Dodgers Dugout: Disappointment again

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and I had to miss Saturday’s game. Assuming the Dodgers won, I’m looking forward to Game 5 tonight.

—The Dodgers do a great job of building a team for the regular season. An outstanding job. They just haven’t figured out how to build a World Series champion team. There’s not a huge difference between to regular season and the postseason, but there is a difference, and the Dodgers’ push-button job of management hasn’t figured it out.

—The other disappointing thing: No passion on this team whatsoever. To be clear, I can’t read minds and don’t know what anyone is thinking, but the vibe constantly given off is one of “We can turn it on whenever we want. No worries.”

—If you are a “Star Trek” fan, we had a team full of Spocks. The Padres had a team full of Capt. Kirks. Spock will figure out the best route to get you to Disneyland, but once you get there, you want Capt. Kirk leading the way.

—And you have to credit the Padres. They outplayed the Dodgers in every facet of the game. I don’t really even dislike anyone on the Padres, except Manny Machado.

—If recent history holds to form, the Padres will win the World Series now.

In 2016, Dodgers lose to the Cubs in the NLCS; Cubs win the World Series

In 2017, Dodgers lose to Houston in the World Series

In 2018, Dodgers lose to Boston in the World Series

In 2019, Dodgers lose to Washington in NLDS; Washington wins the World Series

In 2020, Dodgers win the World Series

In 2021, Dodgers lose to Atlanta in NLCS; Atlanta wins World Series.

—111 wins, and this is all it gets you.

—“I’m sure there was a three-game span during the course of the regular season when we didn’t so well either,” Freddie Freeman said. “It’s just unfortunate that it happened in October.” Yeah, every team goes through a bad set of games during the season. That’s why they play 162. That’s why you are supposed to gear up for the postseason.

—I believe that was the last time we see Cody Bellinger in a Dodger uniform. And Trea Turner. And Tyler Anderson.

—Does this early loss put Dave Roberts on the hot seat? Too soon to even speculate on that. I doubt it though.

—Can someone ask Roberts if he guarantees a World Series title next season?

—““The shock factor is very high,” Roberts said. “Disappointment very high. It’s crushing. We didn’t accomplish our goal, and that’s the bottom line. Yeah, this one hurts.”

—I point this out because I said it when he came in, but the choice of Tommy Kahnle to pitch the seventh was puzzling. Of course, Yency Almonte and Alex Vesia didn’t exactly star in that inning. Where exactly was Evan Phillips when you needed him? That was the game right there, and you needed your best reliever in there at that moment.

—Why bring Vesia in during the middle of an at-bat? Almonte was supposed to throw to first to give Vesia an extra minute to warm up. Instead, he missed the sign and made a pitch to Jake Cronenworth. It was a ball, and then Roberts came out to bring in Vesia.

—But, it’s not Roberts fault the Dodgers lost. They had ample opportunities to win Games 2, 3 and 4 and couldn’t come up with what they needed in any of those games.

—The Dodgers are now officially the 1990s Atlanta Braves. A great run, but only one World Series title. So when you think of the all-time greats, those teams don’t make the cut. Neither will any of these teams. If you want to be remembered, you have to win the World Series. The Dodgers of the last 10 years are much better than the 1988 Dodgers. Much better. But people will be talking about the 1988 Dodgers for years to come. These Dodgers? Not so much.

—The problem with asking (usually) your starters to pitch only five or six innings is that it means you will have to use three or four relievers, at least, to finish out the game. And the more pitchers you bring in, the bigger chance you have of bringing in someone who isn’t on their game that day. You can get away with that in the regular season, where each individual game is relatively meaningless. But each game is magnified in the postseason.

—This newsletter now goes quiet for a couple of weeks. Then we return to look at who will be back next season and who is a free agent. Then we have some fun things planned for the offseason that will lead us into spring training, where we get to do this all over again.

—Friendly advice. If you are still upset or sad or angry about this loss, focus on the good things in your life. This isn’t worth it, there are far more important things.

—My prediction remains: Dodgers in seven.

What Vin Scully meant to you

Dan Skelton Jr. of Fair Lawn, N.J.: I was born a Dodger fan. In 1966. In Southern California. On the evening of a September day that saw the Dodgers beat the Astros 4-0 behind a six-hitter from Sandy Koufax. As it was a Sunday this was a day game, and I like to think that my mom would have heard Vin Scully at some point that day. Maybe on the ride to the hospital?

My father and grandfather were baseball fans, and we all lived in Dodgerland. But all of this was when I was too young to remember anything. And as I grew up, we moved around some. My early memories have me living in Illinois. Still a Dodger fan, but rarely able to see my team play. And later we moved to New Jersey and it was even tougher to follow my West Coast team.

I was a Dodger fan living outside the Dodger market. Rarely able to see my guys on the field. Sure, there were summer trips to Newport Beach when I’d listen to Vin on the radio, and when I went to school in Arizona, I got four wonderful years of Vin. But mostly my life was long periods where I had no idea what was going on with my Dodgers dotted by little oasis of Vin welcoming me home and explaining it all in glorious Vin-speak.

Until the MLB.TV app came along. That was when things got interesting. After decades of getting my scores a day late in the New York Times or stopping in my school library at lunch to see if the late games made the afternoon edition of the Bergen Record, or watching “SportsCenter” before work hoping they’d mention my score… Suddenly I could watch the Dodgers live.

Given the time difference I was usually up late watching the games alone. And I mean ALL the games. I was making up for 30 years of near blackout conditions by binging my heart out. These nights could have been long and lonely. But Vin was there. Every night I’d sit down, and Vin would wish me a very pleasant evening and then the two of us would watch the game together.

Vin’s game-calling style, and the fact that he worked alone really made it seem like the two of us were sitting in front of my TV together. He’d tell me what was happening on the field, and where all the opposing team’s players had come from, or a great story from Dodger history.

We did this dance for eight or nine years before he started skipping road trips. And suddenly there were different people in my living room. Folks I didn’t know the way I knew Vin. They were good at their jobs, but they just weren’t Vin. And it never seemed like they were talking to me the way Vin did. By 2018 I’d given up listening to the play by play. I’d watch the games alone.

I’ve been missing Vin since 2016, but with his passing his signature silences will now go on forever. Unless I somehow make it into heaven where I know he’s calling all the big games.

Goodbye, Vin! And a very pleasant eternity to you, wherever you are.

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And finally

Vin Scully remembers Pearl Harbor. Watch and listen here.