Smoke And Mirrors

As my nose slowly heals, as my bank account goes deeper into the red from network payment negligence, as my chest pains increase, as my life changes without immediately recognizable events, happenings or occurrences, the Dodgers remain a constant. Mediocrity to excellence is a difficult trick to pull off this time of year, and, with some sleight of hand, many of us, save the shrewd among us, were easily fooled. I wish I could say I was among that number – the shrewd, I mean, because I hate being wrong. But the Dodgers made a fool out of me, once again manipulating my hope, exploiting my shocking naivete, and turning it into abject stupidity. I am indeed ashamed for not recognizing that nothing has changed.

The McCourts are business peops and the business of the soon-to-be 3rd place Dodgers is to sell a myth. Has been for some time. Baseball America and many other publications named the Dodgers’ farm system the number one in the Majors a few years back. Worst thing that could’ve happened from the fans’ perspective. They liked the Billingsleys, the Martins, the Kemps, the Ethiers (Ethier was acquired from the Oakland organization in the Milton Bradley trade) the La Roches, the Broxtons and the Loneys. The scouts and analysts all believed that these guys would continue to develop both physically and mentally. That the hitters would begin to gain more pop, that the pitchers would emerge as fireballing aces. Why? Why this group of players? I’m not sure. Yes, the above mentioned players are all decent ballplayers, some better than others, and, their entire careers still in front of them, many still developing. But none of them will be superstars. None of them will become the player the scouts, analysts and Dodgers brass predicted.

Well… Billingsley has a shot, I guess. He’s actually improving more and more each year. He’s their ace now and I see no reason why he won’t continue to improve.

Kemp is a long shot. He has all the tools but he doesn’t hit for nearly enough power yet. That can still happen with his build, but not with his swing. The main problem is he’s a stupid player with poor instincts both at the plate and on the base paths and baseball intelligence, as I’ve said in the past, is hard to acquire. He needs to become more selective at the plate for longer than just a game or two. He also needs to hustle more than just part of the time or when he sees fit. He may become a solid player along the lines of a Brian Jordan, the ex Brave/Cardinal/Dodger and Atlanta Falcon safety. Or was he a cornerback? Maybe an All Star appearance or two. Reputation for having a strong arm. Couple of years with 25 or more home runs. Not the kind of impact player that leads teams to pennants. He’s no Manny in the making.

Ethier is a good, solid ballplayer. I like him. But compare him to Ryan Braun. No contest. Compare him to Nate McClouth for Pittsburgh, Carlos Quentin for the White Sox or Denard Span for Minnesota. No contest. He’s fine. He’ll never be a Jim Edmunds or a Lance Berkman. He’ll never have a consistent impact. Just won’t put up the numbers. Also swings at a lot of bad pitches and is very temperamental. Can he improve? Sure. But I doubt he'll be a star.

Russell Martin is okay. He’s fast for a catcher so that’s an added extra. He won’t hit for the power they expected. He’s not the defensive force they envisioned. He’s not the smart hitter they hoped he’d become. Can he still achieve these goals? Yeah, sure, he’s young. But… I doubt it. I think he’ll just be a solid offensive catcher with decent to mediocre defensive skills. His All Star appearance this year was based solely on his batting average at the time. He’s certainly no Geovanny Soto or Brian McCann or Joe Mauer... or Mike Piazza.

James Loney is a solid singles hitter. Slow. Not a lot of power. They say he’s going to hit the weights in the off season to try to hit more homers. He’s actually gotten worse since last year. Opposing pitchers have pretty much figured him out and, even though he’s still around .300 and leads the team with 72 RBIs (which still translates to well under 100 for the year. Not great for a middle of the lineup 1st baseman.) But he can’t hit lefties worth crap and he hits into an inordinate number of double plays. He has more strike outs with less pop. And it doesn’t look like he’s having an ounce of fun out there. In fact, he seems downright sullen. Why? He gets to play baseball for a living. I don’t like him as much as I did last year.

Jonathan Broxton stinks. He has the look, but not the mentality to be a closer and who knows when he’s going to develop that? 2012? He has good stuff but his command is extremely inconsistent. His fastball is blazing but he has trouble getting ahead of hitters. Sure he’s young, but how many times have you heard how good someone’s going to be and then, after a couple two or three years, you forget he ever existed?

Andy La Roche is gone. Good riddance. He’s currently hitting .149 in Pittsburgh.

Clayton Kershaw shows promise but he's extremely young and has a long way to go. Wouldn't be fair to judge him yet.

Joe Torre? He's a terrible manager for this team. He refuses to get on guys' butts and insist they get after it. Being the nice guy seems to be more imprtant to him than winning and young players need discipline.

So, these are the stuff our dreams are made on. Brought to you by the corporation that is Frank McCourt’s Los Angeles Dodgers in order to sell tickets and merchandise. “This is a return to the great Dodger tradition of home grown talent for the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.” “Watch as our amazing young players lead the Dodgers back to greatness” and hooey like that. The closest we’ve been to greatness this year is getting a dreadlocked Hall of Famer for the last two months of the season who’s probably gonna bolt as soon as the last pitch of the season is converted into an out. It’s a mediocre team. MicCourt has no real intention of making them a perennial winner. He's too cheap and manipulative. So, what do we have? I mean, finally, as August turns into September, what do we really have? We have a team that's better than the Dads this year, slightly better then San Fran, not as good as Colorado or the Dbacks. A team that's not quite as good as Houston or Atlanta. Much worse than the Cubs, Brewers, Cards, Phils, Marlins, and Mets. A nowhere team with nowhere talent and little hope for the future. But the McCourts will sell it because they’re rich business types and they have to. And we’ll buy it because Dodger fans refuse to see things the way they really are.

As I write this, Matt Kemp has just hit his 16th homer of the season off of Dan Haren and the Snakes - or should I say “Los D’backs” since that’s what’s on the front of their jerseys tonight. Must be Mexican Awareness night or something – and the Dodgers have taken a 5-1 lead. Well, as much as you try, you can’t lose every day. But give ‘em time. There are still a few innings left.