The Trolley Dodger

Analysis of the 2010 Dodgers season can get pretty snarky, fatalist, and needlessly complex. The truth of the matter is all-too simple: just check the standings.

NL WEST STANDINGS Through 8/15/10

    W   L    PCT  GB  RS  RA  DIFF
----------------------------------
SD  69  47  .595    - 508 395 +113
SF  67  52  .563  3.5 518 440  +78
COL 61  56  .521  8.5 558 517  +41
LAD 60  58  .508 10.0 516 517   -1
ARI 47  72  .395 23.5 540 648 -108

Colorado and Arizona have been scoring (RS) like crazy compared to the other teams — in the Rockies’ case, they’re keeping their opponents from scoring (RA) too many in return, while the Dbacks have a woeful -108 run deficit (DIFF).

Meanwhile on the top of the division, San Diego and San Francisco aren’t scoring very many runs, but their pitching and defense are keeping the opposition down — the Padres with a phenomenal +113 to the positive.

And then there’s the Dodgers. They have kept their opponents to a tepid 517 runs…and have scored one less than that themselves. This is a recipe for malaise.

Whether viewed from an NL (8th out of 16 teams) or overall NL+AL perspective (15th out of 30 teams), the Dodgers are in the middle of the pack. They are 6.5 games out of the wild card, 10 games away from the NL West pennant.

What can they do to save the 2010 season?

Score more runs. It’s not too complicated.

The “classy” and “sheer awesomeness” factor of MLB Network will go up tremendously for tomorrow night’s Dodger home opener, with the rest of the nation getting to hear what we in Southern California are blessed to have for yet another season — Vin Scully.

MLB Network will simulcast Vin Scully’s call of the Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers (the Dodgers’ 2010 home opener) on FSN Prime tomorrow, Tuesday, April 13 at 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT. MLB Network’s carriage of the game, part of its “30 Games, 30 Clubs, 30 Days” live game schedule, will be blacked out in the Dodgers’ and Diamondbacks’ home television markets.

Speaking of openers, the Inland Empire 66ers (High A affiliate of the Dodgers) have their home opener tonight against the High Desert Mavericks, and although the weather is looking dicey, the rest of the day’s forecast seems good after 1 PM. The team tweeted this earlier:

Even though it is currently raining, WE ARE SCHEDULED to start at 7:05 and tickets are still available!!

A couple of years ago, we had tickets for the same game, which wound up being canceled due to field conditions after heavy rains — we were able to exchange for tickets any time later in the season (apart from big events like the 4th of July).

Welcome to the newest members of the Dodgers! With Jim Thome, we now have #12 and #15 on the all-time home run hitting list. We’d have to coax Reggie Jackson and Mike Schmidt out of retirement to get #13 and #14.

Jim Thome

Jon Garland

Ronnie Belliard

* Bad NPR pun best I could do on short notice. ;)

Am I surprised Clint Hurdle was canned as Rockies manager? No, I am not.

Does it bode well for Rockies fans that former Dodger manager Jim Tracy is taking over the helm? No, it does not.

Do I think the Dodgers have much to worry about from the Rockies and their new skipper? No, I do not.

Am I making fun of Jim Tracy’s methods of answering reporters’ questions by posing a new question and then answering that question instead?

Yes.

Yes, I am.

Lincecum gets all the cool commercials.

The punch line of course is that the gangster gets a hit at the end and wins the game. ;)

Via Big League Stew