We'd Be Better If We Had Some Pirates

My summer cough is back. Probably nothing but a little lung cancer, emphysema, severe asthma or sarcoidosis. Nothing to be concerned about. Getting in as much blogging as I can before I go into pulmonary edema and go gentle into that good night. Although, my friend, Johnny says I’m actually journaling more than blogging. So journaling it is.

Another night, another 5 hits for the Dodgers last night. BDTSM! (Boy, do they stink, man!) This time it was string bean rookie pitcher Chris Volstad who shut them down. It’s like he came down from Valhalla and mesmerized the Dodgers with his mystical Nordic ways. Tonight, it’ll be Ricky Nolasco (10 –4) who shuts them down with his mystical “I’m a big league pitcher and you guys simply can’t hit big league pitching” ways. Poor Matt Kemp. Not fair having 2 strikes on you before you even step in the batter’s box.

In today’s LA Times, Bill Shaikin writes about former Dodgers GM and former living being, the late Al Campanis and his famous book, “The Dodger Way to Play Baseball.” The book came out in ’54 and it was used to school the team for decades. It emphasized the fundamentals – advancing runners, bunting, stealing, hitting the ball the other way, making the plays in the field, etc. Shaikin believes that when O’Malley sold the team to Fox and the evil Rupert Murdoch in ’98, the book was either lost or stolen by Mike Scioscia and given to the Angels organization. The Dodgers simply don’t use it anymore. So, to those Dodger fans who are still preaching patience, saying this core of youngsters is still only in their second full year in the Majors, some of them in their first, and comparing them to the core of youngsters that the organization brought up in the early ‘70’s and how they ended up becoming an NL powerhouse with that group, I say… stop it. Different time, different type of players, different way of playing ball. I remember those guys. I knew those guys. Kemp, Loney, Martin and Ethier, you are no Garvey, Cey, Lopes, Russell, Buckner and Yeager. Those guys knew how to play the game the day they arrived at the Ravine, (Although I hate to include Martin in that group, because he does know how to play the game) So, cut it out, people. If they’re gonna win anything this year or the next or the next or the next, they’re going to need to make some big moves. That's all there is to it. Or, as my mom would say and still does from time to time, 'period, end of report.'

So, word has it, Matt Holliday hits like crap in Dodger Stadium. Somehow, once he’s in a Dodger uniform I think he’ll hit just fine, thank you, but okay, for the sake of argument, who else can we set our sites on? Well, as Kemp’s and Ethier’s trade values go south in a hurry, not much. Maybe they can at least TRY to acquire the entire Pittsburgh Pirates outfield of Jason Bay, Nate McLouth and Xavier Nady and shortstop Jack Wilson for Kemp, Ethier, LaRoche, Loney or Lowe and single A catcher, Carlos Santana. That would give Pittsburgh two very young, hopeful outfielders and a third baseman, none of whom will be going anywhere for a while, a first baseman who can hit, who they desperately need, and some pitching and a prospect. Meanwhile for the Dodgers, Nady, who hits for power and average, can play first base. They’d have a great young leadoff hitter and power hitter in McLouth. You can move the awful Andruw Jones to right. Put power hitting Jason Bay in left. Wilson at short. You’d have to hope Penny and/or Schmidt came back strong, but you’d still have a fairly young team that could actually score runs. And if the Bucs insist on Kershaw, then don’t give ‘em Loney and Lowe. Anyway, just a wild fantasy. Kind of like the chances of them winning tonight.