Dodger Blues
Well, I told you a couple of weeks ago that this time of year was coming and now it's here. For those who don't remember, here's what I wrote: "I'm pretty much to the point where if the Dodgers give up three runs early that I lose all hope of winning the game." Well, now I'm not pretty much to that point, I'm at that point. In the last 5 games, the Dodgers have scored 8 runs and netted 29 hits, including a game where they had 6 runs on 10 hits. That's 1.6 runs/game and 5.8 hits/game. Not good. So, like I said, if the Dodgers go down 3-0 early, it's over, because that's twice the Dodgers' allotment of runs per game.
I've been trying to look for the bright side. I've tried talking myself into things like, "hey, we were great when Furcal was in the lineup and he's coming back now" or "Andruw Jones only sucked because he ate his cartilage in his knee for a snack, now he'll be back to his old self." Or my favorite: "The Dodgers finally listened to me. They had Brad Penny fake an injury because he always fizzles out in August. I thought it would be an oblique, but mild tendonitis in the shoulder works for me. Now he'll be the ace pitcher we need at the right time of the year!" As you probably guessed, my heart wasn't in any of those pep talks. Those were like the halftime speeches I give to my team when we're down 20 in the fourth quarter and I just don't want them to give up. My first Dodger title came at the age of 6. I remember Gibson's homer, and ever since then it's been 1 playoff win. That's it. Every year is the same. We have a stellar pitching staff and no offense. If the Ravens could win a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer at QB, why can't we win a playoff series with Jeff Kent batting cleanup?
The Dodgers have been trying the same thing for years now. Develop the farm system and then buy free agents to surround them in the lineup and hope it pans out. But think about the types of free agents that the Dodgers acquire. It's all hitters past their primes. How did the Darryl Strawberry/Eric Davis era turn out? Those guys were the best in baseball in 1987, not half a decade later when they were in Dodger blue. No, that was the Darryl Strawberry Found Coked Out of His Mind On the Side of a Highway era. How about Bobby Bonilla? The only player I've heard booed louder in left field at Dodger Stadium was Barry Bonds. I'm not kidding. Now we have Andruw Jones and Nomar Garciaparra, down right killers five years ago. Well, you see how they're performing now. You don't win titles by putting teams like this together. Ask the newest Yankees era players. The Yankees had old guys when they won some of their titles but they were all Yankees from the early 90s or guys who came up through the farm system. They gelled for several years and then became an unstoppable force. Casual sports fans could name the whole Yankee lineup during their title years because it never changed. The Yankees had good mojo going at all times because they cultivated it over several years.
Nobody in a big market has won the title with strictly hired guns. It doesn't work. Too many egos, no role players. I don't want Nomar to come back into the lineup. I'd rather see Blake Dewitt get some more AB's or see if Andy LaRoche can finally pan out. Forget Andruw Jones and Juan Pierre. Give me some more Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. A core of Ethier, Loney, Kemp sounds fine to me. You know the Dodgers are going to be set with the staff for years to come with Billingsley, Kershaw, and Broxton. We all know it's not going to happen this year, but c'mon Dodgers, set yourselves up to have a few decent years followed by some great ones. What that means is: GET YOUNG HITTERS! Stop going after big name guys so that you can talk everybody into a good season in April. You're going to sell over 3 million tickets per year regardless. Even in the late 90's when there was nothing doing the Dodgers hit 3 million in tickets sales. The revenue is always going to be there. It's not like we have an NFL team to flock to when the fall comes around. Why not give us some playoff games to go watch? You know there's a lot of money in the playoffs. Getting there would be really nice. I remember when the Dodgers weren't even in the A-Rod or Vlad talks. Why not? The Dodgers spend the money anyway. Witness the Kevin Brown contract. Why not spend it on an almost sure thing hitter? Where were we on Miguel Cabrera? Sure he would eventually have to move to the outfield but who cares. It would be nice to have a feared hitter in the lineup.
Here's what it comes down to, who would you rather give max money to next year, Lance Berkman or Grady Sizemore? Berkman is tearing up the majors and Sizemore is having a very solid season. I can guarantee you that the Dodgers would answer Berkman in a second. Me, I'd rather see the Dodgers get a young guy like Sizemore and have him for the next 10 seasons instead of maybe one good year out of Berkman before every Dodgers fan starts thinking about how much the guy is overpaid. What I want is some Prince Fielder or Corey Hart in my life. Instead I can look forward to Chipper Jones suiting up for the Boys in Blue sometime in the next few years because he's a recognizable name who gives us zero chance at winning.
So what I'm asking is, please Dodgers, give it one shot. Go after a young hitter or two. You'll get him for half the price and half the commitment. If you insist on giving someone a max contract, please make sure that he's 26 years old or younger. Unless the guy's on steroids, his best year will come at the age of 27 or 28. This isn't golf. Mark O'Mearas don't win the World Series. Rocco Mediates don't come in second. You need guys to band together that have the drive to get it done. You don't need a bunch of 30 somethings going through the routine. Just look at every World Series winner of the past 15 years and point out one team that proves me wrong. The closest you'll find is the Red Sox first win, but even that team had been together for some time. The Cubs are finally having a good season and wouldn't you know that their core of the past few years is being surrounded by some young guys playing well and a couple of role players. It's fine to get an aging veteran, but make sure it's a guy like Jim Edmonds who doesn't have to be in the spotlight. When your aging veteran is your star, you're in trouble. The Dodgers lineup doesn't even have one of those. We have no stars. We've been in need of rescuing for some time now and there's no hope in sight. I talk myself into a good season in April and after attending about 12 games spread out over the past few months I'm back to my usual cynical self. I wake up in the morning, check how much money I lost on the stock market, go to work, then come home and turn off the Dodger game around the 7th inning because we're down 4-1 and I know the game's over. The other team could have Derrick Turnbow in the 8th and Jorge Julio closing things out and it wouldn't matter. Oh well, there's always next season. I just wish I wasn't always saying that in July.
Best weekend: Fernando Torres, Spain. He makes up for a lackluster Euro Cup with a tremendous goal in the final. Just an amazing through ball that set up a great run past Lahm for Torres. The Liverpool striker has placed himself firmly in the discussion for best players in the world.
Worst weekend: Shawn Chacon, formerly of the Astros. I know guys get cut all the time, but not for choking their GM's and throwing them on the ground. You know how your next potential employer asks for your references, well, nobody has to do that when the reason for your firing is all over the news. Sorry Mr. Chacon, but you're not Manny Ramirez, a future Hall of Famer who gets 16th chances. You're a has been closer with a 5+ ERA who physically assaults his bosses. That's not even an exaggeration. It's the absolute truth. Good luck finding a job with that resume.
I've been trying to look for the bright side. I've tried talking myself into things like, "hey, we were great when Furcal was in the lineup and he's coming back now" or "Andruw Jones only sucked because he ate his cartilage in his knee for a snack, now he'll be back to his old self." Or my favorite: "The Dodgers finally listened to me. They had Brad Penny fake an injury because he always fizzles out in August. I thought it would be an oblique, but mild tendonitis in the shoulder works for me. Now he'll be the ace pitcher we need at the right time of the year!" As you probably guessed, my heart wasn't in any of those pep talks. Those were like the halftime speeches I give to my team when we're down 20 in the fourth quarter and I just don't want them to give up. My first Dodger title came at the age of 6. I remember Gibson's homer, and ever since then it's been 1 playoff win. That's it. Every year is the same. We have a stellar pitching staff and no offense. If the Ravens could win a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer at QB, why can't we win a playoff series with Jeff Kent batting cleanup?
The Dodgers have been trying the same thing for years now. Develop the farm system and then buy free agents to surround them in the lineup and hope it pans out. But think about the types of free agents that the Dodgers acquire. It's all hitters past their primes. How did the Darryl Strawberry/Eric Davis era turn out? Those guys were the best in baseball in 1987, not half a decade later when they were in Dodger blue. No, that was the Darryl Strawberry Found Coked Out of His Mind On the Side of a Highway era. How about Bobby Bonilla? The only player I've heard booed louder in left field at Dodger Stadium was Barry Bonds. I'm not kidding. Now we have Andruw Jones and Nomar Garciaparra, down right killers five years ago. Well, you see how they're performing now. You don't win titles by putting teams like this together. Ask the newest Yankees era players. The Yankees had old guys when they won some of their titles but they were all Yankees from the early 90s or guys who came up through the farm system. They gelled for several years and then became an unstoppable force. Casual sports fans could name the whole Yankee lineup during their title years because it never changed. The Yankees had good mojo going at all times because they cultivated it over several years.
Nobody in a big market has won the title with strictly hired guns. It doesn't work. Too many egos, no role players. I don't want Nomar to come back into the lineup. I'd rather see Blake Dewitt get some more AB's or see if Andy LaRoche can finally pan out. Forget Andruw Jones and Juan Pierre. Give me some more Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. A core of Ethier, Loney, Kemp sounds fine to me. You know the Dodgers are going to be set with the staff for years to come with Billingsley, Kershaw, and Broxton. We all know it's not going to happen this year, but c'mon Dodgers, set yourselves up to have a few decent years followed by some great ones. What that means is: GET YOUNG HITTERS! Stop going after big name guys so that you can talk everybody into a good season in April. You're going to sell over 3 million tickets per year regardless. Even in the late 90's when there was nothing doing the Dodgers hit 3 million in tickets sales. The revenue is always going to be there. It's not like we have an NFL team to flock to when the fall comes around. Why not give us some playoff games to go watch? You know there's a lot of money in the playoffs. Getting there would be really nice. I remember when the Dodgers weren't even in the A-Rod or Vlad talks. Why not? The Dodgers spend the money anyway. Witness the Kevin Brown contract. Why not spend it on an almost sure thing hitter? Where were we on Miguel Cabrera? Sure he would eventually have to move to the outfield but who cares. It would be nice to have a feared hitter in the lineup.
Here's what it comes down to, who would you rather give max money to next year, Lance Berkman or Grady Sizemore? Berkman is tearing up the majors and Sizemore is having a very solid season. I can guarantee you that the Dodgers would answer Berkman in a second. Me, I'd rather see the Dodgers get a young guy like Sizemore and have him for the next 10 seasons instead of maybe one good year out of Berkman before every Dodgers fan starts thinking about how much the guy is overpaid. What I want is some Prince Fielder or Corey Hart in my life. Instead I can look forward to Chipper Jones suiting up for the Boys in Blue sometime in the next few years because he's a recognizable name who gives us zero chance at winning.
So what I'm asking is, please Dodgers, give it one shot. Go after a young hitter or two. You'll get him for half the price and half the commitment. If you insist on giving someone a max contract, please make sure that he's 26 years old or younger. Unless the guy's on steroids, his best year will come at the age of 27 or 28. This isn't golf. Mark O'Mearas don't win the World Series. Rocco Mediates don't come in second. You need guys to band together that have the drive to get it done. You don't need a bunch of 30 somethings going through the routine. Just look at every World Series winner of the past 15 years and point out one team that proves me wrong. The closest you'll find is the Red Sox first win, but even that team had been together for some time. The Cubs are finally having a good season and wouldn't you know that their core of the past few years is being surrounded by some young guys playing well and a couple of role players. It's fine to get an aging veteran, but make sure it's a guy like Jim Edmonds who doesn't have to be in the spotlight. When your aging veteran is your star, you're in trouble. The Dodgers lineup doesn't even have one of those. We have no stars. We've been in need of rescuing for some time now and there's no hope in sight. I talk myself into a good season in April and after attending about 12 games spread out over the past few months I'm back to my usual cynical self. I wake up in the morning, check how much money I lost on the stock market, go to work, then come home and turn off the Dodger game around the 7th inning because we're down 4-1 and I know the game's over. The other team could have Derrick Turnbow in the 8th and Jorge Julio closing things out and it wouldn't matter. Oh well, there's always next season. I just wish I wasn't always saying that in July.
Best weekend: Fernando Torres, Spain. He makes up for a lackluster Euro Cup with a tremendous goal in the final. Just an amazing through ball that set up a great run past Lahm for Torres. The Liverpool striker has placed himself firmly in the discussion for best players in the world.
Worst weekend: Shawn Chacon, formerly of the Astros. I know guys get cut all the time, but not for choking their GM's and throwing them on the ground. You know how your next potential employer asks for your references, well, nobody has to do that when the reason for your firing is all over the news. Sorry Mr. Chacon, but you're not Manny Ramirez, a future Hall of Famer who gets 16th chances. You're a has been closer with a 5+ ERA who physically assaults his bosses. That's not even an exaggeration. It's the absolute truth. Good luck finding a job with that resume.
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