Welcome Back ... Again!

Temporarily lost my domain name, had to retool and rethink. Now I'm back and I'm happy to say I'm as wrong as ever. As the Smoke and Mirrors Tour wraps up its 12th week, the Dodgers continue to have the best record in baseball, finding themselves 22 games over .500 and leading the now MIGHTY NL West by 8 games. Yes, the "mighty" NL West. Comprised of the Giants, who are, at present, the NL Wild Card team and the seething hot Rockies who are only a game and a half behind the San Francisco treat, the NL West is no lobger the push over division in baseball. True, the deadbeat Dads and the underachieving serpents of the desert fill out the division, but those three teams are among the best in the National League. How the Mountains are doing it, I have no idea, but they're doing it.

With Manny coming back any minute and the Dodgers looking for that extra starting pitcher (PLEASE let it be Cliff Lee and not Jarrod Washburn) and Andre Ethier coming off a 3 HR game last night, it seems as if they haven't missed a beat. Yet, they have very little hitting and are leading the Majors in team ERA at 3.63 with what I feel is evry weak pitching. They've yet to lose 3 in a row this year and they continue to fly high, in spite of some obvious weaknesses. I could specify those weaknesses again for you tonight, but why bother? They're a team that wins. So, in essence, what the hell do I know?

This Is Bad...

As the constant June gloom hovers over LA and whispers its messages of doom and hopelessness to the already financially hopeless, downtrodden and depressed, I predict the Dodgers will soon begin their mighty collapse. Baseball is the microcosm for life, itself, and within the game, one can find one's summertime, one's hopes, dreams and expectations as if each stadium were encased in a snow globe. Well, the Dodgers little snow globe is leaking badly and The Smoke & Mirrors Tour could be coming to an end.

As I've said many times in this space since the testosterone-challenged Manny's foolish departure, the Dodgers simply don't appear to be that strong a team and they proved it again last night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, where they got outhit, outplayed and outclassed. Hiroki Kuroda got lit up like Tokyo during a Godzilla rampage and the Dodgers were unable to muster any offense, save a couple of hard hit balls that were played into outs by the Rangers impressive infield. And let's face it. Russell Martin just stinks this year. Maybe he needs to take that ridiculous "J" off the back of his jersey. A tribute to his mom. Gimme a break. He's playing like his mom! Not only can he not hit (.249 and plummeting with no HRS and less than 30 RBI) but he can barely catch a pitch. He's a roly poly, walking, talking passed ball who can't hit the ball the other way and can't throw a runner out to save his life. Or his mom's. Rafael Furcal should probably sit in favor of Juan Castro at this point. Furcal looks terrible. He just can't seem to get it going, and he's opening up way too early with his lefthanded swing. Is his back hurting? Sure looks like it. He even looks tentative in the field. Matt Kemp's .300 BA is misleading. He's a decent player, but he's only got 7 homers in mid-June and he still looks clueless at the plate. Even the O Dog is looking weak. He's letting some 3rd pitch strikes go by that would have most hitters foaming at the mouth. Just doesn't seem aggressive and confident anymore. In spite of his 2 hits last night, even the great Pierre's average is plummeting and Casey Blake's power has taken a indefinite leave of absence. Never before, since Manny's suspension began, have the Dodgers looked so desperately in need of his services. 18 more games could end up bringing them back into the pack and them some. They've been getting very lucky with some last minute heroics by Ethier and some poor fielding by opposing teams. At some pint, the Dodgers will use up their cache of luck. Today, we have the reliably undependable Randy Wolfe on the mound and tomorrow, thank God, we have Billingsley again, but no matter who's pitching, the Dodgers are horrific on the road in interleague play.

Don't look now, but Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Brian Wilson and big, fat Pablo Sandoval are leading the Giants back into the hunt. They're only 7 games out and they're 4 games over .500, which is not a bad place to be in June. And to add to the foreboding sound of cleat steps, here come the Rockies, back from the dead, lead by the Ghost of Mediocrity Past, ex-Dodger milquetoast skipper, Jim Tracy. The best record in baseball at 18 over .500? In 2 weeks time, the Red Sox will have that distinction. The Dodgers are falling and failing. Pessimist, you say? Maybe. Hater, you say? Quite the contrary. I love the Dodgers and I believe this team will win the West at least. But right now, until they can get some starting pitching and get Manny back, I just don't think they're that good a team. At least not as good as their record indicates. They need starting pitching and they're gonna need it soon. Here's hoping the upstart Blue Jays tank and Roy Halladay has dreams of the Ravine.

BTW, the umpiring in the Bigs is getting worse every year, as evidenced by the screw up in Philly yesterday when Dobbs hit a game winning dong directly over the foul pole in right field and the umps called it foul and refused to even review it. Why have the review for home runs if you're not going to utilize it? The Phils went on to lose. What a group of idiots. The ball clearly went over the pole.

Still A Little Cynical

And why wouldn't I be a little cynical after watching the Dodgers' lifeless 3-1 loss to the deadbeat Dads Wednesday night? The great Kevin Correia shut them down. Kevin Correia. But even worse than their newly minted lackluster offense and the latest Wall Street Journal article that predicts their eventual downfall due to being 28th in baseball in "pure power" numbers, was another horrific performance by young Clayton Kershaw, now 3-5 on the year. Though Clayton's ERA is not terrible, @ 4.50. he's really only had 2 strong outings all year and he just can't stop walking guys and throwing too many pitches. I suggest they send him down to Albuquerque until after the All Star break to get that problem worked out. Hopefully, Kuroda can stay effective because the team has no one except Billingsley on whom they can rely in the way of starting pitching. We'll see what happens tonight in Texas, but it doesn't bode well, seeing as how the Blue have historically been awful in interleague play and Texas's offense is stellar. Furcal, Martin and Loney need to hit or the dramatic drop from the precipice is, as I've been predicting, not far off.

Hmmm...

Well, I gotta tell ya, this Dodger team is a puzzle to me. As is the case with most championship caliber clubs, it always seems like one or two guys get hot when everyone else is pretty cold and they carry the team on their backs for awhile. Last couple of weeks, those guys were Juan Pierre, Casey Blake and the O Dog. Now, it's Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. Ethier is on a home run tear, having had 2 multi homer games inside a week (what if he keeps this up when Manny comes back? Look out!) and Matt Kemp has been getting some clutch hits along with a clutch dong last night against the lowly San Diego Dads. (Boy do they stink. 10 game winning streak a while back or not, they have NO offense save the great Adrian Gonzalez. I'm betting Tony Gwynn Jr is going to turn out to be pretty good, also) Billingsley did not look sharp at all, but they won a Chad start, which is a must for a team that can boast only one truly solid starter. Even Russell Martin had a couple of hits, but let's face it, he and Rafael Furcal are killing us. (If you can call being 20 games over .500 in June and having the best record in baseball and an 8 1/2 game lead over your nearest division rival, dying) What happened to Martin's power? It's freakin' gone. I mean, he doesn't even have warning track power anymore. And why does Raffy stink so much this year? Is his back still bugging him? His swing from both sides of the plate looks terrible. And, in spite of Loney's nice RBI total, his 2 HRs thus far are less than impressive for a first baseman. Where has his power gone? Juan has come back to earth, which was expected and the O Dog has been slumping in spite of his yak last night and Casey Blake, still solid, has been battling hamstring troubles and hasn't homered in quite some time. So, with only a couple two or three guys hitting well at a time, and with medicore to poor starting pitching, how is this team doing it???? Is it just knowing Manny's coming back inside of a month that's somehow fueling them? Is it Torre's brilliance? Am I missing something? I mean, let's face it, this is a team that appears to simply know how to win. I must admit the man I once called Ramon Troncos-oh no! has been getting the job done in the set up role and Ronald Belisario has been fairly impressive. Broxton is formidable, not necessarily lights out, but nearly so. Brent Leach and Mota have stunk and Corey Wade seems to be starting to get it together, so their bullpen has been tough.

Still, they were only able to split with the Phils, of course losing to Cole Hamels whom they probably will never find a way to beat and then losing to some bastard named Bastardo. They tend to feed off team's numbers 3-5 starters and they have a lot of wins against the Dads and the Snakes, 2 teams that suck. Tonight, they should beat the San Diego team again, but Kershaw is on the mound and you never know with him, as he continues to fight that one bad inning where he throws 50 pitches and walks the world. Now that Milton is on the shelf with back spasms, and we've established the not-so-goodness of Eric Stults, what are the Blue's plans as far as acquiring that much needed starter who will take them to the next level. (Jake Peavy, Jake Peavy, Jake Peavy, Jake Peavy or Jake Peavy) Who will the Dads insist on getting in return? I still say, offer 'em Xavier Paul, James McDonald, maybe even their recent 1st round (comp round) pick, Aaron Miller. If the Dads insist on Kemp, do we give them Kemo for Peavy? Only if you're assured of signing Peavy to a long term deal. They can stick Juan Pierre in center and not lose much at all, except maybe a few home runs and a lot of K's. Whatever you do, just don't give them Paul AND Kemp. This weekend's interleague matchup in Texas will be another acid test for the Dodgers, especially their pitching staff. The Rangers have an awesome lineup and they actually have pretty decent pitching. An oddity for a Rangers team. In the meantime, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying this. It's June 10th and the Dodgers have the best record in baseball by a fairly large margin and the new Roid King returns in 19 games.

Speaking of the draft, congratulations to young Tyler Skaggs, whom the Angels draftes in the compensation round (right at the end of the 1st round) 40th overall. I coached Tyler at Santa Monica Hugh School in his sophomore year and he's a great kid. 40th pick in the nation. Gotta be a lucrative deal. He had signed a letter of intent to play at perennial baseball power, Cal State Fullerton, but I guess the Titans will have to do without him. Wonder how he feels today.

This Just In: Mannyless Dodgers Can't Hit Good Pitchers.

I was watching the Diamondbacks take BP off Randy Wolf the other day and considered turning the game off in the 2nd inning. The Dodgers comeback in the 8th was nothing short of miraculous. Loney, the RBI machine with his warning track and wall power drives in 3 runs and suddenly dependable Casey Blake drives in the winner to rescue the mediocre Randy Wolf from a loss after one of his more awful starts. Broxton was brilliant. This immediately followed by a 1-0 won over the less than good John Garland, giving Billingsley a much deserved and necessary win. This time, the offense sputtering to cough, Loney, again, being the progenitor of the single run and Blake being the vehicle.

Last night, however, the Phillies' Cole Hamels picked the Dodgers reeling offense apart and once again proved he's just plain better than they are. The Giants picked up a game and with 23 games remaining in Manny's suspension, the Dodgers are only 8 1/2 games ahead of the Giants with no one, save maybe Pierre and Hudson, still hitting the ball with any regularity, and even those two have dropped off. (They were bound to) Having perhaps spoke too soon about Ethier in my last blog. He actually hit his 7th homer, his first on over a month, and he's been hitting a little. We'll see what happens against the aged Jamie Moyer who's only had one good game this year, and that was against the Nationals. Tonight will be the acid test. If Moyer shuts the Dodgers down, look for the Giants to pull within 5 by the middle of next week and the Phillies, Yankees and Red Sox to overtake the Dodgers for the best record in baseball by June 20th if not sooner. If the Dodgers can get their offense going and win tonight, it could provide them with enough momentum to carry them through the remainder of the homestand. Kershaw didn't gett he job done again. Too many pitches again last night. Starting pitching is becoming a bigger issue, so if their offense continues to tank, eventually, so will the team.

Starving In Ethieropia?

As far as the remote possibility of Manny getting voted into the All Star Game? Who cares? Selig turned it into a fiasco years ago when he let it end in a tie and then tried to make it more relevant by awarding the winning league home field advantage in the World Series. So, as far as steroid guys playing, stealing a line from Bad News Bears: Breaking Training, I say, "Let them play! Let them play!"

The Dodgers are looking pretty lean these days. And not the good kind of lean. All the muscle seems to have disappeared along with the recipient of the HCG perscription. Since we last spoke, you and I, the Blue have split a series in Chi Town and lost the first game of the homestand to the lowly Snakes. Yes, those same Snakes I predicted would win the division. There's still time and there's the return of Brandon Webb to look forward to, but a Diamondback division championship doesn't seem to likely. These Dodgers seem like they're primed to at least take the West in '09. But will they do it as easily as they're doing it now? Not unless their starting pitching and their offense - yes, their league leading offense - improves. It's just a matter of time before the losses begin to mount up, in spite of the surprising performances of rebuilt Eric Milton and ertswhile medicore Randy Wolf. Kemp has started hitting, but he's Mastt Kemp. He'll stop hitting. Hudson is still hitting a little and the might Casey has been sidelined with hammy woes. So, who do we look to for the big 3 run bomb while Manny serves time? Well, Loney, in spite of his recent RBI surge, is poweless, as is Martin. (I know ya got robbed by some great plays by Reynolds at 3rd last night, Russell, but can you please explain your subsequent at bats?) Kemp's poor pitch selection makes his HRs too sporadic. But what about Andre the Giant Baby? You remember him, don't you? Andre Ethier, NL Player of the Week a while back? True, he's managed a few hits over the last 5 games, but he's clearly not the same Andre, he of the 25 RBI in April, and the 6 dongs Andre, I mean. What the hell happened to him, anyway? Is his game really THAT dependent on the presence of Manny in the lineup? THAT would be amazing if it was. Even though his tailing off actually began about a week before Manny got suspended, he has changed out of his Superman tights and back into Clark Kent (albeit, a whiney, pouty Clark Kent) perhaps, until Manny returns or, perhaps, permanently. And as Ethier's production goes, so it goes with the rest of the kiddie corps. Like I said, Kemp has hit a couple recently, but he's got only 6 and it's June. Loney has but 2 and it's June. Martin has nil, none, naught, not, the empty set, nada. They've lost Billingsley's last 2 starts, and if it wasn't for Pierre, Hudson, Blake, Wolf and maybe Kershaw, this team would have dropped to fewer than 10 games over .500 and the Dads and Giants would be right there. But, that is thye mark of a good team. When guys go down (or go to steroid jail) other guys pick them up and carry them. Especially other veteran guys like Juan, O Dog and Blake. But WHAT HAPPENED TO ANDRE? It's only 26 more games before the Dodgers have 4 starting outfielders and, as I recall, there are only 3 outfield positions and there is no DH in the NL. How will Joe Torre be able to sit the likeable, hardworking, Juan Pierre and play Andre should the current trends continue? Just askin'.