Milwaukee, WI
Alexander: A Dodgers’ crisis, or just a small sample size?
LOS ANGELES – Too soon to panic, Dodger fans?
It’s probably fair to suggest that the past week, when the Dodgers were 3-4, lost two games off an 8½-game division lead and had their starting pitchers compile a 9.00 ERA in those seven games, represented a short sample size in a long season rather than a troubling trend.
Calm down, folks. Crisis averted. For now.
James Paxton made it through five innings Saturday, reinventing himself as he goes. And some late inning thunder and a managerial move that almost backfired but didn’t – we’ll explain – gave the Dodgers a 5-3 win over Milwaukee, the NL Central leader, and cinched their first series win in over a week.
If you’re seeking a reason why spirits have been so down – or at least up and down – among certain segments of the fan base, here’s a hint: The first 12 questions manager Dave Roberts fielded in his pre-game briefing Saturday involved injury updates. Among the revelations: Max Muncy has stopped swinging the bat in his rehab process, because the oblique injury that has kept him out of the Dodgers’ lineup since May 15 just won’t allow him to do so freely.
“Everything he does, turning and rotating, is good except swinging the bat,” Roberts said.
Given that swinging the bat is what Muncy does best, and is not only his best contribution to a Dodgers lineup but creates a giant chasm when he’s not in it, that’s a problem.
Go down the list. Clayton Kershaw has another simulated game lined up Sunday, as he tries to regain momentum after a slight rehab setback of his own. Joe Kelly is getting hitters out for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes but is probably still at least a couple more outings away from returning. MVP candidate Mookie Betts, recovering from a broken left hand, is doing some baseball-type activities but is still a few weeks away – and he, too, can’t swing a bat yet. (But his appearance in the Dodgers’ TV booth Wednesday night suggested he could have a post-career future in the booth if he wants it).
Meanwhile, relievers Brusdar Graterol and Ryan Brasier are still working out at Camelback Ranch, Michael Grove and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are in various stages of their rehabs … and the list goes on. The upshot: A team that still has a healthy division lead also has plenty of needs as the July 30 trading deadline approaches. Clearly, $1.1 billion doesn’t guarantee health.
Layered over all of this is the realization, within the organization as well as among its fan base, that the only achievement that means anything has to come in October.
So on social media, our current bastion of learned discourse, Dodger fans are chill, nobody’s suggesting any outlandish trades and Roberts isn’t getting hammered for his in-game decisions, right?
Right??
Hey, if you allow it to, following baseball can be a nightly nervous breakdown.
To be sure, Roberts gave the wannabe managers more ammunition Saturday. Nursing a 3-2 lead, he used Daniel Hudson in the sixth, Blake Treinen in the seventh and normal closer Evan Phillips in the eighth, guessing that Phillips could handle the middle of the order in that inning and Alex Vesia could pitch the ninth for the save. Roberts had done so at the start of the last road trip against the woeful White Sox and got away with it.
This time, Christian Yelich sent a 2-2 pitch into the net above the kids’ play area in dead center field off Phillips to tie the game 3-3.
But Roberts ultimately got away with it again. Miguel Vargas pinch-hit for Gavin Lux leading off the bottom of the eighth and hit a paint-scraper that just cleared the left field fence to break the tie. Two hitters later Shohei Ohtani left no doubt with his 28th homer of the year, a 430-foot cannon blast (one estimated foot longer than Yelich’s). And Vesia retired the Brewers in order in the ninth, so what could the critics say?
“It was a right, left, right” situation, Roberts said afterward, given that righties William Contreras and Willy Adames bookended the left-handed Yelich. You could make the counter argument that the dominant hitter in the eighth, Yelich, was left-handed, while right-handed Rhys Hoskins – who had already homered in the fourth Saturday, after hitting a grand slam Friday night – was likely due up in the ninth.
“I feel confident with Alex versus either, but I think that for me, just having the righty on Contreras and Adames, I like that,” Roberts said. “And, you know, (Phillips) had count leverage on Yelich (it was 2-2) and left a sweeper middle, middle. But if I had to do it over again, I’d do the same thing.”
Footnote: Vesia struck out Hoskins on a 2-2 slider to start the ninth.
Meanwhile, maybe Paxton provided a sliver of hope by battling his way through five innings and 83 pitches and leaving with a 3-2 lead.
He acknowledged he’s not the same pitcher he was before Tommy John surgery in 2021, and Saturday he was working with a four-seam fastball that topped out at 93.9 mph and averaged 92.8, a couple of ticks below his 93.3 average for the year. He’s thrown mostly four-seamers and knuckle curves this season, with a few changeups and very few cutters (Saturday he threw two). Three years ago he was throwing the cutter nearly 30 percent of the time according to Baseball Savant; this year, less than four percent.
“I think I’m just evolving as a pitcher,” he said. “You know, my stuff isn’t what it used to be, but I’m pitching differently, pitching to weak contact, and still trying to give us a chance to win.
“I kind of figure it out as I go.”
That’s sort of the way baseball works in general. In this case, they’ll be figuring it out not only on the field and in the dugout but in the executive suite as July 30 approaches.
Meanwhile, after this series the Dodgers head to Philadelphia to play the team with baseball’s best record. So if your daily mood depends on the previous night’s results, you might want to hold on tight for a while.
jalexander@scng.com
MILWAUKEE — Christine LaMarre is finally getting used to a view she hasn’t seen clearly in months.
“I haven’t seen my street for forever… for months,” LaMarre said.
Outside her home on North 89th Street in the Cooper Park neighborhood sat a 150-foot-long leaf pile — frozen under snow and stretching down much of her block.
TMJ4
The massive pile posed safety concerns for elderly neighbors and made it tough for fire trucks and other vehicles to navigate what had essentially become a one-way street.
“It needed to be cleared for them… and my neighbors wanted it cleared also, because it was in front of three, four houses and they couldn’t get into park or anything,” LaMarre said.
Mike Beiermeister
TMJ4 first spoke to Christine last week after a viewer had reached out, sharing their frustration about the lack of cleanup. By Monday, Milwaukee Department of Public Works crews were out clearing that pile and others in the neighborhood.
Previous Coverage: https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/it-looks-terrible-milwaukee-residents-frustrated-as-massive-leaf-piles-block-streets-for-over-a-month
Previous Coverage: https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/milwaukee-residents-frustrated-as-leaf-piles-remain-buried-under-snow-dpw-has-plan-to-address-the-leaves
It was a welcome sight for Andy Butula, who also lives on 89th Street.
“It’ll be nice to be able to park in front of my house and just go in,” Butula said.
Mike Beiermeister
The city says a snowstorm in late November slowed leaf collection — and that both operations use the same crews and equipment. That’s why some piles sat for weeks, even months.
“It just seemed like it would have been easier if it would have been taken care of right away before the snow came,” Butula said.
Mike Beiermeister
Crews weren’t able to get to every leaf pile in Cooper Park and around the city on Monday. They plan to clean up remaining piles and are getting help from Mother Nature as warmer conditions are expected to carry on the rest of this week.
Related Coverage: https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/milwaukee-neighbors-frustrated-as-uncollected-leaves-create-hazardous-conditions-after-storm
As crews take advantage of the warmer weather, some neighbors on Milwaukee’s west side are thankful to have things back to normal before the holidays.
“I’m very pleased… mostly for my neighbors, because it was a front of their homes, but it was bothering all of us,” LaMarre said.
The city says about 90% of city-created piles have been cleared. Next, they’ll focus on large resident-created piles.
Mike Beiermeister
According to a spokesperson with Milwaukee DPW, the deadline for residents to rake leaves to the curb was Sunday, November 30. After that date, crews begin collecting leaves citywide, a process that typically takes two to three weeks. This year, however, a significant early winter snowstorm on November 29 interrupted operations. As a result, crews expect to continue collecting larger leaf piles into the new year. Smaller piles will be addressed in the spring.
“We are thankful to residents for being patient with us as we navigating snow operations and leaf collection at the same time as both operations use same staff and equipment. We are currently lucky to have better weather conditions that our staff is taking advantage of for leaf collection,” the spokesperson said.
Approximately 90% of city-created piles have been collected. Once that work is completed, crews will shift their focus to large resident-created piles. Some of those resident piles have already been collected as part of the city-pile cleanup process.
Residents may report large leaf piles by submitting a request at milwaukee.gov/Click4Action, through the MKE Mobile app, or by calling 414-286-CITY (2489).
This story was reported on-air by Mike Beiermeister and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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MILWAUKEE – A 27-year-old Milwaukee woman is accused of stealing a running daycare van that had four young children inside. The accused is Katelyn Librizzi – and she faces the following criminal counts:
- Operating a motor vehicle without owner’s consent
- Abduction of a child
Case details
What we know:
According to the criminal complaint, a Milwaukee police detective responded around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 16 to an abduction investigation near Appleton and Burleigh. A 911 call came from the owner of a daycare center indicating that a woman “jumped into her van and pulled off with her children inside,” the complaint says. That second person was later identified as Katelyn Librizzi, the defendant.
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A short time later, Milwaukee police conducted a high-risk traffic stop. The defendant was the driver and was arrested. The complaint says four young children were seated inside the van.
When police spoke with the daycare owner, she said she called 911 from the daycare because her personal cellphone was in the van that had been stolen.
Inside the recovered van, police found medical documents listed to the defendant, the complaint says. Investigators also used the daycare owner’s cellphone to get geolocation data, which showed the van’s path.
On Dec. 17, a detective interviewed the defendant who “indicated she had mental health issues,” the complaint says. The detective also reported Librizzi “was making statements and comments that are not typically mentioned in interviews,” the complaint says. Librizzi also told police “she had been driving and saw little kids in the back of the vehicle. The defendant also reported that the police pulled her over. She reported that the can had been running in front of a daycare,” the complaint says.
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What’s next:
Librizzi appeared in Milwaukee County court on Sunday, Dec. 21. Cash bond was set at $10,000. The court also ordered Librizzi to undergo a competency examination.
The Source: Information in this post was provided by Wisconsin Circuit Court Access and the criminal complaint associated with this case.
South Milwaukee students spread holiday cheer
Students from Zion Lutheran School surprised residents at a South Milwaukee assisted living facility with gifts, treats and songs, continuing their annual Giving Tree holiday tradition.
SOUTH MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Residents at an assisted living facility in South Milwaukee received an early dose of Christmas cheer as students and families from Zion Lutheran School delivered gifts, treats and songs as part of the school’s annual Giving Tree program.
What we know:
During the season of giving, students from the school joined family members and church volunteers to surprise residents at Franciscan Villa, filling wagons with presents and handing them out throughout the facility. The Giving Tree is a long-running holiday tradition for the school, built around gift donations for different groups each year, including veterans and families in need.
“It was just fun and happy,” said Ellen Rogers, a student volunteer.
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Rogers spent her Sunday morning alongside friends and family, sharing moments with seniors who staff say don’t always have the opportunity to see loved ones during the holidays.
What they’re saying:
“As a Christian it shows living our faith and being able to give to others especially during this time,” said Neil Schliewe, Zion Lutheran School principal. “With a facility like this having people that maybe their family is far away, maybe their family isn’t able to visit or maybe they’ve lost touch with family.”
Schliewe said the impact of the visit was immediately visible, with some residents moved to tears.
“We saw literally residents crying tears of joy because of not being able to experience that family time during this period of their lives and so being able to have kids from our school and our church, be able to come and do that it’s incredibly special,” Schliewe said.
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What’s next:
After the gift-giving wrapped up, students and staff shared one final surprise, singing Christmas songs together with residents. School leaders say planning for next year’s Giving Tree will begin on Thanksgiving.
The Source: The information in this post was collected and produced by FOX6 News.
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