Don't Go Crazy...

I would've much preferred the Lakers not make it to the Finals than humiliating themselves and the city of LA in the manner in which they did. My guess is I'm not alone in feeling this way. Game 4 was an embarrassment. Game 6 was a joke. They played like a bunch of pussies who didn't belong in the NBA let alone the Finals. All series long they were tossed around the paint like rag dolls. The Celtics exploited tham as a team made of of Gilligans and Barney Fifes. Somebody lift a damn weight! Kobe can't do it all, but his leadership skills clearly pale in comparison to those of Jordan. Please. Hopefully these Finals will finally put a halt to the "who's better between the two?" ridiculousness. The answer is clear. The thing that hurt the most wasn't the loss, but the fact they played with no heart or courage whatsoever. What is it about LA pro teams that makes them play with such little passion and desire? Is it the big market mentality in which high priced veterans come to LA to reap their often largest monetary reward and just say, "fuck it. If we win, we win, if we lose, we lose, I still get paid?" The Angels are a driven, fairly passionate club led by the brilliant Mike Scioscia, but let's face it, they're not really an LA team. At least not anymore. In spite of Tommy's presence, the Dodgers haven't played with heart and desire since 1992, when their infield included Lenny Harris and the late Mike Sharperson. The Kings... wait a minute, I don't give a crap about them. And look at our pro football teams. They play with so little passion, it feels as if they're not even here anymore. So, what is it? The fans lack of chutzpah and knowledge? The ownerships' real agendas. We'll be examining this LA phnomenon later.

Okay, Dodger fans, don't go crazy. A 3 game winning streak is great, but consider the source. If the Cinicinnati Reds aren't around, we're 10 games below .500. Wich is strange, actually, because I really thought the Reds would compete this year. I expected much more from Harang and Arroyo and I heard great things about Volquez (who's thus far lived up to them) and Johnny Cueto. I think Brandon Phillips numbers will improve. He's one of the best in the game. Jay Bruce and Joey Votto are future stars, little known Jeff Keppinger was hitting a ton before he got hurt, Encarniacion is a solid bat at 3rd, and of course, there' Junior. Not what he used to be, but still a tough bat in the middle of the order. Turns out, they suck. Their pitching outside of Volquez is god awful and Adam Dunn continues to be lousy baseball player. So, the weak hitting Dodgers can come into Cincy whenever they please and take advantage of them. Great. In spite of Loney's Kemp's 2 day Renaissance, and Ethier's improved swing, I still don't see things turning around that quickly. In fact, I fear the other struggling Ohio team will probably get well in the Ravine. I don't think the Blue will be able to hit CC (if he pitches) and a pitcher like Cliff Lee normally shuts them down. They usually need to see a good pitcher 11 times before they could go up to the plate without their jaws dropped to the ground and their tales between their legs.

Yes, these are growing pains and their nucleus is young, but how about providing better veterans? Hence, as promised, my critique on Ned Colletti's performance based on moves he's made and has failed to make: Lousy, good, (Furcal) lousy, lousy, unbelievably lousy, okay, really lousy, and horrific. Purely and simply, the man has no real head for talent nor has he the slightest clue when a man's career is coming to a close. How he could've given "Nomore" another 2 year deal is beyond my comprehension. Now he and Torre are going to have this delicate porcelain figurine play shortstop? I say he breaks before the 7th inning of his first game back. I mean, he just breaks. In half or in peices or something. Juan Pierre was a questionable signing, though I do like him. How about signing Bill Mueller? How many games did he play in a Dodger uniform? Five? Does Colletti know how to ask someone how he feels? Does he talk to doctors? Ever? 28 of the 30 GMs seemed to realize Jason Schmidt's career as an effective hard thrower was over. Colletti couldn't see the handwriting on the wall. They needed an impact player. (see my last blog for my definition) Ya got two great centerfielders who are available and LESS EXPENSIVE in Torii Hunter and Aaron Rowand. Their careers are on their way up, they play their asses off, they're great in the clubhouse. And then ya got fat, jolly Andruw Jones coming off a year in which he drove in less than 100 runs while hitting .222. That's .222. And on top of that, he wants to get even fatter, does so in the off season, and plays like he just don't care. This is because he clearly doesn't. So who does Colletti sign to the richest 2 year deal in Dodger history? The Sumo from Curacao.

Last year, James Loney was on fire in the spring. He hit over .400. What does a guy have to do to make the freakin' team?? He needed to be the everyday first baseman from Day 1. Nomore needed to be moved to 3rd during spring training. What does Colletti do? He sends Loney down and makes him spend the first half of the season IN VEGAS and insists on playing Nomore at 1st base! It wasn't until this blogger called Dodger Talk that someone passed along my message and told Colletti what the obvious and right thing to do was. (as much as we all loved Wilson Betemit) When pitching was available in the offseaon, Colletti went to the discount aisle out and got Hiroki Mediocre-oda. He's not bad, but he ain't great either. He did this because in order to get a Johann Santana or a Dan Haren, he'd have to give up a bunch of his young talent. People were asking for Kemp, Billingsley, Kershaw, Loney, etc. Some of these guys I would agree with Colletti on not parting with, but remember what I said about impact players. They need one. Desperately. One might argue Brad Penny was an impact player because of his impressive first halves over the last two season. But he stunk up the league so badly in the second halves, he nullified his value. So, in order to get something of value, you must GIVE something. I love Kemp, Pierre, Loney, Ethier, Dewitt, Furcal and Martin. But if all of them remain starters, where is the POWER going to come from? Who will drive in the 100 runs needed to win a pennant? Who will hit the 25 homers? Maybe Kemp? We'll see. So far, Kemp, Loney, Ethier and Martin are each averaging about 2 home runs a month. Will this improve? Maybe. Who knows? Point I'm making is they have to part with some youth in order to get impact players who actually can help them win.
Look, everyone, I hope the Dodgers win more than anyone, but, in spite of ESPN's John Kruk's rosey prognostiocation, unless they infuse some pop and discipline into that lineup and they can have at least three starting arms all hot at the same time, they will go nowhere again this year. People, even if they somehow win the West, which is possibile given it's sad state, they have NO CHANCE of advancing to a World Series. Is Frank McCourt happy with this? He's just fine with it. More on McCourt's true agenda in my next posting.

You're probably saying to yourselves, "this ass thinks he could do a better job than Colletti." The answer to that is simply, yes I can. Go Obama.