:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66138602/867626400.0.jpg)
The All-Star Game will be held at Dodger Stadium on July 14, and as of now we don’t know who will manage the American League All-Stars. That’s because A.J. Hinch, manager of the reigning pennant winners, was first suspended by MLB and then fired by the Astros for failing to stop an electronic sign-stealing scheme on his watch.
This week on the podcast, we discuss the fallout from the Astros scandal, which to date has sacked one general manager (Jeff Luhnow, also fired by the Astros) and three different managers (Hinch, Alex Cora, and Carlos Beltran).
Those Astros in 2017 lost one home game during the postseason, and it was started by Alex Wood. The left-hander, who took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, allowed one hit and one run in Game 4 of the World Series. Now, after an injury-plagued season in Cincinnati, Wood is back with the Dodgers on an incentive-laden one-year deal.
Please send any questions for future podcasts to tblapodcast@gmail.com, or tweet us at @ericstephen or @jacobburch.
Dodgers rewind
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19614755/81930969.jpg.jpg)
We also delve this week into arbitration, with four players having exchanged salary figures with the club. The Dodgers seem likely to head for their first salary arbitration case in 13 years.
The last was in 2007, when reliever Joe Beimel sought $1.25 million while the Dodgers countered at $912,500. The club won the case, and haven’t seen a hearing since.
Beimel pitched three years for the Dodgers, posting a 145 ERA+. He and Jonathan Broxton were the last Dodgers to pitch at least 80 games in a season, each appearing 83 times in 2007. The southpaw Beimel, also during his Dodgers tenure, was removed from the NLDS roster in 2006 after injuring his hand in a New York bar, the location where said injury occurred he first lied about to the team.
Memorabilia and Beimel go hand in hand, as he wore a Dodgers jersey-style robe during a playoff celebration, and was the subject of a bobblehead doll one year as well.
Podcast links
Episode link (time: 1:08:49)