The Trolley Dodger

“If this were a prize fight, they would have stopped it quite a while ago.” – Vin Scully, after Ethier’s 2-run double in the 8th inning last night.

“Beanie Babies” – Jon Weisman’s wittily titled Dodger Thoughts post this morning, in which he wrote, “Events like these tend to divide fans into two camps — those who find the tradition heartening and those who find it infantile.”

If you find the pitch-protection tradition infantile, I’m afraid you’re too grownup for baseball itself.

Trying to intimidate the other team by charging their locker room after the game, on the other hand, is pretty bush league.

Besides, it was a cutter on your thigh, not a fastball at your head. I’m surprised you even felt it, seeing as how you’re so much like a freight train. ;)

The Dodgers and Cubs played seven games versus each other this season, three at Wrigley Field. All seven took place within the span of two weeks, May 26-28 and June 5-8. Here’s the breakdown (links to boxscores):

1. May 26 @CHC L 1-3 Billingsley vs Dempster
2. May 27 @CHC L 1-3 Kuroda vs Gallagher
3. May 28 @CHC L 1-2 Lowe vs Zambrano
4. Jun 05 @LAD L 4-5 Dempster vs Billingsley
5. Jun 06 @LAD W 3-0 Gallagher vs Kuroda
6. Jun 07 @LAD W 7-3 Zambrano vs Lowe
7. Jun 08 @LAD L 1-3 Marquis vs Penny

This NLDS is a best-of-five series. So far, the announced pitching matchups are:

1. Game 1 @CHC: Lowe vs Dempster
2. Game 2 @CHC: Billingsley vs Zambrano
3. Game 3 @LAD: Harden vs Kuroda

It goes without saying that the Dodger team of late May early June is not the same one going into the playoffs. Juan Pierre led off all seven games. A mix of Hu and Maza played SS. Blake DeWitt was playing 3rd, but the league had adjusted to him by then (although he would stay up in the bigs until the end of July).

All of the pitchers back then either won or kept it close — even Brad Penny, who went 6 IP and only gave up 3 ER. June 6th was a complete game shutout for Kuroda, with 11 Ks.

Chan Ho Park and Clayton Kershaw coming out of the pen? Takashi Saito back?

Our starting pitching, backed by one of the best bullpens in baseball, can beat the Cubs.

And look at a possible NLDS starting lineup for the Dodgers:

SS Rafael Furcal
CF Matt Kemp
LF Manny Ramirez
RF Andre Ethier
1B James Loney
3B Casey Blake
C Russell Martin
2B Blake DeWitt
P

We can take them.

Rumor has it the Cubs are looking for a CF and are taking a serious look at Coco Crisp.

The Cubs were reportedly looking to resign Juan Pierre before the Dodgers picked him up. (They gave up a lot to get him in the first place.)

From a Cubs news item on February 2007:

Long gone
CF Juan Pierre: He led the NL in hits with 204 and swiped 58 bases, third-best in franchise history. But Pierre left via free agency because he wanted a long-term deal, and the Cubs didn’t want to block prospect Pie. They’ll miss Pierre’s expertise — he was a good mentor for young players — and his energy.

Think they’d still be interested? If they’re that interested in Crisp, why not Pierre if we subsidized the salary?

2007 stats

PLAYER G   AB  R  H   2B 3B HR RBI SB  BA   OBP  SLG
Crisp  145 526 85 141 28 7  6  60  28 .268 .330 .382
Pierre 162 668 96 196 24 8  0  41  64 .293 .331 .353

It’s been a weird few days in Dodger land. First off, of course, Joe Torre is still our manager — I keep forgetting, then I remember and utter a Keanu-like “Whoa.” But even stranger were the MLB headlines the past couple of days, where you could see simultaneously:

• Eric Gagne signs with Brewers.
• Milton Bradley signs with Rangers.
• Paul Lo Duca signs with Nationals.
• Randy Wolf signs with Padres.
• Andruw Jones signs with Dodgers.

Surreal.

The latest news is Jeff Kent finally got around to telling the Dodgers he was coming back. Oh, and we might have won the Hiroki Kuroda sweepstakes, according to various media reports. My favorite is Tony Jackson’s “Kuroda update: He’s leaving on a jet plane”,

A non-stop flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles, to be exact, and due to land at LAX at 9:30 tomorrow morning, from what I understand. That could mean one of two things. One, that he changed his mind yet again and decided to go ahead with his recruiting trip to Seattle and Los Angeles. Or, more likely, that he has decided to sign with the Dodgers. Sounds like this is really close to happening.

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.