Welcome to the 1963 Dodgers, uhhh, I mean 2012 Nationals

[RL04]

It's déjà vu all over again.

The '63 Dodgers had crazy great pitching but couldn't hit for sh*t.

They wound up in first place and won the WS 4-0 against the N.Y. Yankees.

Their rank that year in the National League (remember only ten teams then):

HRs.....7th
SLG....8th
OPS....7th

E.R.A. ... 1st.
 

[The Chief]

We are currently 15th, 16th, and 16th in those offensive categories.

[cmdterps44]

We are currently 15th, 16th, and 16th in those offensive categories.

[LostYudite]

Nice find.  Scored 640, allowed 550 - sounds reasonably like us.

What a different era.  Drysdale and Koufax threw 310+ IP each.   
And Koufax did it to the tune of a 1.88 ERA.   

Their "closer" threw 129 innings and had 21 saves.   
And had 16 wins and a 1.67 ERA. 

[LostYudite]

We are currently 15th, 16th, and 16th in those offensive categories.

Hey - we're not last in one of them!  Hellz yeah.

[Kevrock]

We are currently 15th, 16th, and 16th in those offensive categories.

Finishing with the equivalent of the Dodgers ranks is not out of the question, if Morse and Zim come back.

Of course, we're losing our ace before the post season. 

[The Chief]

618 was league average that year, so no, not really like us.

[Tyler Durden]

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SFG/2010.shtml

The Giants were 9th in runs scored and 1st in ERA in 2010.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSN/2012.shtml

We are at 13th in runs scored and 1st in ERA.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/2012.shtml

The Mets current sit at 9th in runs scored with 95 through 25 games.  We've scored 82 in 25 games.

So we're not that far off - works out to about .5 runs/game away from 9th place.  A healthy Zim/LaRoche/Morse would help make up that difference.

[The Chief]

A healthy Zim/LaRoche/Morse and continued production from Harper would help make up that difference.

Added a bit.  From your lips to God's ears.

[LostYudite]

618 was league average that year, so no, not really like us.

Well, ok, but that's a little misleading - 640 put them at the top of the bottom half, so it's not like they were a great offensive team - they were solidly middle of the road.  Boy, Houston was pretty terrible at scoring runs that year, eh?

I think we have hope for "solidly middle of the road," if, if, if...  even slightly below that would work, because unlike the LAD in '63, we don't actually have to have the best record in the NL.

[welch]

That Dodger team had had no equivalent of Nady/Tracy/Derosa/espinosa, but I've thought about the comparison.

Dodgers had Maury Wills at SS...good hitter and the greatest base-stealer of his era. Junior Gilliam at 2B (I think...), John Roseboro, a decent-hitting catcher. Willie and Tommy Davis in the OF...Willie was a great fielder and another base-stealing .280 type hitter. Tommy D was a genuine .300 hitter. Oh, and I think those Dodgers had a big guy named Frank Howard in the OF.

Famous Dodger rally: Wills walks, steals second. Willie Davis bunts Wills to 3B, and Tommy D drives him in with a SF. And Koufax gives up 2 hits, strikes out 12.

Yes...I hope this team acts like the Dodgers. You gotta have heart!

[Ray D]

And Koufax gives up 2 hits,

Well when it was all over last night, I think the Diamondbacks had three hits.  And it seemed like a routine night's work.

[RL04]

And Koufax gives up 2 hits, strikes out 12.

One of my favorite quotes from Jane Leavy's biography . . .

After Koufax struck out 15 (I think) in the first game of the '63 series, Yogi Berra asked "How the hell did he lose five games?"

"He didn't," Maury Wills said later.  "We did."