The Second Guess Accusation

What a weird day. Some Indian dude came over and wanted to rent out my available room to 3 UCLA students from India. He offered me cash, but it's just for a month, so I'd still have to find someone else by October. Maybe I could get some fringe benefits like improving my I.T. skills or learning how to sit in the lotus position. Maybe I could just acquire some passive resistance or some calm. That's what the Dodgers appeared to have going for them today until the 9th inning.

It was a surprising bounce back from a devastating loss last night. They're back to being tied with Arizona for 1st place with a much needed day off tomorrow. I feel badly for Clayton Kershaw who pitched a gem only to have the biggest win of his young career blown by James Loney and Chan Ho Park. With a 5-1 lead in the 9th, there was no reason to believe the effective Johnson, who had already pitched 2 strong innings of relief, would faler. But after giving up a leadoff single Torre went and got him and brought in Chan Ho Park who was immediately sabotaged by his first baseman who made 2 errors on one play. Suddenly there were runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Chan Ho quickly gave up the single to Durham to make it 5-3, but he got Hardy out and he was ahead in the count 0-2 to Ryan Braun. No brainer right? You got a guy like Braun down in the count 0-2, you waste a pitch. Throw him something low and away, anywhere outside the zone that he could maybe flail at but can't do anything with. Again, it's Little League, man. Basic stuff. But the veteran, Park throws him a hanger right over the middle of the plate and Braun hits it to Glendale. 5-5. Focus. The stupid is coming on strong on this team like a viral epidemic and the only way to remedy it is to start hitting lots of home runs and see what happens. Well... that is exactly what they're doing. Andre Ethier, it appears, is the new Manny. a 2 run dong last night and a double and 2 blasts today, the last one a game winner in the 9th. Like I said a couple of blogs ago, I think we're going to find out who Andre Ethier is and we have to like what we're seeing so far. I could just see Juan Pierre's big sad eyes getting sadder. I like Juan Pierre, but Ethier just won a permanent spot this weekend. Meanwhile Manny stopped being Hee Sop Choi and started being Manny again with a blast and a few RBIs of his own and Kemp hit the first pitch of the game out of the park as well. The new powerhouse Dodgers? Except Casey Blake, who looks like crap. He's just not swinging the bat the same way as he was a week or so ago. I know. It's called a slump, but his swing looks awful and his ABs are clueless. At any rate, they really needed the sweep. I know baseball is a sport where there's almost always a game the next day and you have to have a short memory, but I don't forget the losses. Had the Dodgers not blown those 2 games in San Fran and last night's game to the Crew, they'd have a 10 game winning streak and they'd be in 1st place by themselves, 3 games in front of the Snakes. Sorry, but it's my duty to remind you. Focus.

In spite of his amazing offense of late, Ethier, in my opinion, should have made an attempt on that 10th game winning single by Hardy last night. He started in and just appeared to stop for no real reason, allowing the ball to bounce in front of him and the run to score. Maybe he thought he had a better shot at throwing Durham out at the dish than making a diving catch of the low liner, but I think he had it if he just kept charging in. He may have to slide a bit, but with the game on the line, you gotta try to make that catch. Weird play.

The LA Times, Kurt Streeter e-mailed be back today to say that I made some good points about Kemp's bonehead baserunning play last night, but he still thinks Kemp is going to be a world beater. I mostly agree, but like I said, baseball common sense is hard to teach. You need to learn it young and, apparently, Kemp was busy playing football when he was young. Hey, I played football too, but I knew not to tag up at first base on a ball that might go over the centerfield wall. However, KABC Dodger broadcasters, Charlie "Dr. Brilliant" Steiner and Rick "Homer" Monday disagreed with me. They think Kemp did the right thing based on the most irritating argument in the world, that being, the "second guess accusation." The second guess accusation is when some ass says you're second guessing every time you disagree with a move a player or manager made. In other words, any time you question any decision or play, the second guess accuser says you'd think differently if the result were different. In other words, you're basically being accused of not recognizing or identifying a blunder until after the fact. "What if Cameron HAD caught the ball?' say Monday and his Idiot cohort, Steiner. "'Then you'd be mad at Kemp for NOT tagging up and advancing to second base." Wrong, dumbasses. Centerfield is closer to 2nd base than it is to 1st, 3rd and home. Had Cameron caught the ball and had Kemp tried to advance to 2nd on the play, Cameron would likely have nailed him at 2nd base. Stop making excuses for bad baseball. There are two ways to play the game: The right way and the wrong way. Tagging up from first base on a deep drive to center that goes off the wall is the wrong way. Going halfway and waiting to see what happens is the right way. Rarely can guys successfully tag up from first base and advance to 2nd on a deep fly to center. Had Cameron caught the ball, Kemp would have had no alternative but to retreat back to 1st. I hate the second guess accusation. It's a catchall weapon for the weak of mind and it dismisses the knowledge that some people actually possess. I'm used to nice guy, Rick Monday avoiding controversy. He's no longer the hero who rescued the American flag from a nut and his son between innings in centerfield at the Ravine. But as far as Steiner is concerned... can we maybe trade him and some cash to the Giants for Jon Miller?