A week ago, the Dodgers were dead and buried.

Are They?

Everyone said it.  I said it!  That didn’t make it true.

There was one difference:  I have always maintained that this team had the talent to win it all.

I felt that they were dramatically under-performing.  It too much to ask them to win the division, but the Wild Card spot is realistic.  This team has too much talent to have played so poorly.  Sometimes baseball is a game of streaks and these guys have shown they are nothing if not streaky!   I may have thrown dirt on their grave too soon.  Not only do I think they can win the Wild Card, but I think they could be very difficult for other teams in the playoffs… providing they stay healthy.

• Jon Broxton looks better with the 9th inning heat off.
• Belisario is getting it together, not a moment too soon.
• Kuo is amazing.
• Jansen has the “swagger” of a closer!
• Lilly, Kuroda, Billingsley and Kershaw are about as good as any 4 in baseball and Padilla (if healthy) makes a nice staff.
• Rod Piazza may just get his 6 weeks of fame.

It’s a lot to ask!   Manny needs to stay healthy and Raffy needs to stay healthy.  Raffy was on his way to a career year.  Can he keep injury free?  I would doubt it… but you never know!  They could be helped by some call-ups in September, namely RDLR, AJ, IDJ2, Flash’s kid, X-Man and another one or two role players, and they would have to be really, really lucky, but it could happen.  Again, I will assert that the team has the talent.  Now, all they HAVE to do is win, Baby!

What happens against the Rockies will determine the Dodgers season.  They have until Tuesday to decide what to do with Manny.  If they sweep the Rockies (anything short of that won’t work), then it’s on, and Manny will stay in LA the rest of the season.  This team has some vets who have been there, done that, and can deliver in the clutch – Theriot, Podsednik, Belliard, Johnson, Ausmus, Barajas, Blake, Manny, Raffy, et al.

Factor in that Kemp, Ethier and Loney are due to get hot and the Dodgers could become an offensive juggernaut!

The fat lady ain’t singing!

It’s time to fish, not cut bait!

Will it happen?  I don’t know!

Can it happen? Yes, it can!

Could these be Destiny’s Dodgers?

The Dodger blogosphere was white hot with who was going to be sent down to make room for Rafael Furcal.  Would it be Ramon Ortiz, Nick Green, or

Bruised Ego?

(God forbid) Blake DeWitt?  In the end, it was George “Cheryl” Sherrill who went on the DL with a strained ego, ‘er back.  Yeah, that’s the ticket!  Everyone had their own idea and everyone was wrong.  It just shows how far bloggers are separated from reality.

Blog on dudes!

****************************************************************

UPDATE:

Tonight’s Lineup:

1. Raffy  SS
2. Russ C
3. Matt  CF
4. Manny  LF
5. Lone-Dog  1B
6. Casey  3B
7. X-Man  Rf
8. Rake  2B
9. The Kershawshank Redemption  P

• I hate haters. Well, I don’t really HATE, HATE them, but I can’t stand them.  I would wear a t-shirt saying “Go Dodgers” but I would never wear a t-shirt that says “Giants Suck,”  even though we all know that they do.  I might call my site LAdodgerTalk, but I would never name it after someone I disliked.  That’s just so weird!  If I don’t like someone, I just let them go – I don’t want to be reminded of them all the time.  That’s just me…
• Everyone seems to be up in arms about the POSSIBILITY that the Dodgers MIGHT demote DeWitt.  Yeah, it’s possible, but not likely!  I’ll spend my wrath IF it actually happens.  No need to get bent out of shape on a “possibility.”  However, I will get bent out of shape if it ACTUALLY happens.  DeWitt should too!
• Jamey Carroll has been a perfect backup for the Dodgers.  He has earned every dime Ned paid him.  In fact, the Dodgers bench has been outstanding, except for GA who is only outstanding when he is out-standing-in-the-outfield.  He needs to go away and Paul needs to stay.
• One national sports authority named the Mariners as the biggest winners and the Dodgers biggest losers for their Hot Stove Performance. I wonder what the fish hacks who were extolling the praises of Jack Zduriencik as the next Great Baseball Genius are saying now? Answer:  Nothing!  They just continue to bash the Dodgers.  They should get a few doses of “Dumbass Vaccine.”
• Raffy should be back tonight and Anderson, Green or Ortiz (pick one) should be gone.  Heagar should be back by Friday.
• Clayton Kershaw faces the Cubs for the first time.  This would be a great time for his first no-hitter.
• I still am not persuaded that Josh Lindblom will be a starter.  I am, however, unswayed that he will be an outstanding reliever!
• Four  Words:  Cliff Lee World Series

Ready For The Next Level?

At the start of the college basketball season, I said the following about my beloved Duke Blue Devils (who are playing my hometown Butler Bulldogs in what is truly a David vs. Goliath game – I hate to admit it, but part of me wants to see Butler win.  Either way, I can’t lose tonight.) :  

“They are Top 10 material.  They aren’t going to win the national championship, but then again, you never know.” 

As Duke is poised to play for the National Championship tonight, I am going to say the same thing about my first love – the Dodgers:

“They are one of the top teams.  I am not saying they will win the World Series… but you never know!”

Dylan Hernandez of The LA Times reports that Rafael Furcal had this to say on the subject of whether the Dodgers have the tools to win it all:

The Dodgers’ longest-tenured player, the 32-year-old shortstop and leadoff hitter has seen a group of cocksure rookies morph into a nucleus that he believes could lead the franchise to its first World Series in 22 years.

“You reporters said they were can’t-miss prospects and that’s the attitude that Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp had when they came here,” Furcal said.

 

Initially, he said he didn’t know what to make of the pack, which also included Russell Martin, James Loney, Chad Billingsley and Jonathan Broxton.

 

Furcal had been around to know that many can’t-miss prospects missed. Then he saw how they approached their jobs.

 

“What made them successful is that they’re workers,” Furcal said. “They don’t get tired of working. When you’re young, you have to have the desire to get better. You can’t take anything for granted, you can’t think that you’re already good.”

 

After consecutive trips to the National League Championship Series, Furcal said he thinks these Dodgers are ready to advance to a World Series.

 

“They know how to win,” Furcal said. “They’re young men with a lot of talent who already have three, four years of experience. I think we’re ready to go to the next level.”

 

Because their drive is still there. 

Ken Gurnick of Dodgers.com had this to report:

People can say, ‘We need this pitcher’ or ‘We need that bat.’ But to say we didn’t have enough talent to win the last two years is making excuses,” right fielder Andre Ethier said.

“We’ve got the talent to win with what we had. To be that close, one out or one game away — we just can’t lose the feeling and the emotion like we did. When things go wrong, you have to rebound and come back and play through the series instead of letting down.”

The bell has rung.  There are no excuses. It’s time to play ball!

RANTS & RAVES

• Old friend Adrian Beltre looked very good last night for the Red Sox, both offensively and defensively.  I predict a monster year for him in Boston.
• The Mets are a “train wreck” and their pitching led Johann Santana is a shambles.
• I will be getting a root canal when the game starts today, but my IT guy is trying to figure out how to record MLB as we speak.  I will see the end of the game.

1. If there was any doubt, it is painfully apparent that Chad Billingsly has deep-seated psychological problems.  Fear of
   

   Temporarily Impaired

   success can be just as paralyzing as fear of failure. Many people fear success because it tests their limits and makes them vulnerable to new situations. Even worse, success can expose weaknesses and force people to deal with their flaws.  Success is scary because it involves change. Success can be intimidating and hard to handle. With success comes more challenges and responsibilities – and that can be threatening.  Sometimes people fear success because they don’t know if they can live up to their achievements. They don’t think they’re good enough or smart enough. They’re afraid they don’t have what it takes to rise to the challenge, and they don’t know if they can sustain their success.And that’s where self-sabotaging behavior comes in.   Self-sabotaging behavior is an obvious “call for help.”  Was Chad traumatized as a child?  Does he have a complex that doesn’t allow him to achieve a degree of success?  What is it?  I haven’t a clue,but he gives up just one hit in hit stint and allows 3 runs with it.   It’s time to look at his “inner child.” I mean, the guy was absolutely dominant the first five innings.  Then, he walks 2 batters and blows the game. He sabotaged himself (subconsciously, of course).  Change his thinking and you have an ACE!  I am not saying this to be mean or disrespectful and I believe that Chad will overcome this.   He could actually do it pretty quickly, but he has to seek help.  Maybe he already is…  Again, I think he will overcome it and we will be none the wiser…

2. Stick a fork in O-Dog – Just like I predicted, he will not finish the season.  Nice guy.  He’s a fragile individual.  Now you know why Ned got Ronnie Belliard.   They say he’s not hurt – I don’t believe Read the full story

Clayton Kershaw's Curve - www.LaDodgerTalk.com

That is an understatement by Joe Torre (written by Dylan Hernandez of the LA TIMES). What Clayton is doing, is growing into one of the most dominant pitchersin MLB.  At an age when Tim Lincecum was learning to pitch at AAA, Clayton Kershaw is learning how to become an ACE.  Frankly, as much as Ihave championed Clayton as the second coming of Koufax, I an surprised at how well he is doing – I expected this NEXT year.  I thought Billingsley or Kuroda would be our opening day starter for one more year, but Clayton has proven he’s better than I thought.  His ERA sits at 2.73 and he could easily have 13 or 14 wins this year had he received more support.  The Dodgers have scored 5 runs in his last 4 games.  I guess they figure they don’t need to hit when he is pitching. 

I’ll bet Scott Elbert is ripped after first being told he’ll start Saturday only to be sent back to AAA so that Eric Stults cab start instead.  Actually, there needs to be another move made to clear a spot for Stults.  Elbert was optioned to clear a spot for Ronnie Belisario.  It appear to me there are two possibilities:  Joe is loathe to use Weaver lately, so maybe he gets DFA’d, but if it were me RIGHT NOW, I would put Billingsley on the DL, retroactive to the last day he pitched and give him 2 solid weeks of rest.  Don’t mess around with this.  We can do without him for 2 weeks – we can’t do without him in the playoff and we don’t want him to injure his arm.  Be Smart – DL C-Bill!  Don’t mess with Tony Abreu…

Eric has saved our bacon before.  No reason to think a good ole’ Indiana Boy can’t do it again!  Finally, since Manny has been back, we have not had a base-stealing threat at the top of our order.  While Raffy is a solid SS and decent (not great) hitter, he is no longer a stolen base threat.  Russ Martin is a better lead-off option than Raffy.  This is what I was afraid of when we re-signed him.  His .330 OB% and lack of being a threat to steal is impacting our lineup.  Something has to be done.  Kemp, Martin and Hudson are all better options to lead-off than Raffy!  What are you going to do, Joe?

We got 2 for 1.  At least that’s what it looks like to me.  Not only did we get Manny Ramirez back (who looked like he han’t played for about 50 games), but it appears that he brought Rafael Furcal back with him.  What a great deal.  I mentioned that this was a possibility yesterday.  If Raffy hasn’t been hurt, then all he has to do is change his mindset (easier said than Read the full story