18 June 2009

Game 66 Unfair Loss Shares

In a comment on the last entry berkowit28 urges me to keep writing here, even though few visit, or at least few comment. I don't know how many visitors come here, and I'm not sure I want to find out. Better to labor in ignorance than learn the awful truth, eh? I don't know where visitors would come from --- not from any search --- I suppose a few people may click on the link from Dodger Thoughts. Most other Dodger blogs dropped Dodgerama links back when I stopped writing entries consistently. I'm like the old player hanging on in the independent leagues, hoping for another shot that will probably never come. But I still enjoy it, especially now that I found a gimmick to keep me writing every day.

Due to circumstances outside of my control that I will not recount here because that would just be boring, I missed most of the last half of last night's game. I was eventually able to follow the last inning on a computer with an ancient browser, which meant that gameday wouldn't work, which meant that I had to follow the game by refreshing the play-by-play screen constantly. I was so happy when Furcal reached first in the ninth inning, and Hudson had a 1-1 count. No outs, winning run at the plate --- I thought for sure the Dodgers would come back again. And then ...

O Hudson bunt popped out to pitcher

Noooooooo! Bad O-dog! Bad! Argh. gack. Splutter.

What actual dog act would equate with this thing the O-dog did, this horrible pop out bunt? I think the actual dog act that most compares would be humping the leg of an IRS officer who came to audit you, and then pooping in his briefcase. The hump is the bunt, and the poop is the pop.

Why was Orlando bunting, anyway? Did Torre tell him to? Was it Orlando's idea? I don't think I want to know. But if you're going to bunt, at least get it down, or get to two strikes so you can start swinging away again. Back in my day men knew how to bunt. Brett Butler once had over 200 bunt hits in a season. Okay, he didn't, but it really is true that no one can bunt as well as Brett Butler anymore. He was amazing.

The second worst moment of my play-by-play adventure was seeing this:

M Kemp grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, A Ethier out at second

When I first opened the play-by-play I was reasonably pleased, because the Dodgers had cut the A's lead to 5-4, where it had been 5-1 last I knew. But going back to look at how the Dodgers scored and seeing that Kemp hit into a double play ruined that feeling. Not even seeing all those A's errors littered through the play-by-play could make up for it. At least I didn't have to see the DP live. And I didn't have to see Orlando's bunt pop out either. So I guess in a way it all worked out. Except for the part where the Dodgers lost.




I'm letting the O-dog off because he had a pretty good game outside of that thing he did in the ninth inning.

Unfair Loss Shares ( Dodgers )

Kemp -- 1
Kuroda -- 1
Loney -- 1



I wasn't too impressed with Cahill, back when I could watch the game, so he doesn't get any reward. Home run guys Cust and Davis are selected, as is Bailey, who actually held a one-run lead for the visitors in Dodger Stadium. That's almost been impossible lately.

Unfair Win Shares ( Athletics )

Cust -- 1
Davis -- 1
Bailey -- 1

3 comments:

Dave said...

I agree with berkowit28. Please do continue on with your blog. I visit several Dodger sites on a daily basis, including this one, and find that you have your own style and voice that is not found anywhere else!
Looking back to last year, you had a hiatus between the wonderfully composed "The Intersection at Pedro Guerrero" on June 10th and your next writing in July. Perhaps, like the Dodgers the past few years, June is a tough month for you as well.
Anyway, thanks Josh. If you keep writing, I'll keep reading...

Michael said...

I thought I'd pop in and second Dave's comment. Your blog is on my daily read's list of Dodger sites and I love your style of analyzing the games with the unfair wins/losses. I'm hoping you continue with the blog, as I really enjoy reading it. Thanks!

BEast said...

Hello. Just a quick note to let you know I read your blog every day. You write well and have good perspective on baseball and the Dodgers. I am not a commenter nor do I suspect I will become one. Most commenters remind me of TJ Simmers, and we've had enough of them. I like this team, I like it's future. I live far out of LA, haven't been to a Dodger game since, well, the first interleague series in Seattle (think Raul Mondesi era). Your blog is one of the ways I make up for not having games to go to and other Dodger fans to share my joys and miseries with.

Greg "not bleeding this year, but still Dodger Blue" BEast