Game 4 - Disgust

The Dodgers had this one. Up 5-3 with 2 innings to go & Hong Chi Kuo pitching his tail off. It was there's to lose & lose it they did. Joe Torre's surprising decision to lift Kuo for Corey Wade only to have Wade give up a line drive homer to Dodger arch-foe Shane Victorino, then have him lifted in the 8th for Jonathan "Can't pitch under pressure" Broxton was baffling. To say Broxton folds under pressure is like asking Jack Clark if he can hit a Tom Niedenfeur fast ball. Broxton threw a pitch to Matt Stairs that may still be going. The Dodgers had the best era in the NL this season. The best bullpen & with Manny pne of the best lineups, but it is in an odd configuration to say the least.

Russell Martin should bat 2nd. Andre Ethier or James Loney should bat 4th. Torre should not keep goofing around with the lineup. He started doing that in his last years with the Yankees, batting A-Rod eighth, but leaving the underachieving over-hyped Derek Jeter in the 2 slot. This is a manager who won 4 championships in New York with what were essentially Gene Michaels' and Buck Showalter teams. He has proven he can not manage young players & needs a presence like Manny Ramirez to change rules that he had established in the club house since day one (No music, no long hair, etc.). Joe Torre doesn't have the wherewithal to adapt to the everchanging landscape of baseball.

If the Dodgers are to succeed they will have to get a presence much like the Angels in that of Mike Scioscia. Well the Angels lost in the first round to the Sox and Torre helped the Dodgers win their first series in 20 years, you say. B.S.!!! Manny Ramirez won that series & is the only reason the Dodgers are where they are today. He elevated that team to a playoff contender, without Manny this team would be languishing somewhere near the bottom of the division. If this offseason is to be any kind of success, McCourt better open up that moth ridden wallet of his and pay Manny accordingly. He'll make up the money in revenue in the first year alone. Also, if there's a chance to land Mike Scioscia at any point within the next few years it'd be worth the hurt feelings of Joe Torre to get a manager that isn't sleeping on the rail during the game.

Lineup Game 2 NLCS

A few changes in the lineup today:

Same folks, slightly different arrangement:

Furcal- SS
Martin- C
Ramirez- LF
Ethier- RF
Loney- 1B
Kemp- CF
DeWitt- 2B
Blake- 3B
Billingsley- 1

The Phillies swap in Greg Dobbs for Pedro Feliz at third, but beyond that it's the same.

Rollins- SS
Victorino- CF
Utley- 2B
Howard- 1B
Burrell- LF
Werth- RF
Dobbs- 3B
Ruiz- 2
Myers- 1

LIVE BLOG

Playoff Blogging

Here are the starting line-ups for Game 1 of the NLCS

Dodgers

Rafael Furcal ss

Andre Ethier rf

Manny Ramirez lf

Russell Martin c

James Loney 1b

Matt Kemp cf

Casey Blake 3b

Blake DeWitt 2b

Derek Lowe p

Phillies

Jimmy Rollins ss

Shane Victorino cf

Chase Utley 2b

Ryan Howard 1b

Pat Burrell lf

Jayson Werth rf

Pedro Feliz 3b

Carlos Ruiz c

Cole Hamels p

Bring on the Phils

So the Dodgers finally know that their counterpart will be Philly in the NLCS. Not an easy task to go up against one of the best hitting teams in baseball. The Pitching seems to favor the Dodgers. Hamels is a stud and Moyer has pitched well, but Lowe is a seasoned veteran having been here many times, Billingsley has been the Dodgers best starter all season and Kuroda is good for 5 or 6 decent innings. Myers has pitched well since August, but earlier in the season was sent back dowbn to the minors to regain his form. The Bullpens are pretty equal except for the closer which heavily favors Philly.

Hitting is something of a toss-up as well. While the Phillies did have the 3rd most runs scored, but had the 10th best batting average which is indicative of a team that scores all their runs by the long ball. The Dodgers pitchers gave up the fewest homers in baseball so that could bode well against a team with the likes of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. The Dodgers hitting has seen a resurgence since the acquissition of Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake and the reemergence of Rafael Furcal after spending nearly the entire season on the DL.

What really favors the Dodgers is if they can take at least one in Philly then they play the middle three in LA where they had one of the best records in the NL. I'm picking the Dodgers in 6 to win and face the Red Sox in the World Series.

Game 2

Chad Billingsley is the new ace of this staff. It's undeniable now. This blog has taken an exceedingly homer turn possibly for the worst lately and for that I apologize but really the Dodgers look great. Timely hitting along with Cub miscues have given the Dodgers quite a large series lead, but do NOT think that this series is over. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, the Cubs were the best team in the National League and will not give up easily. Fukudome will not be in the lineup & the Cubs are throwing haren who has pitched well of late. The sweep in possible but don't rule out a return to Chicago.

Game 1 - NLDS

Watching the Dodgers systematically dismantle the Cubs tonight was something that can not be taken lightly. After the Dodgers sputtered along for 4 listless innings, Ryan Dempster gave them the pick me up they needed by loading the bases and serving a fastball to which James Loney promptly banged over the Left/Center field Ivy covered wall for a grand slam. Derek Lowe looked like the same Derek Lowe that helped carry the 2004 Red Sox to a championship, throwing 6 strong ininngs of 2 run ball.

Even Broxton looked good tonight which is surprising since recently he's been hit harder than Sarah Palin on "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" Manny also added a golf shot, as did Russel Martin in the ninth. Let's not get carried away though, while this is the first series lead the Dodgers have had since 1988, it's still only one game. The good thing is now they have the home field advantage. They looked flat the first 41/2 but really started to knock around the beleagured Chicago pitching staff after that.

Carlos Zambrano goes up against Chad Billingsley tomorrow in the late game and it should be great. I will say this, though, Rafael Furcal looked off, like he wasn't ready to play. Perhaps, he shoud be relegated to bench duty with Jeff Kent and let Angel Berroa play SS. Just a thought. Other than that the lineup was great, the pitching was phenomenal, Lowe, Wade, Broxton & Maddux (Mad Dog closed...weird). Let's hope the Dodgers keep this barrage of hitting up & sweep the Cubs out of the playoffs.

Playoffs!!!

Not since the days of Kirk Gibson, Orel Hershiser & Mickey Hatcher has there been so much optimism in L.A.. Today as the D-Backs finished their late season swoon, Dodgertown was abound with excitement, turning tonight's game against the Padres into a mere formality. The possibility of a postseason freeway series is more possible than perhaps ever in history. The likelihood of another Boston vs. L.A. showdown is not out of the realm of hope for the Blue. So ironic is it that the Dodgers get into the playoffs under the tutelage of Joe Torre, who continues his streak of playoff wins is continued, but the Yankees do not get in.

If the Mets do not get in and Milwaukee does, the Dodgers will face the Cubs starting at Wrigley. If it's the Met's who get the Wild card then the Blue open up in Philly & if the Phils end up int he Wild Card then it's the Dodgers at Shea. So many possibilities, but with the Pitching the way it's been and the hitting so on fire I would hate the be any team against the Dodgers this postseason.

Loaiza getting a bum wrap

The treatment of Esteban Loaiza, by Joe Torre, is absolutely disgusting. The Dodgers are mired in a four game losing streak & Loaiza has had very little to do with it. Sure his era is 6.75. However, that is in one start & one relief appearance. This is after Torre says after his last start that Loaiza is his fifth starter and he is going to stick with him. What about Andruw Jones, signed for $18.1 Million a year to be hitting .114 w/ 1 RBI in 10 games? What about Brad Penny who gave up four runs in one inning last night? Do we replace them right away?

The Dodgers are off to their worst start in 10 seasons, but take into account that they have a guy at third base who has never played above Double A. An outfield consisting of a hapless Jones, a right fielder in Matt Kemp who makes a sport out of even the simplest of fly balls & Juan Pierre who couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. I lobbied for the Dodgers all off-season to get Joe Crede. It would not have been that expensive and his track record shows he is worth the investment. This is indicative of Dodger management gong back to the Pierre signing & the Jason Schmidt signing. I was one of the people that heralded the Andruw Jones signing as a step in the right direction and it still might be, but the truth is that Ned Colletti & Frank McCheap have turned one of the storied franchises in baseball into a club in constant flux, in rebuilding mode.

Juan Pierre should never have been signed, but since hindsight is 20/20 what should have been done is moving him while picking up some of the tab. Matt Kemp will get his hitting on track, but his defense is abysmal & would be better suited for an American League team where he can hit 35-40 HRS while DHing. Andre Ethier is turning out to be a hell of a player and outperforming many people's expectations. The Dodgers will be there at the end of the season, probably in contention for a wild card, but unless some changes are made in the hierarchy (this means you Colletti) then this will be a vicious cycle of being on the cusp and inevitable failure.

Mattingly Quits

This from the AP:

Don Mattingly stepped aside as the Dodgers' hitting coach on Tuesday and was replaced by Mike Easler. Mattingly followed Joe Torre from New York to Los Angeles and was supposed to eventually replace Torre as the Dodgers' manager. However, he said he needed to go home for family reasons. He will remain in the organization as a special advisor and coach. "I'm very grateful that the Dodgers have allowed me to take care of these family matters and I hope that everyone can respect our privacy during this time," Mattingly said in press release. "I truly appreciate the support of all Dodger fans since joining the organization and I look forward to helping the team win in 2008 and beyond."


I assume he left to mourn the death of Heath Ledger...but that's just speculation.

Arbitration

Listed below are the players who have filed for arbitration and have yet to sign with their teams. Arbitration hearings will be held from Feb. 1-20, at which time a panel will rule in the player's favor or the club's favor, choosing one figure or the other. Players and teams are free to continue negotiating and reach a contract agreement until a ruling is made.

Player	Club	Club No.	Player No.
Atkins, Garrett	COL	4,125,000	4,650,000
Bard, Josh	SD	1,850,000	2,500,000
Bedard, Erik	BAL	6,000,000	8,000,000
Beimel, Joe	LA	1,700,000	2,150,000
Belisle, Matt	CIN	1,000,000	1,650,000
Betancourt, Rafael	CLE	1,750,000	2,500,000
Blake, Casey	CLE	5,400,000	6,900,000
Borkowski, Dave	HOU	750,000	1,100,000
Bruney, Brian	NYY	640,000	845,000
Bruntlett, Eric	PHI	550,000	800,000
Bush, David	MIL	2,250,000	3,000,000
Cabrera, Daniel	BAL	2,600,000	3,300,000
Cano, Robinson	NYY	3,200,000	4,550,000
Chavez, Endy	NY	1,725,000	2,075,000
Chulk, Vinnie	SF	725,000	975,000
Church, Ryan	NY	1,750,000	2,450,000
Correia, Kevin	SF	850,000	1,300,000
Cuddyer, Michael	MIN	4,700,000	6,200,000
Feliciano, Pedro	NY	880,000	1,200,000
Fuentes, Brian	COL	5,050,000	6,500,000
Gaudin, Chad	OAK	1,500,000	2,050,000
German, Esteban	KC	837,500	1,200,000
Greene, Khalil	SD	4,000,000	4,900,000
Greinke, Zack	KC	1,150,000	1,800,000
Guerrier, Matthew	MIN	750,000	1,150,000
Hardy, J.J.	MIL	2,400,000	3,050,000
Hawpe, Bradley	COL	3,575,000	4,350,000
Howard, Ryan	PHI	7,000,000	10,000,000
Lopez, Felipe	WSH	4,900,000	5,200,000
Loretta, Mark	HOU	2,750,000	4,900,000
Molina, Yadier	STL	1,850,000	2,750,000
Perez, Oliver	NY	4,725,000	6,500,000
Phillips, Brandon	CIN	2,700,000	4,200,000
Proctor, Scott	LA	930,000	1,300,000
Rauch, Jon	WSH	1,100,000	1,400,000
Rios, Alexis	TOR	4,535,000	5,650,000
Rodriguez, Francisco	LAA	10,000,000	12,500,000
Sanchez, Freddy	PIT	4,100,000	4,900,000
Snyder, Kyle	BOS	725,000	1,025,000
Soriano, Rafael	ATL	2,400,000	3,400,000
Sosa, Jorge	NY	1,700,000	2,750,000
Teahen, Mark	KC	1,900,000	2,900,000
Valverde, Jose	HOU	4,700,000	6,200,000
Wang, Chien-Ming	NYY	4,000,000	4,600,000
Wellemeyer, Todd	STL	875,000	1,325,000
Wuertz, Michael	CHI	750,000	975,000
Youkilis, Kevin	BOS	2,525,000	3,700,000

Weekly Roundup

• Jason Repko came to terms on a one year contract avoiding arbitration. The contract is worth $487,500.
• Free agent Reggie Sanders, who is scheduled to audition for a "Baseball Tonight" gig next week, said he'll decide on his future in baseball by the end of the month. Sanders said his agent, Mike Powers, has talked to the Padres and Dodgers about a reserve job. The 40-year-old Sanders is expected to play on the West Coast if he chooses to continue his career.
• Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said Andy LaRoche and Nomar Garciaparra would begin spring training on even terms in a competition for the starting job at third base.
  "I think Andy and Nomar are two good options at third base," Colletti said. "We're going to let them figure it out. I think it's unfair to either player to have a preconceived notion as to how it's going to turn out. I think it's a situation that ought to be debated on the field."
• Jason Schmidt has been throwing off flat ground several times per week and has a chance to be ready to begin the season in the rotation. Schmidt is returning from surgery to repair a torn labrum. "If he continues to progress, there's a great chance he'll be ready to go," GM Ned Colletti said. "We've had nothing to discourage us. He's been throwing for a while now. He'll continue to build his arm strength." Schmidt will be the Dodgers' fifth starter if healthy, relegating Esteban Loaiza to the bullpen or the scrap heap.
• Dodgers signed RHP Yhency Brazoban to a one-year, $540,000 contract.

Johnny Podres Passes

From L.A. Times writer Dylan Hernandez:

Buzzie Bavasi said that he had two great competitors in his time as the Dodgers' general manager.

One was Jackie Robinson. The other was Johnny Podres.

Podres, the left-hander who pitched the Brooklyn Dodgers to their first World Series championship in 1955, died Sunday at a hospital in Glens Falls, N.Y., of complications from a leg infection. The 75-year-old had also had heart and kidney problems in recent years.

"I had a lot of great pitchers with the Dodgers -- Don Drysdale, Don Sutton, and one of the best in the business, Sandy Koufax," Bavasi said. "But when we needed to win a ballgame, who do you think we went to? Johnny Podres."

That was the case in the seventh and deciding game of the 1955 World Series. Standing in the way of the Dodgers' first championship were the New York Yankees, who had beaten them in the Fall Classic in 1941, '47, '49, '52 and '53.

Pitcher Don Newcombe said that in a pre-game meeting in the Dodgers clubhouse before Game 7 of the 1955 Series, shortstop Pee Wee Reese asked the team, "Can we beat the Yankees?"

Newcombe recalled the then-23-year-old Podres standing up and saying, "Guys, get me one run and I guarantee we'll be champions."

Podres threw an eight-hitter in a 2-0 Dodgers victory and was named the first-ever World Series most valuable player. The championship was the only one the Dodgers would win in Brooklyn.

"I was never superstitious, but that game was so tense until the end that I didn't want to move on the bench, I didn't want to breathe," pitcher Carl Erskine recalled. But Podres, Erskine said, wasn't scared.

Podres moved with the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958 and was part of their World Series championship teams in 1959 and '63. He was traded to the Detroit Tigers in 1966 and retired at the end of the 1969 season, which he spent with the San Diego Padres.

He retired a three-time All-Star with a career record of 148-116 and an earned-run average of 3.68. His reputation as a big-game pitcher was well-deserved -- teammate and close friend Don Zimmer said that Reese used to call him "Mr. Clutch" -- as he was 4-1 with a 2.11 ERA in six World Series games.

Podres' biggest weapon was a straight change-up that was taught to him and Erskine by former Dodgers executive Branch Rickey. Newcombe and Maury Wills, another Dodgers teammate, said the change-up was the best they'd ever seen.

"No Dodger pitcher has ever used that particular kind of grip since," Erskine said. "You let the ball recess back so that you use your middle knuckles like the ends of your fingers. The wrist had to collapse behind the ball. It had the same rotation as a four-seam fastball, so it was difficult to pick up. But it was also difficult to get over the plate."

Not for Podres and Erskine. Podres used the pitch to get Elston Howard to ground out to Reese for the final out of the 1955 World Series.

Later, as a coach with the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins, Podres tried to teach the pitch to a new generation of hurlers.

Zimmer was the manager of the Red Sox in 1980 when Podres was the pitching coach.

Zimmer recalled seeing Podres teaching a young pitcher how to throw a change-up. When the pupil threw one correctly, Zimmer said, Podres jumped and exclaimed, "That's it! Now you've got it!"

"I got excited watching him be excited," Zimmer said.

Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, whom Podres worked with in Philadelphia, posted a message on his blog Monday that read: "Outside of the Lord, my wife and my father there was no person who impacted my life more than Johnny Podres. . . . We spoke often about 'big games' and he instilled this belief in me, even before I had a chance to pitch in a truly big game, that when the time came I'd answer the bell. The postseason success I've been blessed to enjoy I've always known to be a direct result of who and what he was."

Said Zimmer: "I never heard of anybody in a baseball uniform who didn't like Johnny Podres."

Which is partly why the service for Podres on Wednesday will be open to the public. It will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. at Singleton Healy Funeral Home in Queensbury, N.Y.

"It's the way he would've wanted it," said his son, John Jr. "He liked people."

In addition to his son, survivors include his wife of 41 years, Joan, and another son, Joseph.

Congress vs. Baseball

For those of you who live in a bubble or in Salt Lake City, Congress has decided to postpone their Jan. 16 hearing on Steroids & Performance Enhancing Drugs to Feb. 13 (Thank God it wasn't on Valentine's Day, then all the papers would run with the headline --- St. Valentine's Day Massacre). The most common thing I hear coming from people's mouths is: doesn't Congress have better things to do? There's a war. The economy sucks. Gas prices are high.
This is all true. I don't dispute the fact that we are in a time of crisis in this country where the ups and downs of society is decidedly on the down side, but indulge me while I speak of why Congress MUST intercede in this cheating that has enveloped this great sport of ours.

Walt Whitman once wrote,

I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game. It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.

The AMERICAN game. Baseball is more than the National Pastime, it is part of our enduring legacy as a country. It has created legends of men who can hit that little sphere with a success rate of merely 30%. Baseball, like life, is about failure. In life more often than not you are going to not succeed or get what you want. It is just the law of averages & baseball is as clear a metaphor of this than any other sport or game out there. As Paul Gallico said,"No game in the world is as tidy and dramatically neat as baseball, with cause and effect, crime and punishment, motive and result, so cleanly defined."

Baseball is not just a game it's not just a sport, it is us. Baseball is an everyman game. Who hasn't gone out during the summer and hit the ball with their friends? Hell, I used to go the park down the street and pretend I was Steve Garvey or Ted Williams or Babe Ruth. Who hasn't gone outside and just played catch with their father? My father and I had an acrimonious relationship, at best, but when we threw that ball 60 feet 6 inches we were nothing but best friends. Best friends who carried on the tradition that has endured between fathers and sons since before the Civil War.

Now, people have a problem with Congress trying to stop cheaters? Baseball is a game who's records are most cherished, most hallowed. When someone says 714, what pops into your head? Babe Ruth. 755? Hank Aaron. 56 game hit streak? DiMaggio (which is in my spell check, proving my point). 61 homers in a season? Roger Maris. These are records that in the pantheon of baseball lore have taken on mythic status. Now, players, who get paid ungodly sums of money to play something you or I would undoubtedly do for nothing, have treated those records as if they were worthless.

Congress works as a conduit for the American people. They were elected by the people for the people to serve our interests. When we, as Americans, pay our hard earned money to go to a baseball game (something that costs upwards of $100 now) we want to be assured that the players are doing their best to keep the legacy of the game pure. The casual fan may not care who uses what in their bodies, but nor will that fan care about any of the traditions and sanctity of the game. They will not recognize the sheer beauty in a 6-4-3 double play. They won't see the excitement in a 1-0 game where both pitchers go the distance. Real fans, the ones who have stuck by baseball through Collusion, strikes & now steroids know that it has to stop.

Congress is doing the right thing in preserving this great game, pastime, enduring legacy of ours. If we can't count on the hierarchy of baseball to police it's own employees then we must trust that the people we elect to carry out what we, as mere bystanders, can not carry out, do what's best for the country. Those who mock Congress for taking this step think of the image that a young boy has of players like Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa as cheaters & realizing that the only way he can make it to the big leagues is if he cheats as well. I leave you with my favorite quote from one of my favorite movies, Field of Dreams (which if baseball wasn't so beautiful why does this movie still make me cry?):

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and could be again.

Weekly Roundup

There hasn't been much baseball news this week. I'm working on getting those lineups to you by Sunday, but here are a few tidbits.

• Jeff Kent wants blood testing in baseball, including the playoffs & his mustache.
  
• Luis Gonzales is close to signing with the Marlins. A guy that rips young players all season is gonna go to a team with the largest triple A payroll in baseball? Way to end a career.
  
• The Brewers want Eric Gagne to make a statement about using 'Roids.
  
• Dodgers signed LHP Matt Riley, RHP Alfredo Simon and OF George Lombard to minor league contracts and invited them to spring training.
• First mini camp was held yesterday & quite a few players showed up.
  
• And it's one month and 3 days until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in Florida. Valentine's Day!!! Love will be in the air with pitchers and catchers (insert joke here).