I have a little catch up to do, so I thought I’d give some random thoughts as the Dodgers take 1 game.  Just knowing the Dodgers are pretty much out doesn’t give a lot of urgency to write posts.  The Giants are better, and the fans up here know it.  They enjoy rubbing it in…but it’s not over the top.   The Giants aren’t in the playoffs either yet, so they know like us that both of our seasons may be ending with no playoff baseball.

I love seeing Chad Billingsley pitch well. He’s supposed to be an ace and he looked like it tonight.  Hung Chi Kuo looked solid tonight too.

Rod Barajas is the man.  It’s amazing to have a catcher with power…

I love that Casey Blake has hit another streak. When he is hot, he is hot, and right now he has just been in the mix most of the time when the Dodgers win.

These divorce proceedings with the McCourts are a trip. If you haven’t been looking at the L.A. Times of late, it’s a lesson in marriage dynamics and the dynamics of owning a baseball team. I had no idea that the Dodgers were so much in debt, and it obviously divided and ruined their marriage.

I’m still waiting to see an article on Juan Pierre. If you ever wondered if God had a sense of humor…now you know. I know from articles that Juan is a christian, and believe me he is probably shaking his head on God’s strategy. He signs his dream contract with the Dodgers, then told he isn’t a good enough player and then is replaced by Andruw Jones and then by Manny Ramirez. He bites his tongue, honors his team, and finally gets a trade…only to have Andruw Jones and now Manny Ramirez follow him. Thankfully he isn’t competing against them now for starting time, but what an amazing story. He has truly turned into a story of perseverance and honor.

It’s a funny thing that the Dodgers may serve as a spoiler against the Giants this year.  A friend asked me up here if I was going to start rooting for the Giants since the Dodgers are out.  (He obviously doesn’t know me well…)  I said no way!.  Now it’s just time to start rooting for the Dodgers to knock the Giants out of the playoffs.  If we can’t go, then maybe they won’t be able to either.  All is fair in love and war and I know all my Giants fans would do/say the same thing.  (They’ve done it the last few years so I know it is true!)

Here’s hoping the Dodgers can take two of three this weekend.  It’s too bad because the Dodgers pitching is really strong right now…they just lost their offense.

Go Blue.

Jack Cust from MLB.com

So Jack Cust signed a 2.8 million dollar deal with the Oakland Athletics this week. For most Dodger fans, you may not even know this guy. But I love this guy. I like to think as him as the working mans baseball player. In the era of Andruw Jones making a ton and not doing anything…Jack Cust paid is dues and is finally getting some good money.
Great article here on his real story.  He spent 10 years in the minors trying to get up, and when he finally did, all he did is hit homeruns…and strikeout.  That’s the thing with Cust – it is feast or famine, or walk…which is why the A’s like him.  He can hit like crazy, but he also has holes.

I think that’s why I root for him.  He’s like all us working people – he can be the hero, but he’s got holes too.  He won’t ever be Manny Ramirez, but that’s ok.  Even more, I’m glad that someone like him who can hit the ball 400′ can get paid for entertaining all the rest of us.    We all know baseball players will get paid high, but at 2.5 mil a year, it doesn’t seem crazy extravagant.  Anyone who spent that long in the minors, should get some money like the pros.

So with Holliday, Giambi and Cust, the A’s now have 3 guys who can hit 30 homeruns.  They put some speedsters up front, and they’ll have a formidable offense.

Andruw Jones from MLB.com

So the restructuring of Andruw Jones contract is the epitome of everything wrong in baseball contracts.  Guys get signed for way too much, don’t perform, still get their money, but then get out of the deal and have the chance to sign with someone else for more money.  They wonder why the fans don’t like them, when they live in la-la land.

This whole situation is quietly going unnoticed because “now the Dodgers have more money for Manny,” but this is unbelievable.  The guy shows up to camp overweight, can’t hit low breaking pitches, strikes out more than ever in his career and then finds a way to leave with all his money.  He did have injuries, but it’s hard to believe he’s done at 31 years old.

Truth is – Andruw is quitting.  He doesn’t like the fans booing and wants to make a new start. He didn’t like the atmosphere and the pressure and wants to start over.  When you sign a 36 mil contract, you have to accept the stress.  When you win 10 Gold Gloves, you should be able to handle the pressure.  Something has changed for Andruw.  People will speculate that he did steroids and is off them now, but he just doesn’t have it any more.  He’s not even doing well in Winter ball this year.

The sad thing is that running away won’t heal his reputation.  He’ll always get booed in L.A. even if he rebounds his career.  If he really wanted to impress the fans, he would give back his money, or at least hire a sports psychologist to handle the pressure and then put his time in to win back center field.  He would lose 20 pounds to silence the critics and work on putting the ball in play again, rather than hitting home runs.

I heard John Madden make a great quote at one point – He was asked if money corrupts athletes.  He answered, ” money doesn’t corrupt athletes, guaranteed money corrupts athletes.”  This is totally true with Andruw.  He has his money.  Even deferred, 22 mil will come and make interest for his grand kids.  He doesn’t have to care any more.

Sadly, I know he does care, but he doesn’t know how to fix it, so it’s easier to leave and run away.  Sometimes it’s best to just start over…but he is definitely burning his bridge on the way out.

Defense Shift used at the Coliseum

So a buddy called me with a ticket to the Coliseum game against the Red Sox.  I went down south and what a memory.  The place was just cool.  Old Coliseum, but cool to see a Dodger game there.  The fence was a real trip.  Hard to believe they played like this for a while.  It isn’t exactly the same, but close enough.  The game set an all time record for fans, and the place still wasn’t full.

Here was my highlight – Andruw Jones catching a throw from Russel Martin on the stolen base attempt at Second base.  Because the Dogers played the weird alignment, Andruw was basically an extra infielder and Eithier was in Center.  I’ve never seen that happen and probably never will.  Too bad the Dodgers didn’t win, but still cool.  It was neat to see Vin Scully get a plague on the wall.  Hard to belive that 50  years have passed, but not the voice of the Dodgers.  He’s the best there is.

Now for the bad part…The Dodgers had this plan to have fans park at Dodger Stadium and then be bussed to the Coliseum.  Good plan in theory…but not on the way home.  I walked in a line for 2.5 hours snaking around the campus after the game waiting to catch a bus.  A memory…but not one we wanted to choose.