Think Stupid?

How many drinks will Matt Kemp's growing pains drive me to? Last night it was a couple of Jacks on the rocks. In today's Times, Kurt Streeter writes of Matt Kemp's impending greatness and his being way ahead of schedule, but what he fails to mention is that baseball smarts are not something that develop that easily. How in the name of God can you be on first base, have blazing speed, be down by a run in the 10th inning and the the next guy up (Ethier) hits one off the top of the wall and NOT ONLY DO YOU NOT SCORE, YOU DON'T EVEN ADVANCE PAST SECOND BASE?????????????????????????!!!!!!??????????????!!?????

Look, talented young idiot, it's Little League. You go HALF WAY. You don't RUN BACK TO THE BAG AND TAG UP!!! Sure, the Brewers outfielders had been making spectacular catches all game long, but chances are, if Cameron catches that ball, and it certainly did look like he had a shot at it -not a good shot, but a shot - you're not going to be able to tag up and advance to 2nd anyway. It's Little League, man! You go half way, see what happens and if he doesn't catch it, with your speed, you're home with the tying run. They end up losing because with two outs and runners on 1st and 2nd, Manny being human struck out again. Wonder how Ethier felt? You hit a ball that misses being a dong by inches, it hits the top of the wall and bounces away and you get A SINGLE! I estimate that in Kemp's first two full years in the Bigs, he's blown at least 10 games with his horrible baserunning. "But, look at all the games he's won with his speed," you say? He's supposed to do be able to run the bases, jerk. He's a Major Leaguer. He's not supposed to kill the team's chances by being incredilbly stupid time and time again. I think Kemp could be a great, great ballplayer and that's what makes this even more frustrating.

Speaking of incredibly stupid and frustrating, Torre's handling of the lineup and pitching staff is beginning to bug me. The game had an ominous feel throughout because Lowe kept allowing the leadoff guy on base with every inning. But, by the top of the 8th, he was still effective and had thrown less than 100 pitches with the right handed menace, Braun leading off. Look, Joe, I know Hong Chi Kuo is your setup guy, but HE'S A FREAKING LEFTY! Why not leave Lowe in to at least pitch to Braun??? Not only that, but he's followed by Ray Durham who's average against lefties is almost a hundred points higher than his average against righties. Kuo ends up tanking, loses the lead and then, to make matters worse, Joe, you screw up your substitution at shorstop. You bring in Berroa to replace Nomar because Nomar made the last out in the 7th, so you have Kuo hitting in Nomar's spot and Berroa hitting in the pitcher's spot. Why not plan on pinch hitting for Kuo in the 8th with Pierre or Sweeney and have Berroa hit in Nomar's spot so you don't waste him? Why take Nomar out in that tight a game anyway? You're going to need his bat. Ned Yost totally outmanaged Joe Torre last night. He had his whole bench available in the 10th. Torre had Danny Ardoin.

Look, people, the Snakes won big again last night. It's become evident that they're just NOT going to lose important games and the Dodgers ARE going to lose important games. First of all, they made the Brewers' 5th starter, Dave Bush, look like Walter Johnson. But what hurts even more is that they're going to lose them by not taking advantage of gifts like Hardy's error and they're going to waste other opportunities like Lowe's strong outing and they're going to lose by playing plain old dumb baseball. "Casey" & point: Casey Blake, the hero of Friday night's game, came to bat in a crucial situation, stood there and watched 3 clear strikes go right by him and didn't even know what the count was. Later, in the 9th, with the winning run 90 feet away, Blake had another putrid at bat, taking a weak swing on a questionable pitch and blooping out to short right field. Jonathan Broxton gets 2 quick outs with Kendall and Braun (whom he K's) and then he gives up a 5 pitch walk to Durham. Forgets to hold him on and Durham becomes the winning run. Pablo Ozuna had an opportunity to do something in the 10th and he let a fastball right down the middle go by with his bat on his shoulder and had the audacity to question the call. Then Kemp singles and does his Special Ed number on Ethier's drive off the wall.

I say they let down and lose again today. Let's see how much heart this team has. They're back to being one game out.

FOCUS!