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?

Scott Work Cube Day 2

Well, the sweep didn’t quite happen. Tim Lincecum did his thing and the Dodgers bullpen just couldn’t hold out long enough.

I was checking in on the game since it was during work and knew it would come down to the end. It was tied when I left work and I told my Giant fan co-worker, “You better hope they put Broxton in so you have a chance…” It ended up that they didn’t need Broxton, Mota did just fine. I knew he was in trouble with that first walk.

No sweep, but the Dodgers still showed why they are in 1st place.

What was interesting tonight was in listening to the talk shows after the game. Let’s just say the fans and talk show host were livid. I mean livid. Livid first at the umpires, livid second at the Giants for having no offense, and livid third at Brian Sabean for getting them into this mess.

I’ll be the first to say the umpires had a bad series. Literally one fan called in and thought the Giants probably would have gotten better calls down in LA. Those calls did affect the game, so I can see their disdain.

The offense though of the Giants is weak. As the talk show host said it, “when you have to depend on Juan Uribe to be your walk off homerun guy…you’re in trouble.”   Enough said.

Even more, as much as I think Brian Sabean has done a pretty good job this year with what the Giants have, this talk show host felt he should be fired now. He found real fault that the Giants went into the year planning on Bengie Molina being an acceptable clean up hitter. He felt that all the veterans (including Molina) should be canned and the young guys should take the team where it needs to go.

I see where he was going, but it was a bit extreme. The Giants are way better than expected already, so the comments are pretty harsh. I think the real problem is that the plan was never to win the World Series, just to compete this year. I think the fans have gotten a taste of the wildcard and now have expected that this was the potential all along. It never was.   They still have a chance at the wild card and that should be the goal to be realistic.

Anyway – the highlight of the day was this morning listening to the talk shows. They played the sound clip of Manny Ramirez hitting his homerun last night and in the background they also played someone throwing up. It was the most realistic throw up sound clip I’ve ever heard and it was hilarious to hear it next to Manny’s homerun. High points to the Murph and Mac show (click here) on KNBR for really funny radio.  I’m totally biased because I love Giants fans wanting to barf at Manny’s success, but it was great.  If anyone can find the sound bite, send it to me and I’ll post it to the next post.

Special thanks again to all the extra hits over this series.  Keep the comments coming. 

Coming up next – a response to a few of the comments from the last few days.  The biggest one being – how far is too far in terms of rivalry gloating?  More specifically when is the rivalry fun, versus mean?  Most Giants fans up here actually wish the rivalry were meaner like it was in the old days at Candlestick Park.  What do you think – is the Dodgers/Giants rivalry too soft, or too hard?  Let me know and I’ll compose the comments in the next post.

Work Cube Whiteboard

I’m writing this as I watch the Giants broadcasters dissect the game tonight. Let’s just say they’re a little stunned. As two of them said, they just weren’t expecting the Giants to get blown out like they did tonight. With the Giants pitching as it is, blowouts like this aren’t real common. Yet with the errors the Giants had tonight, it just wasn’t close. They spent a lot of time in their discussion stating just how good the Dodgers are this year. Bring on the spoon, because I can eat up that praise and their shock all day!  

Tonight just wasn’t close. Wolf and Ethier were on and Manny just raked. It was great to see Manny hit a homerun tonight. Hopefully his hand is feeling better now. He is officially claiming the title of “Giant Killer.” He continues to step up against the Giants and it’s just great to see the fans continue to hate him all the more for being so good.

Today was a fun day because it came after the win last night. I rubbed it in to my co-workers and put the Dodgers score on my whiteboard at work (See picture). I got some great comments. I had one guy who didn’t know I was a Dodgerfan say, “Why in the world are you celebrating that the Dodgers won?” I said, “BECAUSE I’M A DODGERFAN!” He rolled his eyes and then said, “well then I’m not coming back to your cube any time soon….” Such it is. 

Another Giants fan was lamenting that the Giants just can’t catch up when they are down. Last night, I was confident the Dodgers would win with a 4-1 lead (even though I was right on Broxton), and I was right.   The Giants have great pitching, but they just don’t have the offense.

The papers and the TV were touting how important this series was to the Giants.  After seeing the Dodgers struggle so much with Atlanta, it’s great to see them come in and build up their lead in the west.  Even if they lose to Lincecum tomorrow, the Dodgers still showed already why they are the best in the West.

I don’t want to rub it in too much tomorrow…but oh what fun to do what I can.  Go Blue.

Well, it happened.  50 days later, he’s back.  The Dodgers are better, have a better lead, and now get their superstar back.  Regardless of the feelings on Manny, I am glad he is coming back.  The Dodgers were doing good, but were losing a bit of offense of late, so I’m glad for something to mix it up.

As it happened, I’m visiting L.A. (man I love just turning on the tv and seeing the Dodgers) and I get to catch the last few innings of the game.  So far so good.  The Dodgers are beating the Padres…again.  So far 6-3, but they should be able to pull this out.  Manny didn’t do much, but it may take some time…assuming most of his career has been the real Manny, and not the enhanced one.  Since there were more Dodger fans than Padres fans at the game, Manny got more cheers than boos.

What I like though is that the Dodgers keep beating the Padres.  Even in years past when they were decent, they couldn’t beat the Padres.  This year, they seem to have beat them consistently.  This is good.  The Dodgers are the best team, and if they are going to go to the playoffs they have to be able to beat the bottom teams.

Broxton just finished the game with strikeouts.  Man, he’s sharp this year.  He seems to have figured out this closer thing.  We’ll see when he plays the Giants next month, but for now, he’s playing great.

Oh yeah, for all of you following my posting on my search for Dodger Dogs, I got a great surprise when I got down south today.  Got to love mom providing Dodger Dogs to BBQ tonight.  Yep, still the best hot dogs out there.  More to come on that topic too.  I finally found Dodger Dogs in the Bay Area!

I have to admit I was pretty disappointed when I found out that Manny Ramirez still has a really good chance to make the All-Star game this year.  I know he will have the month of June to make his case, and he is definitely popular, but I believe that anyone who gets suspended for steriods for 50 games shouldn’t get to play in the All-Star game.  It just isn’t right.  It is an honor, and most of the time a pay raise for a lot of guys to be in that game, and to keep someone else from going for a guy who cheated just isn’t right.  It sounds like Joe Torre is on the same page, but it certainly didn’t seem that way from the Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.  He said it would be an “honor” for Manny to play.  That still seems like a bad quote from a guy who’s number 1 player just got busted for cheating.

I actually don’t vote for the All-Stars a lot any more (I used to love pushing out the tabs at the ball-game), but this year, I’m going to vote for three players.   These guys have been all-stars in every part of the word and should get their shot.

Juan Pierre - Fox Sports.com

First, Juan Pierre.  Manny’s replacement doesn’t hit homeruns, but he steals bases, is hitting like crazy and is doing everything possible to help the team.  Just look at his stats the last few games:

The hits alone is crazy.

Casey Blake - Fox Sports.com

Second, Casey Blake.  Where would the Dodgers be without him this year?  He is just clutch and has a lot more homeruns than Manny.  He can be streaky, but he drove in the winning run again two nights ago and was involved last night.  He was a good pickup and will definitely provide stability at third for the next few years.

Jonathan Broxton - Fox Sports.com

Finally, Jonathan Broxton.  Who would have thought that we wouldn’t be missing Saito.  Broxton has shored up his game, and as long as they keep him out against the Giants, he can definitely pitch.

Honorable mention to Chad Billingsley.  He really has become the ace this year.  The Dodgers are now 9.5 games ahead in the West.  I read today that they haven’t been that far out in front since 1988 when they won the World Series.  Too early to predict the World Series, but they are a very good team.  

Go Blue.