Back to Elland Road today. Following the last few results, I wasn’t massively confident going into this game. I predicted a 0-0 draw.
But something happened. McDermott brought a few different players into the starting lineup and went with a new formation, playing Warnock and Byram in wing-back roles…and it worked.
Maybe it was a case of Birmingham being shit and making us look good, but we just seemed to click into place. McCormack netted the first, Austin the second, and Smith scored two.
Maybe this is the turning point and maybe things are looking up…I am still predicting a draw against Huddersfield though.
It’s all over…well for the Dodgers anyway. Last night (well, early morning 1:30am start) the LA Dodgers closed out their season with an unpredicted 9-0 loss to the Cardinals in Game 6 off the NLCS, losing the series 4-2 and ending my first season as a baseball fan, and as a Dodger fan…and what a season it’s been.
I live in the UK and baseball just doesn’t get that much coverage over here. Speak to anyone here in England and you’ll be treated to the “It’s just glorified rounders!” comment, along with the obligatory moaning of how long a game takes. And I have to say, a while back, that was my mentality about the sport too. Years ago, I had seen a few games of the World Series whilst in Vegas on the TV, but hadn’t really paid that much attention to it to make me follow it any more than that.
Then something happened…
…Valentine’s Day 2013…my then-Fiancee Elle bought us two tickets to go see the Dodgers play at Dodger Stadium in April as part of our Honeymoon. We were getting married on April 20th and flying out to Vegas & LA a few days later…and now I was set to go to a Baseball game for the first time in my life.
Naturally, I wanted to know more about the sport. We subscribed to ESPN and started to watch. Back in February and March, the only games taking place were the games from the World Baseball Classic. And naturally, the only games I was that bothered about were the ones the USA were taking part in. So I caught some of those games. It gave me the vital background and knowledge I would need for what was to come.
April 1st. Opening Day for the Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw was on the mound. His pitching was clearly of a different class. It was a fantastic pitching performance, but offensively, nothing was happening. The game went all the way through to the 8th innings before Kershaw stepping up to the plate, and in a moment that actually saw me jump out of the chair and yell “YES!”, Kershaw powered a hit straight up the centre and out of the park for a one-run Home Run. Having not been content with pitching like a demon, he kickstarted a fantastic 8th innings which saw the Dodgers take a 4-0 lead and win the game convincingly…a new fan was born…I was officially a Dodger!
Over the next few weeks, I managed to watch as many matches as possible…which were proving hard due to the time difference and plenty of games not starting until 3am UK time. But I stuck with it.
Following the wedding and the first part of our honeymoon in Vegas, we were ready to go to Dodger Stadium. It was April 29th and we were staying in North Hollywood so we jumped on the Metro to Union Station then hopped onto the Dodger Stadium Express over to the stadium.
It was a cracking sight to see and I couldn’t wait to get inside and treat myself to a Dodger Dog and a beer. We took up our seats and we were ready to go…
Unfortunately…the Dodger’s weren’t ready. The day got off to an interesting start when the woman next to us did a rather interesting version of the National Anthem…which I had to record….
And we were under way. Colorado Rockies were in town…I had my glove (which I soon realised was a kids’ glove)…and the Rockies brought their big hitting game. Dodgers pitcher Ted Lilly struggled from the outset, giving up 4 runs in the opening innings…leaving the crowd a little flat. By the end of the 5th innings, the Rockies were 10-0 up…the game finished 12-2 to Colorado…it would be enough to put anyone off watching the Dodgers for life…but the whole experience was massively enjoyable. I found myself flicking through hotel room TV channels trying to find a Dodgers game and checking online for scores all the time.
After we got back from America, I carried on watching whenever time allowed and I found I was thoroughly enjoying being a fan of the Dodgers…even if they were wallowing at the bottom of the National League West…it really did look like I had picked another team as good as Leeds United all over again…
…and then June came.
The Dodgers promoted a rookie by the name of Yasiel Puig into the starting lineup after he had been impressing in the minors. He notched a couple of hits in his first four at-bats in his opening game, and really impressed with a stunning arm for throwing…could this kid change things around? His next game he hit two home runs….the answer was yes!
June 22nd is the date that the Dodgers look back to. They were propping up the rest of the teams at the bottom of the table with seemingly no way back…but backed by the ever-developing and always entertaining Puig, the Dodgers fortunes began to turn. Within exactly one month, the Dodgers went from bottom place to flying high. A run of 50 games saw an amazing 42 wins. It was truly an amazing comeback and as soon as the Dodgers climbed back to the top of the table, it was a position they would not give up for the rest of the season.
But as the post season arrived, and with the likes of Matt Kemp being written off for the whole of October, the Dodgers began to see a dip in form. It felt like a slog getting them over the line and confirmed as champions of the West, but they got there eventually.
Up first were the Braves. Dodgers fared pretty well and swept them aside with a 3-1 series win.
But the Cardinals would prove much tougher and took a commanding two game lead after beating both Greinke & Kershaw at Busch Stadium. Dodgers then won 2 out of 3 of the games at Dodger Stadium…but then on a return to Busch Stadium last night, Kershaw had the fate of the Dodgers in his hands and unfortunately things just didn’t go as they should have. After an abysmal 3rd & 5th innings saw nine runs scored by the Cardinals there was no coming back.
It was extremely sad for everything to come to an end so abruptly, but the past 7 months have put into my mind that next year, I will be a Dodger fan and I can’t wait to go through it all over again. The very best of luck to the Cardinals…but I think the Red Sox will smash them in the World Series…which will definitely please my mate Steve, with whom I have a healthy fan rivalry with.
I am proud to call myself a Dodger fan. I am proud to wear the Jersey and the Cap.
Had a night of playing catchup on Sky+. It was all about finally getting through all the America’s Got Talent episodes we have from a few months back. What is annoying is that these actual shows were on in America well over a year ago! Nightmare.
Dodgers tonight. Game 5 in the series. The Dodgers were 3-1 down. This game was vital as one more win for the Cardinals meant that the Dodgers’ season was over…and it all looked to be going the wrong way in the very first innings when Greinke ended up with loaded bases and no outs. I tweeted that if Greinke got out of the innings unscathed, his confidence would grow and we’d win the game…and that’s exactly how it went down.
Dodgers found their Hone run bats and two from A-Gon, one from AJ Ellis and one from Carl Crawford all helped push the Dodgers on towards victory.
There were some scares in there, but non more so than when the Dodgers went into the 9th with a 4 run lead, only for Puig to let a silly catch go to start off a Cards rally which fortunately only led to two runs.
It all started when I woke up early to watch Game 3 in the NLCS where the Dodgers were playing host to the Cardinals after losing the first two in the series.
I was watching a re-run because the game was on at 1am.
And would you believe it…Dodgers won! Finally the offence picked their game up. Ramirez played well with a fractured rib, and Puig finally broke his non-hit streak.
Looking forward to another early start game tomorrow!
Got a phonecall today too. I am going to be appearing on a new Gameshow. But we can’t say much now so shhhhh!
Karen at work bought some Mince Pies at lunch…yes….Mince Pies in October…they were Marks & Spencer ones and it was nice to have some new stock in…
…until we realised they go out of date in two weeks time. Not exactly keepers for Christmas are they???
I also got annihilated at work for my hair being a bit stuck up at one side and they said I looked like the Go Compare man…what do you think?
I have the stupid face on because I am eating a mince pie…can’t have them going out if date now can we….?
Had a 7-match accumulator bet on tonight. They all went in…except Italy who could only draw against Armenia. FFS!
Well it’s October 14th…there’s still no sign of the Coca Cola Christmas Truck rolling it’s way on the X Factor commercials to the tune of “Holidays Are Coming, Holidays Are Coming”, yet today at work we drew out our Secret Santa.
Yup, that yearly tradition where we all draw names out of a hat, then half the people moan about who they have, and half tell each other who they have, is back…and with a long time to go until Christmas…I have plenty of time to buy Ro’a present…or is it Paula’s present…or Nic’s, or Wilson’s, or Trevor’s…or gobby-temp-who-isn’t-a-temp-anymore’a present. Who knows? Just me…but give it a couple of weeks and the necessary rounds of Cluedo to determine that Karen Wilson had the Steel Pipe from Emma Barraclough and everyone will know everyone else’s.
We weren’t allowed our own names if we drew them…but just for the record…£10-worth of silly socks, silly t-shirt, or a wholes bunch of childish stuff is right up my street…so if you got me…I’ll have something silly! I love it.
Right…now to go online shopping for something for my Secret Santa for her who is lucky enough to receive…or is it a him…? Hehe. Mind games. Love it.
Played catchup on TV. We did about ten episodes of America’s Got Talent from earlier in the year. Haha.
Caught up on Bates Motel (which I am really liking), watched someone forgettable get kicked out of X Factor…and watched Homeland.
Homeland seriously needs to pick up it’s pace this season. It’s not exactly endearing me to it at the moment unfortunately. I am sure it will turn around though. We shall see.
I thought that owning an official Jersey would help rally them to victory, but coming off the back of last night’s 13 innings loss, the Dodgers still couldn’t pick themselves up and push for a victory.
In a game of very few hits, Dodgers did manage to get a few men on bases but constantly struggled to get them home. The shadows on the pitch cause serious hitting problems, and also the Dodgers were without Hanley Ramirez after he got drilled in the ribs last night and was suffering.
Kershaw was on the mound, and after have a Cy Young contender season, he was pitching OK again.
Both teams struggled to get hits and it was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when they managed to get a man around the bases. This turned out to be the only run of the entire game.
Dodgers stranded 6 men on bases throughout the game. Something which seems to be a continuing problem. Yasiel Puig, the rookie star has now gone 0-10 in these two losses. It’s something he certainly needs to pick up sometime soon as it’s not good enough and it tends to be his driving force which helps the Dodgers push for the win.
With no match on Sunday, and three to come at Dodger Stadium, these next four days are vitally important.
Decided, in my infinite wisdom, to stay up to watch the Dodgers @ Cardinals game on Friday night. Greinke started on the mound for the Dodgers and in the early going it looked like it was only going to go LA’s way.
Kelly, the St Louis pitcher, started off a little shaky and the Dodgers looked to make him pay, but despite repeatedly putting men on bases, they just couldn’t bring anyone home.
It wasn’t until the 3rd innings when Ramirez & Gonzalez were on base that Uribe hit a nice hit that got them both in. But at the bottom of the third, Greinke slipped in the quality of his pitching and was punished with the tying two runs.
And then it was a battle of the pitching staff and no more runs were scored before the end of the ninth. Onto fee baseball!
I have to admit, around the 7th/8th I fell asleep…it was around 4:30am though. I woke back up and we were in the 11th and what seemed to be a little bit of a shocking at-the-plate decision went against the Dodgers which prevented them from getting the winning run.
On the game went until in the 13th innings, unlucky for some, bases loaded, up stepped Beltram for the Cardinals with a line drive to bring the winning run home.
Dammit!
Onto Game #2 tonight at a more reasonable time of 9pm! Whether I make it to midnight is a whole different story…!
Leeds United Prediction League 