EL SEGUNDO HERALD June 15, 2017 Page 5 Clearing Out the Notebook as Sports Seasons Wrap Up By Gregg McMullin It’s that time of year when sports in town is winding down for the summer. So it’s a good time to clear out the notebook of items that were shoved aside for a later date or time to update the community on the current status on some of our athletes around town. Athletes in the News The Nootbaar brothers, Nigel and Lars, are continuing their baseball dreams. Nigel, who was the South Bay Player of the Year in 2010, is currently playing for the Normal Cornbelters in the Frontier League. Nigel keeps alive a streak like no other community in America can claim. Fifty-four former Eagles have played professional baseball since 1960, including Nigel Nootbaar. For 57 consecutive years, a former Eagle has played at the professional level. But to further the streak to go back to 1933, you have to include George Myatt. He signed with the St. Louis Browns that summer and was sent to San Antonio in the Texas League (Class A). He went on to play in the Major Leagues for seven seasons, two with the New York Giants (1939-1940) and five with the Washington Senators (1943-1947). Myatt was a player-manager for two years in the minors--1948 and 1949--and in 1950 returned to the Major Leagues as a coach with Washington. He totaled 23 seasons in that role, serving also with the White Sox, Cubs, Braves, Tigers and Phillies. The baseball career of George “Mercury-Foghorn-Stud” Myatt ended in 1972 after 39 years. Nigel Nootbaar comes out of the bullpen for the Cornbelters. He has struck out 22 batters in 16 innings with a fastball in the 94-95 mph range. Nigel’s younger brother Lars had an outstanding season at USC. The multi-versatile sophomore played centerfield and first base for the Trojans. Lars, who was the South Bay Player of the Year in 2015, was named to the All-Pac-12 team. Lars hit .313 on the year and led the team with seven home runs. His .419 on-base percentage and .519 slugging percentage also led the Trojans. He had 34 RBIs and 62 hits while also drawing 34 walks, which Inconsistent Dodgers Finding Success in NL West By Adam Serrao Outside of Clayton Kershaw, there has been almost nothing consistent about the Los Angeles Dodgers other than the team’s ability to stay in contention in the National League West. Manager Dave Roberts has done his best to maneuver around injuries and poor play at times to put together a successful pitching rotation, bullpen and starting lineup that have kept the Dodgers hovering near 15 games over .500. Los Angeles’s ability to make the postseason has never really been in doubt, but do the Dodgers have enough offense and starting pitching to win when October rolls around and games start to mean the most? As of last week, the Dodgers’ starting pitching rotation ranked second in all of baseball in combined ERA. A collective 3.48 ERA has the Dodgers sitting just in front of the St. Louis Cardinals at over a third of the way through the regular season--but other than Kershaw, who can the Dodgers really rely on? Rich Hill has been in and out of the lineup with blister problems and has been inconsistent. Kenta Maeda has been sent to the bullpen because of ineffectiveness and Hyun-Jin Ryu can’t get through a game without seemingly giving up at least four runs. Scott Kazmir is an afterthought at this point, until he proves he can stay healthy and compete against major league hitters. That leaves Alex Wood, who is having a great season, and Brandon McCarthy as the only two somewhat reliable pitchers behind Kershaw who are getting the job done. Despite the lack of big names, the Dodgers have somehow been able to limit their opponents to very few runs. Roberts credits competition amongst some of the pitchers as a main factor in the staff’s success. “Competition is always a good thing,” he explained. “When you have very good starting pitchers--and we decided to go with a five-man rotation, which makes sense. There’s going to be a tough conversation with somebody.” That tough conversation has already happened with both Ryu and Maeda, who are the only pitchers on the staff with ERAs over 4.00. In all, seven pitchers have made at least five starts for the Dodgers this year. When the playoffs arrive, Los Angeles will only need one to rely on, other than Kershaw, to strike fear into an opposing lineup. Right now, it’s hard to tell if that one is currently on the roster. Speaking of striking fear into opponents, the Dodgers’ offense has struggled to do so lately, specifically with Justin Turner out of the lineup. Turner has since returned from injury and in doing so, immediately injected energy into his teammates on offense. “It seems J.T. is the glue to our offense and clubhouse,” Roberts admitted of his third baseman. Other than Turner, not many players in the Dodger lineup have been tearing the seams off of the ball this season. To begin the month of June, the offense as a whole failed to score more than two runs in six out of seven games during a slump in which the Dodgers lost five of seven games while Turner was out. They were also shut out twice during a month of June in which the team has been among the worst offenses in the league. During the month of May, the team was among the best in the league at hitting. Dating back to last Sunday, the only player on the entire roster with a batting average over .300 was Turner. Chris Taylor was close at .296 and has certainly done his part to inject some life into the batting order. Cody Bellinger has shown the ability to launch the ball out of the park, especially lately, but was still only batting in the high .240s as of last weekend despite his amazing display of power. That’s where you’ll also find the likes of Yasiel Puig (.234 as of last week), Adrian Gonzalez (.255 as of last week), and the newly acquired Logan Forsythe (.196 as of last week), just to name a few. Once they get past Turner, there simply doesn’t seem to be much in the lineup to fear for an opposing pitching staff. As Turner goes, so does the batting order. “You realize how valuable he is as a player, in the clubhouse and on the field, and to get him back is going to be a huge lift,” Roberts explained. “It sort of will allow guys to hit in their place in the order and just add length to our lineup.” Length has been something that the Dodger lineup has been in desperate need of lately. When going up against other elite pitchers and teams from the National League, like the Washington Nationals for instance, the Dodgers have struggled mightily. In eight games before Turner’s return to the lineup (three of which were against Washington), the Dodgers batted .166 as a team and .113 with runners in scoring position while losing five of those eight games played. That was, however, before a three-game set with the Cincinnati Reds that the Dodgers swept. The Reds sure have their own way of helping an offense get back on track. Despite their inconsistencies, L.A. still has a better record now than the team that made an appearance in the NLCS did at the same point of the season last year. The Dodgers may be inconsistent and sporadic at times, but they are certainly getting the job done and winning the games that they should be winning. Any possible addition to bolster the pitching rotation and the starting lineup, however, will certainly be welcomed and may even be the difference between simply making it back into the playoffs and what could finally be an appearance in the World Series for the first time since 1988. – Asixlion@earthlink.net Visit us online: www.heraldpublications.com Burkley Brandlin Swatik & Keesey LLP AT T O R N E Y S AT L AW Lifetime El Segundo Residents Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation 310-540-6000 *AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization Seems like yesterday that Nigel Nootbaar led his Little League team to victory. He’s now playing professional baseball. See Wrap Up, page 8 Lars Nootbaar, seen here in the Babe Ruth World Series in 2012, led USC in numerous hitting categories and was selected to the All-Pac-12 team. alone aloI linve e FREE Saving a life from a potential catastrophe EVERY 10 MINUTES! but I’’I’m m never alone. I have Life Alert.® One touch of a button sends help fast, 24/7, can’t • medical • fall • fi re • invasion • CO gas emergencies. For a FREE brochure call: Medical Alert Medical Alert Industry Leader Industry Leader Since 1987 Since 1987 No landline? No problem! SHIPPING! I live even when you can’’t reach a phone for: AS SEEN ON TV 1-866-591-7844
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