Final Thoughts

[CatsTopPac]

Hard not to play the what if game. The game 1 loss is the worst I've experinced as a fan (going back to '85). To lose to these fucks last year while they intentionally pelted Han Ram, and then square off in game one after another pelting, jump on Wainright and still have them jump on our ace and win? Soul crushing. Worst loss I've been through.

I agree. And if we had a quality bull pen, does Kershaw stay in and give up 8? Absolutely not. He gets pulled after 1-3 ER that inning (if he even goes out for the 7th with a 4 run pad) and the bullpen shuts it down. I'm not saying that he wouldn't have had a bad inning and gotten pulled, I'm saying that he shouldn't have been in the position to give up ER. But we didn't have anyone to bring in, so he had to shoulder it and take the beating. With a strong bullpen that doesn't happen though. Not 8 ERs.

 

[LASports96]

we have pen arms within really that can make huge improvements

Jose Dominguez, Chris Withrow, Yimi Garcia, Onelki Garcia etc

 

[Chilipepper]

I think it was a shame the hottest hitter in MLB Turner didn't play. Hitting .340 and even better with men on. But there was no where to put him. Lets face it the Dodgers had no chance to win the WS with the bullpen being THE bombarded Crew. A lot of changes coming. That piss poor bases loaded hitting all season really pissed me off. The Dodgers never had a real hot streak. Started off slow. The Giants collapse was why the Dodgers got into first. While the Dodgers were playing a little above 500. The lack of hitting with men in scoring position all season was baffling. I really thought the Dodgers had murderers row. I bet they also set a record of getting the bases loaded. But then fizzled. Hanley stunk all season. Swinging way too hard all year. But the main thing was not hitting with men in scoring position. Didn't bare down enough. Too relaxed because they were a veteran club. Thinking we can win without baring down. Even with all the negatives with the highest payroll ever there was good stories. But even with not hitting enough with someone on 2nd The bullpen was the real downfall.

 

[lasportzphan]

we have pen arms within really that can make huge improvements

Jose Dominguez, Chris Withrow, Yimi Garcia, Onelki Garcia etc

Great point....

 

[OutlawImmortal]

I don't know. I guess like some, but unlike others, I think it's crazy to talk so much shit about the Dodgers. Back to back NL West Champs is nothing to shake a stick at. I think this year's team was a very good one. We won 94 games.

Some things to work on that I'm tired of dealing with:

1) LA has got to start better. Last couple years we are having to come back to win the West. We need to start strong so that we ensure home field advantage in the playoffs, and play WC teams instead of division winners in the DS.

2) Obviously, we are all so fucking tired of our bullpen. This isn't an October thing. It's all season, and it's unacceptable. If Honeycutt can't fix it, then he needs to go. But we have more than enough money, and more then enough quality arms that there is no reason this should be a problem.

3) BA w/RISP. This also killed us last October. It really hasn't been as much about the the Cards beating us (as consistent and experienced as they are), as much as it's about LA just locking up with guys on base. Mostly it has been the young guys (Dee and Puig in the last two Octobers), but overall, our young guys need to turn the corner.

Hopeful for next year, and we'll see what happens in the offseason. Sorry I can't trash the team because we lost. There is a reason we won 187 games in the last two years. Cards are a good squad, and our inconsistency kills us every year. But that's our problem, and that's how we beat ourselves. I'll accept this year's results more than 25 other teams that did worse.

Go Blue

The bullpen was more of a weakness than we all thought it was but how much did Mattingly's lack of confidence in any of them help that? He shit on Howell just as much as Howell shit on himself, he shit on Baez after he got burned and Mattingly was the one who threw him directly into the fire in Game 1, then he shit on Puig for the last game. Tommy would have trusted his guys a bit more. Mattingly needs to go in my opinion, anyone would be better at this point.

I can't blame him for his decisions on Kershaw though, I think anyone would have left him in. All these people talking shit who haven't watched a Dodgers game all year are annoying but are to be expected.

 

[overtone22]

The payroll alone has produced a team capable of winning the boring NL West. This team continues to FAIL in the postseason, where it counts. Changes must be made or this team will continue to list 1988 as its last World Series appearance.

Agreed. Personally, I could give two sh*ts about what the Dodgers do in the regular season as long as they make the playoffs. It's the postseason that counts and the Dodgers can't get over the hump with the current squad.

Keep Kershaw, Grienke, Ryu, Jansen, Kemp, Gonzalez, Gordon, Turner and Ellis. Blow up the rest of the team as far as I'm concerned.

The Dodger loss in this series was a total team loss, from top to bottom. There is no one thing you can point a finger at. They came up short in almost every facet of the game whether it be bullpen, baserunning or clutch hitting. Very disappointing.

And it would be nice next year if I don't have to purchase MLBTV to watch games. Get a deal done with DirecTV, Time Warner, ffs.