Knows Job

Have you ever broken your nose? It’s not the worst injury you can incur, but if your septum is collapsed it can be mighty uncomfortable. I watched the Dodgers’ inspiring victory last night feeling and sounding as if I had a clothes pin affixed to my nose. By the time this thing is taken care of, it’ll cost thousands of dollars which I don’t have. Any nose docs out there do any pro bono work?

Well, a guy who’s nose will always look worse than mine, no matter how broken it is, came through for us in the 9th last night. Nomar reached down to pick up Condrey’s sinker/slider and knocked it into the Dodger bullpen for their 3rd straight victory against the East leading Phillies. Nomar had looked like crap in each of his at bats for the two games prior to his heroic blast last night, but he’s still an improvement over Angel Cabrerra. Hopefully he gets his timing back and he can stay healthy for another week or two. I realize that's a lot to ask.

Just how good is Andre Ethier? We may be on our way to finding out.

Welcome back to first place. The Snakes finally lose one to the Rockies and we’re in a dead heat again. Now we have to continue to improve. Matt Kemp and Casey Blake were infuriating to watch at the plate. Kemp gets 3 hits in each of his last 3 games and, once again, forgets who he is, loses that focus, and falls apart to mediocre Philly pitching. He needs to remember that as long as he’s hitting in the lead off position, he needs to take a lead off man’s approach. GET ON BASE. With two on and nobody out in the 8th, after Chad Durbin walked Pierre on 4 pitches and threw the first pitch to Kemp way out of the zone, you’d think Kemp (or just about any Little Leaguer) would be smart enough to take the next pitch, but no. He swings at a shoulder high pitch and loops out weakly to center. Jeff Kent, who’s been on fire since he started seeing all those fastballs hitting in front of The Manny, saved the day with a double to left, scoring Martin and Pierre. No thanks to Matt Kemp. For the Dodgers to continue winning, Kemp must stay focused. And what of mighty Casey? He stunk in more ways than I could begin to articulate. How can anybody be 1 for 19 against Joe Blanton? He appears to be lunging up there and I’ve never seen a more indecisive hitter. He constantly checks his swing. His 2 RBIs the night before were weak fly balls and poor at bats. We need the Casey Blake we initially acquired from Cleveland in order to keep this thing going. Loney is also an on and off guy of late, but let’s face it, with Manny in there and a resurgent Russell Martin, the lineup is potentially very scary to opposing arms.

Speaking of arms, how bad is Brad Penny? Is he done? That remains to be seen. He’s coming back after a long stint on the DL and he did strike out 4 guys in his 3 awful innings with his fastball back up into the 90’s, but boy did he suck! Who gives up 3 2-run homers in 2 innings who’s not being managed by Davey Johnson? If Penny doesn’t get his act together, the Dodgers may have to pull the trigger on that Greg Maddux deal. Maybe they should just do it anyway. Can’t hurt to have the veteran. Jason Johnson and Chan Ho did an amazing job, helping to stifle the Phils for the remainder of the contest. Question? In the 6th inning, down by 2 runs, with Russell Martin on 2nd and 2 outs, why did Torre let Jason Johnson hit for himself? Why? What a dumb move. Johnson came out in the 7th and got the first two batters, but then got into trouble and had to be removed anyway.

Look, friends, it’s a rare 4 night game series against Philly and they have to sweep. They’re running on almost all cylinders now and three out of four is not good enough in this blogger’s opinion. I can’t say enough how important it is to establish confidence and dominance and to remain focused. EVERYONE MUST KNOW HIS JOB. They must continue to be disciplined. They can actually win this thing. It’s kind of exciting. And, when the red hot Brewers come into town tomorrow night, (8 wins in a rowat the time of this posting) the Dodgers will not have to face their two aces, Sabathia, who won last night, and Sheets, who pitches today. If the Blue can keep the momentum going, they have a shot at taking the series from the playoff bound Brew Crew and starting to creep away from the Snakes. Wow.

Have I mentioned how great Manny Ramirez is?

Thanks to the USA baseball team for a hard fought win over the Dutch. Whew! Hopefully, we can make it past the first round in the American pastime, in the GAME WE INVENTED.