After sweeping the then-first place San Francisco Giants and exposing them as frauds, the Dodgers have now won 11 of their last 12 games, putting the insidious 5-15 stretch behind them. The Padres have also been hot and taken over first place in the N.L. West so the Dodgers’ quest to surpassing San Diego begins with a two-game series against the sleazy Houston Astros.
To refresh your memory (if you’ve somehow forgotten), the Astros crimes against humanity took place during the 2017 regular season and postseason. The Athletic first broke the story and reported that the Astros were electronically stealing signs from every team that year, including the Dodgers. During home games, once someone decoded the opposition’s catcher’s signals, the hitters were alerted by the banging of a trash can as to what type of pitch was coming. To know exactly what pitch is coming is almost as big of an advantage for a professional hitter as going up to bat with the ball on a tee.
When the Dodgers and Astros faced off for the first time since the cheating scandal was brought to light last July, one of the greatest images in Dodgers history was created. If the Blue Marble photo taken from Apollo 17 crew on their way to the moon is the most reproduced photo in American history, then Joe Kelly’s pouty face to Correa is a close second.
If you need to brush up on the origin of this all time troll job, Jomboy can help you out (NSFW).
This game showed that these two teams still hate each other and the wounds of the 2017 World Series will likely never heal.
It felt like something the Mayans had chalked up on stone tablets, but the missing link were bleachers filled with fans. Not getting to see distraught Astro fans and gleeful Dodger games was like getting a lettuce wrapped Double-double: it’s an enjoyable experience, but it will always feel like something is missing.
Now that fans will be in attendance a brouhaha feels inevitable, but who will be front-and-center this time?
My knee jerk reaction is Trevor Bauer who is slated to start on Wednesday. Bauer was one of the most outspoken players in the league when all of the reports went down and he had absolutely no association with the Dodgers at the time. He even got customized cleats to honor the aforementioned Joe Kelly pouty face and to raise awareness of how bush league it was for Kelly to get an eight-game suspension.
And the moment you've all been waiting for…..here's a look at my cleats for tonight's start. FREE JOE KELLY! If you want to be eligible for a chance to win these, see next tweet for details. pic.twitter.com/WR0LrNpgCC
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) August 19, 2020
Now that Bauer is suiting up in blue threads, one can only imagine what move he is going to pull, but whatever it is, it will surely make waves across the league. Considering all the criticism he’s leveled at the likes of Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, and Alex Bregman, I’m counting on seeing Bauer’s regular boisterous-flare on full display.
It’s no coincidence that Minute Maid’s first game at full capacity comes as the defending World Series Champs roll into town. This short two-game series will have a ton of drama and storylines and I’m all here for it.
When Matt Weiner isn’t blogging about the Dodgers, he’s eating chicken cacciatore at Buca di Beppo with Tommy Lasorda.
Twitter: @Mattweiner20
