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“Baseball-So Where Are We?”

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These are truly the dog days of summer in baseball.

July grinds into August and spills into September, for cities and teams already out of the playoffs.

The Dodgers have pulled themselves up by the bootstraps, and have put themselves into the wildcard playoff race, with still plenty of time to chase down first place in the NL-West.

That is amazing when you consider, the top five starting pitchers have all been on the disabled list, some multiple times. And they lost their key guys in the infield, 2nd-SS-3B for extended periods of time with injuries.

Who could have forecast rookie Max Muncy would hit 20-home runs, Joc Pederson would find his hitting stroke again, and Yasiel Puig would go thru the first half of the season without any discipline issues.

So LA fans have something to look forward too, even if 60-percent of the fans still cannot see their games on TV in the LA market.

Down the 405, it has been one injury after another to the Angels, who are staggering in a very tough AL-West, the division owed by the Houston Astros.

No one cold forecast the Seattle Mariners would have this type of season, putting themselves in the wildcard race, and the very young Oakland A’s would be so competitive.

Mike Trout is a superstar by himself, but seems to be wasting away another year, on a team that isn’t hitting, and has more hurt pitchers than healthy arms.

When you pay 46-million this season and see a combined (.245) batting average from Justin Upton-Albert Pujols. 4-other starters in the lineup are hitting (.215) or worse.

And to compound it, the pitching staff is ailing again. Garrett Richards cannot do it by himself, and 3-other starters on the disabled list, won’t be coming back this season.

Another lost year under the Arte Moreno-Mike Scoscia banner.

In San Diego, send the Padres mail in care of last place baseball.

You see flashes of specialness from the kid pitchers Joey Luchessi and Eric Lauer. They have a quality bullpen that is now borderline burned out. It’s been a lost season for starters Luis Perdomo and Danilson Lamet.

Journeyman starters Clayton Richard and Tyson Ross sometimes don’t get out of the 5th inning, other times do well without run support, and lose.

There’s no one to protect first baseman Eric Hosmer in the batting order.

There is more streak hitting that trust-worthy hitting from Will Myers, Hunter Renfroe, Manny Margot.

The rest of the batting order shows little consistency. So all Padres fans can do is wait and hope more quality kids are coming from a blossoming minor league farm system.

But what is there to guarantee that the next young bat will be any more consistent than the other young bats, who struggle on Monday-Wednesday-Friday.

A low batting average, and a likely record setting strikeout mark, with few home run threats in the lineup. Doesn’t sound like a playoff contender.of a franchise anytime in the near future.

Hot-humid summer weather, and the dogs days of the baseball season. Another summer in Southern California.

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“Lakers-The Day After”

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What the NBA columnists in different cities are saying-writing about the Lakers signing of LeBron James.

..Team chemistry…King James…young kids…and some goofballs”

..LeBron….all about basketball now and the business of his future career”

..Michael Jordan (6-2) in NBA finals…LeBron James (2-6)”

..Who coaches this team…..LeBron James or Luke Walton?”

..Can you really have 2-head coaches on a team?”

..LeBron-this ain’t the NBA East anymore”

..The NBA rich get richer…the poor are in purgatory…it’s life in NBA now.”

..The stars run the league….Jordan Rules…LeBron’s bylaws”

..Lakers-brilliant move followed by bombastic mistakes.”

..Who coaches the Lakers….Luke or LeBron?”

..Anybody heard from LaVar Ball lately?”

..Cleveland must be sick-took on big salaries of Larry Nance and Jared Clarkson to help the Lakers-who then used that cap space to take the Cavaliers icon.”

..Circus coming to town….LeBron and his clown roster.”

..Lakers are still not comparable to Golden State.”

..Best 1-on-1 game coming up….LeBron-vs-LaVar.”

..LeBron and Magic….basketball and business partners”

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“Lakers Get their Star–Get Problems Too?”

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King James has landed with the Lakers, and the return to glory is just around the corner.

He wanted to come to LA, they wanted him, and a 4-year 154M-deal cemented the arrival of LeBron James.

But it came at a price, and probably questions worth asking, ones now tied to team chemistry.

LeBron gives the Lakers what they have solely lacked thru the five non-playoff seasons they have endured. Leadership, fire, passion, physicality, durability.

Not since the Kobe Bryant heyday has there been this buzz about this franchise. Not Phil Jackson, not Lonzo Ball, not anyone, can take over the team, the market and games, like LeBron will.

But it comes with a price.

In a stunning move, the Lakers backed off a trade for Kawhi Leonard for now. Either the asking price from San Antonio was too steep, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and a number one?

Or maybe it was the uncertainty about the longterm health of Leonard after his missing of one full year with a quad injury that did not heal.

The Lakers said goodbye for quality forward-center Julius Randle, coming off a workman like 16-point a game season. He may not have been flashy. He was consistent. He was rugged. He was a good solid soldier.

Letting him go may have subtracted something strong at the talent level, though Kyle Kouzma, Hart and Ingram are back as cornerstones.

The Lakers wanted to change the personna of the team. They did that, and may have tampered with some team chemistry too.

You add the feistiness of Lance Stephenson on defense, but you also add a sometime headache type player, who scrapped with opponents officials, and his own teammates at various NBA spots.

Javale McGee, the jumping jack center, comes from Golden State, with defensive abilities, but a reputation for erratic performances on the floor and foolish things off the floor.

And then there’s Lonzo Ball, coming off 3-injuries, the most serious being meniscus surgery. Of course there still is lots of upside to him.

But you still have all the noise off the court, and outside the arena, from father LaVar, whom no-one wants to hear from. How does the on-court chemistry of Lonzo fit with LeBron? Will James make Ball an even better player going forward?

What is to the rumor that LaVar Ball leaked the Lonzo Ball knee surgery issue, to deter LA from including his son in any possible Kawhi Leonard trade?

And how will Luke Walton do as head coach staring, glaring, preaching into the eyes of LeBron James? You know there was a lot of coaching turmoil and turnover during the King James-Cleveland days.

The Lakers have yet to move on retaining free agent center Brooke Lopez, who had a strong statistical season on a bad young Lakers club. Cap space now becomes part of the argument going forward with any acquisition. They did keep shooting guard Kantavious Pope, last year’s pleasant surprise player.

So as Lakers fans celebrate, some should think about, do they have enough outside shooting aside from the starting five? Do they have trustworthy off the bench players? Will guys who acted like knuckleheads other places, be quality teammates in LA? Will the Ball family become a distraction again?

Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka got one star signing done. Maybe they wait till next off season to see if Kawhi gets healthy, who else opts out, and how year one one of this chemistry experiment in LA does.

But the burning question going forward, they go the star they wanted, but they give up talent and team chemistry with some of the other questionable acquisitions? Only a full season will tell us that.

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Followers-Viewers-Listeners

On vacation this week.
Back on next Monday
Thanks for your support

Lee ‘Hacksaw’ Hamilton

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“Names in the News-What Happens Next”

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Big names in sports about to make big headlines.

LE BRON JAMES….Within hours he will go public and likely take ‘his talent’ out onto the NBA free agent market. Goodbye Cleveland for a second time in his career. Hello LA Lakers and riches of a 36M year contract.

KAWHI LEONARD…This is ending badly in terms of his credibility. This won’t end badly for the San Antonio Spurs, who are shopping Leonard’s talents to create a bidding war between the Lakers and Boston. So many questions about Leonard, the ex-Aztec. Will he remain healthy? Is this quad injury, which he’s had for a year, surface again? Does a club pay a king’s ransom to get him knowing the risk he could get hurt again? Do the Spurs give another NBA team permission to talk to Leonard now, before a trade is made?

DE ANDRE JORDAN…Here comes the final parting of the last really good player the Clippers used to have. He opts out and may wind up with the Dallas Mavericks, maybe in a trade deal. Gone Chris Paul off to Houston a year ago. Dealt away Blake Griffin, now in Detroit. Now so long Jordan. For all that talent, the Clippers never got to the NBA Western Conference finals,much less the championship round. Starting over.

CHRIS PAUL….He hasn’t gotten a ring yet, and now might be moving again, if he opts out of his contract. His body is on the clock for sure, time running out. Leaving the Houston Rockets would hurt him…and his former club.

PAUL GEORGE….Opts out in Oklahoma City, and is casting glances to the Lakers-Clippers. Of course not everyone can wind up in LA, so maybe he re-signs with the Thunder.

BOSTON CELTICS….Danny Ainge has spent years rebuilding the once proud Red Auerbach franchise. He has a wealth of young talent, and could have as many as 4-first round picks also as a treasure trove of items to put into a Kawhi Leonard trade. But is he willing to part with young star Jalen Brown and veteran Kyrie irving plus more.

lA LAKERS…..This is the summer Magic Johnson has been waiting for. The big question, does he tear apart his young roster to trade for Kawhi Leonard? Does he keep his kids, and instead give out a max contract to LeBron James and Paul George? If you have to deal away Brandon Ingram-Kyle Kouzma and 1st round picks, what does that do to your overall roster? Do those superstars believe the Lakers have the right leadership making basketball decisions? Does Magic walk away from the job if he flames out this summer on the free agent market?

Stay tuned…we’ll know this afternoon…or by 9pm on Friday night. Then the fireworks begin.

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