Sabateur Joe

Hey, great win for the Blue on Sunday Night. Kuroda pitched extremely well, they even showed some huevos retaliating at the Phils for throwing at Manny and Martin. Young Blake De Witt appeared to be making the most of his AB’s and the bullpen looked pretty good. With ace Derek Lowe going on 3 days rest for Game 4, if he’s at all sharp at home, the Dodgers should have a good chance to tie the series at 2 apiece, right?

Not if Joe Torre can help it. Last night, at approximately 7:40 PDT, Joe Torre effectively ended the Dodgers’ season. Like I’ve always said, I love Joe. Think he’s a class act – a terrific guy. He’s also, in spite of his 13 straight post season appearances with the Yankees, a perennial collection of high paid superstars, possibly the worst strategic field manager I’ve ever seen. His decisions are topsy turvy, rhymeless and reasonless, flimsy, all over the place, nonsensical. Yes, it was (finally) a great decision to start Juan Pierre over Matt Kemp, and starting Derek Lowe was not a bad decision either. He’s your ace, he’s a slightly better choice for a do or die game than the elderly, rickety Maddux or the wet behind the ears Kershaw, and you MUST win Game 4. After a rough first inning in which he allowed 2 runs, Lowe was strong. After throwing only 74 pitches through 5 innings, having just thrown a 1-2-3 inning, and his team in the lead 3-2, Joe Torre mysteriously and foolishly, removed Lowe from the game. WHY?????? His rationale was ultra flim-flam. He said something like, ‘since he had the lead, he didn’t want Lowe to tire and fall apart like he did in Game 1, so he thought he’d prevent that from happening again by taking him out sooner than later.’ Huh? He’s your ace, dummy. He’s got a lead. He’s breezing. What the hell is the matter with you????? So, he starts the 6th inning with the nervous puppy, Clayton Kershaw, who proceeds to walk the lead-off batter, at one point throws 6 straight balls. In comes Chan Ho Park. Park throws a “wild pitch” which allows Ryan Howard to score from 3rd base. Russell Martin is, perhaps, one of the 5 worst defensive catchers I’ve ever seen. That should NOT have been a wild pitch. A Major League catcher has to surround that ball and keep it in front of him. Martin is terrible. How he could’ve won a Gold Glove last year is beyond my comprehension. But the fault lies squarely on the shoulders of Torre. Then he brings in Beimel, leaving him with one lefthander left in the pen for the remainder of a game against a predominately left handed lineup.

Once the Dodgers took a 5-3 lead on a Casey Blake dong and a double by Juan who later scored on a Ryan Howard throwing error, they could’ve held onto it. But because Torre had already burned half his bullpen by taking Lowe out too early, they were screwed. Kuo, who came back from the dead to shine in this series, pitched a beautiful 7th 1-2-3 7th, striking out Chase Utley rather convincingly. But after he gave up a lead off single to Ryan Howard in the 8th, Torre decided to take him out. He says he didn’t like the way Kuo looked warming up that inning and felt his injured shoulder was tightening up. Hmmm… A case of over managing? He brings in the overworked Corey Wade and the floodgates open. Then the Apocalyptic event with Broxton and Matt Stairs, who almost hit the ball to Eagle Rock. The Phillies are a very good team, but the Dodgers are giving them this series. Their pitchers are making horrible pitches – throwing the ball low and in to left handers like Victorino, who feast on the low and in pitch. But the fact remains, 3 days rest or not, had Torre left Lowe in to pitch the 6th and possibly the 7th, the Dodgers go into Game 5 tied 3 games a piece.

The aftermath of this series and this season is obvious. The Dodgers need to re-sign Manny. If they don’t, they will lose. Make no mistake. The Dodgers would not be in the NLCS or the NLDS without Manny. There’s no hitter in the league like him and they can’t afford to part ways with him. It would be an insult to the fans. Offer him 4 years at 80 million and see what happens. If he wants more, give him more. They also need one more bat to protect him. Ethier is not enough and Martin and Kemp stink. The Dodgers need to get their hands on an ace like Sabathia and another quality starter to replace Lowe. If they don’t, they will lose. The Dodgers need a closer. Saito’s skills appear to be waning from his many injuries and it appears Broxton is just way too inconsistent. If “Big bad John” doesn’t develop another pitch, he can’t be counted on day in and day out. In short, Frank McCourt, you’d better plan on loosening your purse strings.

Just to give you an idea of what being in pilot hell means to a hack TV writer like myself, I received a call yesterday around noon from my second cousin, Donald Fehr, the head of the Major League Baseball Players Association. He invited me, your humble blogger, to attend last night’s game with him and I HAD TO TURN HIM DOWN!!!! I had to write and I couldn’t afford the time it would’ve taken to drive to and from the game. He did give me 3 tickets for Wednesday Night’s game, however, but I have to pay for those. And, really, who wants to go to Wednesday night’s game? Thanks to Joe Torre, it’s a death watch now. It's over, folks. There's no way the Dodgers can win tomorrow and then go back to Philly and win both those games. In fact, the way Billingsley looked in Game 2 along with the demoralizing way they lost last night, I think the Phils go home with the NL pennant. Yes, it's done. The patient has but a few breaths left and the family is gathered around. Not sure I want to attend my first game of the season just to say good-bye.

Just got a call from Cousin Donnie. The head of the MLBPA is coming to my house to drop off the tickets. Guess I have no choice.