The Yom Kippur Massacur: The Day After. Atonement?

The Dodgers stink again. But this time in ways that I never thought imaginable. The question is, will this be a mild case of acute stinking or will the stinking be chronic, thus ostensibly ending their 2009 season, the playoffs being a mere formaility, as the Phils or Cards being the gate closers in 3 quick ones like the Mets did to us in '06? Guess we'll get closer to an answer tonight when Chad Billinsgley takes the mound for what may be his last start as a Dodger in '09 and, who knows? Beyond, perhaps. If Billingsley can pitch as "well" as he did in Washington last week without hanging a breaking ball to Adrian Gonzalez or Kevin Kousmanoff, he may save his role as one of the Blue's playoff starters. Especially since Kuroda looked so wonderful yesterday. In spite of the many E's supplied by his porous defense, the Jap was crap. He gave up homers, doubles, singles, you name it. He was more than hittable. He was Williamsport. So, this game is not only huge for the Dodgers, it's gigantic for Chad who's arm has been hanging.

There's no way the Dads are going to allow their arch enemies to the South to waltz into their ballpark and celebrate at the end of the game. And, let's face it. If the Dodgers can't stop the lowly Pirates from scoring, how will they do against the Dads in a stadium half full of San Diegoans (Go f*** yourself, San Diego - Ron Burgendy) who hate, hate, hate the Blue? The Dodgers need to shed their complacency for once and go into a ballpark hungry and angry. For a change, they need some of Larry Bowa's intensity and downright meanness. I, for one, am tired of watching a team, first place or not, that plays with zero compassion and pride. No. They need to atone for their performance on the Day of Atonement, and, for that matter, the day before that as well. If they lose today and tomorrow, so much for momentum going into the post season.

I Can't Listen to this Anymore!

Since my last post, I've gotten poorer, my phone is about to be turned off and Ahmadinijad has denied the Holocaust again. But more importantly, once again, the Dodgers have made an idiot out of me. Every time I deliver praise and straddle the badwagon, they humiliate me. They have just finished blowing a 3 run lead to the awful Pirates in th bottom of the 9th, Broxton once again looking like an overgrown scared Little Leaguer. Thus far, in the first 6 of 7 against the 2 worst teams in the NL and perhaps, baseball, the Nats and the Bucs, they have looked like crap. They are 3 and 3 in the 2 series', barely eking out 2 of those wins. But what's frightening is the way Ethier has looked. Terrible. Can our most productive player be going back into a tailspin this close to the Playoffs? Getting a little tired of hearing how tired these guys are and how they need a rest. Ethier's in his mid 20's and they take those new fangled jet planes to the games nowadays. They're athletes for shit's sakes. Tired of hearing the excuses. Okay, so they'll clinch the West tomorrow in Pittsburgh or Tuesday in SD. It'll get interesting, however, if the Mountains beat the Birds today and the Blue really begins to falter. It'll also be interesting to see if the Braves can catch Colorado for the Wild Card. The Dodgers play no better against Atlanta than they do against Philly or St Louie and the Braves would likely come to the Ravine for Games 1 & 2. Still a lot going on going into the season's final week.

Just wishing we can witness it without having to listen to Charlie Steiner. My god, is it just me??? I mean, he seems like a great guy, but the microphone should get a restraining order against him. Not only do you have no idea what's going on unless you have the game in front of you, but did you watch yesterday's game in Pittsburgh? He kept saying every pitch out of the zone was high. Sometimes they were low and away, but he was saying they were high. Then, when the Bucs were catching up, they brought Robinson Diaz up to the plate to pinch hit. No one mentions Diaz his entire at bat. The guy gets walked by Kuo, but no one says, "Here comes Robinson Diaz to pinch hit for Maholm..." or, "and that's ball four to Robinson Diaz!" The guy walks and eventually comes around to score and they never mentioned his name the entire inning. We just saw some guy with "Diaz" on the back of his jersey. Them, today, I'm driving home listening to the game and I hear Steiner say with a 1 run Dodger lead, "It's time for the bubbly!" Can you imagine either Vinny or Ross Porter being that unprofessional? Then, I hear, "there's a gorund ball to second... I mean short..." And also, I'm beginning to think he's a jinx.

And "psycho" Steve Lyons. The other day, Lyons suggest that Ronald Belisario should be considered for NL Rookie of the Year. Belisario, who has a low ERA while allowing just about every runner he inherits to score. Ronald Belisario over Garret Jones, JA Happ, Tommy Hanson, Couglin, McCoutheon and McGeehee. Jeez.

And what's with Joe Torre yesterday? You want Randy Wolf to be your ace and go-to guy in the playoffs but you don't trust him to be able to retire Steve Pearce with one on and one out in the bottom of the 7th with a 2 run lead? Good luck against The Cards and Phils lineup with that kind of confidence.

I know I'm not alone is expressing that I don't like the way this team is playing. It does no bode well for the post season and Charlie Steiner is making me nervous.

It's Aliiiive!! Magic 7... and Then What?

It's been awhile since my last post as I've been busy with things like trying to obtain food stamps for myself so I can continue to keep some weight on. Yes, it's true, my past posts for a year in which the Blue have managed to win 91 games with 11 still to play, have been markedly negative. My reason for my cynicism and negativity has been, quite simply, that regardless of their impressive record, I just haven't believed in them. I feel that for most of the season, they've been doing it with smoke and mirrors, no real ace and only 3 big bats, none of them ever productive at the same time. Over the last couple of weeks, however, the Dodgers have been rejuvenated. True, Manny has still not been Manny, but Ethier and Kemp have become Manny and that's even better. Like Frankenstein's monster, with a bolt of lightgning, the team has suddenly come alive, once again making me look like an idiot and Torre look like a genius mad doctor. Some factors in the regeneration of dead blue cells:

- James Loney has surrepticiously returned to form and looks like he did last year. He's hitting for power and driving in runs.
- Ronnie Belliard has, for all intents and purposes, replaced the missing bat of the O Dog. (Forget about Hudson's .280's average, he's killed us for the last 2 and 1/2 months)
- Sure, they've been beating up on teams like the lowley Buccaneers and the awful D.C. Nats, but they also have been playing well against Colorado and San Fran and they even beat Tim Lincecum.
- They've even been getting a little bat play from long lost Rafael Furcal and Casey Blake.
- And most importantly, they've been getting quality starts from Wolf, Kuroda and newcomers Padilla and Garland.

And, reasons for some hope - Kershaw looked good in his 2 innings of relief last night, coming off his stupid right shoulder injury and, as I type this, even the woeful Chad Billingsley has retired the first 9 Nationals he's faced. So, 7 is the magic number to win the West and win the West the Dodgers will definitely do, making this blogger happily wrong once again. But then what?

... Well ... anything can happen in a short series and, as I said, the Blue have been getting excellent picthing of late, both from their supersized starting staff and their pen. BUT, the Redbirds still have a formidable starting staff with the 2009 Cy Young Award winner in either Chris Carpenter or Adam Wainright. The Phils have the great Cliff Lee who suffered only a minor hiccup in his prowess, and the resurgent Cole Hamels. And has anyone looked at Joe Blanton's numbers since July? Quietly unhittable. I'm sorry, but I still don't like our chances in a short series with either of these teams. We have no number one starter nor do we have a true number 2. In fact, one can argue that ALL of the Blue's starting staff would be number 3 guys on many teams. (Randy Wolf, Kershaw and Kuroda, however, have pitched like aces for the last month and a half.) The question is, can they continue to behave like aces once the Playoffs start? This is a huge question because I fully expect the Cards' and Phils' aces to pitch according to their status. I'm fairly certain the top starters on both the Cards and the Phils will stifle the Dodgers offense. For the Dodgers to win, they're going to have to get home field advantage and they're going to have to match those arms.

It's a foregone conclusion the once tumbling Rockies will be the Wild Card team and will lose in the first round. So, assuming the Dodgers somehow survive the first round Division Series, they'll have to play both the Phils and the Cards whether they finish with the NL's best record or not. Anything can happen. Maybe Juan Pierre can get another ring and make this whole fiasco worth his while. In order for that to happen, 3 of the Dodgers 6 starters (which 3 will Joe use?) need to channel Koufax, Drydsdale and Sutton.

The Thrill Is Gone

Ya know that feeling when you first meet someone you're crazy about and everything just clicks? The chemistry is amazing, the physical aspects are in sane and it's obviously a relationship that's made in heaven and is going to last forever? Then, a few months pass and the novelty wears off. But it's more than that. The chemistry you thought was so amazing isn't so amazing anymore. The excitement wears off. The sexiness wears off. You start disovering flaws in each other that you may or may not be able to tolerate. There are other people you meet you're attracted to. Basically, it's over. But you continue for a few months more just because it takes you a while to realize it. This, I believe is the best way to describe the Dodgers 2009 season. The thrill is gone and so is the talent and success. When you're losing at home in September to the deadbeat Dads to pitchers named LeBlanc and Stauffer, you're not exactly going anywhere anymore. The Dodgers are going somewhere. They're going down. But the official break-up won't happen until the Fall.

I see another likely loss today in Phoenix to Max Scherzer who shut them down the other night. Joe Torre doesn't seem to be too alarmed, telling everyone not to panic. Meanwhile, his team simply can't hit. Especially with runners in scoring position. KABC radio guys like Suchon and Levine and Dodger TV guys like Lyons and Monday and Collins continue to point to the Dodgers' great team ERA in August or to the fact they're still tied for the best record in the NL. I say, who cares? There's obviously something wrong, so instead of pointing to all the things that are right and then deciding the patient must be healthy, let's try to find the problem and fix it before the funeral. Or at least try to diagnose it. Here. I'll do it. The team stinks. They're a mediocre, undisciplined, fundamentally unsound team that had no business playing as well as they did in April, May and June. They have no ace, an overused bullpen, a shaky closer, only 3 bats, little power, a slugger off the juice, little speed, sporadic focus and no heart. On top of all that, they have a cheapskate owner who refuses to pay for the pitcher and first baseman they need to actually win anything. At least we learned a couple of important things. One of them being that of the five guys who were considered the future of the franchise, only 2 of them, it appears, will pan out: Ethier and Kemp. Loney and Martin, however, will not. On the fence about Billingsley. Martin has 39 RBIs on September 7th with 2 home runs. He can't throw out opposing base stealers to save his life and does a poor job blocking balls and a medicore job calling pitches. His skills have diminished a little each of the last 4 seasons and he seems like he's even lost some of that impressive determination that so endeared him to the fans. I think Martin's career may have already reached it's acme. He could be done. He could very well wind up being one of those catchers that ends up splitting time in Washington or KC. Maybe as soon as next year. Loney is a mess. Only 9 home runs, he hasn't a clue what he's going to do when he gets to home plate. He's been in a 2 and half month slump with only occasional signs of climbing out of it. He's been getting some singles lately, but you need more power from your right corner infielder. It seems like he's in a fog out there. Between Loney, Martin and Orlando Hudson, they have got to lead the league in DP's grounded into by a trio. They're like those planes that collect water from nearby lakes to drop on wildfires. They douse the flames. They're rally killers supreme. And has anyone noticed how often Hudson strikes out looking? Don't be fooled by that .289 batting average. That's left over from the first half of the season. He's no longer aggressive at the plate and seems to have a poor knowledge of the strike zone. Personally, I think the O Dog's season ended a couple of months early. I like that he's gregarious and fun. I don't like that he's inconsistent and weak. I say let him sign elsewhere after the season and make the job Blake DeWItt's to lose. (Whatever you do, do NOT give the job to Florida's Dan Uggla, as I've heard rumored. He may have some power, but he's a butcher with the glove and he's hitting .249 with a ton of K's. However, I wouldn't mind seeing Brandon Phillips in a Dodger uniform.) Chad Billingsley, projected to be the team's ace, is a huge disappointment. He seems to just give up. You have to really question his heart at this point. I don't see him becoming the dominant pitcher the Dodgers and the fans envisioned.

Rafael Furcal's skills, both offensively and defensively are ebbing daily and Casey Blake has been a huge disappointment in the 2nd half. So, basically, we're talking about 3 bats comprising the entire Dodgers attack: Kemp, Ethier and a deflated Manny. Oh yeah, and Juan Pierre sitting on the bench with no position to play and Jim Thome, nothing more than a glorified onch hitter whom we borrowed for a month. Thome's lifetime BA as a pinch hitter is below the Mendoza line.

But we have Padilla, Garland and a hot Randy Wolf. Yippee! IF we make the playoffs, and I still have some doubts, a rotation that includes Wolf, Kershaw, Billingsley, Garland, Kuroda or Padilla will be no match for the mighty rotations of the Cardinals, Phillies or Giants, should they make it. If, miraculously, the Dodgers finish with the best record in the NL, they'll likely play the Phillies in the first round. Or, if the Wild Card comes out of the West, they'll still draw the Phillies, assuming the Cardinals will finish with a better record. When this happens, Cliff Lee, in spite of his recent struggles, will shut down a weak Dodger offense in Game 1 with a smile on his face, and if the powerful Phils' attack puts a charge into Wolf or Kershw for just one inning, that'll likely be all they'll need to shut down the Blue. Game 2 will be more of the same with Cole Hamels. Hamels isn't as good as he was last year, you say? He's better than Tim Stauffer and Wade LeBlanc and the Dodgers can't hit those guys, so what makes you think they can hit Lee, Hamels or Happ? Phillies in 3. If the Dodgers have to play the Cards in the 1st round, it's going to be even worse. I'd like to say Cards in 2, but they make you play at least 3 games in the first round.

Is there any way possible that this team can somehow revert to their early season form? That Casey Blake can start hitting again? That they can start coming from behind again? That Manny can return to his prior greatness? That Loney can drive in runs again? It sure doesn't look that way right now. Joe Torre seems as complacent as his team and his ownership and I guess that's how he manages. No yelling, no tirades, no tantrums, no threats. Just, 'I know we're a great team and we'll start playing winning again.' Well, Joe, that approach may have worked for those well-paid superstar-studded Yankee teams of the late '90's but they're not working here. If you won't do it, let the fiery Larry Bowa do it, but someone has to light a fire under their asses. Do you hear me, Joe? Does anyone out there hear me? THEY'RE GONNA LOSE! DO SOMETHING FOR CHRIST'S SAKES!

But, alas, those plaintive cries will fall on deaf ears. Or even if they're heeded, there's little or nothing anyone can do because the not-so-great team is playing exactly how they're supposed to play. Not so great.