The Trolley Dodger

Last July, I wrote a post here documenting the Midseason Malaise both the Dodgers and myself found ourselves in. An excerpt:

When an activity that is normally an escape from the depressing parts of existence becomes itself depressing…well, what is there to write about? Especially if you’re not one to tear down your favorite team for the sake of talking about something. There’s a surfeit of commenters online, not to mention talk show hosts and callers, who like nothing more than to kvetch 24/7 about the smallest Dodger problems, never mind the major issues — they don’t need any help from me.

Here we are, a mere few weeks into the 2011 season, and the malaise is already upon us. Except that this year, the depressing news applies to the Lakers as well. Things turned ugly last night. Real ugly. No amount of seeing writing on the wall the last month of the Laker season could forewarn us that the writing would end with a string of profanities.

(As mixed as the Dodger season has been so far, the Boys in Blue haven’t been acting like the Purple and Gold. The team, however, has had its own ugliness to deal with.)

Things are also not exactly like the (newly re-minted) Silver and Black, with a string of heartbreaking losses in their playoff series versus the Sharks. The season is still young.

No, we have ownership issues. Such issues. And now with no historical hitting streak to distract us from the latest bad news, I joked to friends of mine that I was thinking of giving up watching the local teams and switching to World News so I can cheer up a little.

As the Lakers and Kings were gearing up for their playoff runs earlier this year, I was pondering expanding the Trolley Dodger into more of an LA sports blog rather than just the Dodgers. Lakers and Kings, sure, not to mention the suddenly intriguing Clippers, the “5th-sport” teams Galaxy and Chivas USA, and the reportedly inevitable return of an NFL team to LA. Now, I’m not so sure. If all the bad news keeps up, I’m going to need intensive therapy to get over my sports depression.

I do have a summer to get over the 2010-11 Lakers and Kings, and hopefully the 2011 Dodgers will put it all together during that same period. And it’s not as if there is no good Dodger news. Ethier and Kemp are carrying the team, and despite the bullpen woes, our starters are doing pretty well. New manager Don Mattingly has been impressive enough for a rookie. There might even be a pot of gold at the end of the McCourt rainbow. As usual, patience is called for. Lots and lots of patience.

Besides, I’m not desperate enough for World News yet.

The Dodgers’ marketing campaign this year plays on Vin Scully’s famous phrase to start games, “It’s time for Dodger baseball!” I still get chills every time I hear it, and the version they use in the TV commercials is especially exciting.

There’s a natural disconnect in baseball between the front office and the locker room, and depending on the team this can be a pretty wide gulf. In the case of the 2011 Dodgers, it’s as if two different movies are playing. One up in the Dodger executive offices, and one on the field. And while they’re out of sync, they’re each having an effect on the other.

Reports came out earlier today (in the midst of yet another media blitz by Frank McCourt, this time on local radio) that the Dodgers are not able to meet payroll for May. Another report says the team will be insolvent by July. If Major League Baseball hadn’t already taken over team operations, they surely would now.

Meanwhile, there’s a baseball game being played tonight. As I write this, a struggling Jonathan Broxton has just undone Chad Billingsley’s hard-fought 1-1 pitcher’s duel versus Ryan Dempster. Earlier, Andre Ethier blooped a hit to up his streak to 29 games. Jay Gibbons put together a stellar 10-pitch first at bat back.

The juxtaposition between a desperate Frank McCourt PRing all over himself on the radio today and the Dodger team fighting for a win was striking for me. An ESPN columnist last week pointed out how McCourt never mentioned the team’s performance, Andre Ethier’s streak, the fans, or anything that didn’t have to do with how MLB was supposedly stealing the team from him.

The continuing fan boycott (as evidenced by the great swaths of empty seats at Dodger Stadium), whether organized or spontaneous, shows what people believe about that.

I feel most sorry for Vin Scully, soldiering on in the press box as controversy swirls in the news media.

It’s time for a change. It’s time for truth and transparency.

It’s time for Dodger baseball. On the field, and in the executive offices.

On September 18th this year, it will be the 5th anniversary of the famous 4+1 game, in which the Dodgers tied the score with four consecutive home runs, then beat the Padres in extra innings with a walk-off homer.

With Russell Martin no longer with the Dodgers, that means the five players (six if you count Kenny Lofton’s walk that represented one of the two runs in the 10th) involved in the 4+1 are gone.

1. Jeff Kent
2. JD Drew
3. Russell Martin
4. Marlon Anderson

and then Nomar Garciaparra. In fact, looking at the boxscore for that night, only Rafael Furcal, Jonathan Broxton, and Andre Ethier are still on the team.

Starting catcher for the Padres? Mike Piazza.

Yes, I know. Yes, I understand this is completely not going to happen. Yes, I know the innumerable reasons why this could never take place. Yes, I realize it would require creating a rift in the space-time continuum (or at least doing some horse-trading in the MLB 2011 video game). I get all that.

But a man can dream.

2011 Dodgers (daydream edition)

Starting lineup

• SS Furcal (S)
• CF Kemp (R)
• RF Ethier (L)
• 1B Konerko (R)
• LF Werth (R)
• 3B Beltre (R)
• C Martin* (R)
• 2B Theriot (R)

* or C Santana (S) if Martin is done.

Bench

• C Barajas (R)
• IF Casey Blake (R)
• IF Jamey Carroll (R)
• OF Gibbons (L)
• OF Podsednik (L)

Starting Rotation

1. Cliff Lee (L)
2. Kershaw (L)
3. Billingsley (R)
4. Padilla (R)
5. Lilly (L)

Relief

• Closer: Broxton (R)
• Setup: Kuo (L)
• RP Jansen (R)
• RP Troncoso (R)
• Long Reliever (R)
• Reliever (L)
• Reliever (R)

This is actually from this past March, but I don’t remember having seen it.

ESPN’s Buster Olney sits down with Jake Peavy and Andre Ethier as they go over an at-bat between the two in 2009

Ethier comes in near the end of the game to pinch-hit.