Casey Blake - Robert Gauthier - LATimes.com

So I’ve been letting the Dodgers loss simmer a little. Honestly, it still stings. So much promise going into the series with the Phillies, and then to absolutely watch the pitching fall part. The offense didn’t totally go away, but it was like the pitching just lost it. Mind you, the Phillies can hit. But it still seemed like the Dodgers just couldn’t pitch. I shared the collective gasp with all other Dodger fans when Broxton walked Matt Stairs and the rest of the game just fell apart.

What strikes me in looking back though is that “THEY” were right.  By “THEY” I mean most typical baseball analysts.  Even in spring training the thought was that the Dodgers couldn’t win it all because they didn’t have big name pitching.  There wasn’t a solid #1 and #2, and therefore they would do well, but eventually they would fall apart.  Well, “THEY” were right.  That’s exactly what happened.  They proved everyone a liar and had the best ERA in the National League, but then it fell apart.  The Dodgers could hit, but in the playoffs it is about big time pitching.  The big Phillie hitters finally found a way to pick away and then destroy the Dodger pitching. 

I didn’t think I would ever think this, but I actually missed Jeff Weaver in the last series.  He was held off the roster, but I think the Dodgers would have used him 2-3 times.  He fell apart at times during the season, but I saw him more than once clean up the mess from a starting pitcher and hold a team scoreless for 3-4 innings.  Billingsley tried to do it, but wasn’t totally successful.

So, if ”They” were right, then we should probably listen to them.  Giants fans have been giving me a hard time for losing, but it’s now time to look ahead.  Ned Colletti is now signed long term, so goal one is a number 1 pitcher.  Kershaw may be #2, but they need a lead horse. 

With the divorce between the owners, who knows what will happen.  They’ve already put on hold the improvements to Dodger stadium, so I bet money will be held up too.  I’ll write more posts on that, but it really smears the Dodgers name through the mud.  The Giants fans are having a field day with the Dodgers collapsing internally.

Well – THEY were right, and now we can watch the Yankees and Phillies in the Ice Bowl.  As for me, I’ll root for the Yankees.  Yes, I know there is a rivalry with the Dodgers, but I don’t have any real reason to root for the Phillies given how they destroyed the Dodgers. 

Any thoughts – is the number one need starting pitching?

Dodger Stadium - Game 1

Watching in the 8th inning after 3 straight hits…hopefully they can bring this one out. Great game so far….except that we’re in quite the hole. Still need two more.

I wanted to include a picture from one of my friends who is at the game right now. He sent me a text with the title “It’s Time for Dodger Baseball.” Got to love it. How fun to be at this game…especially if they pull it out.  

I went to Double D’s sports bar tonight in Los Gatos to watch the game. Great place and I’m hoping I can get more local fans to go there more often. I had to laugh though. We’re watching the game and there’s this one guy who’s cheering the Phillies everytime they scored early in the game. I was thinking, “what Phillies fan is around here?” It could happen, but honestly I haven’t seen a lot here in 8 years. I probed him next time he clapped for a run and found out…yes, he’s a Giants fan. Not a Phillies fan..just an anti-Dodger fan. Such it is up here.

Well, I like the Dodgers fight, but they better clean up their pitching. The Phillies seem to have their number tonight. Hopefully we can just keep scraping runs against the bullpen.  We’ll see. Go Blue.

Joe Torre - LA Times.com

I’ve got quite the delimma.  See, I recently had my birthday and I got some birthday money.   For a long time I’ve wanted an Iphone, because I love the apps and the phone/camera option.  My company pays for my work phone through Verizon, so it doesn’t make sense to spend extra money on an AT&T contract so I can get a phone.

So here’s my delimma.  I can get an out of contract Iphone, or I can save my money for a Dodgers playoff game.  As an out of town fan, I long for playoff games because I know I can go to the stadium with all the other crazy fans, wear all my Dodger gear and be part of the fan nation…not just an out of town fan who only gets to see so many games.  You become part of the special games, not just the regular season games.

Today the Dodgers swept the Cardinals to get into the next round of the playoffs.  Epic game and man oh man, the Dodgers look good.  The pitching is working and the offense is firing on all cylinders.  Either and Kemp are here to stay and Manny even joined in the fun today.  Padilla may be the best pick up of the year.

Of course, if I get the Iphone, I’ll have it for a good amount of time and the value can’t really be measured.  On the other hand, I could use all my savings to go to one game (seriously just one), and go to a game where the Dodgers lose.  Obviously the later option would stink.  If the Dodgers win, I have a memory I will never lose.  All this assumes I’m not going to charge the trip and go into debt.  I could…but I’m not there yet.

For a long time I could say that I went to the only playoff game the Dodgers had won in 20 years.  (Go Shawn Green and Jose Lima)  They’ve improved now, but it was a memory I will still never forget.  It’s hard to put a value on memories you can tell your kids and share with baseball fans.  The phone on the other hand…there will be a better one in a couple of years.

So, there lies my delimma.  The Dodgers are really good this year and I think they’ll go to the World Series against the Yankees or Angels.  There’s no guarentee that the Dodgers will get back to the World Series, so this may be the year to go after a game.  Such is the delimma of being a Dodger fan in Giants territory.

What’s your call?  Game or phone?  Help me out with this one…but trust me, I’ve got a good idea of what I would do if I had to make the decision tonight.  Yep, the game.

Casey Blake - Matt Sayles-AP

Hope you bought a lottery ticket yesterday because the Dodgers broke all the odds. To win game 2 against the Cardinals and take a 2-0 lead into St. Louis, no one would have believed you. Got to love it.

I was coming back from Vegas yesterday and could only catch part of the game on the radio. Nicely, the only part I caught was the bottom of the ninth. I can’t say it was a quiet listen, as my kids were screaming in the back of the car while I had the stereo cranked up. I should clarify screaming…they wanted to watch Thomas the Train Engine – which we allowed, just to the sounds of the Dodger game. My son kept saying “Sound on, sound on” and my younger daughter kept saying, “mama, mama, mama” with the hope that my wife would turn on the dvd sound since daddy obviously wasn’t going to budge on turning off the game.  Let’s just say chaos is my family sometimes…

In the midst of all that, I heard Casey Blake take the walk.  Then Belliard hit the single, then Loretta hit the single.  Ironic as always that Juan Pierre scored the tying run.  Who knew that the lower part of the lineup would just chip away at the lead.  Dodger fans would…but not the rest of the country.

Great article in the LA times yesterday about how the team thought Casey Blake was the hero with the walk (click here).  I fully agree and have been hyping him all year.  He doesn’t hit like Manny, but he definitely does the other things to be just as valuable.  

So in the midst of all the excitement, I was brought back to earth here in the Bay Area.  I talked to Giants fan co-worker and asked him why he hadn’t congratulated me that the Dodgers won last night…he responded, “You’re not on the team, why should I congratulate you?”  Such it is up here.  At least the Dodgers are in and the Giants aren’t so I can just smile and know he knows the Dodgers are the better team.

Bring out the brooms – let’s sweep the Cardinals!

It’s a good thing I’m not a real betting man. I would have lost a lot of money this weekend. I thought the Giants would take 2 of 3 and thought the Dodgers would win the first game.

The exact opposite happened. It’s all good for the Dodgers, but obviously my hunches were better when they played in SF, rather than L.A.

I watched most of the game and was very impressed with the boys in blue.  Randy Wolf looked shaky at first, but then hit a groove.  What impressed me though was that the Dodgers just took apart Tim Lincecum.  He is the reigning Cy Young winner and they just were patient and found the holes.  It was just good baseball and the better team won.

I was thinking about the decisions the Dodgers have made it the last few years to “wait on the kids.”  There is a general question of “how long do you wait for players to develop?”

There was a lot of pressure to wait for Kemp, Ethier, Loney and Martin to produce, but pressure to dump some of them too (especially Kemp).  The Dodgers are now reaping the fruit of their waiting.  Kemp and Ethier will both have over 100 RBI’s by the end of the season and are pulling the team, even over Manny.  The Dodgers should have a solid core for a few years to come, and the fans will really come to expect and enjoy it.

If the Dodgers can keep going strong, they should make a long run into the playoffs.  The pitching will be the gamble…but it’s been that way all year, and look where they are.  Go Blue.  Thanks for beating the Giants good this year.