-0-

“Dodgers Baseball-1st Place & Fragile”

-0-

The blazing hot summer weather in Southern California has been equalled by the blazing hot Los Angeles Dodgers.

A couple of 11-game winning streaks….a stretch in which they went (30-4)….and a 10 and half game lead over the rest of the National League West.

But with 2-months to go in the pennant race, all has changed, and it’s not just a thunder storm on the horizon, but possibly a tornado in the offing..

The 1-warmup pitch tweak to the back of pitching ace Clayton Kershaw, has sent shivers up the spine of everyone associated with the Dodgers.

The superb southpaw will be gone 6-weeks, dealing with a back strain. Still to be determined if this injury is linked in anyway with the herniated disc, that took him out of the rotation for 10-weeks early last season.

At (15-2) this year…(64-16) over the last 4-years…and a career mark of (141-62)…this is devastating to a pitcher so dominating.

But the Dodgers issues are more than just the ace. The rest has alot to do with it.

The 2nd guy in the rotation, Alex Wood, has been a remarkable (11-1) coming off his own arm problems a year ago. So far-so good, but so much of the season left.

Beyond that, there are red-flags around the rest of the Dodger-Blue starters.

Kenta Maeda is pitching, but his durability, especially in late season is a worry. They don’t want a repeat this year of last year, when he was gassed.

Brandon McCarthy is back on the disabled list. He always seems to have an assortment of issues. This time it is blisters. Before that a back.

Rich Hill has missed more starts than he has made since coming from the A’s in the middle of last season. Blisters, blisters, more blisters.

Hyun Jin-Ryu, once a workhorse, has never show the return to form after shoulder surgery and nearly two years in dry-dock.

Beyond that, there is no Julio Urias to wait to arrive. He is on the DL following arm surgery, despite the concerted effort to limit the pitch count and the stressful innings to the 19-year old. He broke down last month and it gone for the year following surgery.

The Dodgers have a farm system of tremendous young everyday talent, but not pitching. Everyone is asking about young plerys like flychaster Alex Verdugo…

They have Yasiel Puig still, whose career is ‘love-me-love me not’..depending on how hot he is or what mistakes he’s made.

The trading deadline is July 31st, and there are all types of veteran pitchers available. Some short term rentals, who become free agents, others with long term contracts, that will be costly.

Costly too will be what it costs the Dodgers to get a quality arm.

Do you pay high to rent, and then hope to re-sign, Texas’ Yu Darvish? Do you take on a hefty contract owed to Tigers ace Justin Verlander, no longer what he once was.

Is there a gamble deal to be made for Orioles strong arm Chris Tillman, coming off his own health issues, but at least back in the rotation.

Do you move young talent to get one of the Mets pitchers, Steven Matz?.

Does a Jhoulys Chacin rental out of San Diego pay dividends? Do you take on a mid-level journeyman like the Royals Ian Kennedy?

What is the price tag to get A’s outstanding young pitcher Sonny Gray, who is controllable for a couple of years?

The Dodgers have to do something. It does not appear Colorado nor Arizona are going to stand pat, and there’s still plenty of time to chase down LA in the West.

If the Blue stand down and don’t deal, they are going to go down.

The Dodgers may be in first place, but they are a very fragile 1st place franchise right now.

-0-0-0-0-

o me
-0-

“British Open-Wild & Wonderful”

-0-

It’s what you would expect, trying to play a round of golf with the weather rolling in off the Irish Sea onto the Royal Birkdale Course.

And then Jordan Spieth added his style of golf to the mix.

Metldown became showdown on Sunday and the the 23-year old from Texas won his 3rd major of a young star-studded career.

While Tiger Woods sat home reconfiguring his troubled life and career, while Phil Mickelson was on his way home after failing to make the cut, Spieth put on a show for the Brits there watching on the course, and everyone else watching globally.

The leaderboard showed him home raising the Claret Jug with a (12-under-268) total. How he got there, how he survived it all, was the real story.

Day 1 was blustery, 59-degrees and winds, and it did not knock him out of the hunt.

Day 2 was typical Irish Sea weather bedlam, heavy sheets of rain and wind gusts, and Spieth took the lead…hitting an eagle in driving rain…then sinking a 30-foot putt with 35-mile an hour winds blowing.

Day 3 was a day of normalcy as he stayed atop the board-knocking in 5-birds.

Day 4…his balls and scores were all over the place. He got knocked out of the lead. He hit an out of bounds shot, misinterpeted the rules as to an unplayable lie, hit a longer shot, but survived to bogey a hole. There was an amazing 20-minute delay as they tried to sort out where the ball went, what he did, where the next shot should come from.

He started with 3-bogeys in 4-holes and look like a massive meltdown was coming. That save shot at 13 after the horrid initial shot onto the practice range, led to his late round binge.

Spieth then put on a show, turned on a switch and electrocuted the rest of the field. He made 30-and-50 foot putts on back to back holes on that back nine after the out of bounds trauma..

In a 4-hole span on that back nine, he sank 3-birdies and added another eagle.

And then the win.

Oh there were other storylines too. Rory McIlroy went from a great opening day to going into the drink in round two, never recovering to get back in it.

Brendan Grace, playing in his first ever major, carding a 62 on a second day when everyone was died in the weather.

Dustin Johnson fell off the map. Jason Day didn’t make the cut. Phil Mickelson didn’t make a birdie.

US Open champ Brooks Koepka, hadn’t played in 3-weeks, and hung in there till the final day.

But it was Spieth creating great golf when it looked like he had created chaos.

Now he has arrived with this third major at such a young age. Bring on the next Grand Slam, and get ready for the next US superstar in the sport.

You expect all the wild days, wild scores, wild shots. It was like the weather coming in off the Irish Sea, you can get all 4-seasons in one day. Spieth showed a full array of good and bad play, all in winning the Open championship.

-0-0-0-0-0-

-0-

“Aztecs Football-The Arrow is Pointed Up”

-0-

It’s been quite a run at San Diego State. What Brady Hoke started, what Rocky Long has delivered. His record on Montezuma Mesa is (56-24).

Mountain West Conference titles, bowl games, bowl wins, and now a Top 25-ranking heading into training camp.

It’s been a nice start to the career of young QB-Christian Chapman, forced on the field as a raw freshman, and developing strong leadership skills, mistake free play calls, and a calmness, as he prepares to start his 3rd season in a row with the Red & Black. By the time he is done, he could top the successes that Ryan Lindley and Kevin O’Connell had.

Both had lots to say at Aztecs Media Day.

Rocky Long-Quotes..

..”OL-Big-Strong-Talented-Inexperienced”

..”Unique schedule…7-homes games have never had that-host Boise State”
..”Wants to play 2-PAC 12-teams every year-show we can play with them”
..”Preseason ranking is great-sets bar really high for program”
..”Believes there will be more college expansion of conferences coming”

..”Critical season SDSU-show we belong in rankings”
..”Home-Home schedules with Power 5-teams gives us chance to win”
..”Mountain West-loaded with talent..10-veteran QBs return”

..”Christian Chapman must make passes down field-no longer just manage games”
..”Rashaad Penny-versatile-runs with power-has quickness-catch ball-speed-makes people miss…a 225-pound load”.
..”Juwan Washington will rotate with Penny”

..”1 of freshman running backs-Kaliel Williams-Texas may play”
..”Chase Jasmin becomes key addition as backup RB also”

..”Fred Truvillion-JUCO-WR-Mississippi-has had great spring”
..”QB-Chris Laviano-transfer Rutgers-started 2-years..we need maturity backup.”
..”Expects to redshirt both freshman QBs-including Marc Salazar-Rancho Bernardo”

..”Defensive front seven in solid, but we must get 18-year old safeties to hold up against veteran receivers…18-year olds never win the battles”

QB-Christian Chapman-Quotes

..”I am a player with experience now-feels so different”
..”I know what to expect on game-day”
..”Time to also step up and teach young guys about what this is like”
..”Thumb surgery-completely healthy..100% go time”

..”I understand defenses…recognize things…know playbook”
..”I have become a student of the game in the video room”

..”We were all blessed to be part of the DJ Pumphrey experience”
..”He was a gamer-he didn’t care who you were-how big you were”

..”Rashaad Penny is a beast-great potential”
..”Penny has all the ingredients..size-speed-versatility-run-catch”

..”Passing game in the past-we didn’t have to throw much.”
..”We have to throw much more this year-not just lean on run game”
..”We will open it up this year”
..”We have added bullets in the gun, new WR-Fred Truvillion..growth of Mica Holder..Quest Truxton”
..”Look for our TEs to become a bigger part of pass game too”

..”I love playing Power 5-teams-it can put us on the map”

..”Kid offensive line has come a long way-but will have to grow quick”.
..”Key for the kid OL-recognize defenses-that comes from studying film”\
..”Biggest transition for them-speed of the pass rush guys”

..”This could be breakout year for the program with the preseason rankings”

-0-0-0-0-0-

.

-0-

“Bad-Getting Worse-Before It Can Get Better”

-0-

Andy Green is really a bright light to deal with.

A baseball junkie, street smart guy, intelligent, handles the media well, blunt honest, and I assume can be tough on his players behind closed doors.

His Padres franchise is a mess.

In fact, thru all the bad years of Padres baseball, and there have been lots, they have had some gruesome days with Andy Green as manager.

Not his fault, he is a victim. Just like the Padres fans are.

The Colorado Rockies beatdown yesterday at Coors Field was hideous. An (18-4) trashing-thrashing. Nolan Arenado had 5-hits in a row..including 3-straight home runs. The Padres were down (12-0) only 3-innings in, and then suffered more.

A wretched 3-game series. The Rockies scored 36-runs in 27-innings against Padres pitching, and this from a Colorado team that stumbled in have lost 16-of-21 coming into the slugfest series at Coors Field.

Andy Green is now (108-148) in a year and a half in the early phases of rebuilding.

He has had to sit in this dugout and deal with a (15-0) first game loss to the Dodgers. You do remember that series? LA swept all 3-games to kick off the 2016 season, outscoring Green’s guys (25-0).

This year has been horrible…with 12-losses already when the opponent has scored 10-or-more runs.

The team stats are staggering. Last in hitting, on base percentage, near the bottom in slugging percentage.. First in strikeouts. One of the worst ERAs in baseball. And pretty shabby fielding in the outfield from virtually anyone and everyone.

We know you don’t win when you hit (.231)…strikeout (891) times. When your team has a (4.68-ERA)…starters at (4.90)…relievers at (4.50).

Help is on the way, but not for a couple of years. The farm system is getting results virtually at every level, but these young players are no where near ready to play at the majors, regardless of what they are doing at Tri Cities, Ft Wayne, Lake Elsinore, San Antonio or even El Paso.

Look at the Dodgers, Rockies, Diamondbacks. Look at their lineups compared to San Diego. Look at those pitching staffs vs the rag-tag outfit of refugees Andy Green has to choose from.

One other set of stats. After AJ Preller burned thru all that money he took on with the contracts of Matt Kemp-Justin Upton-Melvin Upton-James Shields and more, his team has a combined (162-236) record.

Since the day he fired Bud Black, the Preller-led-Padres are (148-213)…and his hand-chosen manager is (108-148).

And to add to the angst..the hated Dodgers have won 31-of-35. You’ll find them in 1st place at (66-29)..with an 11-game winning streak.

Sadly it seems it’s going to get worse, maybe alot worse, before it gets any better.

Andy Green can’t do anything about it, for he has to manage the players Preller gives him.

And that’s pretty bad. It’s like we’re heading to an all time low in San Diego

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

-0-

“The Open-The Best”

-0-

I don’t know if it is the history that makes the British Open so very special.

Or maybe it is the wide array of courses they have used in Scotland, England, Ireland.

Maybe it’s the venues of all the small villages wrapped around the links they have been tramping around at since the 1860’s.

Or it could be the weather that crops up off the Irish Sea that can turn nasty in an hours’ notice.

Then there is the pressure to win it on the final day, with the networks, the galleries, and the history of Old Tom Morris peering down.

They tee off on Thursday morning , just after midnite-Wednesday our time, in what may be as wide open a tourney as we have seen.

The hottest golfers aren’t playing all that well.

Don’t know where Dustin Johnson’s game has gone too this year. Back issues are plaguing Jason Day. A wide variety of nagging healt issues has impacted Rory McIlroy.

Who knows if a kid like Jordan Spieth or Jon Rahm are ready to step up.

Maybe it’s Ricky Fowler’s turn to string together four good days against the course and the competition.

Tiger Woods is home and Phil Mickelson’s game is no longer what it once was.

There are oh so many flashbacks when you think the ‘Open Championship’.

Tiger Woods, coming off a 15-stroke US Open victory, winning back to back tourneys in 2000.

Phil Mickelson roaring from 5-strokes back on the final day to get a win in 2013.

Johnny Miller’s 3-days of 66-66-69 right there at Birkdale..

Tom Watson-Jack Nicklaus in the ‘Duel in the Sun’.

Rory McIlroy shooting a 63-one day, and then an 80-the next as the winds came up and his game went away..

The wild weekend of Jan VandeVelde, heard from once, but never again.

It’s where Seve Ballesteros wowed us. Old warriors like Mark O’Meara and Tom Lehman had special days.

A tourney that gave us greatness like Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, and Arnie Palmer, credited with actually coming up with the idea of the “Grand Slam” of golf in the 1960s.

When you think Open championship, you close your eyes and see the picture book snapshots.

Greens, fairways, the clubhouse…and all the layouts of St.Andrew’s…Hoylake..Carnoustie…Troon…Turnberry…
and Royal St. Lytham.

It’s special, maybe because it’s on foreign soil, or it’s at the place where the game was born.

The Open Championship, as great as the Masters, and just ahead of our US Open.

Enjoy it.

-0-0-0-0-0-