The Trolley Dodger

An undignified last game of the season with the Giants, but at least the Dodgers won the final series and posted a winning record for the season. Bright spots in an otherwise gloomy fortnight, with mounting losses and the public airing of dirty laundry. To paraphrase TS Eliot, this is the way the season ends, not with a bang but a whimper.

I got a voicemail from my friend Alex the other day saying, “I for one am cheering for the Cubbies.” I’ll have to echo that sentiment, and I will feel even better if the Rockies manage to beat the Padres in tomorrow’s one-game playoff. With that and the Mets’ debacle, I’ll be able to reach some measure of acceptance about the season.

Looking forward to next year, there’s already a cord or two of firewood outside ready for the Hot Stove. I can think of at least one or two targets for signing or trades this winter. Why not dream big?

(Speaking of dead wood, how about that stellar defensive work at second base by Wilson Valdez the past few days?)

Anyhow, congratulations to the Dodgers on the season record, and let’s hope the hard lessons of 2007 turn into better results in 2008.

The blurry picture above was taken exactly one year ago today, at 11:07:55 PM on September 18th, 2006. My camera was on extreme zoom. Myself and thousands of my new closest friends were on extreme zoom, too. My wife Denyse, stepson Hans, and friend Alex were yelling and screaming next to me.

Nomar Garciaparra had just hit a walk-off homer in the 10th inning of the most amazing game any of us had ever seen. The picture-blur approximates what I was seeing right then rather well, as I was wiping away tears at the time.

This was before the days of the Trolley Dodger blog, when I was writing Dodger content for my Celsius1414.com website, so my reaction to the game appears there in an article simply titled “11-10″.

Inner Reserve, Section 20, Row U, Seats 1-4. Jumping up and down, hollering, high-fiving everyone around us. Music blaring, crowd roaring louder and louder, white uniforms clustered around homeplate…

As we come down to another NL West photo finish in 2007, I can’t help but think back to the heady emotions of that night.

It’s amazing to think of the actors involved:

• Of the four 9th-inning home-run hitters (Jeff Kent, JD Drew, Russell Martin, and Marlon Anderson), only two are still on the team.
• The Dodger pitcher who gave up a run in the top of the 10th, Aaron Sele, is no longer on the team.
• Kenny Lofton, who got on base in the bottom of the 9th and was subsequently brought home by Nomar’s blast, is no longer on the team.

Those flashbacks I talked about in “11-10″ still happen if I think back to that night. As I wrote then:

I remember screaming “NOMAR!” over and over. Some unintelligible hooting. Occasionally, I threw a “DODGERS!” in. I don’t remember much else except that the walk back to the car was more of a floating hover as fans yelled and honked at each other.

In the car, we would hear Nomar interviewed, spending more time talking about his teammates than himself, more time talking about the 9th inning heroics than his 10th inning miracle.

But the image that will perhaps stick with me the longest, a moment that happened simultaneous to the picture above, was of Vin Scully giving the boys a standing ovation from the press box.

That gives me chills even now.

Head over to the US Soccer site front page to check out behind-the-scenes video of Landon Donovan throwing out the first pitch before the Dodgers/Cubs game the other day. The high points:

• Joking about seeing Tommy Lasorda
• Joking about what the Cub fans’ reactions would be.
• Landon (a Dodgers fan) putting on the Cubs uni under protest.
• Surreality of them with the Reno 911 guys at Wrigley Field.

And more. The video player is in the rightmost column.

Via the US Men’s Team official blog.

With all the steroid talk hitting the airwaves (Ankiel, Glaus), here’s a smidgen of good news — Takashi Saito winning “DHL Delivery Man of the Month” for August.

This officially-sanctioned Major League Baseball (MLB) award recognizes the most outstanding relief pitcher during each month of the regular season.

Saito was 10-for-10 in save opportunities in August, tying him with Jose Valverde of the Arizona Diamondbacks for most saves in the Major Leagues. He finished with a 0.68 ERA and allowed only one earned run in 14 games. The right-hander struck out 21 batters over 13.1 innings pitched while only surrendering seven hits and two walks. The closer has not allowed a run in his last 12 appearances, spanning 11.1 innings. For the season, Saito is 1-0 with 37 saves, 71 strikeouts and a 1.29 ERA in 56 games. His ERA is the lowest in the Majors among pitchers with at least 50.0 innings pitched.

I wonder if this guy would have more luck batting if he was standing up. ;)

“A lot of people are capable of playing Nintendo baseball. When you play fantasy baseball or on a computer, rarely do you take into account a missed umpire’s call or a tweaked hamstring. People only know part of it. There’s a reason why we do what we do.”

MLB.com 2007-08-23

“Tomko could give Padres options” says MLB.com.

I called it, too:

Want to lay odds on the Padres or Mets picking up Brett?

September is finally here, and the roster-expansion call ups have begun. A lot of new faces and some familiar ones are showing up on the field or in the dugout.

This time of year is always surreal to me, a bit like the off season when signings and trades bring new players to the team. Sometimes (like with Schmidt this year) this is a thoroughly strange experience. Conversely, David Wells seemed right at home in his oversized Dodger uniform from the start.

After long months of spring training and regular season games, getting accustomed to all the new guys is just plain peculiar.

Speaking of new guys, Esteban Loaiza introduced himself very well today — I wish I had been able to watch the game, especially with that lovely 11-3 score.