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