Although it’s certainly horrible, the worst thing about Major League Baseball is not that the Dodgers beat the pinstripes off the Yankees and won the World Series. It’s proof they always can and maybe always will win the World Series.
Unfortunately, there is no other way to look at it.
And that doesn’t make me sad. It makes me sick. They are my stomach flu.
The Dodgers aren’t going away. As long as their organization/ownership remains as is, as long as stupid Major League Baseball remains as it is — stupid — they will be the No. 1 contenders every year. They may not win it all, because it’s baseball, where sure things do not exist.
Bad luck and injuries be damned. They know their way around everything runs through their bottomless bank. Collectively, the 29 other teams are the Maginot Line, and they are the German army.
On the surface, they don’t spend the most money. The Mets and Yankees ranked 1-2 in front of them, but they’re No. 3. Doesn’t mean squat. They’re paying Shohei Ohtoni $700 million in guaranteed money, but the bulk of it doesn’t kick in until the end of the deal.
Ohtani’s adjusted 2024 salary? Exactly $2 million. And he didn’t throw a pitch, which is why he got the $700 mil in the first place. Hell, he may never throw another pitch. He’s magic. He injured his shoulder in the Series, some doctors thinking it was going to require surgery — and the sports MDs are great at immediately reading injuries. He played the next game.
The Dodgers had a whole lot of very good players who either missed a lot of time or were lost for the year. And yet the Bums were plenty deep enough. Their bullpen wasn’t supposed to be great. It won this thing.
The Padres were the second-best team. They had L.A. by the windpipe in game one of the NLDS until manager Mike Shildt made the mistake of pitching to Ohtani (white-hot at the time) with a three-run lead, two out, runners on second and third, first base open.
The National Football League does it right. Major League Baseball does not.
The NFL has a multi-billion dollar cake, and each team gets an equal share of it. There is a salary cap. The field is as level as possible. It’s up to the clubs to succeed on the field.
Baseball has nothing close to that. It has a “luxury tax” to punish teams that overspend to help the little guys spend more. Phooey. It’s a joke. See Ohtani’s deal. There are escape routes creative accountants don’t need a GPS to find.
Now, there’s talk that the Dodgers are interested in Yankees star (and former Padre) Juan Soto, who becomes a free agent. Juan is a fine player, he’s 26, and could get $700 million. That is the rumor.
You look at teams such as the Tigers, who went a long way with a $17-million player salary. It can happen. They did it with players not making a lot of money. Problem is, once good players become free agents, they move on to spots where the pastures are greener. Nobody is passing up hundreds of millions.
Which is why eight Orioles already have dived into the free agent pool.
Small-market teams can win. Just not for long. The Dodgers will keep winning until MLB changes — and, handcuffed by the strongest union on earth, it isn’t happening.
Baseball is as shaky as the Yankees were in that fifth inning of their Little League World Series. …
How can a player throw a baseball since birth and not cover first base? …
The more I (painfully) watch the Aztecs play football, the more I believe Rocky Long was one of the greatest college coaches who ever lived. Rocky wouldn’t give up 56 to the Chiefs. …
Boise State leaving in star back Ashton Jeanty when up by 40 tons in the fourth quarter vs. SDSU was not only ill-advised, but padding his Heisman stats was bush. …
Have the Aztecs played a worse first quarter than they did at Boise? Maybe the 1979 BYU debacle, but I haven’t seen them all. …
Boise was playing 11 on 10. …
Football was meant to be played on real, green grass. Unless, of course, it’s at Snapdragon, where lawn grows like mangoes in the Ukraine. Imagine the embarrassment, bad turf forcing the Wave to move their match with Louisville, which is in the Blue Grass State. …
I still don’t know the name of the guy who caught that Commanders’ Hail Mary. …
I still don’t believe any Hail Mary should be completed even if Real Mary diagramed the play. …
Matt Eberflus’ coaching at the finish of that Bears-Commanders debacle was the worst I’ve seen since Pete Carroll at the end of the Super Bowl. …
Anthony Richardson removed himself from the game because he was “tired.” We’ll see how tired he gets looking for a civilian job. Never heard of such a thing. …
The Jets were favored over the Texans? Vegas oddsboys. Geniuses. …
Tua: “I love this game. I love it to the death of me.” Now, maybe it’s all right for him to say, “I’m tired.” …
“Letting them play” shouldn’t mean refs blind-eye the obvious. …
Congratulations to CBS analyst Charles Davis, who said during Eagles-Bengals: “How about that, a punt returner allowed one to go over his head inside the 10.” …
Twelve Dodgers fans were arrested following their team’s World Series clincher. The other 12 are still at large. …
Everyone knows how I feel about the Dodgers, but I’m almost happy for Freddie Freeman. …
Bob Montgomery was the last player not to wear a batting helmet to the plate. Said he: “Helmet? That’s what my skull is for.” …
Sheel Seidler’s Tweet/X: “85 business days until pitchers and catchers report.” Sheel, please. Too soon. …
Whatever Ha-Seong Kim wants, he isn’t worth. …
Clayton Kershaw says he will return during an exclusive interview with former teammate Sandy Koufax. …
Iowa sprinter Kalen Walker ran an exhibition 40 in 4.15 seconds on the stadium grass during halftime of the Hawkeyes-Northwestern football game. After that, he fed the entire crowd loaves and fishes out of the few he brought along, and patiently took care of a long line of blind folks to make them see again before walking across a lake. …
Just think, Kalen’s fastest legal 100 meters is 10.09. So how fast could Usain Bolt run a 40, 2.00? …
RIP, wonderful Teri Garr. One of the great late-night talk show guests. Maybe David Lettermans best. …
Another week of football, another greatest catch of all time. …
Now Chevron is moving its headquarters out of our state to Texas. All sing: “California, here I go.” …
First, book burning. Now, ballot box burning. In the United States of America. It takes me back to my salad days, strolling down Berlin’s Wilhelmstrasse in 1933 Germany. …
Thanks to Ribbon Cutter Mayor & His Ham & Eggers having an open house at 101 Ash Street, I was able to rub my ballot on the walls. For the Asbestos.