Focus, Focus, Focus? ...Ficus!

Well, today was, without a doubt, the toughest loss of the season and, in my opinion – hate to be viewed as a knee jerk reactor as they’re still only one and a half games out of first – but the game that will ultimately decide their fate. The Snakes won today because they needed to. The Dodgers, who should have come into San Fran and swept that miserable club, lost 2 out of 3 and have shown that, in spite of Manny Ramirez, they just don’t have what it takes to be a playoff bound team. I really think we found out what they’re made of today. They have neither the heart nor the focus.

First of all, not fuh nuttin', but how do you let Manny get plunked in the 1st inning and not retaliate AGAINST THE GIANTS??? What kind of Dodger team is this?

Taking a 4-3 lead into the 9th, in spite of Broxton’s implosion last night, Torre made some odd decisions by staying with Kuo instead of Broxton, but let’s face it: Casey Blake, you seem like a great guy and we all make errors, but you blew the damn game. With one out in the 9th, a tailor made double play grounder to you with the potential tying and go ahead runs on base, you stopped one step too early and ya booted it. How can a Major Leaguer boot that ball?? Focus, focus, focus! With the game tied at 4, bases loaded and 2 outs, a weak grounder up the middle goes through Kuo’s legs and Angel Berroa MUST GLIDE ACROSS AND MAKE THAT PLAY. It’s not a difficult one for a Big Leaguer, but he was tentative, even with the game on the line and, so, the winning run scores. Focus, focus, focus! Billingsley is their ace. He needs to be tougher and he needs to pitch guys tougher, not let them off the hook so easily. He did not pitch like an ace today. He pitched like a scared kid. Focus, focus, focus! I know Matt Cain is the Giants’ number 2 guy, but Dodger hitters (except Ramirez) continue to swing at the pitcher’s pitch instead of the hitter’s pitch. You can’t just have 3 guys working counts. You need your whole lineup to work counts. Everyone has to be on the same page. Everyone has to focus! They do not, they WILL NOT all focus at the same time and that is exactly why they can’t get above .500. Unless guys can learn to wait for the hitter’s pitch and stop swinging at pitches barely in or near the strike zone, allowing themselves to fall victim to every slider, sinker and change up the opposing pitcher tosses at them, they’ll continue running in place. Focus, focus, focus!

Last night, same thing. They should’ve scored 8 runs against Correia and the Giants. It’s as if they make some collective decision to take nights off. You can’t really afford to do that any time, but certainly not in an August pennant race. Blake has stopped hitting. It happens. Martin looks like he just came up from Double A. He walked a couple of times today, but his swing looks horrid and mentally, he looks fatigued and fairly clueless. Loney looks just awful. He actually looks bored. James, we’re not keeping you awake, are we? And, in spite of his almost hitting for the cycle today – minus a home run – Matt Kemp is opening up too soon. Why can’t Don Mattingly, someone – ANYONE – point that out to him??? Matt, read my damn blog! When your hips fly open up too soon, you tend to pull off the ball and that takes your power away. That’s much of the reason why you have so few home runs at this point in the season.

Sure, you can blame last night’s loss on Broxton and his terrible inning, but he shouldn’t have even been in that precarious a position. The Giants are GOD AWFUL with virtually no lineup. If you’re going to win anything, you’ve got to come in with a swagger and beat teams like that.

I also feel that, in spite of Berroa’s strong defense, they have to start Ozuna at short until Nomar’s return. A team that can’t score runs can’t afford to have the pitcher hitting 8th and 9th. Berroa swings like a pitcher who’s played most of his career in the American League.

Now they return home and have to face 2 teams who actually WANT to win – Philly and Milwaukee. If Derek Lowe looks anything like he did the other night, the Phillies should rip him apart. C.C. Sabathia will shut the Dodgers down. Meanwhile, the Snakes get to play some bad teams and this is when I feel the DBacks will pull away from the Dodgers. The Snakes have 3 excellent, consistent starting pitchers and they seem to win the games they need to win. The Dodgers have one good pitcher, and 4 decent pitchers who are extremely inconsistent. In this home stand, and in the ensuing road trip, the Phillies and the Brewers should put the Dodgers playoff hopes on ice... unless something changes fast. Where's the desire?

Some questions:

Why, after Andre Ethier hit a home run earlier in the season did Charlie Steiner exclaim, “My Dinner With Andre!”?

Because he’s an idiot. “My Dinner With Andre” was a 1981 film starring Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory, in which they played themselves, engaged in a long dinnertime conversation, made into a dramatic exchange by director, Louis Malle. It’s an art house classic and has nothing whatsoever to do with baseball. It just has a guy named Andre in it. Steiner needs to either shut up or come up with relevant things to say.

Why are the Tampa Bay Rays 4 games in front of Boston and 7 games in front of the Yanks in the AL East?

Good question. Personnel-wise, Boston and New York are both far superior teams. The Rays are where they are because they play solid defense and good, consistent, fundamental baseball. Tip your hat to manager, Joe Maddon, late a coach of the Angels under the great Mike Scioscia. Their ace, Scott Kazmir, has sucked since the All Star break. Jamie Shields, their number 2 guy has pitched well, Sonnanstine, Garza and ex-Dodger Edwin Jackson have also pitched fairly well. No one has been stellar. Their bullpen is more than solid. Their biggest bat has been Rookie of the Year lock, Evan Longoria, who’s hitting in the .270’s but has a good shot at 100 RBI and a decent shot at 30 Hrs. The guys that they were hoping would be superstars – Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton are having decent years, but nothing spectacular. First baseman, Carlos Pena is driving in runs and hitting homers, but he has such a low batting average, they were in the market for Teixeira. Catcher, Dioner Navarro (ex-Dodger) has been a huge surprise, but is not a big time run producer. Yet, they continue to win. As they continue to pull away from their betters, one can only be reminded of the ’88 Dodgers who had no business winning the West, let alone winning the World Series. But the Rays have no Orel Hershiser.

Who’s going to win the World Series?

The Angels.

Why is the word, "Ficus" in the title of my blog?

A ficus is a little tree, I think, and I like them and it sounds like "focus" and it's the word I always exclaim when the Dodgers season is, for all intents and purposes, over. So much for being in clover.

Focus, focus, focus? May be a little too late.