GAME THREAD DODGERS/vaGIANTS

Yeah, it's unlikely we get home field so health should be #1 concern. Give them a good amount of at bats to stay fresh but I would even advise the players no need to run all out. The swings are important but not the running

 

game 1, check
okay, so zack left after the 7th and did not have a lead
but the pen still blew it
and wtf yimi?
2 consecutive outings allowing hits to the first two hitters
nice job
expecting more of the same tonight

 

I know we have had the pessimism vs. optimism conversation a million times, but a main dislike I have for the pure negativity is, and I've said it before, its an easy, win-win stance to take. If the Dodgers win the World Series, get to enjoy it all and no one will really care to point out how little hope people had for it, and the negative people can easily say "well yeah I thought it was gonna be that way at the moment". In the likely event the Dodgers don't win it all, cause it's hard, it's an entire year of "Well, we didn't win last year so I'm right". Which, is fair to a certain extent cause yeah, the Dodgers not winning it all validates many concerns brought up. It just then becomes hard to have any analysis that's positive throughout the year. I understand the annoyance of 100% positivity and the reason for pessimism; legit reasons for it. But, imagine going back throughout this season and finding all the times someone said the Dodgers wouldn't win the division and then telling them they're wrong and discrediting them. It would be silly to do it cause you know most are just mad at the moment, but it's a case of maybe not feeling too boldly in either which way. You get called out way more if you're wrong when positive then if you're wrong when negative, cause when you're wrong when negative, you get to enjoy Dodgers success and every one is happy. I know this probably won't change much and I'm not trying to change any points of view, cause there is a million reasons to feel positive or negative, I'm just trying to calm people down when their negative or positive view is met with opposition.

 

well said doyer
personally, my disappointment/pessimism is due to what i grew up with...
as a kid, the dodgers went from 1966-1974 without getting to a world series
after '74 against the a's, they played the yankees in '77, 78 and '81
they then went from '81-88 until they got back
it'll sound silly now, but both those stretches seemed like an eternity
but our current dry spell is nearly twice as long as both those stretches combined
so yeah, i'm a bit tired of our drought
tired of all the shouts of "this is our year"
how we have "the best staff in all of baseball"
how we're "the best team money can buy"
only to be disappointed over and over again, year in and year out
in 1988, lasorda told the dodgers they were a team of destiny
they bought into it and proved all the naysayers wrong...
winning a division they weren't supposed to win, then beating the far superior mets and a's
so i get the "anything can happen in the postseason" mantra
but that '88 team was special
anyone old enough who was a fan can tell you...
no matter what the media hacks said, we knew that team had the potential to win it all
which brings us to the present
do any of you feel confident in this team going forward?
do any of you feel confident that our manager is capable of leading this team, and motivating them to play their best -- perhaps over their heads?
do any of you feel confident in our starters after zack and kersh?
do any of you feel confident we'll hit/score enough?
do any of you feel confident our bullpen can shut playoff teams down?
because i do not
can we still win it all?
sure, i just don't have that '88 feeling
had it in 2008, 2009 and 2013
but not now
:soapbox::irish:

 

The most frustrating part about this season is how flawed the team looks. Last year it just seemed like the BP was the only issue, but there are multiple issues this season. Outside of Kershaw and Greinke, we don't have another SP we can trust. They did lose Ryu and adding Wood seemed to fix the #3 issue on paper, but he's been a bust so far. Bullpen is in just as bad shape as it was last year with Kenley once again being the only reliable arm and the guys that made our offense great at the start of the season are colder than Antarctica right now. Our lottery ticket is Kershaw/Greinke carrying us on their back, but I think we'll be too heavy to carry and Kershaw has to prove he can eliminate his postseason demons. We look very weak and every other NL contender looks better than us. We'll enter the playoffs with the worst record out of all NL playoff teams and a losing record vs every NL playoff team except for the Cubs(4-3). For a team with the highest payroll in baseball, that just doesn't feel right. I also feel like the only reason we'll be in the playoffs is because of a very weak division. I was optimistic in 2013 and in 2014 I thought we'd make the WS if we beat the Cards, nuy I don't feel good at all vs any of our potential opponents this year and think the Mets dispatch us in 4 games at most. I'd love to feel differently, but this is our worst team since 2012. I think a lot of the negativity/impatience comes from the Giants winning 3 WS in 5 years. Would have been one thing if they fielded dominating teams, but each of their titles came out of nowhere and their teams looked pretty average/mediocre. It almost seems unfair. Seeing them win it all last year after we dominated them in September and easily won the division is still hard to swallow to be honest. Just 1.....they can have their 3, but I just want to see the Dodgers win 1 more WS. At least make the WS...I love the way the future is set up, but I am sick of waiting until next year. Why can't it be our year for once?

 

lol

 

You're right about the defense sucking last year, but we were in position to make the NLCS vs a team we beat up on in September if Kershaw simply pitches like he usually does. NL seems to be a lot stronger this year and we seem to be a lot weaker.