is different than enjoyable my friend.
Hard to walk AJ and Cory so let’s see if he can do it.
Walk three in a row and Cory is swinging away.
Acceptable Joc.
Very.
The fewest wins by this franchise, then the Brooklyn Atlantics, was in 1884, its first year, at 40-64-5. The fewest in a full season was 48-104-3 by the Brooklyn Superbas in 1905.
I was looking at that myself last night. It’s weird historically that the Dodgers will only win 42 or 43 this season. Of course on the flip side – the 2020 Dodgers will definitely set the franchise record for fewest loses with either 17 or 18.
Enjoying the very relaxed nature of today’s game (except the stress of wanting to have everyone stay healthy). So different than Wednesday will be.
Dodger batters are striking out more often recently.
True. For a while they were way down with the swings-and-misses.
May puts out the matchstick….
Fireman of the year
CT3 with a nice throw as well.
Two good plays erase one bad one to end the inning.
Best throw I have seen Barnes make.
It was a beauty.
It was a real humdinger of a throw.
Gonzalez has started 76 of the 112 games he has played in the minor leagues. Could he sneak into the rotation next year?
Misplayed by Muncy and González.
Simple play Max or was Gonzales late to the bag?
So apparently the Dodgers can play the Cardinals, Giants, Phillies or Brewers in round 1. The most fun would be for the Cardinals to lose today, so that they have to play a double headed tomorrow and keep the other three teams in limbo as far as travelling etc. Of course that removes a day of planning for the Dodgers, but Id prefer a frazzled travel team coming in.
And to edit the scenario, the Cardinals need to lose today, and the Giants need to win today to make the Monday double header happen.
AJ all the way!!!
Old Friend Brett Anderson
is starting today for the Brewers. I am torn as to whether I want him to win or lose today. (A no decision would be lame.) If he wins, he will be 64-64 through 12 seasons. If he loses he will be 63-65 – but check this out:
Oakland (7 years) – 43-43
LAD (2) – 11-11
CHC (1) – 2-2
TOR (1) – 2-2
MLW (1) – 4-4
The only blemish is:
COL (1) – 1-3
(because Colorado is tough on pitchers).
I want him to win because I want the Gnats to go home.
More bragging rights if Dodgers beat them in the post season though.
Bellinger and Betts (hip?) don’t start, Smith at DH ( to keep his hot bat in there) while Barnes is behind the plate. Lux ends the season without starting a game for the final week.
LAT’d: When Seattle Mariners went 116-46 in 2001, their winning percentage was
.71604938. If Dodgers win today, their percentage will be .71666667.
Who’s managing?
Good question.
I’m on the phone and directly connected to the dugout. Let me know when you want to hit and run, bunt, steal and I will make the call.
Good call having AJ hit a bomb.
Thank you, I am on a roll.
Friedman as usual right?
Ned.