Just when we need to step up and win some games, we don’t get any effort. The Dodgers are human and I think they are so focused on the playoffs they have forgotten about the last 7 games. They are looking ahead and plan to make up for last year, but they need to finish this deal first. I am really not concerned – it’s human nature to take your eye off the ball at times. The Dodgers will be fine come playoff time.
Let’s all hope that’s what it is and that they are re-energized come October 7th!
Also, it would seem to me that the manager should be able to re-focus these guys. Maybe? Maybe not?
Did Billingsley pitch well enough to nail down a starting spot in the playoffs? In a word – YES! He has to be there. He has pitched well for the most part his last two starts and I still believe that to win it all, we have to have the “Good Chad Billingsley.”
Below, I will give you my version of the Dodgers roster for the playoffs, but I will say that I have Billingsley on the mound and Kuroda in the pen (at the ready, of course).
Doug Mientkiewicz gives his opinion as who is the Dodger MVP (Ken Gurnick @ dodgers.com), and I happen to agree:
“To me, Matt is what makes us go. He’s our team’s MVP, not to disrespect Andre Ethier, who is having an MVP year. But Matt brings an edge, a snarl, an aggressiveness to us that we need, that every team needs. We feed off his energy. We respond to him. I was really intrigued with him when I got to camp. I thought he was showy, but he changed my mind in one day.
“Just the way he goes about his business, his preparation, he’s fun-loving. He plays all-out every night. To play at that level with his energy 162 is hard to do. There’s a handful of guys I’d pay money to see play and he’s one of them. He’s infectious. I’m a huge Matt Kemp fan and his numbers have nothing to do with it. He has a grinder mentality with superstar skills. You rarely see that.”
Everyone wants to know what the playoff roster will be, so I am going to tell you (this is fact):
Position Players:
- Martin
- Loney
- Hudson’
- Furcal
- Blake
- Ramirez
- Kemp
- Ethier
Subs:
- Ausmus
- Belliard
- Pierre
- Castro
- Thome
- Loretta
Starting Pitchers:
- Billingsley
- Wolf
- Kershaw
- Garland
Bullpen:
- Kuroda
- Mota
- Belisario
- Kuo
- Troncoso
- Sherrill
- Broxton
Significant Omissions (just not enough space):
- Weaver
- Padilla
- Haeger
- McDonald
- Elbert
- Mienthiewicz
I agree that Billingsley pitched well enough to win last night, especially if the Dodger offense would bother to show up. He had good stuff even though it was obvious he was pitching around A. Gonzalez and it came back to bite him.
I think Kuroda will still be a playoff starter. You can’t forget what he did last year, and Torre won’t. If we play the Phillies, Wolf, Kershaw and Kuroda. If it’s the Cards, Kuroda, Wolf, Kershaw and Bills.
Pretty good roster
I will wait until the 4th to see if both Kuroda and Garland pitch 4 innings that day to see if Torre once again goes with the “hot hand” for game 4 of the first series against ????, which hopefully we will learn forthwith, before agreeing with you regarding your pick of the 4th starter. Bills will be ok as long as he is pulled from the game before the 100 minute mark.
I would normally prefer Mota over McDonald but Mota has not been given enough innings to recover from his injury and he may be too rusty. That spot on the roster may well go to whichever pitcher is the political choice – The lesser of two evils.
Regarding the “Significant Ommissions” please inform us of the post season rules regarding the ability of teams to change rosters.
Speaking of voices I am hearing Tom Petty’s voice!
I hope you are right Mark. I believe that sometimes it’s hard to turn it back on, but, maybe these guys can do it. I fear we may be this year’s version of last year’s Cubs.
Interesting take on Kemp.
Anybody seen Andre Ethier? 1 for 24?
We are screwing around with this best record thing. It is time for a winning streak.
September Batting Averages
Blake .378
Loney .348
Beliard .347
Furcal .333
Ausmus .333
The rest are free fallin
Kays a good girl, loves her mama
Loves jesus and america too
Shes a good girl, crazy bout the Dodgers
Loves horses and her boyfriend too
Its a long day living in Reseda
There’s a Dodger broadcast floating through the air
And They’re a bad team cause they don’t care about her
They’re a bad team for breakin her heart
And They’re free, free fallin
Yeah They’re free, free fallin
All the critics walkin through the internet
Move right into LA Dodger Talk
And all the bad boys are writing in the shadows
All the good fans are silent with broken hearts
And They’re free, free fallin
Yeah They’re free, free fallin
Free fallin, now They’re free fallin, now They’re
Free fallin, now They’re free fallin, now They’re
I wanna World Series banner hung over mulholland
I wanna write Dodgers 2009 WS Champs in the sky
Gonna free fall out into the off season
Gonna leave this rah rah for a while
And They’re free, free fallin
Yeah They’re free, free fallin
Marry me, Ken!!
Ken….??
Hello.
No, no, no! Not Thome! He’s worthless! Why is he even on the 40-man Roster? Who is he? Is he Ned Colletti’s daughter’s boyfriend???? Old Mary who lives around the corner can swing her cane and walk faster than Thome. Last Sunday, in the 9th inning I saw a Pittsburgh infield drop his grounder THREE (3!) times and still throw Thome out.
Let’s devote an entire thread of alternatives to Thome. It will be a long one.
Thome is slow AND is playing hurt. He did the smart thing and didn’t try to run too fast to beat that grounder out. I’d rather have him do that and be healthy enough to PH than get hurt trying to beat out a grounder.
Alternatives to Thome? Are you kidding me? Loretta? He’s awful. Hu? Ha! DeWitt? Not over Thome. Who else is there? We don’t have any pop off the bench at all so if you really think that there’s a better option than Thome on our roster than please name him. I like Mientkiewicz but he doesn’t offer the power that Thome can.
I can offer more power than Thome.
Take me….
Laugh at DeWitt? He got on last night.
Howabout Chin-lung Hu, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jason Repko, A.J. Ellis? These players come with gloves and legs attached.
DH’s are Pierre & Ramirez.
I will personally bitch slap Torre if Loretta is on the playoff roster. I’d rather have a second lefty PH in Mientkiewicz.
The last spot in the pen should be interesting. Mota hasn’t pitched an important inning in a long time. I doubt he gets in. Maybe Padilla or Weaver but I think McDonald might get the nod. He’s been average as a reliever this year. Padilla has never really been a reliever and Weaver is more of a spot starter/long man which isn’t really needed with Garland/Kuroda filling the role.
Remember, Ty, Torre needs Loretta as a closer.
ken –
Casey Blake in the last 12 games of the pennant drive:
3 for 12
Ronnie Belliard in 3 of the last 5 games:
DNP (team is 1-4 in those games)
We could actually use one of them in a game here.
I saw that play too Vigilante, and I think Mark could have beat that one out. Thome is here for two reasons – DH and PH, with an emphasis on the D.
Thank you Weird Ken Yankovic. Much better then the last one. I can only wonder what your video would look like. You dressed in a parachute with lip stick holding a banner.
I am beginning to think the Dodgers have a snow balls chance in Hell making it out of the first round. They’re currently playing like the worst team in baseball. Manny looks like a player that should have retired after the bobblehead blast. When a pitcher is struggling on the mound, Martin steps to the plate and grounds out on the first pitch, Loney swings on a 3-1 pitch only to ground out to first. Don’t these guys have any baseball sense? It’s like their on a stop watch and the object to win is the first one back into the duggout without touching first. No one wants to be on the base paths. The last time I saw an offense this lost was last year before Blake and Manny arrived. This team makes me want to throw up my breakfest right now.
My heart is broken, broken into smithereens.
How could they do this to me?
And can’t we find anyone better then Castro to play 3rd? He’s and offensive spark. Was Loretta busy?
I give up. Retire Torre.
Change to Kens Lyrics. Take out boyfriend and enter Loney at the bottom of the first verse.
badger, I was telling my buddy yesterday that it wouldn’t surprise me if we were this years cubs.
Mark I am looking to buy a water system for my home don’t know what need. I looked through your sight and I still don’t know what I need.
Gonzo,
Call me at 800-608-USWATER. Ask for me and I’ll help you figure it out. This is what I do all the time. We make it simple. I’m in this PM.
Gonzo , When you call ask to speak to Andy!
Just kidding Mark.
LOL, Romo you are the man.
We are definitely struggling. I have faith we’ll right the ship by the time the playoffs come around. I just can’t see us losing every game the rest of the regular season. As far as whether we’ll be this years Cubs. I sure hope not. Nobody thought we could beat them last season and nobody, in spite of our record so far, thinks we can win this post season either. I’m just saying, don’t count us out. We have the best record in the NL…. maybe the way we went about it and the way we’re finishing the season isn’t ideal… but this team has the talent and ability to win the World Series… whether we can do what needs to be done in order for that to happen remains to be seen. I have confidence and faith in our teams ability to do so.
That’s MR. LaRoche to you, SonnyBoy!
I am seriously thinking tonight might be a tough fight! Clayton Richard is a hell uva pitcher. He will give us fits in the future. Garland needs another good performance, but remember he struggles early. Bills last night wasn’t bad 2 ER? With ANY run support we might be saying he is back and ready for the post season. If we don’t score more than 2 runs Garland will have the same fate and we go into the weekend homestand against a red hot Rockies team.
1 more thought. Before the game last night I saw Casey Blake wearing a “2009 playoffs” hoodie. I know we are already in but… Dude, really? I think maybe we should clinch with the division before we parade the playoff gear. Why not wear the division champion shirt in the dugout and sip an aluminum can/bottle during the game? Ok its off my chest. Good day fellas and lady!
I’ve been reading your posts, Romo.
Thanks for the laughs.
Y’know, people don’t understand anymore how not to jinx the game. Steiner’s done it several times, etc. Baseball has unwritten rules.
Is Blake going to play and actually help this team win the Divsion?
What’ a divsion? Sounds like French water.
Bill
Thank you but I will wait for Kay to respond! She is a good sport and may have some interesting changes to make also.
It’s perfect as is. I would not mess with your artistry, oh balladeer.
Good afternoon everyone, i will be at Petco park this evening. I hope the dodgers look like a playoff team today.
If not, ask for your money back and free nachos.
tdf,
If we are not spraying alcohol tonight it will be your fault! Thats the rules.
ha, they will, they will 2night
Is anyone like me? I usually have a celebratory beer when the Dodgers clinch. I had a frozen glass in the freezer ready going into the bottom of the 9th Sunday. I honestly left the room and all hell broke loose. I haven’t touched the glass since nor have I had a beer since. Boy, that Sam Adams Octoberfest is delicious. I sure would like to drink it tonight! I’ll be waiting to toast with all of you. Let’s gitter done!
Peace
I will celebrate with a Donut and cup of milk. Chilled cup of course. If they don’t win tonight, I’m throwing the donut out tomorrow. Let the birds fight for it. Get ready rome’s it’s going down tonight.
I always thought Padilla & Belliard would be good additions to the Dodgers. Padilla should be on the PlayOff Roster. He throws strikes & is always around the plate. Plus, he has the “temperment” to pitch in the playoffs – no nonsense, tough guy attitude. The Dodgers need that.
I celebrate only on a few ocassions with a beer.
24 hours in a day.
24 beers in a case.
Coincidence?
I think not!
I’m in on the beer-me celebration tonight. I have the Pacifico on ice. However, am I allowed to begin celebrating early, like the first inning?
“If you will drink it, they will win” — Blue Haze Field of Screams
easy boys it’s a school night
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090930&content_id=7247054&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
A little fun before game time. Did you see this. Mike Blowers (former Dodger great investment) made a huge prediction, it was awesome!!
Now lets win it tonight! See ya after the game.
I’m awaiting our lyricist to start singing “We are the champions”. Congratulations to all the Dodgers and Dodger fans both past and present.Its time for Dodger baseball!!! :}
When I read about the evils of drinking,
I decided to give up reading.
I am positive that if we all think positive thee outcome will be positive, I think ?
I am positive that the Dodgers are the worst team in baseball right now.
Above average team, Bill. Below average management.
I second that emotion Bill. This is terrible.
Let me ask you something guys. If the Rockies lose tomorrow we win the division. We have an off day, so is there no “champagne celebration”? Honestly they don’t deserve one.
Oh I don’t know, I think the team is really hitting their stride. They do have a hit tonight.
Nothing like some late year drama hey?
1 game. It will come.
At the moment, no team in the NL Play-off scenario is playing great ball. The Rockies could end the year with the hottest streak, and frankly when they are on they are the scariest team in the league. Philly and St. Louis aren’t burning it up either.
Should be an interesting finish. Might come down to winning it in L.A. against the hottest team going.
Don’t you think a fight or an ejection would stir this team up a little. They need to wake up.
I had another random thought: I feel bad for the poor guy carting around a crate of Tee shirts and hats waiting to hand them out. You know he must have a Sharpie ready to write Wild Card Winners on the lot of ‘em. LOL
I think the beer in the clubhouse had a drink by date that has expired by now.
The Padres have a nice litle team. The players are actually COACHABLE. Wow now that is a team to cheer for. A bunch of players who will actually listen to their coaches.
I will gladly send a case of Stone Brewery’s “Arrogant Bastatd” beer to the prideful Dodgers players who have reverted to their slumping ways all at the same time.
Time to stop watching the Skeet Shooting Show – Pull Martin Pull
Pull Martin Pull
Lieutenant Daniel Taylor: Have you found your stroke yet, Russell?
Russell Martin: I didn’t know I was supposed to be looking for it, sir.
That’s all I have to say about that.
Pathetic is all I really can say. This is probably to be expected though as this season seemed too good to be true. Pitching, or lack there of, finally comes to bite us in the arse.
I didn’t see the game tonight. Wife doesn’t allow me to watch at home because I won’t clean up my own barf. Just tell me one thing? Did Thome pinch hit tonight?
Did Thome pinch hit tonight?
Yep!
Did he strike out?
Yep!
On a night they can clinch and get organized for the play-offs this team goes 1 for 27. In tense pennent drive a last place club faces the minimum against the team “with the best record in the league”.
Can this team turn it on and off when they really need to? As in IMMEDIATELY – against a team that actually now has the opportunity to win the Division?
Unless we sweep these guys, unless this team suddenly and convincingly pounds these guys into the Chavez Ravine dirt, the Dodgers are limping into the play-offs. “We certainly don’t want to finish the season on a bum note,” Torre said. “The momentum you lose would not be good.” Really Joe? You have a way of understating the painfully obvious.
It really doesn’t matter if the Rockies lose today and that gives the Dodgers the Divsion. What matters is when the Rockies get to the Ravine on Friday, the Dodgers send a message that will reverberate into the post-season – “We are the Dodgers, we are ready and when you come in here, we own you.”
If the post season starts for the Dodgers anywhere but Dodger Stadium, this team will likely roll over like the puppies on yesterday’s page.
HELP……WE HAVE FALLEN AND WE CAN’T GET UP.
Dodgers will take two out of three from the Rockies, it’s in the bank.
FEAR NOT DODGER FAITHFUL!!!
However, that being said, what in the H-E-L-L is going on. Pathetic display to say the least. Joe needs to go pick a fight with an umpire or something, this team has gone into hibernation.
FEAR NOT DODGER FAITHFUL!!!
Torre – Frank Were Home
Frank – Torre You have some splaining to do!
Torre – We just need some Vitavigavegivat
I know it sounds cynical, but if I was anywhere near a sports betting bar I would go put $50 on the Rocks to win the Division if they win today and get into the situation where sweeping us will deliver the title to them. . I could probably get 10-1 odds (a guess) and there’s no way this team of ours could beat the Hartford Weaky Pee Wees right now. Where is that old bookie friend of mine when I need him?
What’s wrong with the Dogs? Why doesn ‘t somebody go get them some amphetamines? Seriously, the league doesn’t test for them and a large percentage of the players use them to get through September. The Dodger drug dealer is letting them down. They look like zombies out there. Maybe the problem is that they started using too soon and now all the speed in the world can’t keep them “up” anymore.
PLAYOFFS??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? THE PLAYOFFS???–Jim Mora
Mark – Are you dumbfounded yet? We need your opinion of the Dodger’s performance!
The good news about yesterday’s game is that the Dodger pitchers allowed the Padres to only hit 2-14 with RISP and a total of 23 LOB. Clutch pitching!!
Oh Maybe that is a lot of runners on base in reality and the Cards would have scored 15 runs against that kind of pitching.
Oh well I will continue to look for something positive about last night’s performance.
I BELIEVE…..
I believe the Dodgers have the best record in the NL West.
I believe the Dodgers have clinched a playoff berth.
I believe the Dodgers have the best record in the National League.
I believe the Dodgers will win the NLDS.
I believe the Dodgers will win the NLCS.
I believe the Dodgers will win the World Series.
YOU GOTTA BELIEVE, BABY!!!!!!!!!!
BRING ‘EM ALL ON!
Lawdog,
You may be on to something. Not betting on the Rocks. But could it be that our crafty guys are working to bump the odds on us for the playoffs and series?
I sure as heck hope there is another reason than we just suck right now.
We only need 1. We will get it.
But I still say if these guys don’t cowboy up for the Rockie series, it will be a short post season.