We needed a Scutero type performance from one of Ned's gems to make up for injuries and poor performances. Didn't happen. I didn't see one pitch past the 3rd inning but Kershaw must've just blown up I guess? Wouldn't have mattered though. Can't score a run? Again? Looks like they rolled over and took it too according to NZ. This was the most "turn-off-TV-able" team in franchise history for me. Because they are so talented that they make you puke when they play like that. I rarely missed a pitch in 08-09. But this year's team...I had such an easy time just not watching a playoff game (entire game 2 I didn't watch. Tonight I stopped after Puig let Beltran get to 2B I think). Maybe when I'm older I'll be able to handle the constant, inevitable, crashing before your eyes failure that always seems to happen in De ja Vu fashion. This team will win it all some day. But they should have won it this time. Shame on them.
Well that sucked. What a great season though. Too bad it had to end like that. Our best pitcher choked in his biggest game ever, our best player had a broken rib and was useless, our biggest name-superstar rookie had a terrible game with his usual predictable mistakes, and our two most sure-handed defensive players not named Uribe made mistakes, and our two remaining superstar from our last playoffs appearance was weak and feeble looking while the other was reduced to a disabled cheerleader, and our cool and funny catcher still showed he sucks at catching. I mean if Wilson had to get an 8th inning hold or Jansen had tried to get a save they'd probably have failed too the way this game went. And as always we wonder, why the fuck can we not hit the fucking baseball? Even after a nice offensive outburst last game, the bats are nowhere to be found. AGon cannot carry the team more than a game or 2 in a row, Puig is hit or miss but more often a miss the last month, Ethier is a skinny little man with a bad ankle now, Uribe is hot and cold, so as usual it's up to one Ramirez to carry the team and this Ramirez has a broken rib. Fuck TBS and a major fuck to the MLB umpires.
means nothing to me and i will be back next year to go all in just hate to go out without a fight first two games clearly defined the series including the intentional knockout to hanley
The Dodgers need to stop solely relying on a Ramirez. Pretty hard not to though. It'll get you far, but not far enough.
Games one and two were the hardest in the series. Just thinking about the wasted opportunities and fuck ups get me most. That is where we lost this series. Winning 4 out of 5 is tough no matter what, but in the playoffs it's extra hard. As a fan of course i still rooted and hoped, but the wind was knocked out of me those games. We had them and we let them slip away and my head told me, it was over. Just how the odds work. This last game was shit. Not even that frustrated but rather just overall disappointment from the series as a whole. Especially those first 2 though. Those were heartbreakers.
Good game to miss... I guess something good does come out of international travel... Fuck. I had such high hopes too... Can't believe it was Kershaw giving it up... but then we won't need to blame some lesser arm for not getting it done. If CK can't win with 2 hits of scoreless support then we aren't going to win it all anytime soon. Sigh...
This. In spades. I don't know about everyone but I'm sure Diablo agrees that the writing was on the wall after those first two losses. CK and Greinke pitched their hearts out and the bats failed... big time. Breaking the rib of our #1 hitter was just the icing on the cake. Otherwise it would have been 4-2 the other way... woulda... coulda... shoulda... whatever... Next year...
Key words here: "they got waxed by the NYY twice in the WS"...makes all the difference in the world, IMO. We are invariably stuck on losing the NLCS. Big difference. Many people are satisfied with being "elite". I'm not one of them. I don't think there will be any changes anyway...at best, it will all happen again.
Oct 18 11:50 PM ET By Jim Bowden | ESPN.com Recommend9 Tweet8 Comments8 Email Print Elsa/Getty ImagesThe Dodgers must make sure that Clayton Kershaw is a Dodger for life. The Los Angeles Dodgers' ownership group, led by Mark Walters, Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten, has to be pleased with how quickly it's been able to turn the Dodgers into a legitimate World Series contender, even if it took spending more than everyone else in the industry to do it. And while the Dodgers' World Series bid fell short in 2013, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series, they can point to injuries to Matt Kemp, Hanley Ramirez, Andre Ethier and Chad Billingsley as part of the reason they won't be visiting the White House. Had this team stayed healthy there might have been a better outcome. That being said, there is still a lot of work ahead this offseason if the Dodgers want to bring a world championship back to Los Angeles in 2014. Here are the issues that must be addressed this winter if the Dodgers want to take another step forward. 1. Give Kershaw a contract extension Extending Clayton Kershaw, the best pitcher in baseball, is the team's top priority and it should be. NLCS: Dodgers-Cardinals Complete coverage of the Dodgers-Cardinals matchup. More » Kershaw, 25, is eligible for free agency at the end of next season, but the Dodgers are not going to let that happen. He will soon be the first $30 million-per-year player, with some predicting a seven-year, $210 million pact that could have an option year that if vested could swell the total to $240 million. The length of deal rather than average annual value will be the stumbling block, but this extension will take place. 2. Trade an outfielder With Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier, the Dodgers have four talented yet pricey outfielders for three spots. They could decide to go to spring training with all four outfielders, reasoning that with so many of them being injury-prone it will protect them from injuries. But considering other team needs, it makes sense to deal one of them, with Ethier the likely candidate. Both Puig and Ethier are natural right fielders, and Puig is obviously the long-term solution. Puig in right, Kemp in center and Crawford in left is the team's best all-around outfield alignment, and top prospect Joc Pederson will be in Triple-A next summer and ready to step up if there is an injury. If Los Angeles trades Ethier, I could see the Yankees, Rangers and Mariners as suitors, and the Dodgers could either use Ethier to get an upgrade at second or third base, or use the money saved to go get one via free agency. 4. Improve at second and third As noted, the Dodgers can easily improve at both of those positions. Mark Ellis and Juan Uribe occupied those spots this season, and while both had their moments, they are aging players, and it was obvious that the Dodgers' lineup lacked the depth of some of their playoff peers. Robinson Cano would be a perfect fit for this team, regardless of the public and private denials from everyone in the Dodgers' organization. Of course, to sign Cano, they would have to find a taker for Ethier's $17 million-per-year salary. If they decide to stick with their current plan of not pursuing Cano, then making a run at the Padres' switch-hitting third baseman, Chase Headley, would make a lot of sense. Headley is coming off a down year mostly because of an early-season thumb injury, which should significantly lower the prospective trade cost. The Padres are motivated to move Headley because he will be a free agent after the 2014 season, and it seems unlikely that they would be able to afford him considering their limited budget. Headley would not only lengthen the lineup but also provide a long-term solution should the Dodgers give him an extension, something they can certainly afford. 4. Price, Price baby David Price should clearly be the Dodgers' top offseason trade target as he's the best starting pitcher available and controllable for two more seasons. A rotation of Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Price would give the Dodgers the best shot of a world championship over the next couple of years. A trade proposal of Zach Lee, Joc Pederson and Tim Federowicz would certainly get the Rays' attention. 5. Keep Mattingly ... for now The Dodgers will have to make a decision on Don Mattingly this offseason, and it sounds like he is going to stay. They almost fired him in May before he led the team to the best 48-game stretch (40-8) in more than a century. However, his questionable in-game strategy, which has been highlighted this October, has the front office frustrated. It's likely the team will pick up his $1.4 million club option instead of a long-term extension and hope his X's and O's improve in the next year. There are also rumblings the Dodgers could change bench coaches to give him a different influence, hoping that would help. Mattingly's demeanor and leadership skills say he deserves a long-term deal, but his questionable in-game strategy could prevent it from happening this winter.
Two things missing from this loser game, and ultimately, anti-climatitic loser season...first, I am forced to possibly root for the Boston Red Sox to win the WS, if they beat the Tigers. This is a situation which is borderline nauseating, but that's how I'll have to go on that. Second (and most of all)...I think last night's scenario of getting crushed 9-0 was a perfect time for a key Cardinal to get seriously plunked by a LAD pitcher late in the game. Y'know...as seriously as Hanley "mistakenly" was...
yeah except for #2 advising to keep Joc as our absolutely necessary OF back up and then in #4 proposing to bundle Joc in the trade for Price. Pick 1...
BZ, Say what? You believe those words or are you just staking out disputed ground as DSP's biggest Dodger pessimist?
