The Trolley Dodger

Via bobster1985 on Flickr, here’s a 1956 Lucky Strike commercial featuring what may or may not be real Dodgers in the background:

“That’s the way to enjoy your baseball: get out early, look over the lineups, and light up a Lucky. You’ll be way ahead of the game, ’cause Lucky sure tastes better.”

We split two four-game series with the Phillies this season, winning four in LA and losing four in Philly. And similarly to the series against the Cubs, they both took place in a 16-day span, August 11-14 and 22-25:

1. Aug 11 @LAD W 8-6 Kendrick vs Lowe
2. Aug 12 @LAD W 4-3 Hamels vs Kershaw
3. Aug 13 @LAD W 7-6 Blanton vs Penny
4. Aug 14 @LAD W 3-1 Myers vs Kuroda
5. Aug 22 @PHI L 1-8 Maddux vs Kendrick
6. Aug 23 @PHI L 2-9 Kershaw vs Hamels
7. Aug 24 @PHI L 2-5 in 11 Kuroda vs Blanton
8. Aug 25 @PHI L 0-5 Billingsley vs Myers

Looking at the four losses in Philly:

The first was against an ineffective Maddux, who gave up 7 ER in 5.2 IP.

The second game, Kershaw gave up 6 ER and Jason Johnson 3 more. Their ace Hamels was pretty much on, giving up only 2 ER in 7 IP.

The third game saw Kuroda going 6 IP and giving up only 1 ER, with Chan Ho Park and Hong Chi Kuo shutting them down for another inning each. Unfortunately, Jonathan Broxton had one of his rare blown saves, which took the game into extra innings where Joe Beimel got the loss, giving up 1 ER, and Jason Johnson 2 ER.

The fourth was a shutout, with Billingsley only giving up 3 ER, but with five walks and three strikeouts. Chan Ho Park had two more ER. Brett Myers took care of the Dodgers with 7 IP, 9 H, 3 BB, and 8 SO.

All four losses included Kent/Ozuna and Garciaparra/Berroa up the middle and in the lineup. And while we did have Manny and Casey Blake, we had only tiny hopes about Rafael Furcal coming back someday. Jason Johnson was not on the NLDS roster, and I don’t expect he will be. Takashi Saito might be back on track after a few more days’ rest, but in any case Broxton looks to be in great shape after last night’s domination. And who knows, maybe Hong Chih Kuo will be back as well.

Some possible pitching matchups:

1. Lowe vs Hamels
2. Billingsley vs Myers
3. Kuroda vs Moyer
4. Kershaw vs Blanton

Game four might also see Lowe made available on short rest, depending on the series situation at that point.

No mistake, this will be a tough series, testing the Boys in Blue to the extreme. But I think we’ve got a good shot at beating them.

With our dominant pitching, better defense, and an awakened offense, we can beat the Phillies.

They did it.

The obvious, cliché to say is “I can’t believe it!” But I can believe it.

More to the point, the team believes it.

Congratulations to the Boys in Blue. I can’t wait to see what you guys do next.

Matt Kemp and James Loney were recently on Best Damn Sports Show. Very funny.

Including discussion of basketball, hitting, the Bison nickname, the Yorvit Torrealba fight, Manny (with Loney doing an impression!), and more.