True Blue LA podcast 2110: Opening day is here

After a long offseason and (at times) seemingly longer spring training, we finally get real Dodgers baseball on Thursday, which is welcomed on this week’s podcast.

With the opening day roster set, Eric and Jacob review their guesses from a month ago. All things considered, we did pretty well, though we both underrated Matt Beaty’s chances and did not foresee the stellar spring had by Jimmy Nelson.

We also look at some final spring training news, like Dustin May claiming the fifth-starter spot, and sky-high expectations of the Dodgers. All that, plus baseball books and, of course, food talk.

If you have any questions for a future episode, please email tblapodcast@gmail.com, or tweet us at @ericstephen or @jacobburch. And special thanks to producer Brian Salvatore for getting this episode up before Thursday’s game.

Dodgers rewind

Last week we looked at the upcoming 40th anniversary of Fernandomania, so this week we look back at the 30th anniversary of an excellent Dodgers team in 1991.

One of the newcomers that year was Brett Butler, who was my platonic ideal for a leadoff hitter. He was an unparalleled bunter, leading MLB in bunt hits in five of the first six seasons the stat was tracked, beginning in 1988, and finished second twice and third another year. Butler walked a ton, so he was always on base, and ranks 10th all-time in Dodgers OBP.

Butler also stole a lot of bases. He also got caught a lot, including 28 times in 1991 (compared to 38 steals), not that I noticed, or cared, at the time. Butler in his first season with the Dodgers led the National League in both walks and runs scored. He’s one of only two Los Angeles Dodgers to lead the league in runs.

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