John Ely Tamed a Grizzly Bear
May 18, 2010 at 12:52 am | Posted in Casey Blake, John Ely | 23 CommentsJohn Ely put up yet another quality start against Houston, going seven innings while allowing just two runs, striking out eight – a new career high – and walking zero. However, he achieved even more than you think he did tonight.
Ely…
Not only has John Ely not walked anyone in his last 23 innings, he hasn’t allowed an extra-base hit in his last 23 innings (@dodgerthoughts)
According to the Dodgers, it’s 84 straight hitters without a walk for Ely (@jimalexander)
John Ely can sing God Bless America in three seconds. #ElyMania (@chadmoriyama)
Cy Young never won a John Ely award #ElyMania (@truebluela)
Even more impressively, John Ely can change Juan Pierre into a useful starting pitcher. (@jay_jaffe)
It’s been just four starts, but Ely is quickly becoming somewhat of a folk hero among Dodger fans. Of course, that’ll happen when you’re a guy who 98% of Dodger fans hadn’t heard of (including your own right fielder, and let’s face it, the left fielder didn’t know who you were either), and you come up with the rotation falling apart and immediately contribute, all the while doing it completely opposite from how the other young starters are doing it. There’s no 90+ heat like Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw from Ely, but nor are there bouts of wildness. And by “bouts of wildness” I of course mean “any walks, ever,” because that’s now three consecutive games in a row without one. Would you be willing to put money that Billingsley or Kershaw could go three consecutive innings without a walk? Of course not.
Let’s be clear here; Ely is not going to keep this up. He’s not a 0.94 WHIP pitcher over a full season, especially not when he wasn’t close to that in the minors. There’s going to come a day, probably soon, where he doesn’t have his pinpoint control, or batters don’t flail at his looping curveball, and sit on his mid-80s fastball. But that doesn’t mean what he’s doing right now is any less extraordinary, and it’s not too soon to think that the Dodgers might have found themselves a solid starter who can get them deep into games with a chance to win, each time out. And all for the low low price of Juan Pierre! (*snicker*).
*******
Until Blake DeWitt’s second triple of the night added some insurance in the 8th, the margin of victory was Casey Blake’s two-run double in the first inning. I mention this because it was a rare sign of life from the struggling Blake, but also for something far, far more important and nearly as mystical as Ely.
When I dissected Blake’s subpar start the other day, I said there wasn’t much that could be done, except for one thing:
So what can be done? Short of forcing him to grow back his beard, not much, unfortunately.
So you can imagine my joy tonight when I saw the beginnings of exactly that:
THE BEARD IS BACK. I don’t think it’s overstating the situation to say that Blake’s season, and indeed the entire Dodger campaign, depends on whether this was just a few days of stubble or the real deal. Judging by the jawline grooming, to avoid the dreaded Kyle Orton neckbeard? I’d say it’s back, and that means Blake is hitting 10 homers in the next two weeks. Mark it, dude.
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John Ely is Jebediah Springfield? His presence embiggens the rotation.
Comment by EephusBlue— May 18, 2010 #
He’s a perfectly cromulent starter if you ask me.
Comment by GK Larsen— May 18, 2010 #
Although it must be confessed that Ely did not tame the Astros. The club was already tame – he merely shot it.
Comment by veorary— May 18, 2010 #
[...] Memories of Kevin Malone TrueBlueLA DodgerThoughts Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness [...]
Pingback by I’m the light in the middle of every team’s fall « Dinger's— May 18, 2010 #
The Beard made my day! LOL!
Comment by Rob McMillin— May 18, 2010 #
John Ely doesn’t give up extra base hits because in the rare event he allows a batter to hit the ball, they know better than to run any farther than first base.
Comment by Vegas Blue— May 18, 2010 #
John Ely makes a game of it. He sees how many walkless innings he can throw a day, then tries to break that record. He also survives on his mother’s preserves.
Comment by brooklyndoyer— May 18, 2010 #
Funny stuff! But lets all hope Ely can come close to what he’s accomplished for the rest of the season. but hey
“ALL HAIL ELY, THE EFFECIENT”
Comment by bluetrain— May 18, 2010 #
Who would have thought something good could have come from perrie. I guess good job Ned.
Comment by ramo— May 18, 2010 #
Yeah, it wouldn’t surprise me if Ely has already provided more in terms of value than pierre would all year.
Comment by GK Larsen— May 18, 2010 #
And now that I actually look it up, Ely has been worth 1.2 wins compared with Pierre’s .3. And even that may be due to an unusually high UZR. His offensive output is real low, even for him, .277 wOBA.
Comment by GK Larsen— May 18, 2010 #
If GA did need to be replaced, does anyone think Edmonds would be available/affordable/approachable?
Comment by Gary— May 18, 2010 #
Nah. The Brewers need him since Gomez is hurting, and besides, I’d rather see Paul than yet another old OF.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— May 18, 2010 #
Rosenthal says Ethier to DL per Twitter. Who the hell threw the ball that hurt Dre in BP?!?
Comment by EephusBlue— May 18, 2010 #
The ball didn’t hit him, it’s the way he was grabbing the bat, so this type of injury could have happened at any time.
Comment by Throwdeuce— May 18, 2010 #
[...] a bit of Elymania taking hold of many Dodger fans. Thanks to Blue Heaven (a great Dodger fan blog), Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness (a cool Dodger fanbl0g–the title references a classic episode of “The Simpsons”), [...]
Pingback by Dodgers: The E’s Have It | Andy Stadium— May 18, 2010 #
I love how Ely sets the pace of HIS game, as opposed to so many pitchers now who allow the offence to run the show. Ely commands respect on the mound. He works fast, and on several occasions in last nights game, the hitters looked down right uncomfortable, as if they were sat down before Ely even gave them a chance to get acclimated with the at bat. . . . I am all about obscure metaphors so this will be yet another. But it’s as awkward a situation when you go to a restaurant, and the food comes way to quick after you order and you feel as if you are being rushed out of the table. No time for conversation, or to digest the appetiser, cent even finish your first drink. Did ely work at applebees in high school?
Comment by MotoMikey— May 18, 2010 #
[...] that the only way he was going to turn it around was if he was forced to grow the beard back. On Monday, when we weren’t busy fawning over John Ely, Blake doubled in two runs and I posted a picture [...]
Pingback by Never Doubt the Power of the Beard « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— May 19, 2010 #
Funny stuff! Thanks to Blue Heaven for providing links to this post. I took the liberty of sharing some of your post (with links) on http://www.sportscardforum.com (http://www.sportscardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1118459)and also on my blog, http://www.andystadium.com (http://andystadium.com/2010/05/18/dodgers-the-es-have-it/). John Ely also told me to add your blog to my blogroll.
Andy J.
Comment by SingleDaddyof2— May 21, 2010 #
[...] over five innings last night against the Angels. Not me, though. For as much fun as #ElyMania was, from the very beginning we knew that he wouldn’t keep up quite such an exciting pace. Besides, four earned in five [...]
Pingback by Time to Give Matt Kemp a Break « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— June 13, 2010 #
Holy sh*t, John Ely tamed a grizzly bear! Does this mean…he’s the old man in the photo too??
Comment by Jorge— August 13, 2010 #
[...] to start the year, and he’d need to grow back the beard if he was going to succeed. A few days later we marveled that he was indeed growing it back, and it was fun for the next month: between May 15 [...]
Pingback by MSTI’s 2010 in Review: Third Base « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— October 26, 2010 #
[...] out of nowhere as he did at the most critical time in the season, you might say we’d found a new hero: John Ely put up yet another quality start against Houston, going seven innings while allowing just [...]
Pingback by MSTI’s 2010 in Review: Starting Pitchers, Part 2 « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— November 4, 2010 #