I Hear Little Footsteps... Furcal To The Rescue?

As the country tumbles wildly into a depression and I begin shopping for overalls and newsboy caps and other Depression appropriate apparel, the Dodgers magic number has been whittled (and whittling on my porch is what I’ll be doing a lot of – a very Depressionesque activity) down to 3. Yes, any combination of Dodger wins and Snake losses that equal 3 and the Dodgers stampede into the post season.

In spite of their huge 10-1 vic over the deadbeat Dads last night, I’m still not impressed. They got a lot of help from the Cards last night and, had Jake Peavy’s wifey not been in labor or something, he would’ve shut the Blue down as he does so often. No extra base hits except one double from Manny and a couple of dongs from DeWitt and Nomar. Ethier’s lack of pop is beginning to worry me and I still think Pierre should be playing over Kemp at this point. Don’t get excited and stop rolling your eyes. I think, overall, Kemp is the better player, but at this point in the season, they need a veteran who’s been there before who can take smarter at bats. Also, Chad Billingsley really worries me. He’s been “Bad” Billingsley each of his last 3 outings and he benefited greatly from the Padres’ poor pitching (Wade Le Blanc looks like a young accountant, not a pitcher) and the Dodgers offensive opportunism. He was not sharp and he gave up a lot of hits. If they do make the Playoffs, their ace's recent ineffectiveness doesn't bode well. Hopefully, they'll clinch early and he'll get a little extra rest.

Still, it appears my doom and gloom prediction of Sunday evening may be wrong. It’s kind of hard to blow a 3 game lead with 5 left to play no matter how mediocre you are. Not that it hasn’t been done, but all the Dodgers have to do is beat the Dads one more time and win 2 out of 3 in San Fran. Sounds easier than it is. If they win tonight and the Snakes lose again, the Dodgers will have at least clinched a tie for the division. They may still need some help from St. Louis. It’s by no means a done deal. But what’s this? Is the cavalry coming in the form of little Raffy Furcal? He says he’s ready and if he’s one tenth as good as he was in April and May before injuring his back, he’ll give the Dodgers a huge boost! We’ll see.