Dodgers Dugout: The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and I can’t believe some people are already giving up on the Dodgers.

I usually have to write about this topic at least once every year. I just didn’t think it would happen this early in the season.

The Dodgers have been struggling lately. After starting the season 10-4, they have lost five of seven. Which has led to my inbox being filled with comments such as:

“There’s no way the Dodgers even make the playoffs this year.”

“I don’t care how many times the team has won 100 games, Dave Roberts is a terrible manager.”

“Shohei Ohtani has been a colossal failure and isn’t worth $7 million a year, let alone $70 million.”

“This may end up being the worst team in Dodgers history.”

Of course, the problem with running a newsletter like this is that people usually email only negative things. So, the tendency becomes to think this is how all Dodgers fans feel. So for the majority of you, the following does not apply. Just go about your day and meet me in the next item.

Those of you still with me ... relax. We are only 21 games into the season. There are 141 games left. We have no idea how good this team is. When they started 10-4, on pace to win 116 games, did you get overexcited and think this is the best team in history? If not, why do you get upset when they lose a few games? Every team has slumps like this during the season. Every team has holes and weaknesses, you just don’t notice them because your focus is on the Dodgers.

You can’t get miserable and mad after every loss. No matter how good the Dodgers are, they are going to lose 60 games a season. Do you really want to spend two months of your year unhappy? There’s a reason the baseball season is so long because these ebbs and flows cancel each other out for the most part.

Are there weaknesses on this team? Of course. The bullpen is shaky, but they are without two of their best relievers in Brusdar Graterol and Blake Treinen. The rotation will get help from Walker Buehler soon. The infield defense is a problem. The bottom third of the lineup isn’t hitting. These are problems that will either work themselves out, or will need to be addressed before the end of the season. And if we were at the All-Star break, perhaps worrying would be more justified.

But to throw in the towel after 21 games? No. Take a deep breath. Go for a walk. Pet your dog. Because we go through this every year, and every year the Dodgers end up winning 100 games. Save your frustration for the postseason, where we usually need it.

Some numbers

The Dodgers’ record after 21 games since their postseason streak began in 2013:

2013: 10-11 (won 92 games)
2014: 12-9 (94)
2015: 13-8 (92)
2016: 12-9 (91)
2017: 10-11 (104)
2018: 11-10 (92)
2019: 13-8 (106)
2020: 14-7 (43, 60-game season)
2021: 15-6 (106)
2022: 14-7 (111)
2023: 10-11 (100)

The Dodgers’ batting average/on-base %/slugging % by batting order position:

1-2 in lineup: .365/.436/.653
3-6: .281/.362/.448
7-9: .170/.227/.239
Don Drysdale‘s career batting line: .186/.228/.395

The bottom three in the lineup are being out hit by Don Drysdale.

Dodgers with runners in scoring position this season:

Mookie Betts, .615 (8 for 13)
Will Smith, .429 (9 for 21)
Teoscar Hernández, .308 (8 for 26)
Gavin Lux, .333 (5 for 15)
Freddie Freeman, .259 (7 for 27)
Austin Barnes, .250 (1 for 4)
Jason Heyward, .250 (1 for 4)
Max Muncy, .207 (6 for 29)
Miguel Rojas, .200 (1 for 5)
Kiké Hernández, .100 (1 for 10)
James Outman, .095 (2 for 21)
Shohei Ohtani, .053 (1 for 19)
Chris Taylor, .000 (0 for 5)
Andy Pages, .000 (0 for 1)
Taylor Trammell, .000 (0 for 1)
Team, 50 for 201, .249

Texas leads the majors hitting .346 with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers are 20th.

Top five starting rotation ERAs in the majors

1. Boston, 1.85
2. Kansas City, 2.39
3. Philadelphia, 2.54
4. Texas, 3.25
5. New York Mets, 3.29
16. Dodgers, 4.15

Top five bullpen ERAs

1. Detroit, 1.76
2. Cleveland, 2.15
3. Oakland, 2.58
4. New York Yankees, 2.63
5. Minnesota, 2.71
17. Dodgers, 4.13

What do you think?

Let’s see how the readers feel. I get a couple hundred emails after each newsletter, but there are thousands of readers of this newsletter. So here are four polls to see how everyone is feeling right now.

How many games will the Dodgers win this season? (Vote here)

What do you think is the Dodgers’ biggest weakness? (Vote here)

Should Dave Roberts remain as Dodgers manager? (Vote here)

Who is the best player on the Dodgers? (Vote here)

Thanks for voting. Results will be in the next newsletter.

Farewell to Carl Erskine

Former Dodgers pitcher Carl Erskine, the last of the “Boys of Summer,” died Tuesday at 97.

Carl Daniel Erskine was born Dec. 13, 1926, in Anderson, Ind. A standout in high school and American Legion ball, he signed with the Dodgers in 1946 and after pitching well in the minors, he joined the Dodgers in 1948. Before promoting him, Dodgers GM Branch Rickey asked Erskine if he had any problems playing with Jackie Robinson, who had broken the color barrier the previous season. Erskine did not. As he related in Roger Kahn’s “The Boys of Summer,” Erskine recounted why he had no problem: “Around 1930 there was a lynching 30 miles north of Anderson in a town called Marion. The day after it happened, my dad drove me up and showed me where it was. Two Negroes had been taken out of the jail and hung in the jail yard. I can still see that naked branch. There had been a scramble. People had made off with things as souvenirs. But there was a piece of rope. I saw a lynching rope before I was 10.”

Erskine and Robinson became friends. Once after a game, Erskine stopped on the way to the team bus and talked to Jackie’s wife, Rachel, and their son, Jackie Jr. They talked for a few minutes in full view of departing fans, some of whom didn’t like what they were seeing. The next day, Jackie told Carl: “I want to thank you for what you did yesterday.” Erskine had no idea what he was talking about. “You know. You stopped out there in front of all those fans and talked with Rachel and little Jack.” Erskine replied, “Jackie, you can congratulate me on a well-pitched game, but not for that.”

Erskine made his first start for the Dodgers on Aug. 5, 1948. He hurt his shoulder, but being a young pitcher and not wanting to lose his spot, didn’t say anything. He made his next start on Aug. 9 and was in such pain he threw up between innings. He was pitching a shutout through six innings when he finally couldn’t take the pain and went to manager Burt Shotton to tell him what was going on. Shotton’s response: “Son you are pitching a shutout. Just go right ahead back out there. You are doing fine.”

Erskine kept pitching the rest of the season despite the pain and went 6-3 with a 3.23 ERA. He couldn’t reach home plate from the mound in spring training the next year, so the Dodgers sent him back to the minors. He pitched well and returned to the majors midseason, going 8-1 with a 4.63 ERA. The shoulder pain (it was eventually diagnosed as a torn muscle) never went away the rest of his career.

In 1951 during the infamous Bobby Thomson home run game, Erskine was warming up alongside Ralph Branca to come into the game to replace Don Newcombe. Manager Tom Dressen called the bullpen to ask who was ready. Coach Clyde Sukeforth said they both were, but Erskine “just bounced an overhand curve.” With runners on base, Dressen didn’t want a wild pitch, so he called Branca, who is now best remembered as the pitcher who gave up Thomson’s homer.

During an interview for this newsletter a couple of years ago, Erskine was asked what the best pitch he had was. He answered “The overhand curve I bounced in the bullpen that day.”

Erskine pitched two no-hitters. The first, in 1952, was interrupted by a 45-minute rain delay. The second was in 1956. He struck out what was then a World Series record 14 batters in Game 3 of the 1953 World Series against the Yankees.

Erskine won 20 games in 1953 and finished ninth in MVP voting (there was no Cy Young Award then). He came with the team to L.A. and pitched two poor seasons before retiring. His career numbers: 122-78 with a 4.00 ERA. He was on the Hall of Fame ballot eight times, never getting more than 3% of the vote.

After baseball, Erskine sold life insurance and became a banker. He coached baseball at Anderson College in his hometown.

Erskine’s fourth child, Jimmy, was born with Down syndrome. “I often felt Jackie came into my life to teach me how to channel energy and anger toward what was happening around me with Jimmy and society’s nonacceptance of Down syndrome and other birth defects,” Erskine, who went on the become an advocate for children with Down syndrome, said in a 2013 interview. “Jackie’s impact started a momentum for Americans to see things differently.”

In 2021, Erskine took part in our “Ask....” series. I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with him and he was a true gentleman. You can read that interview here.

Up next

Friday: New York Mets (*Sean Manaea, 1-1, 4.30 ERA) at Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 1-1, 4.50 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, 1020 KTNQ

Saturday: New York Mets (José Buttó, 0-0, 0.75 ERA) at Dodgers (TBA), 1 p.m., Sportsnet LA, FS1, AM 570, 1020 KTNQ

Sunday: New York Mets (Adrian Houser, 0-1, 4.70 ERA) at Dodgers (TBA), 1 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, 1020 KTNQ

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Carl Erskine, Dodgers pitcher and advocate for those with special needs, dies at 97

‘Pleasant surprise.’ How Andy Pages overcame serious shoulder injury to make Dodgers debut

Shaikin: How Harry Edwards continues to honor Jackie Robinson’s legacy

Hernández: Overlooked parts of Dodgers’ roster could jeopardize title aspirations

Dodgers Dugout: Carl Erskine answers your questions

And finally

Carl Erskine and his son Jimmy play “Happy birthday” for Tommy Lasorda. Watch and listen here.