Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers. Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros. Two teams that played in last year’s World Series. Two teams that led their league in victories. Four teams that are rolling. Two best-of-seven series to decide who plays in the 2018 World Series. Baseball has reached its version of the Final Four, […]

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Chris Davis is a bug lug of a Texan who made his way in baseball by hitting home runs. That is why the slugger was, in years past, referred to as “Crush” Davis — a play on the name of the Kevin Costner character “Crash Davis“) in the movie “Bull Durham”. Chris Davis, now 32, […]

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Probably not. But at least they are in there with a chance. Dodgers fans have been waiting for a World Series championship since 1988, when Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson led them to glory. The notion that winning the National League West would translate to World Series victory … well, that has not quite worked […]

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The last time someone other than Mike Scioscia was manager of the Angels … it was another decade. Another century. Heck, it was another millennium. Lots of Angels fans have no memory of the club without Scioscia. And may not even know Scioscia was a key player for two Dodgers World Series championships, in 1981 […]

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Too soon. It was way too soon. After completing a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies eight days ago, outfielder Yasiel Puig predicted the Dodgers would win the National League West for a sixth consecutive season and a prominent Los Angeles columnist wrote: “It’s over” — that the Dodgers had their mojo back and would […]

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Media outlets are suggesting Los Angeles Angels fans are excited that Japanese rookie Shohei Ohtani will return to the pitcher’s mound tomorrow night. I am filled with foreboding. Ohtani, the most prominent pitcher-hitter since Babe Ruth, has not pitched since June 6, when he exited a game with elbow stiffness — later described as a […]

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Every baseball fan knows the situation in Los Angeles. The Dodgers have not won a World Series since 1988, and fans can do the math: That’s 30 years ago. The Dodgers owe it to their fans, who lavish a lot of money on one of the richest clubs in Major League Baseball, to push, hard, […]

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It was when Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs in a game at Cleveland two days ago that it became clear to me. The rookie from Japan should stick to hitting. His dream of becoming the first player since Babe Ruth, nearly a century ago, to be a regular Major League starting pitcher as well […]

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The Dodgers publicity release landed in my inbox earlier this week, and I was flabbergasted. Dumbfounded. Gobsmacked. Confused. The title of the email: “Matt Kemp Wins Los Angeles Dodgers Heart and Hustle Award” (Emphasis added.) My first thought was a silly one: Is there another Matt Kemp in baseball? There was a Steve Kemp, a […]

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The nadir was Wednesday morning, July 18. As I rolled out of bed, this is what was in the “scoreboard” bar of the espn.com homepage: –The final score of the baseball All-Star game. –A result from an NBA summer league game. –And two scores from the WNBA. Yes, which still exists. And that was it. […]

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